1947 Château Petrus

This bottle of 1947 Petrus was a Vandermeulen bottling. It has a slightly turbid nose that doesn't replicate the entrancing aromatics of the previous example. Yet the palate is beautifully balanced, again, slightly Médoc-like with touches of Earl Grey and Japanese wakame. The 1947 has a fine grip, showing a little more volatility than the 1945 Petrus, as you would expect. It blossoms in the glass, becoming slightly Rhône-like and savory. This does become quite crystalline with aeration as if it needed time to show its true colors, though the aromatics never quite gel. Nevertheless, this is still a wondrous old Petrus. Tasted at the 1940s/1950s dinner at Epure in Hong Kong.

Robert Parker described the 1947 Pétrus as "the most decadent wine of the century," and the description is apposite. The most extraordinarily concentrated and intense 1947 Bordeaux, as well as the most youthful today, this remarkable wine unfurls in the glass with aromas of rich berry fruit, plums, mocha, fruitcake, black truffle, vine smoke and spices. Full-bodied, muscular and enveloping, with a bottomless core of fruit, melted tannins and a long, resonant finish, its depth and completeness are breathtaking, and its sheer plenitude and unctuosity without ponderousness hard to describe. At age 75, this Pétrus remains thick, textural and vibrant, and it will surely see out a century in style.

Tasted 11 Times With Consistent Notes Oct 1994, www.robertparker.com