2000 Château Petrus
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Tasting notes
How could this not make it to my Wines of the Year list? Tasted back in March, when I became the only journalist at what has to be the wine event of the year - the unveiling of a bottle of Petrus that had spent 438 days on the International Space Station. We compared it against the same bottle that had remained on Earth, and in the interest of actually suggesting wines you might be able to get hold of, this tasting note comes from the terrestrial version. It's a wine that feels like an occasion in itself, so nuanced and effortlessly impressive. Still young even at 21 years old, although now showcasing the waves of rose petal, violet and peony aromatics that only really come out in Petrus once it has had serious bottle age. The palate is pure velvet - blackberry, black cherry and bilberry fruits penned in by muscular but welcoming tannins, all finishing up with black pepper and a hit of spiced chocolate shavings. 50% new oak.
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The 2000 Petrus was served blind as an extra in an already formidable line-up. Deep, inky in hue, it has an intense nose of black and red fruit laced with pencil shavings and black truffle, the latter more prominently featured vis-à-vis previous bottles. The palate is medium-bodied, one of the most youthful examples that I have encountered, perhaps more masculine. Superb backbone here, grippy with that broody finish it exhibited a couple of years back. What you might call a "slow burner". Tasted at Epure restaurant in Hong Kong (again).
The 2000 Petrus is a monumental wine that on this occasion actually surpasses the 2001. The aromatics are absolutely stunning and incredibly intense with wild strawberry, underbrush, cedar and even a hint of pencil box, as if giving a discrete nod to the Left Bank (à la 1947). The palate is medium-bodied but then you notice the backbone of this otherworldly Pomerol, rendering it one of the most masculine over the last 20 years. It seems to stride across the senses; dense and almost broody towards the finish. This is clearly a long-term Petrus that will surely flourish with 20 or 30 years in the clock. How patient are you? Tasted at the Petrus dinner at the Épure restaurant in Hong Kong.
A prodigious Petrus, this wine has that extra level of intensity and complexity that is monumental. The magic is clearly Petrus, and the 2000 will always be an interesting vintage to compare to another legend in the making, the 1998, or more recently, of course, the 2005, 2008, and 2009. Extremely full-bodied, with great fruit purity, an unmistakable note of underbrush, black truffle, intense black cherries, licorice, and mulberry, the wine seems to show no evidence of oak whatsoever. It has a sumptuous, unctuous texture, plenty of tannin, but also vibrancy and brightness. This is a remarkable wine that seems slightly more structured and massive than the 1998, which comes across as slightly more seamless, as if it were haute couture. This wine needs at least another 5-10 years of cellaring and should age for 50+ years.
About the producer
Ask any wine-lover to name the world’s greatest fine wines, and the answer will invariably include Pétrus.