France is known for its Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Notre-Dame de Paris and outstanding cuisines. Look around the corner, and everything you see or feel is full of quality and amazement. And all of them are one of a kind. Talking about one of a kind, France is also known for the drink of the philosophers, the Pétrus wine.
Why all the fuss? Let me tell you why! A simple example of how royal Pétrus is. Most of the vineyards of Pomerol are of Merlot vines. Each grape is hand-picked and sorted out. The ones that don’t pass the quality test, well, don’t get to make a second wine. Pétrus is one of its kind. There is second to none.
The History Before the History
It all began with Jacques Meyraud buying Pomerol from the Voisin family. It is said that, in ancient Roman times, a Roman named Petrus used to own the lands. And the logo for the wine comes from the Greek version of St. Peters, also known as Petros.
The wine here was already famous. But all of it changed when the Moueix family came into the picture. Madame Loubat went on terms with Jean-Pierre Moueix to look after and market Pétrus in 1940. That is the time when Pétrus wine began to get its unique taste. But, unfortunately, the price also went up to a new high. At least, they agreed during the inception of their partnership that Pétrus would never be sold under the price of Cheval Blanc. And it is the same even today.
Making of the famous Pétrus wine
The vineyard is History itself. It is replanted every 70 years. Every grape is hand-picked only in the afternoon. Why? Because the morning dew evaporates and leaves nothing to dilute the flavour. Cement vats are used to ferment the grapes. It is then stored in new oak barrels for over thirty months. After that, it is bottled unfiltered. Imagine the power of raw aged grapes of their finest quality.
Flavour, pairing and your second cup
Pétrus has a vibrant, powerful and aromatic taste. It comes with notes of different regions of flavours. Dark chocolate, truffles, spices, berries and sometimes creamy flavours are the signature notes in this wine. Each bottle holds additional notes depending on the ageing process. It is a wine that should be left untouched in the wine cellar for over twenty years. But even if you get a relatively young vintage, it is still outstanding. Sometimes the younger ones are even more powerful and wild than the aged ones.
The aged ones are of deep, dark and mysterious kind of wild. Pair them up with red meat or game meat, and you are in for a treat. It is not your everyday red wine that you drink and forget. Instead, the taste stays in your mouth and lingers on your teeth in a very extraordinary way. It is hard not returning to Pétrus wine after your first sips.
