Tasted five times with consistent notes. I do often wonder what happened on that tiny Pomerol plateau in 1973. All the classic hallmarks of mature Petrus, but perhaps without the opulence of the richer years. The wine is still plump with appearance on both the nose and the palate of a wine born in an exceptional vintage in the 1980s. Wonderful length and incredibly satisfying.

Winemaker and Pomerol deity Jean-Claude Berrouet has often told me how he considers the 1975 Petrus as his first success, the preceding vintages more trial and error. (Those who have savored the 1964, 1966, 1970 and 1971 might beg to differ.) Yet the quality of this 1973 was undeniable. I had encountered it once before, a bottle opened for my brother to celebrate his birth-year over a decade ago when such off-vintages, eschewed by all but the reckless, were affordable. But I could not remember it being this fine. “You should not under-estimate the Pomerols in 1973,” Lord Bruce advised. Who am I to argue in such vinous presence? Whether a horizontal of 1973 Pomerol wines will serve the Vinous readership is another question. The salient lesson from this bottle was to never ever dismiss a bottle by dint of birth-year. Humans and wine alike cannot determine the year they are born. It is more a question of having to search harder in some years than others.

(Magnum) In the first issue of THE WINE ADVOCATE (which was sent free of charge since no one had any interest in a publication by someone named Robert Parker), this was one of my top picks in what was otherwise a critical look at the diluted 1973 vintage. I ended up buying a half case of the 1973 Petrus (for $15 a bottle!). The wine was so delicious, as well as surprisingly concentrated for a 1973, that I drank all of it in its first decade of life. In a recent blind tasting, this magnum still revealed the wine's marvelous fruit and precociousness. Although it does not possess the power and richness of a great vintage, it is an outstanding Petrus. It offers a surprisingly intense, spicy, sweet, mocha, and black-cherry-scented nose, medium to full body, admirable fruit and purity, and a long, lush, super-soft finish displaying a trace of herbs and tea. This generously-endowed, velvety-textured wine has been fully mature for nearly two decades, yet it exhibits no signs of decline - rather amazing!

The wine of the vintage, this is the best Petrus for immediate consumption from those wines produced in the seventies. Given the prolific yield in 1973 and diluted quality of many wines, the Petrus is sensationally concentrated, rich, supple, fat, and so, so flavorful. Friends tell me that it is still a delicious wine. Anticipated maturity: Now. Last tasted, 12/84.