Petrus: Wines
The Petrus harvest is effected by hand, by a dedicated team of pickers. It is not a huge vineyard and having a large team is financially viable, so picking is carried out when the grapes reach an ideal level of ripeness as determined by tasting in the vineyard, carried out by Christian Moueix together with Jean-Claude (supposedly retired, but he retains a presence here) and Olivier Berrouet. The ultimate yield once the fruit is brought in is typically in the order of 35 hl/ha.
The 2012 vintage was the first vintage to be made in the new cellars. The wine is sorted on tables and destemmed, then sorted again using, since the 2009 vintage, optical technology. For fermentation, Olivier Berrouet (pictured preceding page) has a choice of concrete (above, ranging from 50 to 150 hectolitres) and stainless steel (below, ranging from 24 to 28 hectolitres) vats, all with temperature control, at his disposal. The fermentations tend to be effected in the concrete vats, while the stainless steel vats are more commonly used for storage and blending.
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