Pomerol, the smallest and most clay-dominant of Bordeaux’s great red-wine appellations, turned the 2025 vintage’s challenges into one of its quiet successes.

Its heavy clay soils with the distinctive iron-rich subsoil (crasse de fer) retained more moisture than the gravel-heavy Left Bank communes, allowing the vines to reach full phenolic ripeness without the extreme stress or over-concentration seen elsewhere.

The late-August rains were described as ‘miraculous’ by several growers, refreshing the vines at exactly the right moment and delivering the vintage’s signature freshness and lower alcohols.

The result is classic Pomerol character – plush blue and black fruit, floral lift and velvety textures – but with greater purity, transparency to terroir and a cool, mineral edge.

Eric Monneret, technical director at Château La Pointe, emphasised that, ‘terroir is 50-75% of the result. If you don’t have some clay or limestone then 2025 would have been difficult'.

Many wines sit between the opulence of 2022 and the precision of 2020 or 2016: fragrant, drinkable and structured, yet without the heat or heaviness that can sometimes mask the clay’s natural elegance.

Tiny black marbles

Quality aside, this already small appellation also produced some of the lowest quantities of wine in Bordeaux this vintage.

Yields are capped at 49hl/ha in Pomerol but many estates recorded crops under half that in 2025.

Although some such as Château Clinet (34hl/ha), L’Eglise Clinet (33hl/ha) and Château Clos du Clocher (32hl/ha) were not so hard it was a different story elsewhere.

Château Seraphine recorded 22hl/ha, the smallest harvest ever. Château Lafleur and Petrus just 20hl/ha, while Château Petit Village recorded just 16hl/ha.

The key cause of this was the water deficit at the start of the season, which gave rise to very small berries and therefore very low amounts of juice.

By way of example, a 'normal' Merlot berry at harvest time would weigh between 1.4 to 1.6 g.

Christian Moueix, president of the négociant house Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix, noted that since they recorded no rain between 22 May and 22 August, this led to tight small clusters and berry weights of 0.8–0.9 g for Merlot (even 0.7 g on some gravel parcels).

Marielle Cazaux director of and noted the 30mm rain on 20 August ‘watered the plants, gave more juice and softer phenolics’.

Small measures of relief

Although extremely dry and frequently very hot, many winemakers noted that the season was less relentlessly hot than in, say, 2022.

And, even in summer, cooler evenings helped maintain levels of freshness and aromatic definition in the final wines.

Juliette Couderc, technical director of Château L’Evangile, noted that the vintage was drier than 2022 but benefited from cooler evenings, resulting in ‘less density than 2022’ and the need to be careful with tannins.

‘In 2022 we had 22 days of heatwaves, in 2025 we had eight or nine and we had cooler evenings in 2025,' he said.

Ronan Laborde, owner and winemaker at Château Clinet, agreed, saying that despite, ‘six days in the summer above 40°C , the nights were barely above 20°C and the 35mm rain on 20 August ‘changed the landscape’.

Extraordinary measures

Nonetheless, teams sometimes used various and novel ways to beat the heat when the mercury rose. For example, at Château La Conseillante they applied zinc oxide to protect against harmful UVA and UVB rays during the 10–16 August heatwave.

At Société Agricole de Lafleur, water stress became critical. Rather than traditional irrigation, the team performed what it calls ‘soil water correction’ on only the highest-need plots – less than one-fifth of the vineyard surface.

They repurposed an old harvest machine to open the soil in the middle of the rows, delivered a minimal 10 litres per square metre directly into the ground (15 cm deep), then covered it again.

‘No water to the vines directly,’ Techincal Director Omri Ram explained. ‘Just the minimum necessary to keep the soils alive.’

No correction was applied at Grand Village or Les Perrières; only selected parts of Lafleur received it.

At other times, natural methods proved they still worked perfectly well too. Marie-Laure Latorre, new general manager at Château de Sales (previously at Château Jean Faure), reported ‘no problem with drought’ thanks to deep roots penetrating 2–3 metres in the clay-rich, water-retaining soils.

Harvests were early – very early at times. Château Lafleur experienced its earliest ever harvest starting with the whites on 19 August and reds on 26 August.

Noëmie Durantou Reihac, winemaker of the Durantou estates including L’Eglise Clinet, described 2025 as a ‘tip-toe vintage, walking on tightrope’ with balance between the tannins, alcohol and acidities being the hardest element to achieve.

They started the harvest on 27 August – the earliest ever – with the team, ‘having to make decisions about blending even before the vinifications’ due to such limited yields.

A counter-intuitive result

Olivier Berrouet, technical director at Château Petrus, was pleased with the final result: ‘What impressed us was the gap between what happened during the season and what we could have expected and what’s in the glass.

'It’s the real strength of the clay – the wines don’t carry the wounds of the vintage’.

In terms of style, he said it’s a ‘powerful Petrus’ where the goal was to ‘control the tannic power and to not allow the structure to dominate the aromatic intensity’.

Jean-Baptiste Bourotte owner of Château Clos du Clocher calls 2025 a, ‘counter-intuitive / paradoxical vintage because of the weather and the surprising resulting style’.

Christian Moueix, president of the négociant house Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix and owner of family properties that include Châteaux Bélair-Monange, La Fleur-Pétrus and Trotanoy described the vintage as ‘saved by the rain’ and something ‘miraculous’ and ultimately calling it, ‘a good to very good vintage’.

What's new

One of the most striking and widely discussed moves of the vintage came from Société Agricole de Lafleur in Pomerol.

The estate took the significant step of designating all six of its wines as Vin de France, stepping away from Pomerol AOC rules.

This decision reflects both a philosophical commitment to flexibility in the face of climate extremes and a desire for greater freedom in winemaking and labelling.

The guiding philosophy was clearly explained by Techincal Director, Omri Ram.

He said: ‘Soils [are the] number one victim of climate change – we just don’t see it. We try to mitigate the extreme moments of the year.’

The result, according to Ram, was an ‘amazing vintage’ with record-early picking dates (whites harvested 19 August, reds 26 August) and yields of 35hl/ha.

The full 2025 range under Vin de France is:

Lafleur 2025 Vin de France Rouge

Les Pensées 2025 Vin de France Rouge

Les Perrières 2025 Vin de France Rouge

Les Champs Libres 2025 Vin de France Blanc

Le Grand Village Rouge 2025 Vin de France Rouge

Le Grand Village Blanc 2025 Vin de France Blanc

Elsewhere, Domaines Jacques Thienpont (Le Pin, L’IF, L’Hêtre): It was announced during the Primeurs that Vianney Gravereaux (ex-Ornellaia/Masseto) has joined as managing director with Diana Berrouet Garcia promoted to chief winemaker and estates manager. Jacques Thienpont will gradually step back while remaining involved.

Château de Sales: Marie-Laure Latorre (agricultural engineer and oenologist) was appointed general director in September 2025 arriving from Château Jean Faure in St-Émilion where she handled technical, commercial and large-scale restructuring projects

Further reading from this report

• St-Emilion
• Pessac-Léognan & Graves
• Dry whites
• Crus Bourgeois
• Pauillac
• St-Estèphe
• Margaux
• St-Julien
• Sauternes

Bordeaux 2025: Top wines from Pomerol

Related articles

The seismic decision, communicated in a letter from the Guinaudeau family on 24 August, was described as a necessary response to accelerating climate change and the increasing restrictions posed by the appellation system.

‘The vintages 2015, 2019, and above all 2022, were all strong evidence of [climate change]. 2025 goes a step further. We must think, readapt, act,’ the family wrote.

The move places one of Bordeaux’s most respected names outside of its historic framework ‘while maintaining the utmost respect for our fellow producers and the appellations of Pomerol and Bordeaux’.

Its decision places it in the company of a small but influential group of domaines that have turned their backs on France’s strict AOC framework in favour of greater creative freedom.

Other outsiders

In Bordeaux, Loïc Pasquet’s Liber Pater has long eschewed the Graves classification to revive pre-phylloxera varieties and ultra-dense plantings, while in the Languedoc the late Laurent Vaillé elevated Grange des Pères to cult status outside any appellation.

In the Jura, Jean-François Ganevat often bottles as Vin de France to explore eclectic blends, and domaines such as Gramenon in the Rhône and La Grange aux Belles in the Loire have also done the same after clashing with appellation rules.

Yet Lafleur is the first of Bordeaux’s top tier, with six highly sought-after wines, to break with the AOC system – a move that underscores both the estate’s singular vision and the mounting pressures of climate change on traditional models.

Rigid rules

For Lafleur, the break comes from the need for flexibility in viticulture and winemaking practices as heatwaves, drought, and shifting weather patterns increasingly challenge Bordeaux’s traditional rules.

Issues such as irrigation restrictions, planting densities, and permitted grape varieties have been hotly debated in Bordeaux as producers adapt to the hotter, drier conditions that characterised 2022 and on-going 2025.

While experimental plantings have been sanctioned under the Bordeaux appellation since 2021, many argue that the changes remain too slow to keep pace with reality.

By stepping away from Pomerol AOC regulations, the Guinaudeau family says it will be free to implement practices that ensure the ‘perennity of our vineyards, the quality and the identity of our wines’ without compromise. ‘We change to remain the same,’ the family wrote in the letter.

Château Lafleur, founded in 1872, has been under the stewardship of the Guinaudeau family since 1985 and is widely considered one of Bordeaux’s most singular estates, producing some of the region’s most sought-after wines. Its decision will affect all six red and white wines within the group, including Grand Village and Les Champs Libres.

The announcement comes just as the 2025 harvest begins, with early tastings already described by the family as ‘shaping up not just as a great vintage, but as an extraordinary one.’

Lafleur’s break with the appellation system underscores the tension between tradition and innovation in Bordeaux at a moment when climate volatility is reshaping the region’s future.

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All Bordeaux 2024 coverage:

Full vintage analysis & top-scoring wines | How the weather conditions shaped the vintage | The growing season month by month | Wine styles: what to expect | Market conditions and pricing strategies 

Appellation analysis to come

St-Julien | St-Estèphe | Pauillac | Pessac-Léognan | St-Emilion | Margaux | Cru Bourgeois | Dry whites | Top value | Sauternes & Barsac

Pomerol 2024: Tiny yields but some exceptional wines

Average yield: 28.4hl/ha

Variance from 2023: -59.1% (45.2hl/ha)

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top wines from Pomerol 2024

Vintage overview

Praise for the wines can only go some way to compensate Pomerol producers for their tiny yields in 2024, with few exceeding 30hl/ha and the average being only 28.4% – almost a 60% decrease from last year.

There were fewer wines available to taste – Hosanna, La Grange à Pomerol and La Grave à Pomerol were missing giving an indication as to the troubles faced throughout the year.

Indeed mildew was a problem as was botrytis and many producers picked ahead of the September rain to avoid disease and dilution.

These factors added to the general cool vintage have produced a set of Pomerol wine with less typical sexiness and plushness than usual, they’re not opulent or voluptuous but the best are still packed full of flavour with aromatic intensity and lovely juicy, charming profiles.

Favourite wines

Indeed Pomerol has one of my wine’s of the vintage; L’Eglise Clinet made by the talented Noëmie Durantou (pictured, above) and Olivier Gautrat which was just exceptional and showed none of the difficulties in the glass. If you can get your hands on these bottles please do!

‘It was a tough game, but a great result in the end,’ Durantou said.

Château Lafleur also shone with a beautiful 2024 and bucked the trend with high yields of 40hl/ha. Winemaker Omri Ram said the team, ‘didn’t miss a spraying window’.

‘We didn’t miss one hour, we sprayed on bank holidays, weekends and three times at night’, he said adding that they ‘also worked the canopies’ and maintained the cover crops to ‘manage the water and stabilise the soils’.

For the team at Clos du Clocher it was all about ‘endurance’. They produced a lovely 2024, slightly more lean in profile compared to previous years but very enjoyable nonetheless.

Olivier Berrouet at Petrus said it was the first time in 20 years that they battled rain and botrytis during the harvest.

‘The goal was to harvest ripe,’ he said, adding that because the grapes were more damaged than usual and more sensitive to oxygen they reduced the number of rackings and carried them out under nitrogen.

The 2024 Petrus is amazingly aromatic, focused and fresh with plenty of nuance. Not as charming as usual but clean, linear and precise.

I thought Château Fayat, under the management of Gwen Lucas, was a highlight and enjoyed Petit Village too.

Standouts

• Château L’Eglise Clinet
• Château Lafleur

Highlights

• Petrus
• Château Trotanoy
• Château Vieux Château Certan
• Château La Conseillante
• Guillot-Clauzel
• Château Petit Village
• Château Clinet
• Château Clos de la Vieille Eglise
• Château Latour à Pomerol

Value

• Château Clos du Clocher
• Château Fayat
• Château La Petite Eglise
• Château Bonalgue
• Château La Cabanne

See all Pomerol 2024 en primeur wines tasted

See the top-scoring Pomerol 2024 wines

Search all 700+ Bordeaux 2024 en primeur ratings

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  The Bordeaux 2024 growing season: Punch by punch
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The 2022 vintage was so dry that Pomerol winemakers petitioned for, and were granted, irrigation rights for the first time.

Some used it, though to varying degrees of effectiveness given the lack of equipment or infrastructure in place.

Scroll down for the top-rated Pomerol 2022 in bottle

Bold and seductive wines

Harvests were the earliest ever here with pretty much all the grapes picked by mid-September.

The appellation’s clay soils coped well with the drought and indeed the estates on the plateau produced some sublime wines with both richness and elegance.

Stylistically the wines are powerful and intense, fully structured with ripe fruit, chunky tannins and concentrated from the get go.

The best have acidity and freshness to counter the richness with balance overall. It’s for this reason that the wines are so compelling.

I use the words ‘serious’, ‘heady/hedonistic’ and ‘intense’ quite a lot – these aren’t shy wines, and unlike in some other appellations, they’re not wines for immediate enjoyment as a generalisation.

Seductive, fragrant and deep – these are expressive wines with expressive aromatic profiles and when they’re combined with acidity that gives energy and a light touch in the winery which gives focus they’re unbeatable.

‘Our job in 2022 was accompanying the wines from afar rather than intervening’, Lafleur’s winemaker Omri Ram told me. The team started the harvest for the reds on the 3 September in ‘beautiful conditions’.

