The Petit
Verdot grape variety is one of the six approved grapes for making
red wines in the Bordeaux
region of France. It
is usually used as you would use a spice in cooking because a little
bit goes a long way. Petit Verdot will often be blended as 1% to 3%
of the total wine in order to take advantage of some of its most dominant
characteristics. Petit Verdot has very deep purple color and a strong
tannin structure. It is usually used to impart these features to the
wine into which it is blended. Because Petit Verdot tends to ripen late
in the season and is often lost to rains during harvest, it is following
another variety, Carmenere,
into near extinction in the Bordeaux region.
Plantings of Petit Verdot are on the rise in California because the
weather there allows for consistent ripening of the grapes. Many of
the more prestigious and quality oriented producers in California are
including small amounts in thier blends. There are a few California
wineries that have gone against the historical trend and bottled wines
with Petit Verdot as the primary grape variety.