1972 Petrus, Pomerol

Three bottles available. Petrus, from a private cellar.

Petrus needs no introduction and this listing will not give it one. What it will give you is an honest account of what a 1972 is, because at this price you deserve one.

What the 1972 actually is

1972 was a poor year in Bordeaux. Cold spring, cold and wet August, harvest pushed back to 7 October. Petrus made a creditable wine in a washed-out vintage, which is the most anyone claims for it. Jancis Robinson tasted it in 2013 and found it pale ruby with brown at the rim, wonderfully perfumed and heady on the nose, then light-bodied and gently fading on the palate. John Kapon, tasting a full Petrus vertical, scored it 86.

So this is not a bottle bought for the liquid. It is bought because it says Petrus and 1972 on the label, and because someone was born or married that year. That is a real reason and the market prices it accordingly: a 1972 trades at roughly half a benchmark 1982 or 1989 and about a quarter of a 1961. We would rather sell it to the right person for the right reason.

Where this bottle came from

Every rare bottle we list came out of somebody's cellar, bought from a collector we know rather than through a broker. We inspect each one in person before taking it, and it sits in temperature-controlled storage from that day on.

The details

• Producer: Petrus (Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix)
• Appellation: Pomerol, Bordeaux, France
• Classification: none. Pomerol has never been classified, which is part of the appellation's character
• Vintage: 1972
• Grapes: predominantly Merlot. See the note below on the blend.
• Format: 750ml
• Drinking window: now, fully mature and fading gently

A note on the blend

Petrus is 100% Merlot today, and you will see that stated for every vintage on plenty of retail sites. It was not always true. Under Madame Loubat the vineyard carried close to 20% Cabernet Franc, and the Moueix team only began shifting the plantings decisively toward Merlot around 1970. By the 1990s the Cabernet Franc was down to about half a hectare, roughly 5%, and today it is gone entirely.

So in 1972 there was real Cabernet Franc in the ground. Whether any of it went into the wine is a separate question, and the estate has never published the blend for this vintage. Petrus has historically used its Cabernet Franc only in very ripe years, and 1972 was a cold, wet one. We are not going to tell you this bottle is 100% Merlot, and we are not going to tell you it is a blend. Nobody outside the château knows.

Serving

Stand upright for two days. Open and decant gently off the sediment no more than twenty minutes before serving, and do not let it sit. A wine this old gives you a window rather than an evening. Serve at 62°F with something simple.

About the estate

Madame Edmond Loubat bought into Petrus in 1923 and was sole owner by 1929. Jean-Pierre Moueix took the distribution contract in the 1940s and acquired the remaining shares in 1964. Jean-Claude Berrouet arrived that same year and directed the winemaking until 2008, forty-four consecutive vintages, succeeded by his son Olivier. The vineyard is eleven and a half hectares sitting on a buttonhole of dense blue clay roughly forty million years old, the geological accident that makes Petrus what it is and that no amount of money can buy elsewhere.

Common questions

Is the 1972 a good bottle of wine?
It is a good bottle of Petrus from a bad year. It is mature, light and perfumed, and it is fading. If you want Petrus for the drinking, buy a great vintage. If you want 1972 on the label, this is the wine.

How do I know it is genuine and well kept?
It came from a private collector we know personally and it was inspected before we bought it. We are happy to send additional photographs of the label, fill level and capsule before you order.

Three bottles left, packed for transit and shipped from Florida. Browse more rare and limited vintages.