‘We might have been expecting big, fat, flabby wines, but there’s focus and energy with concentration around’ he said. ‘We could tell the quality straight away – you could taste it in the vineyard.

‘Usually you can see the terroir better in a cool year but actually it’s very obvious in 2022. We didn’t used to get such transparency of place in hot years but it’s there.’

Less is more

In terms of winemaking, Ram said they did less in 2022: ‘The terroir gives the inherent power and density. We did even less than we would normally do in the winery. There was no reason to be super interventionist in a vintage like 2022. It’s all about taking a step back.’

The entire Lafleur range (reds and whites) including the Grand Village and Les Champs Libres wines were all excellent.

At L’Évangile, winemaker Juliette Couderc commented that in 2022, Pomerol’s climate was more like Perpignan and the Languedoc according to the Huglin Index – a tool for viticulturists to asses the daily average temperatures and the maximum temperatures and slightly modifies the calculated total according to latitude.

‘We did less pumping over and less extraction and we had to be carful about oxygen exchange during the ageing,’ she said as well as reducing the percentage of new oak.

This year the grand vin was aged in 45% new oak (as opposed to 50-55%) as well as 10% foudre and 15% amphora with the rest in used barrels.

For Olivier Berrout at Petrus the quick harvest was crucial, ‘we couldn’t wait 24 hours once we started to get good maturity,’ as well as the overall balance.

‘What I like in this vintage is that you don’t have the sense of warmth. There is no over opulence. Everything stays elegant and tight, with precise tannins.’

The ageing was shorter by two to three months to not have ‘any extra rusticity’.

As at Lafleur, ‘our job is to resist the temptation to go too far – the wine has to be good from day one’.

Berrout concluded: ‘People have changed their mindset about these kinds of vintages. There is a tendency to be more restrained now and the excellence of 2022 is down to that.’

Top wines

My standout was Château La Conseillante which was not only one of the best I’ve tasted from this estate, but also one of the most vibrant and joyful at this stage. It was relaxed and calm and totally captivating.

Close behind however was the profound Lafleur, which always takes a while to reveal its true beauty, as well as Petrus which seems to be able to handle any weather conditions thrown at the vineyard.

Vieux Château Certan was absolutely sublime with an effortless elegance – I have high hopes for the future of this wine as well as L’Eglise-Clinet that is complex and characterful. La Fleur-Pétrus also shone with brightness and depth.

Clos du Clocher, Seraphine, Clinet and Guillot Clauzel are also well worth seeking out.

It might be hard to find ‘cheap’ wines in Pomerol but there’s definitely value to be had. Bel Air, Bonalgue, de Sales, Fayat and La Pointe are solid buys at the less expensive end.

The second wine of VCC, La Gravette de Vieux Château Certan is also a stellar wine and much more like a baby grand vin than a second wine.

All Pomerol 2022 in bottle scores

COMING SOON

Tasting notes for all 800 Bordeaux 2022s

plus

BORDEAUX 2022 IN BOTTLE SCORE TABLE: Top-scoring wines with 93 points or above

Individual appellation analysis and top-scoring wines

Pauillac 2022 | Margaux 2022 | St-Julien 2022 | St-Estèphe 2022 | Pessac-Léognan & Graves 2022 | St-Emilion 2022 | Cru Bourgeois 2022 | Dry and Sweet whites 2022 | Best value 2022

Top-rated Pomerol 2022 in bottle

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Gareth Birchley, Vincenzo Arnese and Arthur Coggill tasted 111 wines, with 10 Outstanding and 79 Highly Recommended.

St-Emilion and Pomerol 2015: Panel tasting scores

111 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 10

Highly recommended 79

Recommended 18

Commended 4

Entry criteria: Producers and UK agents were invited to submit their 2015 vintage red Bordeaux grand vins from St-Emilion Grand Cru and Grand Cru Classé, and Pomerol

If you asked the vignerons of Bordeaux to predict the quality of the 2015 vintage before a single bud had even burst, many of them would have stated that greatness was inevitable.

It is, of course, purely chance that 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010 were all contenders for the finest vintage in their respective decades.

Nevertheless, in 2015, the universe acquiesced and gave the Bordelais a tricky but incredibly favourable growing season.

Scroll down to see notes and scores of the pick of St-Emilion and Pomerol 2015

St-Emilion’s pyramid proves its worth

After tasting 111 wines blind from both St-Emilion and Pomerol in this warm vintage, the quality was evident. Vincenzo Arnese commented that, at 10 years old, you see ‘all their purity and integration’. From top to bottom, there was certainly a coherence and commonality between the wines that I would, if pushed, summarise as ‘ripeness’.

The key was simply managing the fruit to produce fresh, balanced and ageworthy wines. The task was, in general, simply to not spoil the fruit in the winery… but that’s easier said than done.

Despite showcasing different styles, St-Emilion was incredibly consistent. It does feel as if there was still a desire, from some properties, to over-extract the fruit, leaving those wines stewed and lacking definition.

Indeed, Arthur Coggill commented: ‘It was surprising to find so many wines still in thrall to the old style favoured by Robert Parker, and so for me, the 2015 vintage marks the highwater mark for the Parkerised style.’

The very best châteaux managed tannin perfectly – super-fine and wonderfully silky, with incredible length. The judges did note, however, that it was a shame not to see the full cross-section of the commune.

Among the 77 St-Emilion wines tasted, only six were 1er Grand Cru Classé (of the 14 ranked as such in the 2012 Classification, which applied at the time) – and their quality was a marked step up.

Thrilling consistency

Across the border in Pomerol, the quality was also incredibly consistent. Arnese commented: ‘Overall, Pomerol showed a surprisingly lifted style. I was expecting more ripeness in the final result, yet the sample showed good balance and purity.’

More of the ‘big names’ were submitted, which gave a much more coherent cross-section of what the region bottled in 2015. The styles produced were also far less variable than in St-Emilion.

Bordeaux’s en vogue appellation produced charming wines across the board, more perfumed and floral than their neighbour’s, with very little over-extraction, allowing the vineyards and terroir to speak.

I suspect that this is as consistent as a broad tasting of mid- to top-end Bordeaux can be. None of the wines exhibited the green, underripe character we often find in this maritime climate.

At the lower end, Bordeaux still has a lot of work to do in matching both the quality and value for money found in many regions outside France. That said, it was encouraging to see many of the top performers proving their worth and rising to the top.

I’m a firm believer that, at above £50 a bottle, pound for pound, Bordeaux provides better value than most other wine regions in the world. If you buy the best wines from this vintage, you will not only find pleasure now, but for decades to come.

St-Emilion and Pomerol 2015 panel tasting scores

Wines were tasted blind

The judges

Gareth Birchley is buying director at London-based Burns & German Vintners. Arriving in London in 2006, he worked in sales and senior buying roles at Bordeaux Index and Berry Bros & Rudd, before joining Burns & German in early 2019

Vincenzo Arnese is director of wine at Raffles London at the OWO. Born in Naples, he worked at top hotels in Italy, Switzerland and Australia, and later Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester. A DWWA judge, in 2022 he won the coveted title of Taittinger UK Sommelier of the Year

Arthur Coggill is head of business development at London-based merchant Hatton & Edwards, having joined in January 2024. Prior to this he was at Goedhuis & Co, where he worked initially in fine wine sales before running its investment fund for eight years, and then moving into buying in 2021

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All Bordeaux 2023 coverage:

Verdict & top-scoring wines | How the weather conditions shaped the vintage | Decoding the yields | Wine styles: what to expect

Appellation analysis

St-Estèphe | St-Julien | Pauillac | Margaux | Pessac-Léognan | St-Emilion | Haut-Médoc | Dry whites | Top value | Sauternes & Barsac

Pomerol: Cooler soils performed best

Average yield: 45.2hl/ha

Variance from 2022: +39%

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top Pomerol en primeur 2023 wines

Vintage overview

The cool clay soils of Pomerol proved especially excellent when batting the vintage’s summer heatwaves, starting with the wine of the appellation, Petrus, where the deep blue clay ensured magnificent freshness, juiciness, and density.

Grapes were harvested between 11-20 September, before the rains, but the ripeness proved superb, with 14.5% alcohol and 3.65pH. Director Olivier Berrouet found rather normal-sized berries, ‘a bit bigger than in 2022’, with a ‘very good’ ratio between juice and skin.

But he also noted higher tannin levels than in 2022: ‘After three or four days of fermentation, we felt the tannic power, so we slowed down the volume of wine for pump overs, and there was no need to push anything,’ he said.

It was more difficult for warmer, sandier soils where the risk of stress meant the potential of rougher tannins, which can be encountered in the appellation. But rest assured, many other estates shined bright, including Vieux Château Certan, Le Pin, L’Eglise-Clinet, L’Évangile, La Conseillante, Lafleur, La Fleur-Pétrus and Clos du Clocher.

But some estates with lighter soils with judicious tannin management crafted fine, lighter styled Pomerol, such as Château de Sales.

See the top-scoring Pomerol en primeur 2023 wines

Search all 500+ Bordeaux 2023 en primeur ratings published

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Pomerol delivered some excellent if atypical wines for 2021 with the usual trademark sexiness and plushness replaced by more subtle textures, well balanced fruit and bright acidities.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top Pomerol 2021 in-bottle wines

From more than 40 wines re-tasted in bottle, La Conseillante, Lafleur, Trotanoy, Le Pin, VCC and Clos du Clocher stood out as being excellent – all of which have valued positions on the Pomerol plateau which coped better than other areas of the appellation under the 2021 weather conditions.

Petit-Village is an improvement from the Primeurs tasting and Guillot Clauzel managed by VCC’s Guillaume Thienpont is also very impressive.

Montviel and Rouget are also very accessible with a certain density of fruit as well as brightness.

Some wines haven’t hit the heights of their usual standards, and those who are looking for big, bold, plush Pomerols won’t find many in 2021 but there are lots that offer delicate bodies with fresh and cool tones that will be great for sooner drinking.

BORDEAUX 2021 IN BOTTLE SCORE TABLE: Top-scoring 133 wines with 93 points or above

Individual appellation analysis and top-scoring wines

St-Estèphe 2021 | Pauillac 2021 | Margaux 2021 | St-Julien 2021| Pessac & Graves 2021 | St-Emilion 2021 |

See tasting notes and scores for the top Pomerol 2021 in-bottle wines

See all Bordeaux 2021 in-bottle wines in score order

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• Bordeaux 2021 in bottle: overview plus top-scoring wines

Pomerol 2022

Average yield:

• 32.3hl/ha in 2022.
• 28.9hl/ha in 2021. A decrease of 28% from 2020.

What you find from the 2022 wines

The clays in the appellation were able to retain as much of the half-average rainfall in Pomerol in 2022 helping keep vines healthy. Sandy soils suffered more from the drought however some estates near the river also benefitted from extra water when needed.

Irrigation was permitted for the first time in history and used by some, although efforts were mostly ineffective due to the lack of equipment and infrastructure. One producer has since invested in an irrigation system for potential future use.

The appellations saw the earliest harvests on record with the majority, if not all, of grapes picked by mid September.

Styles vary across the area with cool, fresh and quite lean styles to rich, opulent and hedonistic. The best display a combination of power and tannic amplitude but with delicacy and overall finesse.

See all 71 Pomerol 2022 wine tasted

Top picks:

• Château Lafleur (98-100 points)
• Château La Conseillante (98-100 points)
• Vieux Château Certan
• Petrus
• Château La Fleur-Pétrus
• Château L’Eglise-Clinet
• Château Trotanoy
• Château Lafleur, Les Pensées de Lafleur
• Château Clinet
• Château Le Pin
• Château L’Évangile
• Château Hosanna
• Clos du Closher 
  

See the top-scoring Pomerol 2022 en primeur wines

Search all Bordeaux 2022 en primeur ratings published so far

Back to the main Bordeaux en primeur page

Characterful, structured, opulent and balanced wines comprise the best from Pomerol in 2020. The deep clay and gravel with clay terroirs worked best in the hot and dry conditions that saw 55 days with no rain.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top Pomerol 2020 in-bottle wines

Average yields in Pomerol in 2020 were 39.8hl/ha, above 2018 at 36.2hl/ha but lower than 2019 at 43hl/ha with a 10-year-average at 37.7hl/ha.

As an appellation with smaller estates, and correspondingly smaller teams, certainly compared to the Medoc, Pomerol was the least affected by the disruption caused by lockdowns and the heath crisis in 2020. Particularly for properties who maintain the same vineyard teams all year long such as Lafleur and L’Eglise Clinet who ‘spent an extreme amount of time in the vineyards’ as Omri Ram winemaker at Château Lafleur put it.

‘We had time to work. On the one hand it was good as we don’t depend on anyone – we have our own team of 23 people, full time, so it was tranquil’.

For Ram, 2020 has ‘a complexity that we already learnt and came to know with 2016 and 2018. It was same type of season – hybrid – half and half with an extremely rainy start, the most rainy spring we can remember here, then an extreme switch to drought and heat by June.

‘2016 and 2018 taught us that weather and the climate are changing and that a season could start one way and then completely flip. In 2016 we managed it well while trying to understand what was happening, in 2018 we knew how to work with the conditions and in 2020 we managed to anticipate it.’

In terms of vintage comparisons, Ram said: ‘2018 and 2020 come from turbulent ‘childhoods’ – with weather switching at least three times during the growing season, you can clearly feel that in the young wines. 2019 came from linear and coherent childhood weather-wise and is therefore more easy to understand. 2020 is more difficult to read when young, but it doesn’t mean they won’t surpass their potential.’

For Eric Monneret, director at La Pointe, 2020 was a ‘dream vintage’ with ‘quality and volume’. 2020 is a perfect sum of 2018 and 2019 because it’s as supple and charming as 2018 but with more energy and more freshness, and it has the elegance and tension of 2019.

‘For me, 2020 has mass appeal – you definitely have palates for 2018 and palates for 2019, which is always a good debate, but 2020 can satisfy everyone with its generosity and charm.

Winemaker Juliette Couderc, at Château L’Évangile (in organic conversion during 2020) noted the difference in aromatics and tannins for the same grape on different soils. ‘The aromatics were the same for Merlot on different soils but the tannins were completely different. With blue clay we got soft and silky, chewy tannins whereas on gravel they was more straight showing that the Merlot suffered some stress.

‘For us it was important to harvest at the right time to get fresh fruits, and in terms of tannins we had to managed the extraction carefully.

