2000 Petrus

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.

Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #189, Jun 2010)

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.

This has a pretty jam-packed core of blackberry, plum and boysenberry confiture notes inlaid with ample charcoal-edged tannins and carrying through a robustly tobacco-coated finish. But even with that density and power, there is a really beguiling backdrop of incense and black tea flavors waiting to emerge further. It's all there, but this seems a touch more backward than the rest of the field, so hold on here.--Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). JM

Quality 987 | Brand 997 | Economics 965 | buzz brand
Quality: Predicted life of 21 years, one of the longest drinking windows in its peer group for the 2000 vintage, which averages 10 years Brand: #3 Most sought after wine globally, with 69,502 searches on Wine-Searcher per month Economics: More traded at auction than its peers, its top 5 vintages having seen 1,584 75cl equivalent bottles traded in the past year Production: Higher yields than its peer group average of 35 hl/ha

- www.wine-lister.com June 2017