1985 - Petrus, Pomerol

Smoke, coffee beans, campfire, gentle white truffle notes, white pepper spice. This is complex, edging into full tertiary flavours, and reflective of a vintage that was successful but not overly concentrated. I have had younger bottles of Petrus 1985 but this still blows you away with its complexity, and its ability to keep on delivering, and surprising you with its longevity.

The 1985 Petrus has long been the most disappointing wine of this decade and this bottle does nothing to alter that conviction. Showing modest bricking, perhaps slightly paler in colour than I recall, the bouquet does nothing much. Static and to use a word I previously used – staid, like a teenager loafing around. The palate is fleshy on the entry as befitting a 1985 Right Bank and then it just loses interest and becomes a one-note Pomerol that is instantly forgettable and it doesn't really care. Here it is trumped by the 1986 Petrus born in a much poorer and more challenging growing season for the appellation. Tasted at the Petrus dinner at Hide restaurant in London.