2009 Petrus, Pomerol, Bordeaux

100% merlot; 14.2% alcohol; 3.8 pH; 40 ha/hl; a 65% selection; 50% new oak).

Fully saturated ruby-red. Mindblowingly intense, utterly hedonistic nose redolent of sexy, super ripe blueberry and blackcurrant complicated by sweet Oriental spices, cocoa and coffee. Then, delicate smoke and flint nuances complement the creamy-smooth, downright voluptuous, superconcentrated blackberry, blueberry, and plum flavours.

The utterly palate-saturating finish features silky-smooth tannins and finishing fruits, spices and minerals that go on for minutes thanks to harmonious acidity. The strength of finishing minerality goes beyond what I usually associate with this wine. The final wine may contain 1% Cabernet Franc, but that decision was not made during this tasting. This wine merits 100 points on the strength of its nose alone.

Tons of truffle and chocolate make this lush and fleshy Pomerol very seductive. The power and concentration are impressive, but right at the opulent and silky finish, there’s just a hint of warmth from the alcohol.

Drink or hold

Tasted blind

Mid-bright crimson. Mild and well-balanced without showiness. Very sweet. Thick, dense and rather essence-like. This should have a long life. It is quite refreshing, actually! Great savour on the end.

Drink 2018 - 2044

Truly flavoursome, the blackberry, raspberry puree, and rich black cherry fruits here are dense, generous, and fully ripe, but they manage to retain a savoury rosemary, coffee bean, and black olive edge. It makes you smile involuntarily in the way that great wine does. You almost want to forbid people from eating anything with this wine, at least for the first glass, and certainly forbid them from putting it on a table with other trophy wines where its impact will be softened. It demands - and should receive - full concentration. The textured slate runs through the mid-palate and brings a jolt of minerality through the finish. You could drink this today after carafing, but you just know that it’s barely out of the starting blocks.

Drink 2022 - 2046

Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2009 Petrus gives up glorious scents of preserved plums, redcurrant jelly, dried rose petals, blackberry compote and mulberries with touches of licorice, Chinese five spice and fragrant earth. Full, rich, plushly textured and oh-so-decadent, it reveals layer upon layer of spice box, black fruit and ferrous notions, finishing long and fragrant.

Drink 2020 - 2060

The 2009 Petrus has a delineated and focused bouquet with subtle fireside hearth/ash-like scents infusing the sensual red fruit, with hints of Earl Grey emerging with time in the glass. The palate is very well balanced with fine tannin, demonstrating a little more backbone than the 2009 Le Pin. A tad more grip, possibly due to some Cabernet Franc, lends another dimension towards the persistent finish. You could possibly broach this now by decanting, but it needs another year or two. Profound.

Drink 2020 - 2060

This is one of the larger Petrus productions in recent years, with nearly 3,000 cases of this vintage turned out by proprietor Jean Moueix.

An opulent Petrus very much in the stylistic family of 1990, this 100% Merlot has a dense plum/purple colour and a sweet nose of mulberries, black cherries, some subtle toast and liquorice, as well as a floral element. A wine of great intensity, a multidimensional mouthfeel, full-bodied, and stunning concentration, the 2009 Petrus is everything one would expect of it. Given the sweetness of its tannin, much like the 1990, I suspect this wine will always be “open for business,” appealing even in its youth.

Drink 2016 - 2050

Dark ruby. Ripe red cherry, cocoa, exotic herbs, soy sauce, sweet spices and a hint of liquorice on the showy, opulent nose. At once fat and juicy, with firm-edged dark berry flavours contributing very good grip and backbone to softer, fleshier plum, black cherry, chocolate syrup and sexy Oriental spice flavours.

Finishes juicy, minty and fresh, with very broad, lingering notes of sweet, ripe, dark berries and milk chocolate. This memorable wine is everything you’d expect Petrus to be, but right now, the 2010 is the more precise and concentrated of the two wines.