Petrus 2020, En Primeur

PETRUS 2020 VINTAGE EN PRIMEUR

SOME GREEKS, SOME ROMANS JIM DINE, 1992-1996 This artwork by American artist Jim Dine is a collage of 150 studies of classical sculptures. It was purchased by Jean-François Moueix who, before hanging it in the tasting room at Petrus, added a 151st portrait – that of his brother, Christian Moueix, which is now hidden amongst the rest.

Dine sketched the heads during travels in Greece and Italy. His use of a surprising variety of materials, from collaged pieces of textured paper and traditional charcoal to such oddities as diet cola, crushed cherries, tea and saliva, suggests both improvisation and obsession.

The link with the Roman age is particularly apt, the Romans, as far as we know, having being the first to make wine in the region…

GOLDFINGER “A very elegant vintage, with a classic line and strong structure, which is there to support that which brings emotion” OLIVIER BERROUET, June 2021

Olivier Berrouet was good enough once again to indulge our annual game of, “If this vintage were an actor/singer/ film…” This year, the question to which we demanded an answer was… which make and model of car is Petrus 2020?

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Well, it’s an Aston Martin DB5 – you heard it here first.

The one forever associated with James Bond, which first appeared in 1964’s Goldfinger. Do you expect me to talk?

No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die...

Do watch Olivier Berrouet’s take on Sean Connery and Petrus 2020, filmed by Adam Brett-Smith on his recent visit to Petrus, in a brief interlude between his French and UK quarantines. Olivier sums it up as “classical and iconic”, which sounds good to me.

Another wine merchant game is vintage comparisons.

Enlightening context or a waste of time, depending on your point of view. For the record, however, Olivier agreed with Adam’s suggestion of 1998 as a parallel for 2020 at Petrus. A quintessential ‘right bank vintage’ and a Petrus of its decade. Make of that what you will…

GUY SEDDON August 2021

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Olivier Berrouet

THE VINEYARD access to highly concentrated nutrients. Drainage is further aided by the gentle slopes.

Petrus’ celebrated ‘buttonhole of clay’, which can be seen on the map below, is a blue-hued patch of smectite, a quirk of the Pomerol landscape, which lies beneath around 90% of the 11.5 hectares of the estate’s vines. It is thought to date back to the Oligocene era, nearly 40 million years ago.

The vineyard itself has twelve sub-plots, shown on Olivier Berrouet’s map opposite. As Neal Martin says in his book Pomerol, it is so unusual to see it broken down into these individual parcels that several of the commune’s winemakers failed to recognise it as Petrus in this ‘insider’ format. The two largest plots, Mario and Guy, are named after former vineyard workers, with neighbouring châteaux acknowledged in the names Certan and L’Évangile.

The buttonhole is aptly named, being an aperture in the surrounding gravel plateau, exposing the vine roots directly to the fertile and moisture-retentive clay below.

There is nonetheless also gravel at Petrus, starting some 60cm beneath the surface, which moderates this ready

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Reproduced by kind permission of Neal Martin and Wine Journal Publishing

VINEYARD HOLDINGS 2020 VINTAGE Size (hectares)

Plantings

Average Vine Age (yrs)

Soil

Yield

Harvest Dates

11.5ha

100% Merlot

42

Iron rich clay

39.3 hl/ha

5th-18th September

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Reproduced by kind permission of Neal Martin, Wine Journal Publishing and Olivier Berrouet

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THE CELLAR The Petrus cellars, which were totally renovated in 2012, are havens of calm. In these tranquil surroundings, wines have the breathing space they need for unhurried élevage.

After being destemmed, grapes are sorted twice. A short pre-fermentation maceration of one or two days is followed by fermentation in concrete vats, with each vat handled according to its own development.

Tannins are extracted as gently as possible, with pumping-over at the start of vinification.

Malolactic fermentation also takes place in vat, to prioritise fruit purity over oak character. The wine is typically transferred to barrel at the end of November.

As usual, Petrus 2020 is maturing in 50% new oak, 50% one year old.

