The Petit Verdot Grape

Petit Verdot is a red-wine grape originating in the Bordeaux region of France (but see the “Factoid” below). Though traditionally used almost exclusively in small amounts in the traditional Bordeaux blends, it has acquired a second life in the New World, and is now often considered one of the dozen and a half or so of world-class red-wine grapes. Its popularity with winemakers in its native region had declined severely owing to the vineyard difficulties it presents in that climate; but, in the much more beneficent climates of the New World, it is almost a different grape, coming to a late-season maturity that allows it to express itself in impressive monovarietal wines.

Varietal Petit Verdot is distinguished by a deep violet color (one U.S. Winery calls its PV “Inkblot”), high tannin levels and acidity, and a strong, rich flavor. That flavor is variously described as involving notes of dark fruit, cedar, tar, and spices (typical of Bordeaux varieties), as well as less typical overtones, such as (especially when young) banana and vanilla. It is often compared with Syrah for the sorts of wines it makes.

To be a success, a monovarietal bottling requires not only good grapes, but some care in the vinification: the high tannins typically want to be tamed a bit with some oak aging, but if such oaking is overdone, it can easily obscure the fruit and other inherent flavorings of the wines (a problem with oaking not limited to PV wines, but especially problematic here). But, to repeat, grapes grown in warm, long-season climates present distinctly fewer such problems, allowing substantially less oaking and decidedly more exciting wines.

Factoid: There is much speculation that PV was brought north to Bordeaux from an original warmer Mediterranean home by the Romans; that makes sense, as it seems unlikely that the grape developed in a climate so ill-suited to its growth as Bordeaux.

Some Descriptions of Petit Verdot Wines

Wikipedia
“When young its aromas have been likened to banana and pencil shavings. Strong tones of violet and leather develop as it matures.”
About.com
“Petit Verdot is a highly concentrated grape, exuding abundant color, structure and flavor - with many preferring to approach it with the ‘less is more’ philosophy and diluting its potent power by blending. However, for those that have ventured out into the Petit Verdot spotlight, featuring the grape as a stand alone – the expected aromas circle around vanilla, smoke, spice, cedar, molasses and even tar. The Petit Verdot flavor profile often includes dense, dark fruit, to the tune of blackberry, black cherry and black plum.”
Professional Friends of Wine
“Fruit: vinous, black fruits, blackberry. Terroir: leather. Oak (light): vanilla, coconut, sweet wood. Spice: pencil shavings, molasses, tar. Oak (heavy): oak, smoke, toast, tar. Herbal: weeds, nettles. Bottle Age: cedar, cigar box.”
Grape Heaven
“The aroma of a Petit Verdot includes smoke, leather and earth tones. It can also include flavors such as peppers, spices and minerals. A Petit Verdot is not recommended for those who enjoy a fruity wine because long aging in oak barrels usually fades the fruit flavors in the Petit Verdot wine…The good news is that when the Petit Verdot grapes are planted in suitable climates and they are properly cultivated, the grapes develop into small winged clusters, which are loosely filled with round, dark colored, thick skinned grapes which can produce incredible wines.”
Introduction to Petit Verdot with Stuart Olsen
“The characters to look for in Petit Verdot are its intense colours, the wonderful fragrant nose, rich flavours and soft tannins. Primary Fruit/Floral Notes: Petit Verdot is incredibly generous with floral fragrant aromas early on that carry on into its middle life—Lavender, rosewater, musk, violets, fruity banana esters, fennel seed/star anise and white blossoms. Sweet ripe red/black/mulberry notes will be seen very early on, but are usually overshadowed by the floral fragrance/esters predominating. Secondary Fruit Flavours: With age, Petit Verdot likens to a dimension between sweet and savoury with the fruity floral flavours developing into deeper ‘moreish’ characters…Licorice, graphite/lead pencil, cola, sweet beetroot reduction, blood plum, blueberry, leather.”
Wine Cellar Insider
“[In blends] it adds additional tannin, color and a unique flavor profile that can manifest itself with aromas of flowers, olives or when very ripe, blueberry characteristics. When not fully ripe, Petit Verdot tends to be a sharply acidic, unpleasant grape for wine.”
Raffaldini Vineyards
“These thick-skinned grapes produce wines with mouth-gripping tannins that are so powerful that they often leave the palate with a puckering sensation. The aroma is strong and encompasses earth, leather, smoke and cigar box tones. On the palate, the taste is smoke, spice, minerals and peppers. Due to the high levels of tannin that require long oak aging to soften, there is typically a lack of final fruit sensations in Petit Verdot.”
CrossKeys Vineyard
“During a good vintage, Petit Verdot is amazing on its own. It is purple and inky in color with dense, dark; fruit flavors (think black berry or plum). The single varietal aromas can include vanilla, smoke, spice, cedar, molasses, and even tar.”
Wines SA
“Taste can vary greatly, depending upon the age of the grapes at harvest. Younger grapes will have a rather banana-like taste, with a woody edge, while older grapes will tend to produce a violet or leather flavour. In South Africa, the Petit Verdot grapes are rather sensitive to drought, which can give an acidic taste to the wines, but where it is grown and tended carefully, the wine is likely to be a dark, fruity taste which has a full body. If the plants are not carefully irrigated, then they can produce an excess of acid which will make the resulting wine too astringent to easily swallow. However, with the South African weather allowing Petit Verdot to ripen successfully, the wines produced should be extremely tasty, with full body, meaty taste and fresh fruit aromas, all of which can be savoured when drinking a single varietal Petit Verdot wine.”

Some Petit Verdots to Try

Petit Verdot has apparently arrived—“apparently” because prices for decent-or-better Petit Verdots have gone through the roof. To get a reasonable list, we had to slightly flex our criteria, but we did get a reasonable sampling.

For a Splurge

This web page is strictly compliant with the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) Protocol v1.0 (Transitional) and the W3C Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Protocol v3 — because we care about interoperability. Click on the logos below to test us!

This page was last modified on Saturday, 30 October 2021, at 11:26 pm Pacific Time.

That Useful Wine Site