Petit Verdot

Also known as

Petite Verdot

Petit Verdot is a black-skinned Vitis vinifera grape from southwest France, most likely the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, and it may predate Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux. Its own parentage is unclear, but it is one parent of Tressot, crossed with Duras from near Toulouse. It is also called Verdot.

Almost all French Petit Verdot grows in Bordeaux, especially the Médoc, where it is used in small amounts in the classic Bordeaux blend. It ripens later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, so it was historically risky there. Warmer New World regions now grow it more reliably, notably Australia, California, Virginia, Argentina, Chile, Spain, Italy and South Africa, often as a varietal wine.

In the glass it is deeply coloured, full-bodied and firmly tannic, with aromas and flavours of blackberry, plum, violet, black pepper, cocoa and licorice. Young wines can show banana and pencil-shaving notes; with age leather, cedar and earthy notes emerge. It adds structure, colour and perfume to blends, and in warm sites makes dense, age-worthy single-variety reds.