The weekend of the 12-13 was really key for us, a big heatwave was forecast (above 32-33 degrees celsius) so the question was to pick before or after? We decided to pick 80% of the fruit from plateau before the weekend to keep freshness. We know what we can lose in just a few days – especially for Merlot, it’s such a fine line, then straight after Cabernet Franc just arrived – there was no window between the grapes.’

For Olivier Berrouet at Pétrus, it was the ‘aromatic expression, the balance and the density’ that impressed the most. ‘Everything was in harmony and giving pleasure from day one’, he said.

Top 8 Pomerol 2020 wines:

Château Trotanoy, 100 points

Petrus, 100 points

Château La Fleur-Pétrus, 99 points

Château L’Évangile, 98 points

Château La Conseillante, 98 points

Château Lafleur Pomerol, 98 points

Vieux Château Certan, 98 points

Château Le Pin Pomerol, 97 points

SCORE TABLE: top-scoring 349 wines with 92 points or above

Individual appellation analysis and top-scoring wines

St-Estèphe 2020 | Margaux 2020 | St-Julien 2020| Pauillac 2020 | Pessac & Graves 2020 | St-Emilion 2020 |

See all Bordeaux 2020 in-bottle wines in score order

See tasting notes and scores for the top Pomerol 2020 in-bottle wines

The following wines all scored 94 points or above. 

Related articles

• Bordeaux 2020 in bottle: overview plus top-scoring wines
• DFWE London masterclass featuring Moueix: Limestone vs Gravel on Bordeaux’s Right Bank

‘Climatic conditions’ and the requests of a ‘certain number of winegrowers’ were cited as the reasons for Jean-Marie Garde, president of the Pomerol appellation, to ask regulatory body Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité (INAO) to temporarily reverse the long-standing ban on irrigation.

The favourable news was shared via emails seen by Decanter, with an accompanying letter from the INAO dated July 20, 2022.

The letter, translated from French, states that after ‘taking into account the exceptional ecological conditions’ of the vineyards which have led ‘to a situation of significant water deficit’ and ‘after obtaining the opinion of the President of the CRINAO’ (the regional committee of the INAO), the INAO ‘considers your request justified and grants an exception from the ban on irrigating the vines suitable for the production of wines with a Pomerol controlled designation of origin from today [July 20,2022] and at the latest August 15, 2022’.

Winegrowers were told that the exception was obtained to ‘deal with extreme situations’ and were asked to ‘use it only when absolutely necessary’.

It was also conveyed that the ‘exceptional possibility is particularly supervised’.

Any applications for irrigation must be sent to the Pomerol syndicat at least two days ahead of proposed irrigation. They must state the exact size of the proposed area according to cadastral records, grape varieties involved and the nature of the irrigation methods.

These will then be sent to both internal and external inspection bodies before approval is granted or refused.

The INAO makes reference to specific regulations pertaining to the use of irrigation according to certain environmental codes, one of which is related to the ‘balanced management of water resource’. Another specifies that ‘the average maximum load per hectare of an irrigated plot cannot exceed the value set in the specifications for the appellation, i.e. 5,500 kilograms per hectare for black grapes and for white grapes’.

It states that any general measures restricting the use of water in the department decided by prefects (the French state’s representative in a department or region) will be binding on all growers and that ‘under no circumstances’ will the area of the parcels involved ‘be taken into account in the calculation of the annual potential of producers for the constitution of VCI (a scheme that allows producers to set aside a stock of wine to use at a later date when yields are low).

They also state that the yield of the irrigated plots ‘cannot be increased for the 2022 harvest’.

Young vines not producing fruit, between four and six years old, remain exempt from irrigation.

The news is particularly welcome for many growers who have seen an onslaught of adverse weather conditions this year. ‘It may be completely unprecedented and completely unexpected’ said Martin Krajewski, owner of Château Séraphine in Pomerol, ‘but after the April frosts, the June hail storms and the crushing heatwave of the past two weeks, it is a most welcome lifeline for us all in Pomerol’.

Relief came across parts of the appellation this week, however, as Henri Parent, owner and manager of Pomerol properties Château Le Gay, La Violette and Montviel told Decanter; ‘We had 12mm [of rain] on Wednesday [July 20] morning at le Gay and 5mm at Montviel. For the moment it’s perfect, there’s no stress’.

Temperatures have cooled slightly across the appellation today though look to peak again on Sunday, July 24 with an expected 37°C.

In a final message, the INAO said any breach by growers of the provisions relating to the temporary lift, or the period in which it has been granted, could see a fine of €3,750.

See also

Fires near Bordeaux: Liber Pater vineyard evacuated

Pomerol is a paradox. Its famous plateau terroir is hallowed; it produces (in Petrus, Le Pin and Château Lafleur) three of the most expensive wines in the world; demand is so high and quantities so small that it is very difficult to source back vintages; and its mere mention sends the pulses of Bordeaux aficionados racing.

Scroll down for Colin Hay’s three-step Pomerol selection

Yet the landscape of the appellation itself appears flat and uninspiring (a stark contrast to the calcareous contours of its immediate neighbour St-Emilion), there are no grand châteaux here, no visitor centres, no hotels, no cavistes and scarcely a restaurant.

It would be utterly forgettable were it not for the quality of its wines, and it belies entirely the adage that beautiful wines come only from beautiful places.

It is the only appellation of Bordeaux’s ‘top five’ to have no system of classification and it was scarcely known before the post-war period, though it was in fact one of the original appellations to be created by France’s National Institute for Origin and Quality (INAO) in 1936. It is arguably the most intimate and welcoming of Bordeaux’s great appellations, but to the uninitiated it is also the most intimidating. It is, to misquote Churchill, a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.

In short, Pomerol takes some understanding. And to understand it best one needs first to appreciate a little of its history.

Bordeaux’s market garden

Pomerol almost certainly takes its name from pomarium, the Latin for orchard. And for a long time Pomerol was, in effect, the orchard and market garden of the nearby town of Libourne. If the Romans grew vines here, as they almost certainly did, the grapes they produced were intended for eating, not for drinking.

Pomerol’s tradition of polyculture continued long after the Romans left. It was sustained through many of the ensuing centuries by the good fortune of being on one of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Indeed it was really only in the 16th and 17th centuries that wine started to become important to the economy of the area. A geographical division of labour had begun to develop between Dutch traders, concentrated in the Dordogne, and their British counterparts based in and around Bordeaux. The former increasingly used Libourne as their distribution hub – and Pomerol was well placed to satisfy at least some of their demand in the markets they served for wine.

But the Dutch penchant of the time was for white, not red. So it was in fact only in the second half of the 18th century (in 1761) that the first Merlot was planted in Pomerol. It would take a further century and, above all, the recognition of its greater resistance to phylloxera, for it to become the dominant grape variety in the area.

Pomerol’s reputation, however, was somewhat slow to develop. Until the 1920s it was still regarded, in effect, as an extension of St-Emilion. Yet it was nonetheless one of the first crop of appellations to be created by the INAO in 1936.

By the 1940s – while Petrus was already selling for the price equivalent of a Médoc second growth, and Vieux Château Certan and Château La Conseillante for that of a third growth – the remaining wines within the appellation remained largely unknown. Pomerol was, in short, the last appellation to join the ‘super five’ – a reputation that was arguably only finally secured with critic Robert Parker’s adulation for its wines in the exceptional 1982 vintage.

Pomerol: the facts

Appellation established 1936

Area planted (2020) 786ha (smaller even than St-Julien)

Grapes Exclusively red: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Petit Verdot (since 2009)

Producers About 140

Average vineyard size 5.6ha

Classification None

Superstar vineyards Petrus, Lafleur, Le Pin, Vieux Château Certan (‘VCC’), La Conseillante, L’Eglise-Clinet, Trotanoy, La Fleur-Pétrus, L’Evangile

Rising stars Enclos Tourmaline, Guillot-Clauzel, Hosanna, Porte-Chic, Séraphine

Nota bene Though Petrus has no accent on its ‘e’, Château La Fleur-Pétrus does

Great recent vintages 2020, 2019, 2018, 2016, 2015, 2010, 2009, 2005

Under appreciated vintages (where excellent value can be found) 2017, 2014, 2012, 2008, 2007, 2001

Source: CIVB

The clay factor

Pomerol is the smallest of the great appellations of Bordeaux, with a little less than 800ha under vine. There are, today, about 140 producers and the average vineyard size is a paltry 6ha (with most much smaller than that and several below 0.5ha).

The appellation is situated on a gravel bank, rising from southwest to northeast over the famous plateau where the very best terroirs are to be found. In the south and west the soil is sandier, typically producing less profound wines; but in the north and east, above all on the plateau itself, there is more of the clay that is key to the identity and reputation of Pomerol; in the best terroirs of the plateau this is layered with gravel.

The subsoil here, importantly, is a dense and dark clay with a typically high iron content.

Though it is difficult to discern from the ground, the contours rise from the sandy edge of Libourne itself, close to sea level, to a peak of 39m (at Petrus) and just above 40m at Château Gazin. There are two pockets (or bouttonières) of Pomerol’s famous blue clay – the first (of about 20ha) over an iron-rich sand at and around Petrus itself, and the second, without the iron subsoil, around Châteaux L’Eglise-Clinet and Trotanoy.

Pomerol is planted at approximately 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and the remaining 5% a mix of Malbec, Petit Verdot and, increasingly, Cabernet Sauvignon. The key to the appellation’s identity is the predominance of an early-ripening variety, Merlot, and the florality, freshness and complexity brought to Pomerol by Cabernet Franc in particular.

Look out for floral notes (above all violet, peony and mimosa), plum, damson and blueberry fruit, a gentle natural sweetness and, with age, truffle, graphite and cedar.

Eight to try, four to covet

Colin Hay’s Pomerol in three steps

More affordable Pomerol (£20-£50)

It is very difficult, indeed practically impossible, to find ‘cheap’ Pomerol – and prices typically rise quickly after release, so it is a good idea to purchase early, ideally en primeur. Second wines are a good affordable option, particularly in good vintages (and there have been many in recent years). Look out especially for La Petite Eglise (from L’Eglise Clinet), Duo (from La Conseillante) and La Gravette de Certan (from Vieux Château Certan).

Château de Sales 2019

Château Mazeyres 2018

Sacré Coeur 2018

Clos René 2018

Mid-range quality (£50-£100)

While all of the above wines (and plenty more in the same price bracket) are excellent, this is where things start to become really interesting – as wines from the heart of the Pomerol plateau come into range. These may not be cheap, but they are special and iconic wines that, in my view, represent good value for their quality in the international fine wine market.

Château Latour à Pomerol 2018

Château Porte Chic 2016

Château du Domaine de L’Eglise 2012

Château Montviel 2018

Superstar Pomerol (£100-don’t ask)

These are all, for me, incredible wines of staggering quality and complexity – wines that I feel privileged to have had the chance to taste. The 2012 vintage, in particular, is very strong in Pomerol (see Sebastian Payne MW’s ‘2012 revisited’ selection of 40 wines) – it is rather under appreciated, making it somewhat more affordable.

Even the very best wines, such as La Conseillante, below, are very accessible already. The other three wines listed are now each significantly more expensive than they were en primeur (Lafleur most of all). Top Pomerol increasingly needs to be purchased early.

Château Lafleur 2019

Château L’Eglise-Clinet 2019

Vieux Château Certan 2019

Château La Conseillante 2012

Understanding Pomerol: Colin Hay’s 12 wine picks

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• Bordeaux 2021 wines: Our en primeur verdict
• St-Emilion & Pomerol: Six big name side projects worth knowing

Pomerol 2021

Average yield:

• 28.9hl/ha. A decrease of 28% from 2020.

What you find from the 2021 wines

Like St-Emilion some of the best terroirs performed brilliantly well in 2021 with a number of excellent wines produced, even those with 100% Merlot in a year where almost all Merlots struggled.

The Pomerol plateau in particular had produced a number of wines displaying wonderful terroir typicity but also expressing the delicious cool Cabernet, low-alcohol style of 2021 that I adored tasting.

A number of wines here I’d be more than happy to own and to open over the next few decades.

Top picks:

• Château Lafleur
• Vieux Château Certan
• Petrus
• Château La Fleur-Pétrus
• Château L’Eglise-Clinet
• Château Trotanoy
• Château Lafleur, Les Pensées de Lafleur
• Château La Conseillante
• Château Clinet
• Château Le Pin
• Château L’Évangile
• Château Hosanna
• Clos du Closher 
  

See the top-scoring Pomerol 2021 en primeur wines

Search all Bordeaux 2021 en primeur ratings published so far

Back to the main Bordeaux en primeur page

After tasting more than 800 Bordeaux 2019 wines in bottle, Georgie Hindle has given her verdict on how the wines are tasting now.

Here we present a quick and easy way to see tasting notes and scores for the 60 Pomerol wines tasted.

See also

Bordeaux 2019 in bottle: overview and top-scoring wines

Photo highlights: Bordeaux 2019 in bottle

Stumped by the price of a particularly famous château in St-Emilion or Pomerol? Attracted by the style and execution but know the wine is out of reach? There may be a solution.

A number of these grand estates also own properties in less exalted appellations, often using the same team and work practices as they do at the top estate. The wines, therefore, have a defined quality, but the bonus is they sell at a much more affordable price.

See tasting notes and scores for six top St-Emilion and Pomerol ‘second site’ picks

The most usual reasons for the acquisition of a secondary estate (or estates) are diversification and expansion into a more affordable region, land-wise.

With prices per hectare popping in St-Emilion and Pomerol, the likes of Castillon, Lalande de Pomerol, the St-Emilion satellites and even parts of Entre-deux-Mers can look highly attractive.

There can also be a sentimental stimulus and, when it comes to a key figure running the great estate, the motivation of a more personalised project.

Come what may, the ‘other’ property, which, geographically speaking, is rarely situated far from its celebrated stablemate, is an interesting option for the discerning consumer.

No, it won’t have quite the pedigree and gravitas of the top estate (the element of terroir does come into play), but it will have the same winemaking philosophy and rigour, the desire for quality and authenticity uppermost.

Château Haut-Simard – St-Emilion Grand Cru

This is one of several properties owned by the Vauthier family, the jewel in the crown being Château Ausone. And yes, it is also located in St-Emilion, not that far from Ausone but lower down on the sand and clay soils at the foot of the hill, or pied de côte, below the town itself.

