Petit Verdot - The perfect blender
Petit Verdot ("little greenling") is a classic Bordeaux grape variety that stands for elegant and complex red wines with very good ageing potential. The concentrated wines with lush fruit flavours, good spiciness and the distinctive violet notes typical of this variety are usually made into cuvées; they are rarely produced as single varietals. From its native France, the red wine grape conquered the wine regions of the world and is now also cultivated on around 500 hectares in South Africa, for example
Circle of Life Red
- Waterkloof
- Red wine - dry
- South Africa - Stellenbosch
- Shiraz/Syrah
- Jahrgang 2020 - John Platter: 4.5 Sterne
- Jahrgang 2020 - Tim Atkin 2022: 91 Punkte
- Jahrgang 2019 - John Platter: 5 Sterne
- Jahrgang 2019 - Tim Atkin 2021: 89 Punkte
Content: 0.75 Liter (€19.67* / 1 Liter)
Aphaea Red
- Val du Charron
- Red wine - sweet
- South Africa - Western Cape
- Pinotage
- John Platter: 3.5 Stars / 85 Points
Content: 0.75 Liter (€14.60* / 1 Liter)
Rosé
- Buitenverwachting
- rosé wine - dry
- South Africa - Constantia
- Malbec
- John Platter: 3.5 stars/84 points
Content: 0.75 Liter (€9.27* / 1 Liter)
Petit Verdot
- Raka Wines
- Red wine - dry
- South Africa - Klein River
- Petit Verdot
- John Platter: 4 stars / 87 points
Content: 0.75 Liter (€26.60* / 1 Liter)
Petit Verdot
- Zorgvliet Wines
- Red wine - dry
- South Africa - Banghoek-Stellenbosch
- Petit Verdot
- John Platter: 4 stars "vintage 2015" A rating for the vintage 2016 is not available until the Platter edition 2018!
Content: 0.75 Liter (€25.27* / 1 Liter)
Sutherland Emily Petit Verdot
- Thelema Mountain Vineyards
- Red wine - dry
- South Africa - Elgin
- Petit Verdot
- John Platter: 4.5 stars / 94 points
- Tim Atkin 2022: 92 points
Content: 0.75 Liter (€46.67* / 1 Liter)
One Man Band
- Iona Vineyards
- Red wine - dry
- South Africa - Elgin
- Viognier
- Jahrgang 2020 - Tim Atkin 2024: 93 Punkte
Content: 0.75 Liter (€47.93* / 1 Liter)
The Flagship Petit Verdot
- Stellenbosch Vineyards
- Red wine - dry
- South Africa - Coastal Region
- Petit Verdot
- John Platter: 5 Sterne / 95 Punkte
Content: 0.75 Liter (€65.27* / 1 Liter)
The Flagship Petit Verdot
- Stellenbosch Vineyards
- Red wine - dry
- South Africa - Coastal Region
- Petit Verdot
- John Platter: 4.5 Sterne / 94 Punkte
- Tim Atkin 2024: 89 Punkte
Content: 0.75 Liter (€65.27* / 1 Liter)
Profiles
Petit Verdot grapes ripen late and produce deep dark, often almost black fruit, which gives the wine rich flavours and a heavy, full body. The tannin structure is very pronounced, but also velvety, the acidity striking and the alcohol content high. The powerful Petit Verdot red wines are very storable.
Flavours
Dominant notes:
- Violet
- raspberry
- liquorice
- spices
- menthol
Possible notes:
- Herbs/flowers: violet, mint, eucalyptus, menthol, pepper, clove, thyme
- Red fruit: redcurrant, ripe cherry, raspberry, cranberry
- Dark fruit: blackcurrant, blackberry, berry jam
- Tropical fruit: banana
- Earth/other: liquorice, nutmeg, black pepper, black pepper
- Aged in oak: leather, pipe tobacco, truffle chocolate, mocha, roasted hazelnuts
Harmonises with
The dark, rich Petit Verdot is often drunk with braised meat dishes. However, it also harmonises well with mushrooms and fish.
General information
Petit Verdot is a classic Bordeaux grape variety. The "little greenling", as it is also known because it ripens very late, originally comes from Bordeaux in France, where it first appeared on the banks of the Gironde in 1736. From here, it began its triumphal march through France, where it can also be found under names such as Bonton Blanc, Herrant, Lambrusquet, Petit Verdau, Petit Verdot Noir, Plant de Palus and Verdot Rouge. It belongs to the "Carmenets" grape family from the Pyrenees.
While the French still liked to cultivate the Petit Verdot vine in the 19th century, it lost importance there over the decades. Due to uncertainties regarding its ripeness, winegrowers, also throughout northern Europe, increasingly favoured more practicable grape varieties. The main area of distribution is now the New World, where the grape variety reliably reaches full maturity in very hot climates.
Viticultural pioneer Carlos Falcó Marqués de Grinón was the first to attempt to establish Petit Verdot on Spanish soil in the 1990s. Today, the area under vines there is more than 1600 hectares, almost twice as large as in France. Around 1400 hectares of vineyards are planted with the red wine grape in South Australia, around 2000 hectares in California and around 500 hectares in South Africa and Argentina. Around 8,000 hectares of Petit Verdot are planted worldwide, for example in Portugal, Chile, New Zealand, Israel, Sicily and Switzerland.
Petit Verdot, with its thick-skinned, small, almost black berries, loves gravel or pebble soils with good drainage, is resistant to many diseases, grows well and produces good yields. This makes it attractive to winegrowers who like to use the concentrated wine with its spicy flavour in cuvées. A base wine made from Petit Verdot gives strength, structure and longevity to soft red wines in particular.
Pure Petit Verdot wines are very rare. They mainly come from hot climates where the grapes can fully ripen. Good winemakers use them to create elegant and complex red wines with very good ageing potential.