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Pétrus 2005

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > Pomerol
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyMerlot

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Label

Tasting Notes

Offering pure black cherry and blackcurrant fruit, the inky ruby/purple 2005 Petrus is still very young and unyielding, but super-concentrated, powerful, full-bodied and primordial. It is much more backward than the likes of Lafleur, Trotanoy or Hosanna. Nevertheless, it is super-rich, extracted, beautifully balanced and pure. Forget it for another 10-15 years, and drink it over the following half-century. This may well be among the longest-lived wines of 2005. Drink 2025-2080.

97+
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (219), June 2015

A sleeping giant. Dark ruby in color, showing aromas of blackberry, cèpe and green olive, with a hint of mineral. Full-bodied, with ultrafine tannins and a supercaressing mouthfeel. Turns to coffee, dark chocolate and berry. Chewy yet balanced. Very, very long in the mouth. The finish is absolutely breathtaking. Best after 2013.

100
James Suckling, WineSpectator.com, February 2008

Deep garnet-brick in color, the 2005 Petrus needs a lot of coaxing to shake loose the first wave of broody, meaty / savory notes over a powerful core of prunes, fruitcake, unsmoked cigars, and sandalwood. The palate is medium to full-bodied and characteristically concentrated, delivering taut, grainy tannins with a lively line and layers of earthy and mineral-laced black fruit flavors, finishing on a lingering ferrous note. To get the full wow experience out of this titan, give it another 5-10 years in the cellar and then enjoy over the following 25-years+. Petrus is a small, 28-acre estate on the Pomerol plateau, located on a slight, almost imperceptible hill or "buttonhole." It is famous for its crasse de fer soil, which is an iron-rich sub-soil pan beneath which the roots cannot penetrate, providing a layer of measured moisture from below. In most years, the wine is 100% Merlot. Owned by the Moueix family, the property's winemaker was the long-serving Jean-Claude Berrouet in 2005, and now his son Olivier has taken over.

98+
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, July 2022

Tasted blind. Very savoury and appetising. Round and sweet. A real charmer with such great balance that I swallowed it! Really lovely. No rough edges. Long.
Drink 2015-2045

19
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, March 2017

Deep red. Knockout nose combines raspberry, mulberry, coffee, minerals and sexy coconutty oak. Strong yet silky on the attack, then strikingly deep in the middle, with superb inner-mouth perfume to the flavors of boysenberry, minerals and flowers. This boasts palate-staining fruit and grip of steel. A powerfully structured, profound wine with extraordinary energy, from fruit picked very early. This great but backward wine should evolve in bottle for three or four decades.

96+
Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar

A great Pétrus, certainly the best since 1998. Massive concentration and reined in power. Builds on the palate. Great balance for such a big wine. Drink 2015-2040

19.5
James Lawther MW, Decanter.com, April 2006

Came seventeenth out of 184 wines

17.5+
-, Southwold Bordeaux Tasting, January 2009
Read more tasting notes...

Inky/ruby/purple-colored with a classic, but tightly wound bouquet of vanillin, cedar, roasted herbs, mulberry jam, black cherries, licorice, and graphite, the full-bodied, powerful, tannic 2005 Petrus is a super-concentrated, backward wine meant for five decades of aging. As excruciatingly tannic as some of the northern Medocs, it requires at least 15 years of bottle age. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050+.

96+
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (176), April 2008

The uncontested star of Pomerol, there are 2,400 cases of the 2005 Petrus, which appears to be the finest wine made at this estate since the 1998 ... and that’s saying something. It boasts an inky/blue/ruby/purple color along with an extraordinary bouquet of sweet mulberries, black cherries, cassis, vanillin, and spice box. While powerful and full-bodied with high tannin, it displays no aggressiveness or austerity. This massive, rich, super-intense Pomerol will be at its finest between 2018-2050+. It is another brilliant achievement for Christian and Jean-Francois Moueix.

98/100
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (170), April 2007

Proprietor Jean-Francois Moueix told me this wine reminds him of the 1947 Petrus. Production in 2005 (2,300 cases) was about half of what could be produced, and the resulting wine should last for a half century or more. A dense purple color is followed by a promising nose of sweet black and red fruits interwoven with pain grille, mineral, licorice, and mocha-like characteristics. This full-bodied, powerful, exceptionally pure, multilayered effort is a bigger, fuller Petrus than the 2003, and easily as structured as the 2000. Only time will tell whether it will turn out to be as complex and noble as the 1998. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2050+.

96/100
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (164), April 2006

The Petrus 2005 might not be the cheapest wine that has ever been made, but if somebody else is paying it will blow you away. Unsurprisingly, it is bestowed with a more nuanced bouquet than the Le Pin '05. It is beautifully defined, crystalline, with vibrant red berry fruit, minerals, iris and smoke. This is utterly profound. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannin, perfect acidity, slightly savoury fruit with an iron-rich finish. There is amazing persistence here, a Petrus that has finally decided to join the ranks of the great vintages from this Pomerol estate such as the 1970, 1989 and 1998. Sensational, seductive and serious. Drink 2020 - 2050

99
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, February 2015

Astounding. This is wonderfully concentrated with fabulous fruit, chocolate and berry character. Full-bodied, with chewy tannins and a long, long finish. My head is spinning. This could be 1989 in the remake. 100 points?

95/100
James Suckling, WineSpectator.com, March 2006

Dark blackish ruby. Spicy, ripe, dense and complex on the nose. Really a very remarkable wine with masses of ripe fruit but in a suitable corset and with so much density and potential. Refined tannins and a hugely ambitious wine. This one will run and run. Very lively as well as being sweet and sleek. So clean and fresh on the end. 13.5%
Drink 2020-2050

19.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, February 2015

Sweet, very ripe fruit on the nose. Quite tough acidity and dry tannins on the finish. Hard work at the moment - perhaps beginning to close up. Falls away on the finish

17
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, February 2009

Just mid crimson. Very embryonic wine with freshness the overriding quality on the nose. Only after that does the opulence reveal itself. Fresh, almost floral, with only medium weight and then, like Trotanoy, a great panoply of flavours on the back palate and an amazing depth of tannin. A wine with very different structure from most bordeaux 2005. Dry finish and all completely embedded at present. Certainly doesn't taste especially high in anything other than tannin, which itself is strictly a phenomenon of the second half of the tasting experience. Drink 2020-40

18.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2006
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.