Pétrus (wine)

Petrus is a Bordeaux wine estate located in the Pomerol appellation near its eastern border to Saint-Émilion. An a small estate of just 11.4 hectares (28 acres), it produces a limited production red wine entirely from Merlot grapes since the end of 2010 and produces no second wine. The estate belongs to Jean-François Moueix and his children.

Although the wines of Pomerol have never been classified, Petrus is widely regarded as the outstanding wine of the appellation, and leads a duo of Pomerol estates of extreme prices, along with Le Pin, that in the modern era are consistently among the world's most expensive wines.

History

Originally a 7-hectare (17-acre) vineyard, the estate was owned by the Arnaud family since the end of the 18th century, and the name first appears in records from 1837. In the 1868 edition of Cocks & Féret, under listing Crus bourgeois et 1ers artisans Château Petrus was ranked behind Vieux Château Certan and alongside Château Trotanoy. Some vintages of this period were labelled Petrus-Arnaud. At the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1878, Petrus won a gold medal, at a time when such an event had great consequence, establishing a selling price at the level of a Médoc second growth, the first wine of Pomerol to do so.

Pétrus (restaurant)

Pétrus is a restaurant in London, which serves Modern French cuisine. It is located in Kinnerton Street, Belgravia, and is run by head chef Sean Burbidge on behalf of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's Kavalake Limited. It has held one Michelin star since 2011, and five AA Rosettes. Controversy arose when the star was first awarded. It has received mixed reviews from food critics both while in its current incarnation, and while it was run by head chef Marcus Wareing. It was felt that the dishes were sometimes overcomplicated, and designed primarily to gain Michelin stars. The restaurant was named after the French wine Pétrus.

It is now in its third location, and used to be located in St James's Street, London, and The Berkeley hotel, where it was run by head chef Wareing. By the time Pétrus' lease ran out in September 2008, it held two Michelin stars under Wareing. This resulted in a public feud between Wareing and Ramsay as Wareing took over Pétrus' former location in the hotel, opening his restaurant Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, while Ramsay retained the rights to the Pétrus name.