Petit Verdot: Taste, Regions and Food Pairing

Petit Verdot is a dark, tannic red grape from Bordeaux, where it is used in small amounts to add color and backbone to blends. On its own, in warmer places such as Virginia, Australia, Spain and California, it makes bold, inky reds with black cherry, plum and violet notes. If you like big Cabernet Sauvignon and want to try something less familiar, a single-varietal Petit Verdot is a good next step.

What Petit Verdot tastes like

Wine Folly lists Petit Verdot as dry, full-bodied, with high tannin and medium acidity, at about 13.5–15% alcohol. Its main flavors, per Wine Folly, are black cherry, plum, violet, lilac and sage. Wine Folly also notes that the wine is bold up front with a relatively short finish. Tannin is the drying, grippy feel from grape skins; acidity is the fresh, mouth-watering tang.

Wikipedia adds that young Petit Verdot has been compared to banana and pencil shavings, and that violet and leather notes develop with age.

Trait	Typical Petit Verdot
Sweetness	Dry
Body	Full
Tannin	High
Acidity	Medium
Alcohol	About 13.5–15%
Main flavors	Black cherry, plum, violet, lilac, sage; leather with age

In our view, Petit Verdot is more about color and structure than charm when young. That is why it works so well as a seasoning in blends, and why the best single-varietal versions come from places warm enough to ripen it fully.

Petit Verdot in Bordeaux

Petit Verdot comes from south-west France. Wikipedia says the earliest records date to the 18th century, that it may have been domesticated in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, and that it probably grew in Bordeaux before Cabernet Sauvignon did. It is also a parent, with Duras, of the rare French grape Tressot. The name is usually translated as “small green”, a reference to its poor berry development when flowering weather is bad and to its late ripening.

That late ripening is the grape’s problem in Bordeaux. Wikipedia notes that it matures well after the other Bordeaux varieties, often too late for the region’s climate, so that in some years the whole crop is lost and it only ripens properly about once every four years.

As a result, it is a minor player. The Bordeaux Wine Council’s figures for the red vineyard:

Grape	Share of Bordeaux’s red vineyard
Merlot	66%
Cabernet Sauvignon	22.5%
Cabernet Franc	9.5%
Petit Verdot, Malbec and Carménère together	2%

Nearly all of France’s Petit Verdot is in Bordeaux, mostly in the Médoc, according to Wikipedia. The council calls it an auxiliary variety that can enrich a blend’s character. In small doses, Wikipedia says, it adds tannin, color and flavor and firms up the mid-palate of Cabernet Sauvignon blends.

Single-varietal Petit Verdot

Wine Folly notes that Petit Verdot has shown promise as a single-varietal wine in warmer climates, where it makes smooth, full-bodied reds. Here is where to find it.

Virginia

Petit Verdot has become one of Virginia’s signature reds. The Virginia Vineyards Association’s 2023 Commercial Grape Report counts 447 acres of Petit Verdot, producing 857 tons that year. That makes it the state’s third most planted grape, behind Cabernet Franc and Merlot, and the report notes that Merlot and Petit Verdot both overtook Chardonnay in total acreage in 2023. The state had about 4,318 acres of grapes in all, so Petit Verdot is roughly a tenth of the state’s grape acreage.

Why Virginia? A 2019 article on the Monticello Wine Trail’s blog explains that Virginia’s growing seasons are often too short to fully ripen Cabernet Sauvignon, and that local demand for a bigger, bolder East Coast red helped Petit Verdot take off. The article counted about 206 bearing acres at the time, up from around 80 a decade earlier, and noted that three 100% Petit Verdot wines were among the 12 honored at the 2018 Virginia Governor’s Cup competition. It describes Virginia examples as deep purple, floral, tannic and full-bodied.

In our view, Virginia is the most interesting place to try Petit Verdot in the US, both as a varietal wine and in blends. Our guide to Cabernet Franc covers Virginia’s other leading red.

Australia

Wikipedia gives about 1,600 hectares of Petit Verdot in Australia in 2000, and notes that Kingston Estate in South Australia then had the largest planting.

Spain

In Spain, Petit Verdot is used mostly as a seasoning in Bordeaux-style blends, according to Wikipedia. It also appears on the list of principal red grapes of Jumilla, in the hot south-east, alongside Monastrell, Tempranillo, Garnacha and Cabernet Sauvignon, per Foods and Wines from Spain.

California and South America

Wikipedia records about 360 hectares in California in 2003. It also cites 137 hectares in Chile in 2003, and some plantings in Argentina, where for years the grape was labeled as “Fer”.

How to read the label

• “Petit Verdot” as the grape name on a US, Australian or Spanish label means a varietal wine led by Petit Verdot. Check the back label or the winery’s website for the exact blend.
• Bordeaux labels don’t name the grape. A red from the Médoc may include a small share of Petit Verdot; the producer’s website is the place to check.
• “Red blend” or “Bordeaux-style blend” on a New World label often lists Petit Verdot among the grapes on the back.
• The state or region tells you the style to expect: Virginia for a structured East Coast take; Australia, Spain or California for riper, fuller wines, in our view.

Our guide to red blend wine explains how Bordeaux-style blends are put together.

Food pairing

Petit Verdot’s high tannin and full body need food with flavor and fat. Wine Folly suggests strongly flavored roasted meats, such as Cuban-style pork or burgers with blue cheese, and says the wine’s boldness and shorter finish suit them. These are our suggestions:

Dish	Why it works
Grilled ribeye or strip steak	Fat and char soften the firm tannin
Roast pork shoulder with garlic and citrus	The Wine Folly match; bold seasoning stands up to bold wine
Blue cheese burgers	Salty, pungent cheese and beef against dark fruit
Lamb chops with rosemary	Herbs echo the wine’s sage note
Barbecue brisket	Smoke and sweetness balance the tannin

Good-value bottles to try

We don’t name specific Petit Verdot bottles on this page yet. Our picks follow how we rate wine: every wine needs a published critic score for a named vintage and a US price checked at two or more retailers, and we haven’t completed that check for a Petit Verdot.

What to look for: in our view, single-varietal Petit Verdot is a niche wine: Australian and Spanish bottles are the most likely to be affordable, while Virginia’s best are often priced as special-occasion wines. Under our thresholds, a Petit Verdot scoring 90 to 92 points is a Great Value at $20 or less and a Good Value at $30 or less.

How to serve it

• Temperature: Wine Folly suggests 60–68°F (15–20°C).
• Glass: Wine Folly suggests an oversized glass, which gives the wine room to open up.
• Decanting: Wine Folly suggests about an hour.
• Aging: Wine Folly says Petit Verdot can age 10 years or more, and Wikipedia notes the violet and leather notes that come with time.

Tip: If a young Petit Verdot tastes hard, don’t give up on it. Decant it, serve it with a steak, and try the rest of the bottle the next day.