In the 1860s, the Simard vineyard was split in two by the construction of a railway line, creating two separate properties, Simard and Haut-Simard. They were later reunited and are now both owned by the Vauthier family.

The present identity of Château Haut-Simard, though, dates from the early part of the new millennium, when Alain Vauthier selected specific parcels to be planted to a density of 12,000 vines/ha with a majority Cabernet Franc (60%). The vineyard now comprises 10ha producing 35,000-40,000 bottles a year.

The same team, headed by Alain’s daughter Pauline, works Ausone and Haut-Simard (as well as the other properties), applying similar techniques: care in the vineyard, refraining from overripeness, gentle extraction and a light touch with oak ageing.

With relatively young vines, Haut-Simard has already acquired added depth and structure and, at about £20-£25 a bottle, looks an attractive buy compared to Ausone’s £600.

Château Les Cruzelles – Lalande de Pomerol

The late Denis Durantou acquired 11ha Château Les Cruzelles in 2000. ‘Denis always wanted to make wine in Lalande de Pomerol as his great-grandfather used to own a property there, but it was sold to keep L’Eglise-Clinet in our family hands,’ explains Denis’ daughter Noëmie.

By then, Durantou had already made something of a reputation, elevating L’Eglise-Clinet into the higher echelons of the Pomerol appellation. Needless to say, he embarked on the conversion of Les Cruzelles in the same fastidious manner.

The vineyard was replanted in 2004 and 2009, allowing the vines to be aligned north-south and at a density of 8,333 vines/ha, with massal selection Cabernet Franc from L’Eglise-Clinet (propagated by taking cuttings from the best-quality existing vines on a given site) used for some of the plantings.

Les Cruzelles is now produced from the older vines (on gravelly soils), while La Chenade comes from the younger plantings and those on sandier soils. ‘We apply the same approach as for the grands crus, but want the wines to remain affordable to the consumer,’ says Noëmie, who has now taken over the winemaking alongside long-time cellar master Olivier Gautrat.

Château d’Aiguilhe – Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux

The von Neipperg family owns an enviable hierarchy of properties on the Right Bank: Châteaux Canon La Gaffelière and La Mondotte (both St-Emilion 1GCCs), Clos de l’Oratoire (St-Emilion GCC) and, finally, Aiguilhe in Castillon. The latter may be last in the pecking order, but with a total of 150ha including woods, pasture and 85ha of vineyard, it is anything but insignificant.

When Stephan von Neipperg acquired Aiguilhe in 1998, there were three things that attracted him to the site: ‘The clay-limestone soils indicated a promising viticultural terroir, the price of the land was attractive and there was an interesting historical aspect as the property, whose château dates from the 13th century, had a strategic importance during the Hundred Years’ War,’ he recounts.

Methods of vinification have been adapted to the terroir, a new circular cellar baptised in 2003 and since extended, but Aiguilhe also benefits from the cohesion with the other estates. All are managed by the same team, with Aiguilhe supplying the compost for all and acting as a conservatory for the massal selection vines. The wine itself, which hasboth fruit and power and an ageing potential of 20 years, is one of the best-value inBordeaux today.

L’ Hêtre – Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux

This is the latest venture of Jacques Thienpont of Château Le Pin in Pomerol. In 2016, he and his sister, Anne De Raeymaeker, acquired what was then called Château Goubau at Gardegan-et-Tourtirac and changed the name to L’Hêtre (‘beech tree’) to perpetuate the tree-inspired moniker – apart from Le Pin (‘pine tree’),there’s also L’If, or ‘yew tree’, in St-Emilion. What attracted them was the 10ha vineyardon a limestone plateau.

The project has since evolved, with the acquisition of neighbouring land and other parcels at St-Genès-de-Castillon. All told, there is the potential for 30ha of vineyard here, with 15ha currently in production, so in size the domaine is well beyond the scale of Le Pin’s 2.8ha. The vineyard, though, has been well maintained and was already certified organic under the previous ownership.

The philosophy remains the same, with gentle extraction and attention given to barrel selection. Jacques’ nephew Maxime Thienpont, who grew up at Château Labégorce-Zédé in Margaux, now manages the property.

It’s early days yet, but this is one to keep an eye on. There are plans for a new cellar and there’s no disputing the quality of the terroir or the pedigree of the ownership and management.

Château Grand Village – Bordeaux Supérieur

In this instance, the ‘other’ wine predates the grand cru. Château Grand Village has been in the same family hands since 1650, Jacques and Sylvie Guinaudeau taking over the running in 1980.

Five years later they took on another family property of a different standing, Château Lafleur in Pomerol, becoming sole owners from 2002.

The 1980s were a learning curve at both properties, but by the 1990s Jacques had a better understanding of Grand Village’s clay-limestone terroir at Mouillac, north of Fronsac, and had started restructuring and replanting the vineyard.

With his son and daughter-in-law, Baptiste and Julie, on board from 2001, the type of precision viticulture that was already driving Lafleur to greater fame was also implemented at Grand Village.

There’s a natural symbiosis between the two properties. The same viticultural team works both vineyards, and come the harvest everything is picked by hand.

A programme of massal selection Bouchet (the local name for Cabernet Franc), Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc across the two properties sees Grand Village as the nursery.

It’s an approach not generally permitted at this level, hence the appeal of Grand Village at about £15-£20 a bottle compared to recent (2015, 2016) Lafleur prices of above £1,000.

Château Marjosse – Bordeaux

Pierre Lurton’s day job is managing Château Cheval Blanc and Château d’Yquem. Somehow, though, over the past 30 years, he has also found time to create and develop his own property, Château Marjosse.

Located in the north of the Entre-deux-Mers at Grézillac, Marjosse seems a far cry from the hallowed soils of Cheval Blanc and St-Emilion, but Pierre Lurton has always believed in the potential. ‘The clay-limestone soils have regularly offered promise. What was needed was qualitative viticulture,’ he explains.

Over the years he has built up the property, first by rental agreement and then by purchasing parcels, all the time restructuring and replanting the land. A modern cellar was completed in 2000, and in 2013 he had the satisfaction of acquiring and moving into an 18th-century chartreuse located on the land.

The red and white Marjosse have long been accepted as wines of quality and value, their drinkability proven. Now Lurton is embarking on a complementary project (first vintage 2018), the production of limited-edition, single-vineyard wines from specific grape varieties.

There are eight in the Anthologie collection, including a Cabernet Franc, a Malbec from vines planted in 1949 and Merlots from three different terroirs, along with a Muscadelle and a Chardonnay. ‘The terroir merits the effort, even if financially it’s a gamble,’ he says.

Affordable alternatives

In addition to the six wines profiled here, look out for others of this nature owned by top St-Emilion and Pomerol estates, including:

Clos Badon, St-Emilion Grand Cru

Owned by Jean-Luc Thunevin of Château Valandraud (St-Emilion 1GCC). Good value St-Emilion but a little more expensive than the others mentioned here.

Vieux Château Saint André Montagne, St-Emilion

Owned by former Petrus winemaker Jean-Claude Berrouet (44 vintages), and managed by his son Jean-François. Elegance and precision, of course.

Château Alcée Castillon, Côtes de Bordeaux

Owned by Nicolas Thienpont, who manages Châteaux Larcis Ducasse and Pavie Macquin (St-Emilion 1GCCs). Good value.

Château Joanin Bécot, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux

Owned by Juliette Bécot of Château Beau-Séjour Bécot (St-Emilion 1GCC). More fruit and freshness from 2017.

L’Aurage Castillon, Côtes de Bordeaux

Owned by Louis Mitjavile of Château Tertre Roteboeuf in St-Emilion. Similarly opulent and gourmand in style.

See James Lawther MW’s top St-Emilion and Pomerol ‘second site’ picks

Related content

Bordeaux 2020: Release prices and scores

Best Bordeaux 2020 wines: top-scorers

Bordeaux 2011: The top-rated wines tasted 10 years on

Pomerol 2020

Average yield: 40hl/ha

Individual yields varied but rarely went as low as on the Left Bank.

• Good yields at the Moueix esates: 40-42hl/ha
• 30hl/ha at Vieux Château Certan,
• 32hl/ha at Château L’Evangile,
• 37hl/ha at Château Beauregard,
• 38hl/ha at Château Clinet,
• 30hl/ha at Château Mazeyres,
• 42hl/ha at Château Feytit Clinet.

What you find

The clays of Pomerol were able to conserve water, so there is plenty of freshness in most wines, but the three days at 37°C in September meant evaporation, so you see early picking (L’Evangile September 2-15, the first in the appellation) and concentration and even some raisin character if people waited too long.

As there is so much concentration, you get a more architectural construction than you usually do in the hedonism centre of Pomerol.

Pomerol 2020 vintage characteristics

Mildew pressure in May, particularly after heavy rain (68mm) on one day May 10. But once June was over, both July and August saw particularly low levels of rain compared to the Médoc.

There was almost nothing in July, and just 20-30mm recorded at Petrus, Lafleur and Vieux Château Certan in August. Heavier rains began at the end of September, potentially causing dilution, but most estates were in by then (Beauregard and Nenin for example were finished harvest by September 23rd).

What’s new

Rouget in conversion to organic farming, Petit Village also (and new owners here, the Moulin family of Galleries Lafayette and Château Beauregard).

L’Evangile is in its final year of organic conversion, so 2021 will be the first certified year.

Quick links for Bordeaux 2020 en primeur ratings

Search Bordeaux 2020 tasting notes published so far

Bordeaux 2020 vintage: our en primeur verdict

Top-scoring Bordeaux 2020 wines

Top Pomerol 2020 picks:

• Château L’Evangile,
• Petrus,
• Château Lafleur,
• Château La Conseillante.

Value picks:

• Clos Rene,
• Château Guillot Clauzel.

Lalande de Pomerol:

• Château des Annereaux,
• Château Siaurac,
• Château Tournefeuille,
• Château Les Cruzelles,
• Château La Sergue.
  

See the top-scoring Pomerol 2020 en primeur wines

Search all Bordeaux 2020 en primeur ratings published so far

Back to the main Bordeaux en primeur page

Scroll down to see Jane Anson’s Pomerol 2018 top scorers

See the full Bordeaux 2018 report here

See the individual appellation overview for St-Émilion

An earlier-ripening area, as with Pessac-Léognan, which meant there were lots of rich fruit flavours and welcoming tannins, but on the flip side there were also some overly-concentrated wines and drying tannins.

On the sandier soils, there were issues with high alcohols, although the plateau has fared well and you will find plenty of wines that have held their nerve over ageing, and are delivering brilliant bottles.

Pomerol was less consistent than St-Emilion though, which is not something I find myself saying often.

The average yields here were 36hl/ha.

Names to look out for:

• Hosanna
• Gazin
• Vieux Château Certan

Value picks:

• Guillot-Clauzel
• Bonalgue

See Jane Anson’s top-scoring Pomerol 2018 wines

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Full report on Bordeaux 2018 in the bottle

Top Bordeaux 2018 Left Bank wines in the bottle

Top Bordeaux 2018 Right Bank wines report

It says something when you open a bottle of wine that everybody around the table has already declared is almost certainly a fake, and yet it still creates a ripple of excitement.

But that’s what the sight of Petrus 1945 on a label does to people – me included; this was at a supper with friends in Bordeaux about 10 years ago, the bottle provided by a US merchant who said, with admirable honesty: ‘I know this isn’t real, or I wouldn’t be opening it.’

Scroll down to see Jane Anson’s Petrus tasting notes and scores including 2016, 2010, 2009, 2008, 1999 and 1998

It further says something when, of the various people I asked for comments about this estate, a full half of them asked if they could remain anonymous. But that’s what the thought of losing an allocation of Petrus does to people.

The rest of us – who don’t get to trade in it, or to put bottles away for our children’s university fund – can start to understand why, when we see headlines about auction prices, such as one in the US in 2018, where the 1998 Petrus reached US$38,000 for a single case – and even the least expensive year is unlikely to go for less than £20,000 in the UK market.

Not to mention the cool valuation of $1 billion for the 11.5ha estate when owner Moueix sold 20% of its capital to a Colombian-American investor in 2018.

Petrus at a glance

Owner: Jean-François and Jean Moueix through Videlot; 20% stake Alejandro Santo Domingo

Size: 11.5ha

Winemaker: Olivier Berrouet, second generation after Jean-Claude Berrouet

Production: About 30,000 bottles per year. There is a rarely seen separate bottling called Saute-Loup that is distributed only to family and friends (it’s labelled Réserve de la Famille), but no traditional second wine.

Terroir: Sticky blue clay

Plantings: 100% Merlot (there are small amounts of Cabernet Franc in the vineyard that do not make it into the wine)

Highest point of vineyard: 40m

Winemaking: Petrus is fermented in concrete tanks with no more than 50% new oak

Petrus: a timeline

1785 – Belleyme map of Pomerol is published; Petrus is not mentioned

1860s – Arnaud family pieces together the plots of vines in the mid-19th century and Petrus is mentioned in local archives as a farmhouse with vines

1878 – Petrus is the first Pomerol wine to win gold at Exposition Universelle de Paris

Early 1920s – Marie-Louise Loubat becomes part-owner, increasing her holding to become sole owner by the end of the 1940s

1943 – Local merchant Jean-Pierre Moeuix is appointed to distribute the wines

1947 – Petrus served at wedding of Princess Elizabeth to the then Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark

1956 – Devastating frosts – Madame Loubat cuts the damaged vines right down to their base rather than pulling them up, regrafting onto the old rootstock

1961 – Marie-Louise Loubat dies, ownership passes to niece and nephew, Lily Lacoste- Loubat and Jean-Louis Robert Lignac, with J-P Moueix receiving a small shareholding

1964 – First vintage made by Jean-Claude Berrouet; Moueix buys Lignac’s shares

1965 – No Petrus was produced

1969 – Jean-Pierre Moueix becomes full owner, with his youngest son Christian Moueix becoming the public face of Petrus, as well as head of Ets JP Moueix négociant. His eldest son Jean- François is owner of Petrus and sets up Duclot négociant

1991 – No Petrus was produced

2003 – Jean-Pierre Moueix dies in late March, at 90 years old

2008 – Jean-Claude Berrouet retires as winemaker, handing over to son Olivier

2009 – Petrus separates from Ets JP Moueix to be run as a separate entity

2012 – First vintage in new vinification cellars, built with 12 unlined concrete vats instead of the previous eight

2012 – Petrus distribution moves exclusively to the newly set-up Clés Distribution

2018 – The Santo Domingo family, which made its fortune initially in Colombia through the national beer producer Cervecería Bavaria, takes a 20% stake

Discreetly desirable

Petrus has a history that only really began to gather speed and weight in the 1940s, but today crushes 99% of classified wines on both Left and Right Banks in terms of name recognition and pricing. It’s so confident that it no longer even uses the term ‘château’. This is Petrus: no accent, no flourishes. Those are left for the wine.

