The house grapes · red
Petit Verdot: the dark seasoning of the Bordeaux blend
Petit Verdot is a red grape with intense color, leaning toward violet, that goes into the Bordeaux blend in small amounts to give the wine more backbone. It was born in France and ripens late, so much so that its name, according to Argentina's official wine institute, comes from that. In Argentina and Australia, it also appears alone in the bottle, as a varietal, and in Brazil it already has an address in the Campanha Gaúcha.
Where it comes from
Petit Verdot is French. In VIVC, the international grape catalog, its official name is Verdot Petit, a red grape originating in France; its parents haven't been identified yet. Its historic home is Bordeaux. The rulebook for Pauillac, in the Médoc, says that from the 18th century on, the region's new vineyards were planted only with small-berried grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon above all, but also Carménère, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Merlot.
The name has to do with the way it behaves. The INV, Argentina's official wine institute, explains that it owes its name to its late ripening: it's a grape that takes its time to get ready. The plant has small bunches of medium density and blue-black berries, round, medium to small in size, with medium-thick skins. It's the portrait of a tiny, dark grape, which fits the seasoning role it plays in Bordeaux.
What it's like in the glass
Strong color, red-violet, intense and bright. On the nose, the INV describes red fruit, plum and blackberry; when the wine spends time in a barrel (the oak cask), caramel, vanilla and a touch of coffee and chocolate come in. The acidity shows up and stays balanced, which gives each sip some lift. The tannin, that grip on your gums, according to the same institute, comes out soft and well married to the fruit and the oak.
In Bordeaux, it usually goes in small amounts, like salt in food, to strengthen the whole. The OIV, the international wine organization, points out that this Bordeaux way of blending Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot was adopted by much of the New World. Alone in the bottle, Petit Verdot shows everything at once: deep color, dark fruit and presence in the mouth.
What it pairs with
A deep-colored, well-structured red calls for hearty food: costela no bafo (slow-cooked beef ribs), cupim (beef hump), picanha, lamb, linguiça sausage, meat ragù, feijoada and aged cheese. If it spent time in a barrel, it goes well with pot roast, oxtail stew and red wine sauce. In a Bordeaux blend, Petit Verdot disappears into the whole and the wine goes with the same barbecue as a Cabernet Sauvignon. All suggestions: liked another pairing? Go with that one.
Where it shines today
In Bordeaux, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Carménère together take up only about 5% of the vineyards, according to the CIVB, Bordeaux's wine trade council; Merlot alone has 66% of the reds. Even so, it's on the official grape list of Pauillac, one of the Médoc's appellations. In Argentina, the INV counted 639 hectares in 2022, 15% more than ten years earlier, with 72.6% in Mendoza. That same year, the country sold 4,469 hectoliters of varietal Petit Verdot, more than six times what went out in blends.
In Australia there were 1,120 hectares in the 2015 census, and the Riverland accounted for 77% of the 2026 harvest, according to Wine Australia; there it appears on the label as a varietal and in blends with Shiraz. In California, the 2025 official survey counted about 3,300 acres, around 1,340 hectares. The INV also names Spain, Chile and Uruguay among the countries that grow it. In Brazil, the Campanha Gaúcha had 16.6 hectares in 2015, authorizes it in its Indication of Provenance and has already made varietal wine from it in Embrapa trials.
Its other names
In VIVC, the official name is Verdot Petit, with a short list of 17 synonyms. On labels, all over the world, what shows up is Petit Verdot. The other names on the list hardly ever appear on a label: Verdot, Petit Verdau, Verdot Rouge, Petit Verdot Noir, Carmelin, Bouton, Heran, Lambrusquet and Plant de Palus. The catalog even records an Italian form, Petit Verdot Nero, but the French name is the one that rules on any shelf.
Fourteen bunches per vine
In the Pauillac rules, each grape has its own math. The maximum grape load is 9,500 kilos per hectare, and that turns into a limit of bunches per vine: 14 for Petit Verdot (and for vines trained in cordon or fan) and 12 for the others. The difference fits the INV's portrait of the plant, with its small bunches: under the same weight ceiling, Petit Verdot gets permission to hang more bunches.
And here lies an irony. In another Bordeaux appellation, Côtes de Bourg, the 2023 rules treat Petit Verdot as a variety of interest for adaptation, allowed under an agreement with the INAO, the French appellations institute, and capped at 5% of each estate's vineyard. The grape that Pauillac has planted since the 18th century gets into Bourg through the testing door, alongside Carménère, another old acquaintance of Bordeaux.
To start with: Petit Verdot by price range
The price range the house saw at big stores in Brazil, in the month shown. The price changes; the range tends to stay.
- Villa Francioni RoséR$ 150 to 200checked Sep 2026
- Almavivaover R$ 300checked Sep 2026
- Montes Alpha M Redover R$ 300checked Sep 2026
- El Principal Memoriasover R$ 300checked Sep 2026
- Susana Balbo Briosoover R$ 300checked Sep 2026
Throwing a party? How many bottles to buy →
Top rated with Petit Verdot
Average rating from the people who drank it (X-Wines), from 1 to 5. Tap to see the wine's page.
- Catena Zapata Estiba Reservadarating ★ 4.8
- Colgin IX Estate Redrating ★ 4.8
- Ovid Red Blendrating ★ 4.7
- Biserno Lodovicorating ★ 4.7
- Almavivarating ★ 4.7
- Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiorerating ★ 4.7
- Château Mouton Rothschild Pauillac (Premier Grand Cru Classé)rating ★ 4.7
- Nosotros Sofitarating ★ 4.7
See all 667 labels with Petit Verdot in the search →
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