Pétrus 1995

The 1995 Petrus is one of the finest vintages of the decade, a silver medal behind the brilliant 1998. This bottle might well constitute the best that I have encountered. It has a beautiful, focused nose with hints of game and humidor infusing the black fruit. With aeration more red fruit becomes evident, allied with a touch of roasted chestnut. The palate is supremely well balanced, slightly gamey and with impressive grip. There is a bit of chutzpah about this Petrus, the way in which it fans out towards the finish. You could broach bottles now, although this example suggests that it is going to be very interesting to follow over the next 20 years. Tasted at the Petrus dinner at Hide restaurant in London. 2020-2040

It is interesting how this wine continues to evolve. Unquestionably one of the vintage's superstar, the 1995 Petrus is taking on a personality similar to the extraordinarily backward, muscular 1975. This is not a Petrus that can be approached in its youth. The wine exhibits an opaque ruby/purple color, followed by a knock-out nose of pain grille, jammy black fruits, and roasted coffee. On the palate, it possesses teeth-staining extract levels, massive body, and rich, sweet black fruits buttressed by powerful, noticeable tannin. A formidably endowed wine with layers of extract, this is a huge, tannic, monstrous-sized Petrus that will require a minimum of 10 years of cellaring. Look for the 1995 Petrus to last for 50+ years.

Tasted at the Pomerol Comparative Exploration tasting in London, the 1995 Petrus is a vintage that I had not tasted for several years. Now just over 20 years old, it continues to cruise at a high level. The nose is very "cool" and refined. There remains plenty of black fruit on the nose, quite savoury in style to such an extent that blind, I was certain it contained some Cabernet Franc and was therefore Lafleur! The palate is extremely well balanced with superb density, wonderful structure and crescendo of flavours. There is a touch of hung game towards the finish, dried blood and sage, the aftertaste ridiculously long. It has reached its drinking plateau, although on this showing, it is going to be a very long plateau. Divine. 2020 - 2055