Chateau Petrus 2000

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "A prodigious Petrus, this wine has that extra level of intensity and complexity that is monumental. The magic is clearly Petrus, and the 2000 will always be an interesting vintage to compare to another legend in the making, the 1998, or more recently, of course, the 2005, 2008, and 2009. Extremely full-bodied, with great fruit purity, an unmistakable note of underbrush, black truffle, intense black cherries, licorice, and mulberry, the wine seems to show no evidence of oak whatsoever. It has a sumptuous, unctuous texture, plenty of tannin, but also vibrancy and brightness. This is a remarkable wine that seems slightly more structured and massive than the 1998, which comes across as slightly more seamless, as if it were haute couture. This wine needs at least another 5-10 years of cellaring and should age for 50+ years."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Oh My God! (If I wanted brevity, I could have left it there, as that truly said it all.) This was the real deal. The non-stop perfume explosion reminded me of what Hendrix sounded like at Woodstock! This was thrilling! Chocolate, black raspberry, assorted fresh flowers, herbs, spices, truffles, earth, plums and black cherry could have been enjoyed from across the room. This powerful, concentrated, deep wine filled every nook and cranny of your taste receptors with endless waves of decadent, flawlessly ripe fruit. Purity, velvet, silk, balance and length are the hallmarks of this wine. If I never see it again, (Like Bogart and Bergman, who will always have Paris) I will always remember tasting that bottle."

DECANTER: "Concentrated plum colour, medium-full intensity and star bright. Powerfully complex aromatically with waves of dark berry fruits - blackberry, black cherry and bilberry. Still fairly young in expression, although it slowly unrolls to show campfire smoke and liquorice notes. With time in the glass, a more animal, liquorice bud note arrives, and the retro olfaction brings waves of violets. Exceptionally good quality and nuanced, finishing with black pepper and a hit of spice alongside black chocolate shavings. The tannic structure remains muscular and closed, suggesting this is just at the beginning of its drinking window and will age for many decades to come. From previous experience of this wine, this particular bottle seems entirely in keeping with a Petrus 2000 and is a beautiful example of this particular vintage and estate. Tasted as part of the Space Cargo Unlimited experiment, this bottle remained on earth while another sample was tasted that had returned from space. Drinking Window 2021 - 2050"

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "While the first impression with Pétrus is the wood, it is the fruit which gradually shows itself. It is extraordinary, this dense fruit, which simultaneously manages to float with elegance. There is layer after layer of fruit, sometime black, sometimes smoky, sometimes spicy. The wine is not yet totally integrated, still intensely young, with decades to go."

WINE SPECTATOR: "This has a pretty jam-packed core of blackberry, plum and boysenberry confiture notes inlaid with ample charcoal-edged tannins and carrying through a robustly tobacco-coated finish. But even with that density and power, there is a really beguiling backdrop of incense and black tea flavors waiting to emerge further. It's all there, but this seems a touch more backward than the rest of the field, so hold on here.—Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Best from 2018 through 2035."

WEINWISSER: "Extrem dunkles, tiefes Granat mit rubinen Reflexen. Süsses, berauschendes Bouquet, Maulbeeren, gekochte Waldbeeren, ein Hauch Orangeat, Engelwurz, rotes Cassis und Kokosnuancen, dahinter etwas staubig wirkend. Stoffiger Gaumen, fein verteilte, aber intensive Adstringenz, herrliches Spiel zwischen roten und blauen Beeren, viel Süsse in den elegant ausstrahlenden Tanninen, erst im Nachhall eine dramatische Adstringenz zum Tragen kommend, im Finale einen enorm gebündelten Fruchtdruck zeigend, Gaumenspiel aber auch von einem Pétrus man wohl öffnen muss, um wieder das zu erleben, was der Wein bis kurz vor seiner Flaschenabfüllung gezeigt hatte."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Dark ruby with a black tinge. Rich and with minerals and a strong, pungent note that reminds me of fireworks. Very rich and explosive. Much more impact than the Le Pin. Very long and gorgeous. The most exciting wine here!! Very rich and complete."