Violets, lilies and the wrapper of a fine, Cuban cigar appear without the asking and fuse expertly with black and blue fruit, smoke, incense and damp earth. On the palate, this wine is pure eroticism in texture, royal, arousing yet discreet and with an exotic, cherry liqueur, dark chocolate and licorice presence in the finish. There is length, intensity and a deep, decadent endnote that must last at least 60 seconds. Produced from 100% Merlot, the wine reached 14.6% with pH 3.7. The harvest started September 14, finishing September 29. What made this vintage extraordinary for Petrus was the extended hang time, which for most years is close to 45 days. But with the 2015 vintage, the hang time during the harvest took between 50 and 60 days. Tasted April 2016

The 2015 Chateau Petrus is undoubtedly one of the gems in the vintage and will probably merit a perfect score in another decade. Even so, it has the sexy, exotic nature of the vintage front and center and offers a huge perfume of black currants, kirsch liqueur, Asian spices, and incense. As always, this beauty is 100% Merlot that was brought up in 50% new wood in 2015. A wine that opens up beautifully with time in the glass, it has beautiful mid-palate depth, sweet, sweet tannins, and voluptuous yet weightless texture that needs to be tasted to be believed. Hide bottles for 4-5 years, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following 3-4 decades.

The 2015 Petrus has a fresh, detailed yet quite understated bouquet of black fruit, pencil box, smoke and light tarry aromas - very succinct and classy. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, and linear and quite strict in style, which might explain why I knocked off a point compared to my note in January 2018. But it gently builds in intensity to a grippy, graphite-infused finish with that subtle Japanese seaweed tincture I observed previously. Classic in style, this will benefit from several years in bottle. Excellent. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting. www.vinous.com

Powerful and brooding as a young wine from barrel, the 2015 Pétrus has developed exquisite finesse and nuance to play off its natural concentration. Winemaker Oliver Berrouet has always spoken of small berry size as one of the signatures of 2015. To be sure, there is plenty of textural richness and overall intensity. At the same time, the 2015 exudes tons of freshness and vibrancy. Berrouet gave the 2015 18 months in French oak, 50% new. Quite simply, the 2015 is a stratospheric wine with a very bright future. vinous.com, February 2018

Picked 15-29 September. Long period for such a small property! pH 3.7.
Not the deepest crimson of the lot. Exotic, super-charming nose. And lovely freshness on the palate. Almost Cabernet Franc-like (very ripe Cabernet Franc)! Hint of decongestant medicine! Something sweet and peppery. Not too big, but super-opulent. Great charm and intensity on the palate. Quite difficult to see the tannins; they emerge only at the end. You shouldn't need to wait too long for this. Wonderful persistence. The most beautiful ink you will ever encounter. Lots of energy. 14.6%
Drink 2025-2045

The aromas to this are a reference for Pomerol with truffles, black olives, black licorice and dark fruit. Even brown sugar. Full-bodied, layered and multi-dimensional. Chocolate underlines the character above. The perfect tannin texture, length and balance make you think you're dreaming. All about harmony and beauty. Love to taste it now but needs at least five or six years.

There is so much going on with Petrus in 2015 that you should just pull up a chair and relax, don't expect to be going anywhere soon. Aromatic persistency keeps reaching in, pulling you further alongside. There is a soft quality to the tannins that allows the black fruit to be both juicy and sweet. High alcohol is balanced by freshness - a pH of 3.5 is relatively rare on these sticky clay soils - unleashing waves of flavour, including bergamot, smoky tea, black olives and rich cherry. The persistency is crazy - I had to get my notes back out two or three times to take down additional flavours because it just kept giving something more. And it makes you smile! What more do you want? Bottled in June, but will not be sent out to customers until April 2018. 50% new oak. Drinking Window 2023 - 2040
Tasted by Jane Anson (at Château Gazin, 01 Dec 2017)
Part of Future wine legends: Decanter 100-point wines

When I asked winemaker Olivier Berrouet about his greatest challenges in 2015, he replied, “Our biggest challenge is to avoid all the temptations you can have in the vineyard and in the cellar. You can go too far. With our job, if you go too far, you can’t go back. Little steps are best.” His comments eloquently explain the immense pressure of handling a seemingly pressure-less vintage like 2015 in Pomerol. But, with the devil in all the many details that are involved in the pursuit of wine perfection, if anyone has that devil by the horns, it is this incredibly talented young winemaker.

Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Petrus (bottled in mid-July 2017) opens in its own time to reveal crushed black cherries, warm plums, mulberries and cedar chest suggestions with touches of anise, lavender, beef drippings and wild thyme plus a waft of crushed rocks. Medium to full-bodied, it fills the palate with generous, exuberant, wonderfully layered red, black and perfumed blue fruits contrasted beautifully by very ripe, very fine-grained and very firm tannins plus an ethereal line of seamless acid, finishing long and minerally. Olivier Berrouet and his team have knocked it out of the park in 2015. Look for this Pétrus to build and unfold over the next 20 years and confidently cellar this legend for 40+ years. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Interim Issue Mid-February 2018, The Wine Advocate