In keeping with much of Pomerol, even the entrance is discreet, with the handsome but somewhat anonymous limestone building marked out by iron railings displaying the crossed keys of St Peter. It’s an image that first appeared on the label of Petrus in the 1940s. Commissioned by Marie-Louise Labat, the woman whose tireless belief in her wine saw it land on the best tables of Europe and America, the keys are a symbol that speak to the initiated and render a sign declaring the château name entirely redundant (although there is lettering set into the stone wall).

View all of Decanter’s Petrus tasting notes

Its renown rests on several things. Its taste, for one thing, which is layered and complex, majoring on blueberry and cassis fruits, with truffles that appear early on and become more intense with age, all set against crushed stone, slate, black chocolate and an abundance of caressing tannins (once it gets over an often-stubborn early stretch).

But taste alone is not enough, because Petrus shares with all great wines an ability to reach far beyond those who have been lucky enough to uncork a bottle.

Its rarity is another factor. At just 11.5ha, Petrus produces in the region of 2,500 cases of 12 bottles per year, depending on the vintage: a fraction compared to the 110ha Château Lafite Rothschild in Pauillac – although Petrus makes a higher proportion of first wine from its vineyard, so the final comparison is probably closer to 20% of Lafite’s production. And where Lafite is sold via the Place de Bordeaux with multiple merchants, Petrus tightly controls its own distribution, ensuring an alluring rarity, which the Left Bank first growths find hard to emulate – something that Petrus doubles down on, offering no website, no Twitter, no Instagram.

Singular entity

Petrus also stands out from the rest of the first growths for its blend – or rather the absence of it. There are other 100% Merlot wines, of course – neighbouring Le Pin springs to mind. But at Petrus, the idea of one terroir, one grape variety has been elevated to a form of myth, with a ‘Burgundian purity’, as Adam Brett-Smith of Corney & Barrow has described it.

Couple that with hands-off winemaking and you have a distinct sense of place that ensures Petrus truly stands on its own. Winemaker Olivier Berrouet – second generation in the cellars here after his legendary father Jean-Claude Berrouet, similarly charming with a sideline in San Francisco 49ers predictions – has variously described this combination of soil and grape as ‘sincere’, ‘authentic’, ‘pure’ and ‘animal’.

‘There is so much natural power in the soils that in the cellar we need to keep things as simple as possible,’ says Berrouet. ‘The wine goes into cement tanks, with never more than 50% new oak during ageing.

And we use barrels that have been carefully pre-rinsed with water to ensure oak flavours are never overwhelming.’

Wine legend: Château Petrus 1945

This soil is the true difference of Petrus. The dense, sticky ‘blue’ clay that comprises almost the entirety of the vineyard is found in only tiny quantities across the entire region. And for once it is not hyperbole.

While working on a map of Pomerol prepared for my Inside Bordeaux book, Professor Kees van Leeuwen of ISVV (Bordeaux’s Institute of Wine and Vine Science) estimated that this particular type of soil covers far less than 1% of the entire 110,000ha of Bordeaux. Much of Pomerol has clay, for sure, but not this clay.

‘It’s a particularly dense form of clay that is dark on top because of all the organic matter that is contained within it,’ says Berrouet. ‘It transmits huge power to the wine, although that makes it sometimes a little closed when young, compared to other Pomerols’.

Own destiny

The simple brilliance of its proposition – one grape, one soil – has meant Petrus has taken some of the major changes of the past decade comfortably in its stride.

Until 2009, to all outward appearances Petrus was owned equally by the two sons of Jean-Pierre Moueix. There was Christian, who heads up négociant house Ets JP Moueix in Libourne, as well as numerous estates from Château Trotanoy to La Fleur-Pétrus; and his elder brother Jean- François, who heads up Duclot, the other family négociant business based in Bordeaux city.

In 2009, it emerged that Jean-François was the sole owner of Petrus, and that the two sides of the family business were being split into entirely separate entities.

As of 2013, a sole distribution company, Clés Distribution, was established for Petrus, run first by Christophe Jacquemin Sablon, and now Eric Simonet. For the UK market, this meant changing from one importer, Corney & Barrow, to three, adding Berry Bros & Rudd and Justerini & Brooks. It also meant that Petrus now stood on its own, not linked to any other wines – importantly, not even those distributed through Duclot, the négociant also owned by Jean-Francois Moueix and his son Jean. Instead, distributors now buy direct from Clés Distribution. It was a move that gave it even more focus and power.

None of this is to say that Petrus is immune to the market. The past year has seen prices fall across all vintages. In September 2020, the excellent 2009 vintage, for example, was available for £32,700, according to Liv-ex – down 1.3% from its 2019 price, with the 2010 down 2.3% to £33,200. The biggest drops are for recent vintages – led by the 2017, which has seen an 18.9% drop to £24,382.

The longer term trend is unquestionably positive though – Liv-ex’s Petrus index, which tracks price movements of the last 10 physical vintages, rose 37.4% over the five years 2013- 2018. It had outperformed the Liv-ex 100 and the Bordeaux 500, which were up 19.9% and 27% over the same period (see graph, below).

One of my anonymous merchants, mentioned earlier, commented: ‘There is a lot of demand, especially in these difficult times when customers are looking for safe places to put their money.

‘And it helps that Petrus is also one of the only estates in Bordeaux to understand that to create an icon, you have to create value [in the supply chain] for everyone.’

‘Our mission is very straightforward, and we rely on importers and distributors to implement it in their respective markets,’ says Simonet, with the understatement reserved only for the exceptionally powerful.

‘We do not organise (official) events,’ he adds, ‘since we believe the best event is for someone to open a bottle of Petrus – and to share this bottle with family and friends, around some good food.’

See Jane Anson’s Château Petrus tasting notes and scores including 2016, 2010, 2009, 2008, 1999 and 1998

The data in this article has been provided by Liv-ex, the online wine trading platform and fine wine market analyst. Along with a comprehensive database of real-time transaction prices, Liv-ex offers the wine trade smarter ways to do business. The company offers access to £70m worth of wine and the ability to trade with 475+ other wine businesses worldwide. It also organises payment and delivery through its storage, transportation and support services. www.liv-ex.com.

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The Pomerol plateau is extremely flat, travelling between 35 and 37 metres in altitude at its heart.

Its exact contours are hotly disputed, although most agree that it begins when Pomerol rises to 30 metres, and sits at the bull’s eye of the appellation, with the Pomerol church at its centre.

You might also hear the term ‘high plateau’ among those locals who want to further delineate it, usually in order to claim a part even when located in a lower spot.

Scroll down for Jane Anson’s tasting notes and scores in this Pomerol vintage comparison

It’s hard to follow on a map, because the plateau rises across two distinct spots.

Things become even harder on the ground, because the entire appellation seems to lack the slopes and hills that are so easy to spot in neighbouring St-Emilion.

But no one doubts that the Pomerol plateau is real, nor that it translates into gold both in the bottle and in the bank.

The average price of one hectare on the plateau stands at somewhere north of €3 million, for example. That’s if we ignore the singular case of Petrus, where just a small part was sold in 2018 at a valuation of more than €80m per hectare.

Why is this? Soils across Pomerol are a mix of sand, gravel and clay, and those of the plateau are a more distinctive mix of gravel (still with traces of sand) underpinned by powerful clay. Petrus must again be put to one side, with its unusually pure clay.

The warm gravel makes for early-ripening soils, ensuring the velvety tannins so key to the appellation’s signature. The clay underneath gives both freshness and power.

This tasting

This tasting looked at six wines from this particular section of Pomerol, and compared how they performed over six vintages.

It was part of a benchmarking exercise held by Clos du Clocher that I was lucky enough to take part in. It showed clear differences between vintages even at the level of the top estates that took part: La Conseillante, Clos du Clocher, Vieux Château Certan, Certan de May, La Fleur-Pétrus and Trotanoy.

We tasted blind and it was fascinating seeing the character differences through all six vintages. La Conseillante and La Fleur-Pétrus clearly stand out for their seductive qualities, Trotanoy and Clos du Clocher for their tannic frame and shoulders, Vieux Château Certan and Certan de May for their elegance and Pomerol classicism.

How the vintages are shaping up in the bottle

So how did each vintage perform in terms of overall character, and what stage are they at for those looking to open bottles of Pomerol over Christmas, or to buy them to give as gifts?

2017

Pomerol largely avoided the worst of the frost in 2017, mainly because several estates on the plateau worked hard to burn fires and help protect themselves and their neighbours.

There were still some losses and lower yields than usual, however. The other issues of the year also remained, and this is perhaps the most early drinking of the six vintages tried.

2016

The Pomerol 2016 vintage stood out head and shoulders above the rest in this tasting; delivering the best bottle of the vertical for each of the six estates.

There is just something about the construction and texture of this vintage that underlines the succulent depths of Pomerol. Yet there are bigger tannins than in many of the other vintages and so the wines need a few more years in the bottle.

It was an extremely dry summer, so other parts of Pomerol with more sand in the soil suffered from water stress. But the combination of soils on the plateau meant these six estates avoided any problems. This vintage is one to buy as presents for people you really like. Or, just give it a good few hours in a carafe before drinking.

2015

This is a little below 2016 in terms of consistency, with more evidence of high alcohols in the glass. But there is a huge amount to recommend, and some brilliantly decadent wines, especially as the Pomerol plateau has enough clay to maintain freshness and grip to balance the exuberant fruit character.

I also expect these wines to show better next year. Many 2015s that I have tried over the past 12 months are closed down right now, and not showing at their best, so my suggestion would be to wait until mid-to-late 2021 before opening.

2014

This is a vintage that is just starting to open up at six years old. The quality is not at the level of 2015 or 2016, mainly due to the rains that fell in August and September. A return to sunshine in October generally favoured Bordeaux’s Left Bank over the Right.

On this showing, however, these 2014s are tasting well, and have a gourmet twist to them that is easy to love.

2013

As with the rest of Bordeaux, Pomerol did not have a magic wand to completely wave away the issues of a cool and largely damp growing season. That said, its early ripening soils helped deliver wines that are extremely drinkable.

This was clearly the weakest vintage on display, with only Trotanoy really delivering a wine that I would say you can unquestionably age for another decade. The others have their charm and are showing gentle brambled fruit character, but will taste best over the next few years.

2012

This is the one to open for Christmas 2020 in my opinion. There are some very strong wines among this lineup, in a vintage where Pomerol was one of the clear success stories.

The wines tasted here are showing opulent, gourmet flavours that are open and ready to drink, although they also have longer ahead of them than the 2013s. Where there are tertiary aromas, they are succulent and enticing, with notes of campfire and truffle.

See Jane Anson’s Pomerol tasting notes and scores

More articles by Jane Anson:

How to take advantage of Bordeaux’s ‘off vintages’

Anson: Inside Chanel’s newest winery 

Top five Bordeaux vintages ready to drink now (2019)

Any vertical has its fair share of drama behind the scenes. Hail storms, frost, changes of ownership, wider economic events that impact sales. Depending on where you are in the world that might extend to earthquakes and forest fires.

Bordeaux is usually spared the most dramatic of these, but a missing vintage in a vertical of La Cabanne has its own story behind it.

Scroll down for Jane Ansons’s La Cabanne tasting notes and scores

The reason is a fire that started on the night of March 22, 2010, just before the annual En Primeur tastings. The blaze began in a garage next to the main winery, but spread to the roof above the stainless steel vats, which then melted and destroyed the wine inside. This was the 2008 vintage that has just been moved back into the vats before bottling.

Owner François Estager lost not only the 2008 but part of the 2009 vintage, as well as wine from his other Pomerol estates Haut-Maillet and Plincette, and the St Emilion Domaine des Gourdins.

A heavy blow, but one that he responded to by building a smart new winery that has allowed him to continue to make exceptional Pomerol wines (although for the 2010 harvest following the fire he set up a large tent in front of his Montagne-St-Emilion estate where he installed newly-bought triconic vats, and as a result calls his – excellent – 2010 vintage his ‘camping wine’).

The new vat room in Pomerol was eventually finished just before the 2011 harvest.

The location of La Cabanne is worth noting, on the plateau between Trotanoy and Clinet, with deep clays dominant across the 9ha vineyard – something that surely accounts for the excellent consistency I found in the vertical.

Plantings are at 94% Merlot to 6% Cabernet France, but the blend can change significantly depending on vintage – both the 2012 and 2017 at 100% Merlot (I didn’t have the 2017 here, but the 2012 was not my favourite of the line-up, whether coincidentally or not).

The family history is also worth noting, as it makes the François Estager squarely at home in Pomerol, coming from the same Corrèze region of France as Jean-Baptiste Bourotte at JB Audy négociants and Christian and Edouard Moueix at Ets JP Moueix – two of the most significant merchants in Bordeaux, located next to each other on the Libourne quays and both prominent owners in Pomerol itself, with Clos de Clocher, Bonalgue, La Fleur Pétrus, Trotanoy and others. Corrèze has made an outsized contribution to this corner of Bordeaux.

In this case it was François Estager’s grandfather who arrived in Libourne in 1912 and began a négociant business. He then bought an estate in Montagne St Emilion, Château la Papeterie in 1934, followed by La Cabanne in 1952 – named after the huts (cabannes en bois) that once housed the vineyard workers in this area while the aristocratic vineyard owners lived in Libourne.

They were one of the early estates to begin working with ‘man of the moment’ Thomas Duclos as consultant, taking over from his mentor Gilles Pauquet in 2012, who had been consulting there since the 1970s.

Estager joined in 1995 following an earlier career working in clothing for professional sports teams. After his father died in 2001 he took over the estate full-time. He has done an excellent job of sharpening and of focusing the wines – something that was clear in this vertical that went right back to 1989.

