Farr Vintners Logo

Pétrus 2018

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > Pomerol
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyMerlot
Also available in the following mixed case:

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Petrus

Label

Tasting Notes

The 2018 Petrus has retained its opaque purple-black color after bottling, foreshadowing the seemingly frozen-in-time glacial pace at which this wine is proceeding. It opens very reluctantly, requiring considerable air with vigorous swirling and doggedly demands a few hours before it offers glimpses at this slumbering giant of a wine. As it eventually unfurls, it slowly morphs into a powerful, fantastically pure nose of preserved plums, blackberry preserves and blueberry compote, followed by nuances of molten licorice, dark chocolate, black truffles, iron ore and, still later, floral notions of lilacs and rose oil come through. The full-bodied palate is taut, muscular and oh-so-tightly wound at this stage, revealing peeks at many, many layers of perfectly ripe black and blue fruits, exotic spices and earthy notions for which words simply fail. The texture is at once rock solid and fantastically plush, with impeccably knit freshness, finishing so long you really can't taste or think of anything else for the rest of the day. Here is a heart-stopping titan that puts paid to all those naysayers who contest that perfection in wine cannot exist. It will require a good 8-10 years to hit its stride, then it is very likely to outlive us all, but you will want to make certain you drink this one before you go. 2029 - 2080

100
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (End of Mar), March 2021

Tasted blind at Southwold 2018. Deep ruby colour. Sweetly fragrant with violet, cherry blossom and riper, fuller summer pudding tones. The palate shows more dark fruit in a muscular profile of persistent tannins. This is a powerful wine, highly refined but dense and built to age. There is ample fruit, but this needs time to unfurl with bottle age. Very good bones underneath suggest this will become one of the wine of the vintage in time.

96
Thomas Parker MW, Farr Vintners, February 2022

This wine leaves me speechless. It has so much intensity and density with fantastic ripe fruit with spices, dark berries and walnuts and hazelnuts Currants and licorice. Violets and earth. Full-bodied, very, very tannic yet polished and beautiful. Lasts forever on the palate. Reminds me of the great 1998.

100
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2019

Tasted blind. Very dark. Glowing shaded crimson. Intense, distinctive, concentrated. Peppery note on the complex nose. Voluptuous texture. Almost impossible to spit out. Rich.
Drink 2028 – 2050

19
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, February 2022

The 2018 Petrus is a brilliant wine that has perfection written all over it, and it’s unquestionably one of the most powerful, opulent wines in the vintage. As always, it’s 100% Merlot and offers a heavenly bouquet of cassis, smoke, earth, graphite, and beautiful liquid violets. Full-bodied, deep, and opulent on the palate, I must have written “huge wine!” three or four times in my notes, and despite all its power and richness, it’s seamless, light on its feet, and already hard to resist. Possessing terrific mid-palate depth, sweet tannins, and a finish that ranks with the greatest wines out there, Merlot or any wine for that matter, doesn’t get better. If you’re lucky enough to have a few bottles of this elixir, do your best to give bottles 7-8 years in the cellar, and I suspect it will keep for 40-50 years.

98/100
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com, May 2019

(100 Merlot) | 50% new oak | 14.5% alc | 37 hl/ha | Harvested between 13th September – 27th September Pétrus director Olivier Berrouet explained that the berries at harvest were tiny - 1.1-1.2g each! They carried out eight picks over two weeks and then long and gentle winemaking was key to making a great wine. They knew the wines were powerful but the challenge was to control this power and to preserve elegance and length. The quality of tannins in 2018 Pétrus is incredible. It is thanks to these tannins that there is remarkable freshness on finish of this wine. Dark, dense and powerful, but super-controlled at every step of the way, this is an extraordinary wine. Brooding, deep, profound and inky are all words that I noted down when I tasted this wine. What was amazing was that I didn’t list any words that suggest fruit sweetness. Instead I focussed on the savoury notes, extraordinary length and complete composure and this means that this is a truly classic vintage for this noble wine.

19+
Matthew Jukes, MatthewJukes.com, April 2019
Read more tasting notes...

Very deep purple-black colored, the 2018 Petrus is a little slow to reveal itself, opening out to beautiful floral notions of violets, red roses and lavender with emerging scents of blueberry compote, powdered cinnamon, star anise, fragrant earth and unsmoked cigars plus nuances of black tea, cardamom, rose hips, iron ore and Sichuan pepper. Full-bodied, the palate builds very slowly in the mouth, growing to a crescendo of black and blue fruit with an aria of earth and exotic spice accents, finishing with the most amazing perfume, all draped in super plush, seductive tannins, ending with just enough freshness to make the beguiling flavor waves go on and on. Big, bold and opulent yet with fantastic muscle and energy, this timeless 2018 is nothing short of mind blowing.

98/100
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (April 2019), April 2019
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.