Although it has long been the most expensive red wine of Bordeaux, Petrus was until the 1960s relatively unknown and unloved.

Great wines were made in the 19th century and early 20th century but the 17-acre vineyard then owned by the Arnaud family had next to no distribution.

In partnership with  Madame Edmond Loubat, Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix became the sole Bordeaux agent for Petrus in1947.

Through Moueix, the wine came to Britain via two importers in Bristol.

One was Averys, which imported Petrus from 1949 on. The other was John Harvey & Sons.

This bottle bears a “John Harvey & Sons” label and capsule.

The label refers to “THE LATE KING GEORGE VI”, who died in February 1952, so this 1949 Petrus was imported and then bottled and labelled by John Harvey & Sons at some point after February 1952 and sold from their shop in Bristol.

Although not normally labelled as a “château”, it’s not unusual for very old Petrus vintages like this to be labelled as “Château Petrus”, which is how it formerly named itself on a statue of St Peter at its entrance (subsequently scrubbed-up and put on a new plinth without “Château Petrus”).

It’s not the “standard” Petrus label as it is today (and has been since I think 1940) – but it’s genuine and a fine example of a well-aged top vintage of Petrus.