Petrus 2013

The wine in this vintage

2013 was one of the most difficult Bordeaux vintages in decades: flowering compromised by coulure and millerandage, an erratic summer and harvest rain that encouraged botrytis, with very low yields. In such conditions, selection was decisive. Petrus 2013 is lighter and more immediate than usual, with cherry, plum, floral and earthy notes on a medium-bodied, supple and flowing palate. Wine Enthusiast rated it 95 points. It still deserves a few more years in bottle, but it will be among the earliest Petrus vintages to open up, offering an unusually accessible glimpse of this great Pomerol.

The producer · Petrus

Petrus is the ultimate symbol of Pomerol and one of the most sought-after wines in the world, even though it has never been classified, since this Right Bank appellation has no official classification. Its rise is owed to Madame Edmond Loubat, who owned it in the first half of the twentieth century and turned it into a legend, and to the Moueix family, involved from 1945 first as distributors and later as owners; today the estate is headed by Jean-François Moueix, with winemaker Olivier Berrouet. The secret of Petrus lies in its soil: a seam of very dense blue clay, millions of years old, that surfaces on the top of the Pomerol plateau and regulates the vines’ water supply in a unique way. On around eleven hectares, almost exclusively Merlot is grown, hand-picked with extreme care, sometimes over just a few afternoons, so that each parcel is harvested at the perfect moment. The result is a wine of extraordinary density, opulence and tannic finesse, able to age for decades and made in very limited quantities.

Critics' scores

• 95 Wine Enthusiast
• 92 Wine Spectator
• 15/20 Jancis Robinson

Technical details

Producer

Petrus

Region

Bordeaux

Country

Francia

Type

Rosso

Vintage

2013

When to drink

Not yet at its peak

Critics' average

93.5/100

Sizes

75 cl, Magnum 150 cl, Case of 6 × 75 cl

eWibe code

0710113