Château Petrus - 1985 - 750ml - Chateau Petrus

This is the kind of wine that I bought at a high price, and every bottle I have tasted from a six-bottle allocation has been increasingly disappointing. The wine still has its admirers, particularly Michael Broadbent, who continues to find it virtually perfect. Either we have different palates or we are tasting different wine, but this wine now has a medium ruby colour with considerable amber at the edge. The nose smells like fresh vegetable market, with spice box, celery seed, fennel all there, along with a hint of tobacco and Provencal herbs. There is sweet cherry fruit there, but the weediness dominates everything. In the mouth, the wine is light, medium-bodied, and fading. This is a wine to taste with the label clearly in front of you, to think of other Petrus vintages as opposed to what is in the 1985.