Tasting Notes:

100 points Wine Advocate

An estate only needs to produce a handful of wines such as the 1961 Petrus to garner an international following. Not surprisingly, the 1961 Petrus was pure perfection. This fully mature wine possesses a port-like richness (reminiscent of the 1947 Petrus and 1947 Cheval Blanc). The color revealed considerable amber and garnet, but the wine is crammed with viscous, thick, over-ripe black-cherry, mocha-tinged fruit flavors. Extremely full-bodied, with huge amounts of glycerin and alcohol, this unctuously-textured, thick wine makes for an awesome mouthful. Imagine a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup laced with layers of coffee and cherry, and encased in a shell of Valrhona chocolate! (RP)  (2/1996)

98 points Int’l Wine Cellar

Deep red-ruby color with an amber edge. Utterly singular perfumed, high-pitched aromas of loganberry, cherry and flowers. An awesomely concentrated wine of huge power and depth. Chewy with extract and wonderfully sweet and rich. Shows the strong iron note I often get from merlot on the Pomerol plateau, along with superripe suggestions of cherry liqueur and dark chocolate. Finishes with great grip and length, and a bit less sweetness than the middle palate would suggest. (ST)  (8/2002)

98 points Vinous

The 1961 Petrus is a legendary wine, although bottles are now extremely scarce and there are plenty of fakes. Upon close examination of the bottle and cork, with evidence of provenance and verifying with Jean-Claude Berrouet, this is the real deal. It is quite deep in color with just a touch of turbidity, though nothing to fret about. What distinguishes the 1961s is a marine-like trait and this is certainly evident here – a whiff of a cold northerly sea, touches of kelp and crustaceans. It has bewildering delineation. The palate is quite structured, perhaps more so than the 1964 Petrus, quite “serious” and masculine, almost Left Bank in style thanks to its cedar-infused black fruit. With aeration, shade becomes light. There are more red fruit in evidence, all with wondrous detail on the sweet finish that suggests a discrete Cabernet Franc influence. It is an awesome Pomerol, not perfect, certainly of its time. To repeat a phrase I used previously: ‘tis a wine of staggering beauty. Tasted at the Petrus dinner at the Épure restaurant in Hong Kong. (NM)  (9/2019)

97 points John Gilman

In this amazing lineup of old right bank legends, the 1961 Pétrus was the only wine that I would consider to be of the ‘modern school’ of today’s Bordeaux. Every other wine in this tasting was a wine that emphatically tasted as if they had made themselves, with the greatness of the vintages being the key determining factors, with the wines finding their way into bottle in quite primary and unadorned form. The 1961 Pétrus, on the other hand, displayed quite a bit more polish and First Growth attention to detail. The wine was neither better nor worse than any of the others in this amazing group, but it was certainly the ‘odd man out’ stylistically. The bouquet on this fabulous wine is totally captivating, delivering and elegant and profound melange of mulberry, red plum, raspberry, summer truffles, tobacco, milk chocolate, minerals, roses and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, deep and finesseful, with the inherent elegance of the 1961 vintage flawlessly synthesized with suave and steady winemaking. The wine is perfectly focused and balanced, with a great, perfumed inner core of fruit, and great length and grip on the silky finish. This wine possesses a similar intensity without undue weight that can be found in the ’49 Cheval Blanc, but in a much more modern and polished style. It is a great, great wine.  (11/2003)

Bottle Size:

375 mL (Half Bottle)

Storage History:

Stored on its side in a climate controlled cellar since purchase.

Condition:

Please note: The bottle shown is the exact bottle being sold.

Corner of gift box is damaged as shown. Fill level about 1/2″ down from the foil. Excellent fill level & clarity as shown.
Overall outstanding condition