It is with some trepidation that for today’s tasting I take a look at a mature wine from a legendary vintage, Chateau Petit Village Pomerol 2005. For many years Petit Village has been a property that has performed erratically, the quality of its vintages being very hit-and-miss. From excellent to mediocre, lacking consistency. It was strange since it’s located in one of the best part of Pomerol, and many of Bordeaux’s top names have been involved with the estate. Despite my poor billing the wine turns out to be a lovely mature Pomerol.
The estate’s history dates back to at least 1785. The estate became known after the Dufresne family from Libourne purchased it after the French Revolution (1799). At one point the estate was owned by the De Seguin family who also owned Clos Fourtet in St. Emilion.
In 1919, Fernand Ginestet, a well-known Bordeaux negociant and owner of Chateau Margaux bought Petit Village, he had also bought Cos d’Estournel two years previously. Following the frost of 1956, the vineyards of Petit Village required total replanting. Perhaps, due to their experience with their Left Bank properties or perhaps because of a lack of availability of planting materiel, they planted with a very high proportion (over 50%) of Cabernet Sauvignon for Pomerol, the highest proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the entire Right Bank! Replanting with such a high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon could well have been a mistake.
The Ginestets fell on hard times financially and in 1970 were forced to sell Petit Village. New owner Bruno Prats who also bought Cos d’Estournel in the same year. When Bruno Prats began to take control of Chateau Petit Village in 1971, one of his earliest decisions was to rip out much of the Cabernet Sauvignon and replace it with Merlot. His next move was to renovate the cellars in 1977.
In 1989, Prats sold Petit Village to an insurance company, AXA. AXA’s subsidiary AXA Millesimes, also owned Chateau Pichon Baron in Pauillac, Chateau Suduiraut in Sauternes, and other wineries outside France, including Portugal and Hungary.
At that point in time, Jean Michel Cazes of Chateau Lynch-Bages took over the property, Cazes was already working with AXA overseeing Chateau Pichon Baron. In 2000 Christian Seely was appointed Managing Director of AXA Millésimes and took over this role. Under both Cazes and Seely AXA instigated, improvements at Chateau Petit Village such as installing new vats and a new barrel cellar. These renovations created what is still possibly the most architecturally modern-looking estate in the Pomerol appellation. AXA also brought in leading consultants Michel Rolland following the 1996 harvest. Stephane Derenoncourt took over as consultant in 2005.
In the spring of 2020, Chateau Petit Village was sold to its current owners, the Moulin family, who also own the neighbouring Chateau Beauregard. (sorry I say they took ownership in 2002 in the video!
To find out more about this wine, its price and where to purchase it go to wine-searcher.com: https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/petitvillage+pomerol+bordeaux+france/2005?referring_site=DCA
▶️ CHAPTERS:
0:00 Chateau Petit Village Pomerol 2005 wine label
0:15 Inconsistent reputation of Chateau Petit Village
0:37 From the best terroir and made by leading winemakers
1:01 Background and history of Chateau Petit Village
1:11 Owned by the de Seguin family
1:21 Bought by the Ginestet family
1:40 Frost of 1956 devastates the vineyard
2:00 Replanted with a high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon
2:19 Ginestet are forced to sell – to Bruno Pratts
2:37 Pratts pulls out much of the Merlot
2:52 Pratts sells to AXA
3:16 Jean Michel Cazes oversees the estate
3:29 Christian Seely takes over as MD of AXA Millesimes
3:39 Improvements made by AXA
3:52 Launches a second wine
4:07 Michel Rolland engaged as a wine consultant
4:17 Stephane Derenoncourt takes over as consultant in 2005
4:27 Purchased by the Moulin family
4:38 Size and location of vineyard
5:08 Neighbouring properties
5:22 Soils
5:32 Varietal mix in the vineyard
5:56 Vine age and its effects on quality
6:34 2005 vintage in Pomerol
7:30 Style of wines in 2005
7:50 WINEMAKING – Hand-picked
8:00 Fermentation in concrete and malolactic conversion in barrel
8:10 Barrel ageing
8:23 Blend
8:36 TASTING – Appearance
9:10 Aromas
9:59 Palate
11:32 Ability to age
12:05 Score
12:33 Thanks, closing remarks and sign-off
▶️Follow this link to watch a playlist of video tastings I have made with wines from Pomerol: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVa2LhpxQpetZR9C4zJkoiUArimeRNDGu
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1 Comment
An exquisite overview of Château Petit Village and its wine. I’m tempted to start calling you Professor David! Many thanks for putting in the time and effort to create such an informative and entertaining video.