It showcased some fascinating pairings, such as 2000 and 2001, and later 2009 and 2010, with the best vintages for me showing as 2009 and 2016. Invariably good value for so well located an estate, this is a property that proves that outside of the most iconic Pomerol estates, there are brilliant buys to look out for.

See Jane Ansons’s La Cabanne tasting notes and scores

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Search all Pomerol 2019 wine ratings

A clear contender for appellation of the vintage, with so many successful wines to choose from.

It performed the miracle that only Pomerol seems able to achieve of Merlot on early-ripening gravel soils that manage to maintain freshness. This was due to the underlying clays giving low pHs even with a peak temperature that hit 41°C in July, offset by small but regular rainfall – 30mm in July and again in August, 10mm on September 10, and a little heavier 23mm on September 22, which many estates tried to pick around.

Scroll down to see the top-rated Pomerol 2019 wines

As elsewhere, there was not enough rain to cause issues with rot. Heat was less of a marker than drought – Christian Moueix told me that on July 25 he was about to ask INAO for special dispensation to irrigate, then July 27 got 43mm of rain (above the 30mm in St Emilion) – which he believes is why the results are so good, concentrated but supple.

Overall, the 2018 vintage was a little hotter, which also helped retain the freshness that we see in most of these 2019 wines. Vineyard management came into play – Lafleur for example painted the grapes and leaves with white clay like they do in the Douro Valley, and lowered the canopy after veraison to limit photosynthesis, but did almost no green harvesting.

There were some prune and fig notes, so watch out for those on sandier soils or young vines, but there were also some of the best wines of the year here, and a lot of great value options.

Yields

The average yield, as with St Emilion, was a comfortable 43hl/ha. Individually things were more varied – 32hl/ha at Trotanoy, 28hl/ha at La Fleur Pétrus, 34hl/ha at La Conseillante, 33hl/ha at Rouget, 35hl/ha at Le Gay, 44hl/ha at Gazin, 42hl/ha at Feytit Clinet, 42hl/ha at Vieux Château Certan and 35hl/ha at La Pointe.

Changes

Among the changes to look out for in Pomerol right now is the new owner at Petit Village, but this will only impact the vinification and ageing of the 2019 vintage, as AXA was still at the helm for the harvest.

Scores

There are more 100-point potentials here than anywhere else – three wines certainly with 100 points potential. Plus ten wines at over 95 points including a crop at 98 which honestly have the potential to be upgraded when tasted in bottle.

The Pomerol plateau in particular has turned out hit after hit. And a good number at 94 points including L’Enclos Tourmaline, Fleur de Gay, Nénin, Beauregard, Le Gay, Rouget, Certan de May, Latour à Pomerol and Hosanna.

And it is impossible to talk about Pomerol without paying tribute to Denis Durantou, who died a few weeks ago in May 2020. His L’Eglise Clinet 2019 is my wine of the vintage.

Top Scoring

Lafleur, L’Évangile, L’Eglise Clinet, Petrus, Trotanoy, La Fleur-Pétrus, La Conseillante, Vieux Château Certan, Clinet, Feytit-Clinet.

Best Value

Bonalgue, de Sales, Guillot Clauzel, Saint-Pierre, Maillet, Enclos Tourmaline, le Moulin, Clos de la Vieille Eglise.

See the top-rated Pomerol 2019 wines

The following wines have all been scored 94 points and above

Not yet tasted: Château Le Pin, Château La Violette, Château Vray Croix de Gay

Back to the main Bordeaux en primeur page

Jane Anson, Andy Howard MW and Tim Triptree MW tasted 111 wines with eight outstanding and 57 highly recommended.

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit St-Emilion grand cru classé and Pomerol wines from the 2015 vintage, with no price restrictions.

The Verdict

‘This was a great tasting,’ opened Jane Anson. ‘I was really impressed with the level. I was expecting it to be good, but I’m happy we weren’t disappointed.’ Despite not having such high hopes initially – thinking the 2015s would be ‘out of balance’ or ‘excessive and overly alcoholic’ – fellow judges Tim Triptree MW and Andy Howard MW agreed.

‘The quality of the 2015s really surprised me. With some exceptions, they are well balanced, with ripe fruit and very easy to drink,’ said Triptree. Howard also found them ‘balanced with restraint’. He addded: ‘I was expecting them to be big and bruising but I was very impressed’.

In total 111 wines were tasted, split very evenly between the two Right Bank appellations of St-Emilion and Pomerol, but despite their close proximity Anson found the differences between the regions’ wines ‘striking’.

Scroll down to see the top wine tasting notes & scores

‘For people trying to decide what to buy, there are generally two styles,’ she said. ‘In Pomerol, the wines have a lower acidity with plusher tannins and fruits, compared with slightly higher austerity in some of the St-Emilions – they’re delicious but you see the minerality more and that definitely came through in the tasting.’

When asked for a preference, all of the judges chose Pomerol, as it did slightly better overall and held more interest. While there were excellent wines from St-Emilion too, the quality was more variable as a whole.

This is reflected in the results, with six out of the eight wines ranked Outstanding coming from Pomerol – even though the top-scoring wine of the tasting was a St-Emilion.

With regard to scores and drinkability, Anson highlighted the different criteria for judging. ‘If we’re giving a high score to something that can be drunk soon, it’s got to be really juicy, easy to drink and approachable. You want a wine that people can open and be happy with; if that’s the case, then it deserves the high score.’

However, she noted that many of these wines were quite closed up at the moment. ‘We were probably underscoring some of the biggest names, as they will be the ones with most structure and therefore the most closed now,’ she explained. ‘There are some which are ready to drink, but the majority still need another three or four years as a rule, before they’re totally ready – and there are definitely wines that will age and improve with another 10, 15 or 20 years in bottle.’

In terms of the styles on offer, Triptree noted: ‘There are some really exotic, fruit-forward, exuberant, opulent styles here and there are also the more elegant, restrained styles; so it pays to read the tasting notes.’ Howard found a few wines that were ‘raisined and lacked freshness’ – which ‘was to be expected given the hot vintage conditions’, noted Anson.

‘As a general rule I prefer the 2016s,’ concluded Howard. ‘But maybe, with a bit more age… I did enjoy these far more than I expected.’

The presence of Cabernet Sauvignon in some wines divided opinion. Howard was ‘still not totally convinced about its use on the Right Bank’, while Triptree felt it ‘set some wines apart, with a pleasant, leafy herbaceousness’.

As for availability, Anson said: ‘If you didn’t buy these wines at the time, during en primeur, you can get them now without paying a huge premium, as I don’t think prices have gone up that much’. Triptree added: ‘2015 is a superb vintage. Buy and drink these for enjoyment, not investment, because you’re going to get great wines that are really top-notch.’

Discussion copy by Georgie Hindle.

See all wines from the panel tasting here

The scores

111 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 8

Highly Recommended 57

Recommended 37

Commended 4

Fair 3

Poor 2

Faulty 0

About St-Emilion and Pomerol 2015

The 2015 vintage offered good quality and quantity, after ideal growing conditions. Jane Anson reviews the successes and explores the differences between these two Right Bank appellations.

Seeing how two major appellations in a major vintage are getting on after five years will always be exciting. 2015 may have been slightly overshadowed by 2016, but there is no question that it is one of the great vintages of the last 20 years, with excellent quality across Bordeaux, and particular successes on the Right Bank.

A sunny and dry year, 2015 saw the University of Bordeaux’s Institute of Vine and Wine Science open its vintage report with the words: ‘We can’t hide our pleasure’. Good quality and quantity, with all five conditions for a successful red vintage met – so a quick and even budbreak and flowering, without too much rain at key points of the season, a long ripening period, and a dry harvest.

There were some spikes of temperature that had to be dealt with, and some blockages in ripening as a result, but overall this is a vintage that is built to last.

A big, concentrated vintage like 2015, however, means that many wines are closed down right now, especially in the longer-living appellations: something we had to contend with in this tasting. Don’t be surprised if the second wines are tasting better than the first at this stage – these wines are in it for the marathon, not the sprint.

Same but different

St-Emilion and Pomerol are the two major Right Bank appellations, both found close to the town of Libourne and the Dordogne river; both producing some of Bordeaux’s most sought-after wines.

And yet they have extremely different personalities. Pomerol, at least in theory, is the most egalitarian of the big appellations, with no classification, and a high number of owner-occupiers running family estates that are often just 1ha or 2ha in size (the average is 5.8ha, skewed by a couple of the bigger châteaux).

St-Emilion & Pomerol: Know your vintages

2019: Heatwaves in June and July saw some blockages, with a cooler August and a mainly dry September, though rain came at the end of the month. A good year with some exceptional wines.

2018: As with 2016, rain marked the early part of the year, followed by a long, hot summer that saw many brilliant wines, but alcohol levels climbing high.

2017: The big story of 2017 was the frost at the end of April that reduced the crop, particularly on the Right Bank, but it was not the easiest vintage anyway because of rain in early September. There were some great wines made, but lighter-framed than usual.

2016: Heavy rains in the first part of the year, followed by a beautifully warm, dry finish, with 53% less rainfall than usual from July until the end of September. This meant long, slow ripening, with natural richness and concentration. The wines should age for decades.

2014: Generally more successful in the northern Médoc than elsewhere, but there are high-quality wines on both banks, when the grapes were able to reach maturity. Wines lack the depth of concentration of the best vintages, but there are plenty of great examples to be found for medium-term drinking.

St-Emilion & Pomerol: The facts

St-Emilion

Area under vine: 5,300ha

Bottles per year: 30 million

Number of producers: 678

Soils: Limestone, clay, sand

Permitted grapes: 79% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon; Malbec, Carmenère, Petit Verdot

Price/ha: €200,000 to €2.6million (2017)

Pomerol

Area under vine: 800ha

Bottles per year: 4.2 million

Number of producers: 135

Soils: Clay, gravel, sand

Permitted grapes: 85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; Petit Verdot, Malbec

Price/ha: €1.5million (2017)

In St-Emilion, the average size is closer to 8ha, and the wines are more strictly delineated. The last classification in 2012 ranked 82 châteaux in total as either grand cru classé (64 estates) or premier grand cru classé (A or B, 18 estates in all), giving consumers a signpost towards the best quality properties, but making for a more rigid system along the way.

Taste profiles also differ between the two appellations, largely as a result of soils, which tend to be early ripening in Pomerol and later ripening in St-Emilion. As a (frequently broken) rule, Pomerol is all about flesh and seduction; St-Emilion more about elegance and glamour.

See the top scoring St-Emilion and Pomerol 2015

Wines scoring 91pts and above

See all wines from the tasting here

The judges

Jane Anson

Anson is a Decanter contributing editor and the DWWA Regional Chair for Bordeaux. She lives in the region and has written books including Inside Bordeaux (£60, BB&R Press, April 2020), an in-depth study of the region, and Bordeaux Legends (Abrams 2013), a history of the 1855 first growth wines.

Andy Howard MW

Howard is a Decanter contributing editor and Decanter World Wine Awards judge. Having become a Master of Wine in 2011, he now runs his own consultancy business, Vinetrades Ltd, which focuses on education, investment and wine sourcing. Howard was formerly a wine buyer in the UK retail sector for 30 years.

Tim Triptree MW

Triptree has been a judge at DWWA since 2017. He is the international director of wine and spirits at Christie’s, responsible for the planning and execution of Christie’s wine and spirits auctions internationally. Triptree became a Master of Wine in 2018 and received the Noval Award for the best MW research Paper.

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Bordeaux wine has lost a leading light following the passing of Denis Durantou, co-owner with his family of Château L’Eglise Clinet in Pomerol.

Decanter’s Bordeaux correspondent, Jane Anson, described Durantou as a ‘real legend of the past three decades in Bordeaux’.

Born in 1957 in the Dordogne area, Durantou studied economics at Sciences Po in Paris before studying winemaking at the University of Bordeaux.

L’Eglise Clinet was not a big name when he took on the long-held family estate in the early 1980s.

‘It came to my attention when I tasted, and was hugely impressed by, the 1985 vintage,’ said Stephen Browett, chairman of Farr Vintners, in a tribute to Durantou on the UK merchant’s website. He added that the pair became ‘firm friends’ after first meeting in the late 1980s.

Durantou and his wife, the artist Marie Reilhac, have since made L’Eglise Clinet one of the Bordeaux Right Bank’s top estates, albeit retaining a relatively understated physical presence in Pomerol. It has 4.5 hectares of vineyard.

Elsewhere, Durantou bought Château Les Cruzelles in Lalande-de-Pomerol – the first vintage being 2000 – as well Château Montlandrie in Castillon, in 2009.

The wine portfolio also includes La Petite Eglise, sourced from a specific site in Pomerol not far from L’Eglise Clinet, plus Château Saintayme, produced from rented vines in St-Emilion, and La Chenade in Lalande-de-Pomerol.

Browett said, ‘Denis was a wonderful man and he made absolutely brilliant wines, not just at L’Eglise Clinet but also in Lalande-de-Pomerol, St-Emilion and Castillon.’

He added, ‘His memory will live on in the exceptional wines that he produced and his remarkable achievement in transforming L’Eglise Clinet from a simple wine to one of the greatest and most respected wine estates of the world.’

While considered an extremely talented winemaker in the cellar, Durantou was equally respected for his attention to detail in the vineyard.

‘I believe in translating terroir as honestly as possible,’ he told Jane Anson in an interview for Decanter in 2018, explaining how his eschewal of new oak in the first decade at L’Eglise Clinet enabled him to become quickly acquainted with how different vineyards plots expressed themselves in the glass.

Anson said this week, ‘Denis Durantou was one of the few owners in Bordeaux who was also the viticulturalist and chief winemaker across his estates.

‘He was rightly fêted for the brilliant L’Eglise Clinet, but his real genius came through in the work he did in Lalande-de-Pomerol and Castillon, showcasing his skills in wines that offered some of the best values in the whole region.

‘I will miss his voice in Bordeaux, championing terroir and authentic winemaking, and I will miss the thrill of discovering what he had come up with in each vintage.’

Denis Durantou and Marie Reilhac’s three daughters are Alix, Noémie and Constance.

See also: 

Jane Anson’s interview and tasting with Denis Durantou (published May 2018)

When you see a bottle from a neighbouring château on a Bordeaux table, you almost always know something is afoot.

There’s an apocryphal story that Baron Elie at Lafite Rothschild would serve his cousin’s Mouton with dessert, to ensure that it never outshone its neighbour.

