Chateau Petrus 33500 Pomerol, France

The estate was owned by the Arnaud family dating since the end of the 18th century. The name Chateau Petrus appears in records from the 19th century highlighting its superb quality to compete with the wines from the Left Bank. It was when Madame Loubat became the sole owner of the Chateau and began working with Jean-Pierre Moueix, who introduced the greatness of Chateau Petrus all over the world. The vineyard is 40 meters above sea level, which is the highest point of the appellation, and has a layer of heavy clay soil and an iron subsoil. The vineyard started as 7 hectares, and not it covers 11.4 hectares in the eastern portion of Pomerol. The grape variety is 100% Merlot since the end of 2010. The average vines exceed 45 years. The yield is the lowest in Bordeaux partly through green-harvesting, which was implemented by Madame Loubat as one of the first in Bordeaux estates to do so, to concentrate power and quality of the remaining grapes. In certain vintages, the grapes are eliminated up to 50%. Besides disciplined and uncompromising guidelines to enhance the quality, the soil itself is very unique. The clay soils of Petrus are at least 40 million years old. The thick gravel on the surrounding plateau is only 1 million years old. There are layers of clay at Petrus. The topsoil of dark clay is 60 to 80 centimeters thick, but it is the special subsoil that is not found in any other vineyard. The soil is packed with a very dense, deep, and dark blue clay called smectite. When this type of clay absorbs water, it becomes impermeable, so when the dry summer months arrive, the vines are still able to feed on the much needed moisture that has been kept in the interlayer of the clay. The majority of blue clay in Pomerol plateau is about 15 hectares in total. Petrus is unique as its entire 11.4-hectare vineyard is right on top of the clay. Neighboring vineyards only have a portion of blue clay in their soil. The grapes are hand-picked, destemmed, and sorted. A gentle crush before vindication in concrete vats is followed by maceration, which lasts typically 15 to 21 days. After malolactic fermentation, juices are aged in French oak barrels, of which 50% are new. Once they are bottled, wine lovers are finally able to enjoy this silky, complex, and full of firmness beauty in a glass.