Petit Verdot

Petit Verdot is the specialist of the Bordeaux blend, used in very small proportions — typically under five per cent — for effects out of all proportion to the quantity.

It contributes intense colour, firm tannin, high acidity and a distinctive violet-and-black-pepper aromatic lift. A few per cent in a Cabernet-dominated blend adds structure and perfume that the other varieties cannot supply. It is used the way a cook uses salt.

The problem in Bordeaux is ripening. Petit Verdot flowers early and ripens even later than Cabernet Sauvignon, and in the maritime climate of the Médoc it frequently fails to reach full maturity before the autumn rains. In poor vintages it is simply left out of the blend, and many châteaux uprooted it during the run of difficult years in the mid-twentieth century.

Warmer climates suit it far better, and it has found a real second career as a varietal wine in Spain, Australia, Argentina, California and Virginia. Those wines are dense, dark and powerfully structured, with blackberry, black plum, violet, black pepper and often a note of dried sage.

Unblended it can be almost too much — the tannin and acidity together need either significant time in bottle or ripe fruit and careful oak handling to come into balance.

Its origins are unclear but probably lie in south-west France, and it is thought to predate Cabernet Sauvignon in the region.