1990 Petrus – a genuine fake (again)…
In November 2019, Arden Fine Wines spotted a very suspicious-looking bottle of 1990 Petrus at an auction.
The bottle had the wrong shape. In fact, the shoulders of a genuine Petrus bottle are longer and lower.
Moreover, they never use wax capsules on Petrus 75cl bottles. Instead, they use them only for large formats and very occasionally.
For instance, Jéroboams of 1970 and Impériales of 1989 had wax seals. However, otherwise I’ve never seen them on genuine Petrus bottles of any size.
Therefore, I contacted the auctioneer to advise that the bottle was counterfeit and suggested that they withdraw it from sale.
Consequently, they withdrew it, sparing the auctioneer of further embarrassment and the prospect of selling counterfeit wine.
Nevertheless, in September 2026, a similar-looking bottle (on the left in the images below) emerged at the same auctioneer.
Once again, I contacted the auctioneer and they withdrew the bottle.
1990 Petrus
The 1990 Petrus is widely considered one of the greatest vintages ever produced by this legendary Pomerol estate.
In 1990, on an experimental 2ha, they tried crop-thinning at the beginning of July and at the beginning of August.
At the comparative tasting in summer 1991, they favoured by 12 to 5 the wine from the early crop thinning.
However, 1990 was a hot summer, so the experiment was not conclusive.
The nose of Petrus 1990 features black fruits, truffle, violets, and exotic hints of caramel and tea.
On the palate, it is velvety and sensual, with flavours of jammy black plum and cherry.
The award-winning Arden Fine Wines in London offers this 1990 Petrus Pomerol price.
A brief history of Petrus
Petrus, the most powerful word in wine, conjures up the same allure, the exotic luxury, and the anticipation of vinous excitement.
The great growths of the Médoc firmly established themselves before the name of Petrus first appeared in records in 1837.
The Arnaud family owned the estate then and when Petrus won a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition of 1878.
This rocketed its own name, Petrus, and that of Pomerol to the fore.
The Arnauds started selling the property to Madame Edmond Loubat in 1925.
She acquired the estate in its entirety by the end of the Second World War.
Madame Loubat believed that she should sell her Petrus wine at least at the level of the First Growths.
In this, she was absolutely right, particularly since the Petrus of the time was a mere 7ha (hectares).
She donned her legendary hats and sallied forth to tell the world that they were missing something exceptional.
This formidable woman came over to England for the Coronation in 1953.
Then she sent a case of Petrus wine to Buckingham Palace.
History does not relate the vintage but could it have been the 1947 or the 1949?