Petrus

A bit like Haut-Brion, Petrus is also an intertwined history of two families, one owners the other winemakers.
Owned by the Moueix family (along with other leading Pomerol vineyards) Petrus was managed by Christian Moueix from 1970 to 2008 with Jean-Claude Berrouet as cellar master since 1963. As well as Petrus, Berrouet was responsible making the wine for the entire Moueix portfolio.
Jean-François Moueix, inherited the property and took over the management in 2009, working with Olivier Berrouet (Jean-Claude’s son) as technical director. Jean-Claude’s sister-in-law, Diana Berrouet Garcia makes the wines at Le Pin – Pomerol is nothing if not incestuous.
Jean-François now owns Petrus and Bordeaux negociant Duclot, working with his son Jean. In 2018 Jean-François sold 20% for 200m euros putting the value of the estate at 1 billion Euros.
What makes Petrus so special? The terroir of the Pomerol plateau is a blend of clay, gravel, sand, and crasse-de-fer (iron oxide), that supposedly gives the wines their beautiful truffle aromas as they age. Petrus sits at the highest point of the plateau (39m). Most of the 11.5 ha of Petrus vines are on the ‘button’ of the famous blue clay. It’s this clay that gives the wines their sensuous, rich, and opulent character that are now 100% Merlot since the 2000s.
It was the wine critic Robert Parker that put Pomerol in the public eye, with the 1982 vintage; since then, the entire Pomerol appellation has risen to the challenge, producing wines worthy of its terroir, with prices to match.
At Petrus, increased selection has reduced the quantity of wine. In the 1970s average yields were around 70 hectolitres per hectare, today they are below 40 hectolitres per hectare which also goes a long way to explain retail prices over $1,000 per bottle on release.