FLOAT 100 · Wine · No. 6
Petrus 2010
From a single mound of 40-million-year-old blue clay in Pomerol, in the driest Bordeaux summer since 1949, came a Merlot that Robert Parker compared to the monumental Petrus vintages before 1975 and scored a perfect 100.
- Maker
- Petrus
- By price in wine
- 14 of 100
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Create a free account- Estate
- Petrus, Pomerol, Bordeaux
- Vineyard
- About 11.4 hectares (sources give 11.3 to 11.5) on a roughly 20-hectare island of clay
- Grape
- 100% Merlot
- 2010 harvest
- September 27 to October 12, 2010
- Alcohol
- 14.1% natural alcohol per one report; 14.5% per another written at the 2011 barrel tasting
- Quantity
- About 10% less wine than in 2009; a typical year is about 30,000 bottles (2,500 cases)
- Aging
- About 50% new French oak for 18 to 20 months
- Winemaker
- Olivier Berrouet, who took over from his father, Jean-Claude, in 2008
- Owners
- The family of Jean-Francois Moueix, with a 20% stake held by Alejandro Santo Domingo
- Critics
- 100 points from Robert Parker, Lisa Perrotti-Brown and James Suckling
A hill of blue clay
Petrus sits at the highest point of the Pomerol plateau, about 40 meters up, on what locals call the boutonniere, or buttonhole: a mound of clay about 20 hectares across in a sea of gravel. The Petrus vineyard, divided into 12 parcels, lies entirely on top of it, while its neighbors have only part of their land on the clay.
The topsoil is dark clay 60 to 80 centimeters deep. Beneath it is a dense blue clay, a smectite at least 40 million years old, so hard that roots cannot penetrate it and spread sideways instead. Smectite swells and seals when wet, holding water the vines can draw on in dry summers. The surrounding gravel, by comparison, is about 1 million years old.
Records of the property go back to the mid-1750s, and Antoine Arnaud bought it in 1770; the Arnaud family kept it into the 20th century. By the mid to late 1800s Petrus was considered the third-best wine of Pomerol, and after phylloxera it was replanted mostly to Merlot. The name comes from the hill, and the label's image of St. Peter draws on 'Petros,' the Greek form of his name.
Madame Loubat and the Moueix family
In 1917 the former manager, M. Sabin-Douarre, bought Petrus. Madame Edmond Loubat, owner of the Hotel Loubat in Libourne, began buying shares from his family in the 1920s; one source says 1923 and sole ownership by 1929, another says about 1925 and sole ownership by 1945. In the 1940s she gave the Libourne merchant Jean-Pierre Moueix the rights to sell the wine, and the two agreed that Petrus would never sell for less than Cheval Blanc.
In 1947 Madame Loubat presented magnums of 1938 Petrus for the wedding of Princess Elizabeth. When a frost in 1956 killed two-thirds of the vineyard, she rebuilt it by recepage, cutting damaged vines back to regrow from the old roots instead of replanting. She died in 1961 without children, leaving the estate to a nephew and a niece and a share to Moueix. He bought the nephew's portion in 1964, the year the oenologist Jean-Claude Berrouet joined; in 1969 his son Jean-Francois bought the niece's shares and 5 hectares from neighboring Gazin.
President John F. Kennedy's fondness for Petrus helped make its name in America, and Robert Parker's praise of the 1982 vintage turned Pomerol into a global obsession. After Jean-Pierre Moueix died in 2003, Jean-Francois Moueix took charge. Jean-Claude Berrouet retired in 2008 after 45 vintages and was succeeded by his son Olivier, then 33. Alejandro Santo Domingo, a Colombian investor, bought a 20% stake; it was reported in September 2018, and one account says the deal was made about two years earlier and kept quiet.
2010: drought, sun and cool nights
The 2010 season started slowly after a cold winter, with bud break in mid-April. Uneven flowering hurt the Merlot: millerandage and coulure left damaged berries that had to be removed, cutting yields and concentrating what remained. A cool, damp early June gave way to a warm, sunny summer with cool nights. It was the driest year in Bordeaux since 1949, and the wines came out rich in tannin, alcohol and acidity at once.
At Petrus the grapes were picked between September 27 and October 12. Olivier Berrouet said the key 'was avoiding over extraction due to the combination of high alcohol coupled with high acidity levels,' and that to avoid even higher alcohol they reduced green harvesting and limited pump-overs to once a day. His father, Jean-Claude, said at the same tasting that he worried about how well the new vintages would age; father and son disagreed.
Reports of the alcohol differ: one tasting report from April 2011 gave 14.5%, the same as 2009, while a critic's note gives 14.1% natural alcohol, and a later note says close to 14%, high for Petrus. The estate made about 10% less wine than in 2009. The vineyard's last Cabernet Franc was being removed around this time; one source dates Petrus as pure Merlot from the end of 2010.
