Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

I don’t often post my tasting notes, but I’ll make an exception for this one . I’ve had this bottle for a little while since acquiring it from a cellar with pristine provenance at a price I couldn’t refuse (in 375 mL format - so more “affordable” and same owner for nearly 50 years). And when we hosted fellow wine lovers we haven’t seen in years, I thought it’d be a worthy enough occasion to open this.

I know with bottles this old, it really comes down to a bottle by bottle basis, but the wine deities showed favor on us last night.

Cork completely soaked, and lots of bottle funk upon opening, but over the next 30-60 minutes this came to life gradually, and within the first 3-5 minutes, I knew this was going to be one to remember….

My first (and hopefully not only!) Petrus experience….smoky black truffle, charcoal, earth, mild tobacco sweetness but with a core elegance and plummy blackberry fruit still hanging on. Rustic, yet refined - powerful, yet elegant. A nose and palate that will haunt me as very few have ever managed to do so.

I’m not nearly as experienced as many are on this board, but now I understand just how wonderful some of these older pomerols can be and why they are so highly sought after / command the prices they sometimes do. Truly a 100 pt experience for me.

Oh man look at that color for a 52 year old wine!
Sounds — and looks — amazing.
Very well done indeed, JimS.

Wow, great note! I’ve had 1970 Petrus once, thanks to the generosity of another BWEer, about 2 decades ago. It was awesome then too. Glad your bottle showed so well. Bet you remember it forever.

I don’t know when to open my lone bottle of 1995 Petrus.
Maybe at age 75 in 11 years, it’ll be 38 years old at that point. I think.

What a nice report and nice pictures! It is weird, i never tried (and guess i will never have the chance to tey it) but i feel so happy for you, JimS! It is great to read a bottle like that, delivered all it goods for a wine lover like you!

Great!

Thank you all! I truly felt like I caught lightning in a bottle yesterday evening with this one - an experience I will never forget! The word “haunting” just comes to mind…something few wines I’ve ever had have done, but one of those top 3-5 wines I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing that you never forget. So often these high flyers just don’t live up to expectations, but this one did!

Congratulations, JimS!

You can buy a 750 of this for around $4000, but with no guarantee that it will be good.

Just looking at the color you can tell it was well stored.

Congratulations Jim$

BD Jim I think you will need to drink your 1995 between 2040 and 2050

Or for that price of Petrus, BD should get a coravin and can enjoy it in multiple times...Will be well spent money on coravin....

If I wait that long I will be drinking it with the mighty Stefan in the Great Tasting Room in the Sky.

Chateau Vin wrote: ↑Sun Nov 20, 2022 11:55 pm Or for that price of Petrus, BD should get a coravin and can enjoy it in multiple times...Will be well spent money on coravin....

Based on my personal experiences with Coravin, this is the last thing I would do with this bottle.

Lovely pictures. I hope for your next one you consider Georg's 'Petrus' specific stem.

I first sampled this wine in 1989 and it was variable even back then. Earlier this year I thought my bottle was fading although still pretty good. My best bottle was in 2017 and it was magnificent.

Unfortunately it’s impossible to sip it without thinking of the price, which alters the experience and magnifies the disappointment if it underperforms.

Glad your bottle was apparently wonderful, even more amazing from a half.

s*d*r wrote: ↑Mon Nov 21, 2022 8:15 pm I first sampled this wine in 1989 and it was variable even back then. Earlier this year I thought my bottle was fading although still pretty good. My best bottle was in 2017 and it was magnificent.

Unfortunately it’s impossible to sip it without thinking of the price, which alters the experience and magnifies the disappointment if it underperforms.

Glad your bottle was apparently wonderful, even more amazing from a half.

That’s a great point Stu. To expand on it, even if the bottle is in fine shape, value can be a barrier to opening a bottle like that for just the two of us. Unless it’s a very special occasion.