So when I saw a bottle of Petit-Village on the table alongside Château Beauregard wines I did a double take – until I was told that a sale had just been closed.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for Château Beauregard wines

This next-door estate, literally on the other side of the road and owned by AXA Millésimes, was joining the small group of châteaux owned by the Moulin family, of Galleries Lafayette.

My feeling is that this bodes well for Petit-Village. The Moulins don’t have long-time experience in running châteaux, having bought Beauregard only in 2014.

But they are smart and proven business owners, behind the 100% family-owned Galleries Lafayette, majority shareholders of La Redoute and in charge of the few remaining Marks & Spencer shops in Paris.

As of 2019, according to the annual Challenges magazine listing, the Moulin family was worth around €4 billion.

The Moulins also have form in taking Pomerol estates into private ownership, having bought Beauregard from the banking group Crédit Foncier.

The head of the family is nearly-90-year-old Ginette Moulin, whose grandfather Théophile Bader founded Galeries Lafayette in 1896.

But the wine and property arm is run by Augustin Belloy, working alongside Beauregard’s director, Vincent Priou, and technical director, Guillaume Frédoux.

Florence and Daniel Cathiard, owners of Smith Haut Lafitte in Pessac-Léognan, also have a minority stake in Beauregard.

The Cathiards, and their technical director, Fabien Teitgen, focus more on strategy and consultancy rather than day-to-day management.

They have, however, unquestionably deepened the feeling of confidence and buzz around Beauregard in the last few years. I would expect them to do the same for Petit-Village, even if they are somewhat distracted by their new purchase in Napa Valley.

‘Brilliantly located on the Pomerol plateau’

But even without this new addition to the portfolio, I was already looking forward to going to Beauregard to taste a 20-year vertical of wines from 1998 through to 2019.

I tasted three en primeur wines from 2019, although these scores will not be released until later, along with the rest of the Bordeaux 2019 ratings on Decanter Premium.

Beauregard is brilliantly located on the Pomerol plateau, right next to Clos de Clocher, and opposite Petit-Village.

Its has one of the highest levels of Cabernet Franc in Pomerol, in some years right up to 40%, and also one of the most attractive 18th-century estates, complete with formal gardens, dovecote and a moat.

This was reportedly an inspiration for the Guggenheim family to build a copy of it at Port Washington on Long Island.

How Beauregard has changed

There’s been plenty of keep an eye on in recent years.

Among the immediate changes brought in under the new owners have been later picking dates, which are now two weeks beyond the average harvest dates under previous owner Credit Foncier.

Yields have also been cut, down to around 35 hectolitres per hectare across the 17.5ha estate. Around 40% of production is reserved for the first wine.

Organic conversion of the Beauregard vineyards began in 2009 and full certification was achieved in 2014.

Soil studies have further refined plantings and knowledge of vineyard sites.

For example, the second wine, Benjamin de Beauregard, now comes from the sand-gravel soils found on the lower part of the estate’s vineyard.

Incidentally, that wine was introduced by consultant Michel Rolland back in the mid 1980s, making it one of the first ‘second wines’ in Pomerol.

Horses now also plough sections of the vineyards where the vines are particularly young, for the least possible soil compaction.

The Moulins also made Vincent Priou overall estate director; he has been at the property since 1991).

They also brought in the highly talented Frédoux as technical director. He was previously Ets JP Moueix, where he worked alongside Todd Mostero at Dominus in Napa Valley.

This tasting showed the clear progression that has been made at Beauregard over the past decade.

It’s a château that is often underestimated but is very clearly one to watch.

It’s hard to stand out on the Pomerol plateau, of course. But I’m betting that a bit of friendly competition with nearby Petit-Village, where the brilliant Diana Berrouet-Garcia is winemaker, will benefit all of us.

See Jane’s tasting notes and ratings for Château Beauregard wines

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While a fee hasn’t been disclosed, the purchase, which is planned to be completed by the end of April, will see Château Petit-Village and its 11ha, including 10.4ha under vine move from corporate ownership into the family-run Beauregard portfolio.

Beauregard has been owned since 2014 by the Moulin family, who also own French department store Galleries Layfette, with a minority shareholding by the Cathiards of Château Smith Haut Lafitte. They also own Château Pavillon Beauregard in Lalande de Pomerol.

Commenting on the announcement, Augstin Belloy, co-general manager of Château Beauregard declared that the transaction would enable the property to ‘reinforce our long-term commitment’ in Pomerol.

‘Over the past five years, the teams from Château Beauregard have actively worked to develop the quality, the production in certified organic agriculture, and the reputation of the property to establish its position as one of the premier grand crus of the clay and gravel plateau of Pomerol.

‘AXA Millesimes has also achieved a remarkable transformation of Château Petit-Village, which has become one of the principal players in the region. We are therefore delighted today to be able to accompany the property in a new phase of its development.’

Christian Seely, Managing Director of AXA Millésimes, based at Château Pichon Baron in Pauillac, also commented: ‘The sale of Château Petit-Village is part of a process of reallocation of the resources of AXA Millésimes with the aim of diversifying our vineyard investments.

‘This process had already begun in 2018 with our acquisition of the Outpost vineyard on Howell Mountain in Napa Valley, and also with our acquisition in 2019 of Quinta do Passadouro in the Douro, neighbour of our great vineyard at Quinta do Noval.

‘We are happy to have found in Château Beauregard a new owner for Château Petit-Village, who will continue the long-term pursuit of quality in which we have been engaged since our acquisition of Château Petit-Village in 1989.’

It has been confirmed that the sale includes stock and the total team in place at Petit-Village will be kept on.

The estate was last set for sale in 2002 before a deal worth €45m (£29m) fell through. Poor market conditions were blamed for an initial delay, and subsequent cancellation of the agreement between AXA and Bordeaux proprietor Gérard Perse, who owns Château Pavie, Monbousquet, Pavie-Decesse, Bellevue-Mondotte and two properties in Côtes de Castillon.

Although the current sale price was not disclosed, according to the latest figures from French land agency Safer in 2019, vineyard prices in Pomerol could sell for up to €3.6m per hectare while the cheapest might fetch €1.2m. This would value Château Petit-Village’s land for between €13.2m and €39.6m before taking into account stock and associated assets.

See all Pomerol 2017 wines re-tasted in bottle

Read Jane Anson’s full Right Bank 2017 in bottle report

All reviews published online exclusively for Premium subscribers

Pomerol has an early mover advantage in terms of ripening and there is plenty to enjoy in this 2017 vintage.That said, the clay soils did not always cope well with the September rains, and some estates had to deal with the late spring frosts that also affected other parts of Bordeaux in 2017.

The Moueix wines stood out my tastings as being particularly worth tracking down, and there is plumper fruit and structure in these wines versus the en primeur tastings 18 months ago.

Overall, you’ll find plenty of enjoyable wines in this appellation and several will be ready within the next five years or so. But, very few Pomerol 2017 wines stand up to the brilliance of 2016 or 2018.

Look out for: La Conseillante, Trotanoy and Hosanna.

See Jane Anson’s top Pomerol 2017 wines re-tasted in bottle

The list comprises wines which scored 92 or above.

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Any horizontal of 2015 Right Bank is worth a look at right now. Approaching five years on from the vintage, it’s pretty much exactly the time that you’re going to be finding these wines on shelves and in restaurants – and when an appellation like Lalande-de-Pomerol is perfect to start drinking.

Lalande is one of those ‘almost there’ appellations; right next to a more famous name but not quite making it. But, it’s also one that has received increasing recognition in recent years and that, for my money, has huge potential to stand alone (buyers seem to agree, with the average land price rising from €150,000 to €240,000 per hectare over the past decade).

Scroll down for Jane Anson’s 31 Lalande-de-Pomerol wine tasting notes and scores

There are, for a start, a host of serious winemakers here that are worth following; Denis Durantou of L’Eglise Clinet owns two estates in the appellation, La Chenade and Les Cruzelles, the de Boüard family of Angélus has La Fleur de Boüard, while François Pinault of Château Latour owns Siaurac, and Pascal Chatonnet, one of Bordeaux’s most respected consultants, has his home estate of Château Haut-Chaigneau.

But these are far from the only interesting properties in Lalande. This is a place with a number of less well-known names that, when you start to dig down, bring to life the limitations of the Bordeaux appellation system.

To understand why, I just have to take you on a brief tour of the region. The southern edge of Lalande is marked by the Barbanne stream that separates Lalande from Pomerol itself. Its most interesting section is in Néac, one of the two communes that make up AOC Lalande-de-Pomerol (the other one being Lalande), and in particular the strip that sits opposite Gazin and La Fleur Pétrus just on the other side of the stream. For a start, the land is far steeper here, with slopes climbing back from the stream that you never find in Pomerol, and giving excellent south-facing exposure. But, it’s also here that you find pockets of the famous sticky clay that covers a tiny fraction of Bordeaux’s soils (almost certainly less than 2% in total), but that countless estates nevertheless claim to have. There are two estates that benefit from it in Lalande-de-Pomerol – parts of Château de Chambrun and Château Tournefeuille, and both make small cuvées; Tournefeuille’s La Cure and Chambrun’s Le Bourg, that isolate this part of their vineyards and that should be on any Bordeaux wine lover’s list.

You’ll notice a high number of special bottlings in Lalande in general (not all tasted here) because the terroir in these two communes is far more varied than in Pomerol and therefore benefits from being isolated and treated differently during the year in the vineyard and in the cellar. The châteaux that produce high-end cuvées include Fleur de Boüard, Tournefeuille, Garraud, Belles-Graves, Chambrun, Haut-Chaigneau, Haut-Goujon, Domaine de Viaud and others (La Chenade could be seen as a special bottling of Les Cruzelles, although Durantou might disagree). Belles-Graves’ Cuvée X was the standout wine in this tasting and is located right next door to Tournefeuille. As the name suggests, Belles-Graves has some of the deepest gravels – and steepest slopes – of Lalande-de-Pomerol, and benefits from that same extremely high-quality stretch of terroir. You can taste it in the glass.

Looking at the result of this horizontal, what strikes me is how consistent the wines are. It’s relatively ‘easy’ to find high scoring wines among classified estates in 2015, but it’s rare to have so many wines that are easy to recommend when you step outside of the big-name appellations.

It must be at least partly because Lalande takes consistency extremely seriously. In 2008, the appellation created its own inspection agency in charge of overseeing its winemaking charters, and they claim it to be the strictest in France. Every wine, for example, must undergo a quality control that is both on wine analysis in a laboratory and a tasting before they are given the right to use the label (most appellations do this control after bottling but before the wine goes on sale, with a few controlling after the wine has gone into circulation). In Lalande, as soon as a winemaker wants to put his wine on sale, he must first submit to a vat sample and blind taste tests – all of which helps Lalande compete as the appellation offering the best value for money in Bordeaux.

See Jane Anson’s 31 Lalande-de-Pomerol wine tasting notes and scores

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Does Château Trotanoy take its name from ‘trop ennui’, meaning the soil is too difficult to work, or ‘trop tannique’, meaning too tannic?

Soil in this part of Pomerol is certainly almost concrete-like in a hot summer and way too sticky in winter rains. But, owner Edouard Moueix is willing to bet on the second description being the real reason.‘Much of our work with this property is about how to tame the tannins,’ he says during a masterclass at Decanter’s Bordeaux Fine Wine Encounter at London’s Landmark hotel.‘They can be brutal if not handled correctly, because these are naturally powerful soils.‘Our technical director, Eric Murisasco, talks about the shape of tannins as key, not the amount of them. And what is clear at Trotanoy is that the right shape only happens if the tannins are sufficiently ripe.’

Trotanoy is the ‘other’ Pomerol. It is less famous than Petrus and yet in many ways a more perfect reflection of what defines the appellation, because its soils are that classic mix of the sticky clays and gravels that make Pomerol wines so unusual.

Trotanoy vineyards

The layout is pretty simple. There are 7.2 hectares of vines split into five plots, with four in a square around the Château and the fifth a short striding distance cross a narrow road.

Four of the five plots have gravel or clay-gravel soils of varying depths. ‘In many places [you’ll find] huge pebbles, almost Côtes du Rhône-like in size,’ says Moueix.

One plot, called Les Argiles, is pure clay.

All are roughly the same size, ensuring each plays its role in the final wine.

How Trotanoy wines have evolved

Getting the balance right between letting the natural power of the soils speak and moderating their ferocity has not always been successful.

As ever, one of the fun things about this kind of vertical is to bring to life the progression at the château over the years. 

‘You feel the step-change in the glass as of 2005, but the older vintages show something equally remarkable.’

For the first two vintages tried here, 1998 and 2000, harvesting was fairly simple. The team started on one side of the vineyard and worked its way to the other side, filling up the tanks as they went.

Fruit went into large containers with open sides, leading to some on-the-fly concentration of flavours as grapes were squashed on the way to the cellar and excess juice spilt.

From 2005, things became far more precise. Different parts of each plot were picked at different times, and small sections taken out entirely if they weren’t up to scratch; hence the arrival of the ‘second wine’, Espérance de Trotanoy, from 2009.

Grapes came into the cellar in small baskets from this point, with sorting taking place either in the vineyard or in the cellar, not in between the two.

Any vines that show traces of ESCA trunk disease are also harvested separately and kept out of the main wine, something that I hear about only extremely rarely in Bordeaux.

You feel the step-change in the glass as of 2005, but the older vintages show something equally remarkable about Trotanoy and that is how it softens into elegance with some bottle age.

‘I can remember my grandfather telling me that Trotanoy is a feminine wine, and not understanding what he meant,’ says Moueix. ‘But after 10 years in bottle, suddenly it becomes clear’.

More vineyard tweaks

The fine-tuning continues, with replanting by massal selection and the removal of a small section of Cabernet Franc that is not yielding enough quality.

‘We finally pulled this up after the 2018 vintage, because knew that if it couldn’t get to the right expression in that year, it never would,’ says Moueix.

Other areas have been rescued. One area of old vines that had nearly given up was given a new system of pruning, trellising and drainage. It is now producing some of the best wine of the vineyard, without sacrificing the complexity of older grapes, according to Moueix.

All of this meant that the vertical more than lived up to the high expectations that surrounded it.

Trotanoy 2018 re-visited

As an added bonus, we got to taste the final blend of Trotanoy 2018.

