Man behind 'Petrus punch' video that shocked wine lovers shares huge receipt for the wine
11 September 2024, 12:04 | Updated: 11 September 2024, 12:23
The man behind a 'Petrus punch' video, which showed people haphazardly pouring dozens of bottles of vintage wine into a glass bowl, has revealed the real reason behind the £100k sangria drink.
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Wine connoisseurs were left outraged by the video, which showed the patrons of the La Guérite restaurant on Sainte-Marguerite island, off Cannes, cheering and whistling whilst mixing two vintages of world-class Petrus with ice cubes, oranges and additional ingredients.
The partygoers have not been identified but in August they were seen pouring the vintage wines, which included one from 2006 costing approximately £3,200 a bottle and another from 2011, costing £2,700.
One of the men in the video, who claims to be an entertainment executive, revealed the huge price tag for the drink and why he decided to spend as much as he did.
He said that he poured 10 bottles of Petrus into the bowl to reach a €100,000 minimum spend on a premium table.
"I was bored of ordering champagne to hit the minimum for the table at a private event where Keinemusik was performing," he told the Mail.
"That’s the story behind the story. I only chose Petrus because it was the most expensive item on the menu per bottle."
When asked how he felt about the cost, he said: "I don’t know. Indifferent, I guess.
"I wanted to see Keinemusik with my friends and 100k was the price."
The full receipt for the drink showed that he spent €113,682 overall.
Speaking to The Times, Philippe Faure-Brac, a renowned sommelier, said it was "like using a Picasso or a van Gogh to make a fire".
"This is a wine with a gastronomic vocation par excellence. Why not taste it in a very festive way? Putting it in a sangria is not its vocation."
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But the man in the video hit back at criticism saying: "I don’t tell you how to eat your steak or drink your preferred beverage.
"At the end of the day it’s just wine. Why people have such a strong opinion about such stuff is beyond me."
Petrus became a favourite of Princess Elizabeth in the 1940s when Marie-Louise Loubat, who owned the brand at the time, sent over a case to the UK.
The princess adored the red wine and went on to invite Loubat to serve it at her wedding.
In addition the wine was served to John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie, who were both known as Francophiles and shared their love for the wine which hugely boosted its popularity in the US.
The vineyard produces just 30,000 bottles of Petrus a year on its ten hectares of land.
Previously, the well-known wine critic Robert Parker said the 2006 Petrus had "notes of caramelized, sweet black cherries and wild berry fruit with plenty of spice, earth, and a hint of herbaceousness."
In 2011, he said the vintage had "restrained but intriguing aromas of kirsch, raspberry jam, wood spice, and mulberries."
