1928 Pétrus for sale at Arden Fine Wines.
Recently a client contacted us seeking château-bottled 1928 (and 1929) Pétrus.
Despite its bold assertion as “1er des Grands Crus Pomerol”, Pétrus at this time had only 7 hectares of vineyards, a bit more than half its current size.
Perhaps the winemakers released 12,000 (?) bottles of 1928 Pétrus.
Négociants (merchants) bottled it all, as they had the necessary resources that tiny Pétrus lacked.
The labels of this 1928 do not state who bottled the wines but they do state “IMPRIMÉ EN FRANCE” (“PRINTED IN FRANCE”), so they bottled it in France (rather than, say, Belgium).
The design and typography of the labels are consistent with Pétrus’ labels of that time.
There was no château-bottled Pétrus before, as far as I know, 1940 – which was also the first Pétrus vintage to have the current label style and format.
Note to collectors seeking château-bottled examples of pre-1940 Pétrus:
Would you also like to meet Father Christmas and the Loch Ness Monster…?
You can can find this 1928 Pétrus for sale at Arden Fine Wines.
1928 Pétrus for sale at Arden Fine Wines
The 1928 vintage in Bordeaux was the result of a hot, dry summer, which produced rich, concentrated, and highly tannic wines built for ageing.
Petrus 1928 is a powerful, complex, and incredibly concentrated wine, with a distinctive velvety texture.
It has aromas of truffles, chocolate, cacao, blackcurrants, blackberries, mulberries, plums, and tobacco.
The palate has a silky, velvety texture combined with extraordinary softness and power.
It has an unbelievably long and beautiful finish.
What does Petrus taste like?
But what of its soul, its “persona”, the individual, idiosyncratic elements of the wine that make it extraordinary?
The exotic, super-spicy profile always presents itself, the tapestry texture, the way mini-explosions of flavour burst upon the palate as it makes contact with the air.
It represents an oriental rather than an occidental wine, eccentric rather than classic.
It gloriously expresses itself.
The terroir triumphantly transcends the grape varieties.
The Merlot has completely taken over the Cabernet Franc but it remains the Petrus we have always known.
(Here, one can compare it with Lafite, which has become far more Cabernet Sauvignon than of yore, but it is still magically Lafite.)
At Petrus, even half a barrel of Cabernet Franc makes a discernible difference when added to 60 barrels of Merlot – usually, they incorporate two to three barrels of Cabernet Franc into the grand vin.
Petrus has the bitter, dark chocolate taste of Merlot rather than the milk chocolate of Cabernet Franc.
Ultimately, Petrus defines, intensifies and remains untamed, both a revelation and a mystery – and infinitely, stunningly good.