Château Pétrus 1962

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

John Gilman’s thoughts on the 1962 Vintage

1962- Much like the 1971 vintage, the 1962 vintage has lived its entire lifetime in the shadow of its more famous, older sibling. While the ‘62s have never been a rival to the brilliantly pure and elegant 1961s, they have always been better than their reputations and continue to offer outstanding drinking and often, superb value at auction. This is also a fine vintage to buy without fears of fraud, as who in their right mind would fake a ’62 when they could do so with a ’61 and make five to ten times the profit? It was a large crop (the largest along with 1967 in the decade) 42 and a rather indifferent growing season was made up for with a superb Indian Summer. In this regard, perhaps 1962 is a bit like 2008? The wines drank fairly well from an early age, but have always possessed good structure underneath and have aged at a nicely relaxed pace and continue to drink beautifully at nearly fifty-five years of age. Like the ‘66s, there is no rush to drink them anytime soon, as they will continue to cruise along beautifully.