Three perfect scores
Robert Parker gave the 2010 100 points, writing that it 'reminds me somewhat of the pre-1975 vintages of Petrus, a monster-in-the-making, with loads of mulberry, coffee, licorice and black cherry notes with an overlay of enormous amounts of glycerin and depth.' Lisa Perrotti-Brown, also writing for the Wine Advocate, gave it 100 as well, praising 'exquisitely ripe, fine-grained tannins and fantastic freshness.'
James Suckling scored it 100 too, describing 'extraordinary balance and depth' and a palate 'full and ultra-velvety yet there is a cashmere quality to the texture.' Neal Martin was more reserved at 98+, calling it 'masculine and a little aloof, especially compared with the 2009,' and advising at least 8 to 10 years in bottle.
Opinion on the two great back-to-back years still divides. One longtime Bordeaux critic judged 2009 the better vintage in Pomerol overall, yet scored the 2010 Petrus 100 when he retasted it from bottle in September 2013, noting a finish that lasted a full minute.
The world in 2010
The vines budded in a year of upheaval. In January the Burj Khalifa opened in Dubai and a 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince, Haiti; in February an 8.8-magnitude quake struck Chile. On April 3 Apple released the first iPad, and on April 20 the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers.
Spain won the World Cup in South Africa on July 11, and from late July monsoon floods spread across Pakistan. The Merlot at Petrus was still on the vine when Instagram launched to the public on October 6.
Price and provenance
With no second wine, lots not good enough for Petrus are sold off as generic Pomerol. That keeps the wine scarce, and it is also one of the most counterfeited wines in the world, according to one longtime Bordeaux writer, who advises buying only from verifiable sources.
Recent sales show the 2010's level. A six-bottle lot sold at auction in the United States for $27,800 in March 2023, and another six bottles sold for $30,800 in November 2024 against an estimate of $22,500 to $27,000.
In 2026 a US retailer asked $5,995 a bottle, a six-bottle lot was listed in bond at about $27,040, and one trading desk showed a market value of $45,510 for a 12-bottle case.
The numbers
- Vineyard
- About 11.4 ha (sources give 11.3, 11.4 and 11.5), 12 parcels
- Typical production
- About 30,000 bottles (2,500 cases) a year
- 2010 production
- About 10% below 2009
- 2010 harvest
- September 27 to October 12
- Robert Parker
- 100
- Lisa Perrotti-Brown (Wine Advocate)
- 100
- James Suckling
- 100
- Neal Martin
- 98+
Timeline
Antoine Arnaud buys the property, beginning more than a century of Arnaud family ownership.
Former manager M. Sabin-Douarre buys Petrus.
Madame Loubat begins buying shares in Petrus (another source says about 1925).
Jean-Pierre Moueix gains exclusive selling rights to Petrus.
Madame Loubat presents magnums of 1938 Petrus for Princess Elizabeth's wedding.
Frost kills two-thirds of the vineyard; it is restored by cutting vines back to the roots.
Madame Loubat dies, leaving Petrus to a nephew and niece and a share to Jean-Pierre Moueix.
Moueix buys the nephew's share; Jean-Claude Berrouet joins as oenologist.
Jean-Francois Moueix buys the remaining shares and 5 ha from Gazin.
Robert Parker's praise of the 1982 vintage launches Pomerol and Petrus to worldwide fame.
Jean-Pierre Moueix dies; Jean-Francois Moueix takes charge of Petrus.
Olivier Berrouet succeeds his father as winemaker and director.
Picking of the 2010 begins, finishing October 12.
The 2010 is shown from barrel; the estate reports about 10% less wine than in 2009.
A critic retastes the bottled 2010 and scores it 100.
Alejandro Santo Domingo's purchase of a 20% stake in Petrus is reported.
Six bottles of the 2010 sell at auction in the United States for $27,800.
Six bottles of the 2010 sell at auction in the United States for $30,800.
The world in 2010
The Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest structure, opens in Dubai.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake devastates Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
A magnitude 8.8 earthquake strikes Chile and triggers a Pacific tsunami.
Apple releases the first iPad.
The Deepwater Horizon rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers.
Spain wins the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Instagram launches to the public.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 17, 2024 | $30,800 | Sold at auctionSix 750 ml bottles sold at auction in the United States (about $5,130 a bottle). |
| 2026 | $5,995 | Asking price, not a saleUS retailer asking price for one 750 ml bottle. Not a sale. |
This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.
By reference price, Petrus 2010 is number 14 of 100 in the wine entries of the FLOAT 100. 12 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (6 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- The blue clay under Petrus is at least 40 million years old, about 40 times older than the gravel around it.
- Petrus has no second wine; rejected lots are sold off as generic Pomerol.
- Madame Loubat and Jean-Pierre Moueix agreed that Petrus would never sell for less than Cheval Blanc.
- Magnums of 1938 Petrus were presented for the 1947 wedding of the future Queen Elizabeth II.
- After the 1956 frost, Petrus was saved by recepage, cutting the frozen vines back so they regrew, rather than by replanting.
- Average yields at Petrus fell from close to 70 hectoliters per hectare in the 1970s to about 40 today.
- In the 1950s and 1960s Petrus was planted closer to 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc; today it is all Merlot.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 1, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026