In the final flight, Lenz Old Vines Merlot from the excellent 2000, 2001 & 2002 vintages were tasted blind against Château Pétrus from the same vintages. The 2000 vintage is regarded by many as one of the best ever in Bordeaux and especially in Pomerol, where Pétrus is situated.

RANK	POINTS	WINE	VINTAGE	PRICE	RATINGS
1	91.9	Château Pétrus	2000	$2650*	Robert Parker-100; Wine Spectator - 98
2	90.9	Lenz Old Vines Merlot	2000	$55	Not Rated
3	90.7	Lenz Old Vines Merlot	2001	$55	Not Rated
4	90.6	Château Pétrus	2002	$480	Robert Parker-90; Wine Spectator - 93
5	90.1	Lenz Old Vines Merlot	2002	$55	Not Rated
6	89.5	Château Pétrus	2001	$600	Robert Parker-95; Wine Spectator - 95

 

Comments:

• *This is not a typo, it is the correct price.
• Congratulations again to Château Pétrus, with an outright 1st place for its fantastic 2000 vintage wine, a full point ahead of the Lenz Old Vines Merlot of the same vintage.
• Lenz did quite well overall though, with 2nd, 3rd and 5th-place finishes for its 2000, 2001 and 2002 Old Vines.
• The average score for the three Lenz wines was 90.6, while the average for the three Pétrus vintages was 90.7. For the flight as a whole you can make a case that Lenz did slightly better. It would be hard not to conclude that Lenz Old Vines Merlot is the equal of Château Pétrus in quality
• Lenz did well on value-for-money, too. The average retail price of the 3 Pétrus wines is almost $1,250, while the average of the 3 Lenz Old Vines Merlots is a mere $55 — less than 1/20th the average cost of the Pétrus wines.
• Equally, you could buy four whole cases of Lenz Old Vines Merlot 2000 for the price of a single bottle of Pétrus 2000 — of course, you’d be giving up one rating point per bottle!
• The point-spread for this flight was 2.4, the narrowest of the four flights. Again, this shows the very similar, high quality of the wines in the tasting.