Château La Fleur-Petrus 2000 — Pomerol, 0.75 L

Château La Fleur-Petrus 2000: a Merlot and Cabernet Franc blend from Pomerol

The 2000 vintage of Château La Fleur-Petrus comes from Pomerol, on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. The blend is Merlot and Cabernet Franc, a dry red offered in the 0.75 L bottle. Pomerol wines are produced notably from Merlot. The château lies across the road from Château Pétrus. Jean-Pierre Moueix acquired the estate in 1950, and it belongs to Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix.

Merlot makes up about 80% and Cabernet Franc about 15% of the Pomerol vineyard area, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot minor. Those are appellation-wide figures and descriptive, not the make-up of this wine. A spring frost in 1956 devastated Cabernet Franc and replanting with Merlot increased afterwards.

Pomerol was excluded from the 1855 classification. The appellation has no official classification of its own. It is one of the smallest appellations in the Gironde, about 3 by 4 kilometres, on soils that are principally gravel, clay and sand. The AOC was established in 1936, and white grape varieties have been prohibited there since then. The name La Fleur-Petrus dates from the 18th century and derives from the localities Petrus and La Fleur.