Chateau Petrus 2000

A magical effort from Petrus, the 2000 has continued to gain weight and stature. From the bottle, it is a perfect wine, much like the 1998. The color is inky plum/purple to the rim and the nose, which starts slowly, begins to roar after several minutes, offering up scents of smoke, blackberries, cherries, licorice, and an unmistakable truffle/underbrush element. On the palate, this enormous effort is reminiscent of dry vintage port, with fabulous ripeness, a huge, unctuous texture, enormous body, and a colossal 65-second finish. I did not have the benefit of tasting it side by side with the equally perfect 1998, but it appears the 2000 is a more massive, macho/masculine wine, with more obvious tannin and structure than the seamless 1998. It is another wine to add to the legacy of the great vintages of Petrus. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2050.