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THE 2020 VINTAGE “A succession of very different types of weather conditions” OLIVIER BERROUET June 2021 Not much fazes Olivier Berrouet. His reassuringly confident assessment of the 2020 growing season above plays down the challenges of a year that started off wet, before a long dry, hot summer.

Budbreak occurred very early and was followed by a wet, cool spring, which helped to increase the water reserves.

Olivier speaks of “a little scare” at the start of the season, in the shape of a few nights of frost, but thanks in part to the efficacy of Petrus’ big wind turbine, this turned out to be “more fear than actual damage”.

A long period of drought set in from mid-June to mid-August.

A little rain in August helped “finish the maturation process”, easing through the final ripeness.

Harvest was early, starting on 5th September. What Olivier describes as “the heart of Petrus” was picked between 10th and 18th September.

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TASTING NOTE

By Adam Brett-Smith PETRUS 2020

When I taste I try to empty my mind - this is not usually difficult - to avoid that most insidious of poisons - preconception. This is critical when tasting great wines, but in my case an easily emptied mind is promptly filled by inconsequential thought patterns of almost, but not quite, irrelevant images and words.

It happened again on Wednesday the 9th of June 2021 as I tasted the cask sample of Petrus 2020 in situ with winemaker Olivier Berrouet and I thought of those gentle words of Henry David Thoreau (inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne): “Happiness is like a butterfly, the more you chase it, the more it will elude, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.” Not wildly useful as a tasting note but it sums up (for me) the insinuating quality of this extraordinary wine.

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Huge, plum dense ruby colour that soaks the glass. The perfume is of violets, sherbet fresh, spice and dark, sappy rich fruit, very pure, very intense. The palate is... silken dense, not so much extracted as infused, with flavours that coat the mouth effortlessly with a concentration that is absolute but a freshness, even delicacy that is delectable. This is a pervasively powerful Petrus, but in almost perfect balance so that the power becomes almost weightless, the length seemingly endless. Wonderful wine.

Corney & Barrow Score 19 - 19.5 Recommended drinking from 2030 - 2055+ £5,625/Case of 3 bottles, in bond UK £3,765/Case of 1 magnum, in bond UK

Tasting Guide Our tasting notes provide full details but, at your request, we have also introduced a clear and simple marking system. We hope these guidelines assist you in your selection. For the benefit of simplicity, wines are scored out of 20. We will often use a range of scores (e.g. 16.5 to 17) to indicate the potential to achieve a higher mark.

When a ‘+’ is shown it adds further to that potential. Wines from lesser vintages will, inevitably, show a lower overall score.

Wines are judged, in a very broad sense, against their peers. Why? Well, you cannot easily compare a Ford with an Aston Martin, other than they are both cars and have wheels. It is not that different with wine. A score is a summary only. The devil is in the detail, so please focus on the tasting notes and, as always, speak to our sales team.

THE ALLOCATION PROCESS We are often asked by customers for guidance on what they should request. Our suggestion is that you simply order what you would ideally like to receive.

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• Petrus' and Corney & Barrow's focus is on the private customer, as a consumer rather than a speculator.

ensure the integrity of secondary market distribution, something which is of great concern to Petrus.

• Petrus is bought on the clear understanding that the wine will be stored and delivered in the UK only.

• Priority will be given to Petrus' and Corney & Barrow's best, most loyal and most regular customers.

• To offer protection against counterfeit wines and parallel marketing, each case and bottle will show a unique identification number which will be logged against each customer. These identity numbers are tamper proof and will offer customers a legitimacy and protection that is at the heart of the massive investment that the Moueix family have made in their distribution. In future and as a further refinement, each customer will be able to check via an app the origin of each bottle through an alphanumeric code and graphic signature.

May we please have your order by Friday 20th August.

Allocations will be completed by Thursday 26th August.

Confirmation of order will be through receipt of invoice and the wines will be allocated to your reserve upon payment. As detailed above, all orders are conditional upon UK storage only. May we please request that invoices are paid in full by Friday 24th September. We reserve the right to reallocate your order to other customers on the waiting list if payment is not received by this time. Do please speak to our sales team, who will be delighted to help you further.

• Should you wish to sell the wine in the future, please offer Corney & Barrow first refusal as this will also

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