All Moueix estates blend half way through ageing, so the snapshot given during Bordeaux en primeur week is a close reflection of the finished wine, but not exact.

This underlines again why I don’t give 100-point scores to wines before they are bottled.

But there is no doubt that the most recent vintage proves yet again that Trotanoy is one of the finest wines of Bordeaux.

Trotanoy at-a-glance

Vineyard size: 7.2ha, Pomerol

Grape varieties planted: 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc

Owned by: Moueix family since 1953. Co-owned by Christian, Edouard and their cousin Jean-Antoine.

Winemaking: Fermentation in cement and stainless steel, before ageing in 50% new oak.

Tasting notes and scores for Château Trotanoy wines

Read Jane Anson’s Bordeaux 2018 verdict

Search all Pomerol 2018 wines tasted 

Bordeaux 2018 is another vintage where Pomerol just seems to have it all together.

There are plenty of similarities in the taste of these barrel samples with both 2010 and 2016, while St-Emilion seems to have more in common with 2015.One of the exciting things about 2018 is that châteaux teams were really able to pick their harvest dates, and so you get clear choices and winemakers delivering on signatures of their estates.If you want fresh and sculpted, go Vray Croix de Gay, but if you want succulent and gourmet, go La Violette.

It’s also a great year for assessing the character of the appellation, as long as people selected their picking dates well, and didn’t push too hard on extractions in the cellar.

Yields seemed relatively normal, with an average of 36 hectolitres (hl) per hectare (ha) across the appellation.

A few stats include 37hl/ha at Petrus, 40-something at most of the Moueix estates, 32hl/ha at La Conseillante, 34hl/ha at Domaine de l’Eglise and 32hl/ha at Taillefer.

There are relatively high pH levels, as seen elsewhere, but when are the levels not high in Pomerol? This never seems to stop the wines ageing.

You’ll also find relatively high alcohol levels, although lower than in 2015 in many cases. For example, L’Evangile 2018 was 14.5%abv and 15% in 2015.

The best wines of Pomerol this year are quite clearly incredible – with density, freshness, complexity and balance.

Others are a little over-concentrated with low acidity. Hot weather caused some vines to become blocked on the earliest-ripening gravel soils, and again you had to be careful with extractions.

Estates potentially offering great value: Feytit-Clinet, Croix du Casse, Lafleur-Gazin

Top Scoring wines overall:  Vieux Château Certan, Trotanoy, Petrus, Lafleur

Best Pomerol 2018 wines

The following wines were all scored 95 points and above. See all Pomerol 2018 wines tasted here.

Back to the main Bordeaux en primeur page

I love tastings that set one thing against the other. Not to turn it into a competition, but to allow the differences to illuminate both sides. The usual way to do this is by comparing two contrasting vintages, but to really up the ante, I suggest trying it out with two contrasting appellations.

Pauillac and Pomerol make for a particularly special pairing. Not only because they are names that always provoke a thrill when you’re sat in front of a bottle, but because the way in which they reflect and contrast each other highlights a number of useful things about Bordeaux.

The history

For a start, and most obviously, Pauillac is set on the Left Bank of the Garonne river and Pomerol is over on the Right Bank (of the Garonne and the Dordogne, if we want to get picky). The history of Pauillac dates back a full 2,000 years, with the Romans first heading there to make bronze coins for the Holy Roman Empire, although viticulture had to wait until the 16th and 17th centuries to really get going with the draining of the land by the Dutch. Pomerol took even longer. There were vines off-and-on for many centuries in Pomerol – certainly when the pilgrims were heading through there during the Middle Ages, but things were always quieter than in neighbouring St-Emilion. Widespread viticulture only really started in the 19th century in Pomerol, with polyculture typical until relatively recently. The name of the appellation didn’t make much of an impact internationally until the 20th century, and the arrival of Petrus in America, by which time Pauillac had already long been controlling auction markets worldwide.

The size

You can see the result of this in dozens of tiny – and not so tiny – details. Where Pauillac is 1,200ha in size, Pomerol is around a third smaller at 800ha. If you’re anything like me, you might actually be surprised that the size difference isn’t bigger, given the difference in image of the two appellations; Pomerol all artisan craftsmanship and Pauillac all powerful millionaires. But when you break down the numbers a little further, it starts to make more sense. Pauillac has just 57 winemakers in those 1,200ha giving an average estate size of something like 22ha. The big guys have far more than that – Lafite 110ha, Latour 92ha, Mouton 83ha. When you take into account all of their other properties, the biggest names – not just those three, but around 15 properties – account for something like 90% of the vineyard land in Pauillac.

Compare that with Pomerol, where there are close to 135 wine producers across the 800ha, giving an average size of under 6ha. The biggest château in Pomerol is de Sales at 47ha, but the majority have vines that they can easily walk through, from one side to the other, in little more time than it takes to brew a pot of tea.

The owners

And there’s undoubtedly a difference also in the type of owners. Many live on-site in their properties in Pomerol, sending their children to the local school in the village such as Olivier Techer-Laval at Gombaude-Guillot or, far more typically, in neighbouring Libourne or St-Emilion. In Pauillac, pretty much the only owner that I know of who went to the local school is François-Xavier Borie at Grand-Puy-Lacoste. Most of the big châteaux owners send their children to school 50km away in Bordeaux, or up in Paris, where they also tend to live full-time.

Classifications

And then there are the classifications – the daddy of them all in Pauillac in the form of 1855, with a full 18 Cru Classés – three firsts, two seconds, one fourth and 12 fifth growths. Over in Pomerol there are precisely no classified châteaux, as the appellation has chosen to go low-key instead and let the market decide pricing and prestige – though they did flirt with the idea at various points as you can see the words 1er Cru carved on a few walls around the appellation. This also helps to explain why you’ll find sprawling, architect-designed 18th and 19th century châteaux dotted around Pauillac that have become almost as famous as the wines – the spires of Pichon Baron being perhaps the best example. Pomerol also has a few classical châteaux (de Sales and Beauregard among them), but many properties are unmarked and little more than country houses or small farms, making finding your way around this appellation much more of a challenge.

Grapes

Next up; the grapes. In terms of plantings, Pauillac is the land of Cabernet Sauvignon while in Pomerol, Merlot rules – giving a nice window into the two grape varieties that define Bordeaux. The exact plantings are, for Pauillac; 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. In Pomerol, the vineyards are planted instead to 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Underground, things are also not quite as different as you might think when looking at those plantings. Yes, Pauillac has more gravel than Pomerol (up to 9m in depth at Lafite, and not far behind at Grand-Puy-Lacoste), but there are large areas of clay and even limestone around Pauillac. And Pomerol has lots of clay, but also plenty of areas of both sand and also gravel. The difference is, that where Pauillac estates will pretty much always plant Cabernet on gravel, you’ll find Merlot on the same soil type over in Pomerol. This means an early-ripening grape planted on early-ripening soils (gravel is hotter than clay) and goes a long way to explaining why the tannins in Pomerol can be quite so fleshy and inviting.

All in all, comparing the two is an utterly fascinating exercise – particularly in brilliant vintages such as 2009, as we did here. And no feeling sorry for Pomerol. Not only are names such as Moueix in Pomerol every bit as powerful as the Rothschilds in Pauillac, you’ll find that both areas have vineyard land that average close to €2 million per hectare, the highest in Bordeaux. The average bottle price in both is way above the average of the region – good luck finding a bottle of either Pauillac or Pomerol for much less than €20, and you’ll soon be heading upwards of €100 as the names climb in prestige. These are two appellations that can more than hold their own.

The wines: Pauillac vs Pomerol

The wines below were tasted at a Decanter Premium tasting in New York

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We asked long-time Decanter contributing editor James Lawther MW to select his favourite estates from these Right Bank appellations. His choice highlights the evolving nature of the region since the 1990s...

Bordeaux became my home in 1996, St-Emilion and the Right Bank an agreeable 25-minute drive away. Leaving the rolling hills of the Entre-Deux-Mers, the road dips and crosses the Dordogne running on towards the elevated epicentre of St-Emilion, the limestone plateau and côtes. Advancing further, the terraces, slopes and châteaux appear. It’s a heartening sight and one that hasn’t palled over the years. Likewise, the medieval town itself – whether bustling from spring to late summer or slumbering in the winter.

In the 1990s the Right Bank was a flurry of activity. The start-up ‘garage movement’ was in full swing, a revised classification for St-Emilion in 1996 caused something of a stir, and viticulture and winemaking were in the spotlight, with ‘progressive’ methods such as green harvesting, grass cover, late-harvesting, extraction and ageing in new oak hot topics.

Scroll down for Lawther’s top picks from his favourite Pomerol and St-Emilion chateaux

Some 20-odd years on, revolution is no longer in the air, the viticultural methods are standard practice and the wilder extremes of winemaking have been toned down. The garage wines that survived are now part of the establishment, the talk these days imposed by wealthy investors and the latest acquisition and amalgamation. Unchanged is the quiet rurality that still holds.

Choosing my top St-Emilion and Pomerol châteaux, I’ve tried to show the fabric of the region, illustrating the evolution since the 1990s. Both the official (Angélus, Ausone, Cheval Blanc, Pavie) and unofficial (Lafleur, Petrus, Le Pin) top growths have been left aside to allow for a little more scope. It’s a choice that is personal rather than one that is dictated by points.

Château La Fleur-Pétrus, Pomerol

It’s difficult not to include an estate owned by Ets Jean-Pierre Moueix in a review of the Right Bank. La Fleur-Pétrus was the first property acquired by Jean-Pierre Moueix in 1950. It has since been expanded by his son, Christian Moueix, and grandson, Edouard Moueix, and now consists of 18.7ha on the Pomerol plateau, a notable size in this tiny appellation.

Clearly, the wine has evolved and we have yet to see the full picture. But it’s safe to say that the renowned finesse of La Fleur-Pétrus shows more depth and structure these days. Merlot is the dominant grape with 90% in the blend, but with a pinch of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. ‘We’re convinced a high percentage of Merlot is necessary; it purveys the Right Bank character,’ affirms Edouard.

Château La Conseillante, Pomerol

The continuity of ownership at La Conseillante has been one of its strengths, the Nicolas family being proprietors since 1871. It did, however, make for a rocky period in the 1990s when one family member, a doctor, oversaw winemaking with the assistance of a part-time cellarmaster. The new millennium, though, ushered in a more professional approach, first with Jean-Michel Laporte arriving in 2004 as manager-winemaker, then Marielle Cazaux as director from 2015.

The cohesion of the property goes beyond ownership, the boundaries of the 11.8ha vineyard the same as in 1871, the blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc from both clay- and gravel-dominant soils also relatively stable. In fact, it’s the Cabernet Franc and Merlot grown on gravelly soils that provide the minerality and finesse so admired in La Conseillante. What the new management has brought is greater precision, particularly in the vineyard, where Cazaux is now slowly initiating organic cultivation. ‘I come from a viticultural background so have always been close to the vineyard,’ she says. A new winemaking facility, built in 2012, also helps. The style of the wine hasn’t changed but the grain of tannin is finer and the fruit comelier.

Château Valandraud, St-Emilion 1GCCB

What a story: the architect of the garage movement is now an establishment St-Emilion premier grand cru classé. It all started in 1991 when Jean-Luc Thunevin – sometime bistrotier, DJ and bank clerk – and his wife Murielle Andraud, produced the first vintage of Valandraud, a total of 1,280 bottles, in a lock-up next to their house in St-Emilion. Frost and green harvesting reduced the yield, hand-destemming and pigeage saved on finance, while malolactic fermentation and ageing in new oak barrels produced the desired effect. The garage wine was born and the rest, as they say, is history.

Except there are a few elements left unrecounted: the cherry-picking of an increasing number of parcels to produce the wine (disclosure: I worked the harvest here in 2006); prices that surpassed those of the Médoc first growths in the 1990s; the purchase of 8ha Château Bel-Air-Ouÿ in 1999 (now Valandraud), and the introduction of a white wine in 2003.

And alongside all of this, a commitment to quality and precision, and the ambition to have Valandraud recognised. Initially, the wine divided opinion with its onedimensional concentration, but over the years that has been replaced by a complexity to match the ripeness, depth and structure. Don’t think that Thunevin’s ambition has been sated either; he’s eyeing the ‘A’ status in the classification next.

Château Bourgneuf, Pomerol

There’s a sort of hegemony in Pomerol: if you’re not on the high point of the plateau, you can’t run with the elite. Some, though, make a pretty good effort. Château Bourgneuf has been owned by the Vayron family since 1840; the present winemaker, Frédérique Vayron, is the eighth generation. Her parents, Dominique and Xavier Vayron, made some dependable wines through the 1980s and 1990s but Frédérique has pushed on since taking over in 2008, adding greater purity and precision to a typically unctuous, structured base.

The 9ha vineyard, which is in one single block, descends from the heavy clay-withgravel sector of Trotanoy through gravel and clay to parcels of gravel and sand. Frédérique has improved the pruning, employed plot-byplot management, increased exactitude over the harvest date and introduced a second wine from 2012. At the same time, she’s launched a programme of replanting which includes a massal selection of Merlot and Cabernet Franc from a 100-year-old parcel. Bourgneuf may not quite be at the top table, but there’s certainly no need for subordination.

Château Grand Corbin- Despagne, St-Emilion GCC

François Despagne knows all about the trials and tribulations of being downgraded in the St-Emilion classification. In 1996, in the hands of an ailing uncle, Château Grand Corbin- Despagne was stripped of a status it had held since 1955. ‘It was psychologically hard for the family and economically tense,’ he recounts. There was no recourse to the law courts. Instead, Despagne was given the choice of continuing his research alongside Denis Dubourdieu at Bordeaux’s Faculté d’Oenologie or becoming the seventh generation to run the family domaine. He chose the latter.

The arrival of a younger generation was greeted positively as Despagne set about retrieving classification. The wind-blown sand and clay terroir was already a known factor and the 28.5ha vineyard in a reasonable state, but he had trenches dug so that he could understand the 50 different parcels better, introduced grass cover and reduced yields. ‘From someone at home in a laboratory I became passionate about the vineyard,’ he says.

Organic cultivation followed progressively, with the whole estate certified since 2013. The cellars were also gradually modernised and a second wine was introduced in 1998. There’s a happy ending to the story, as Grand Corbin-Despagne was reclassified officially in 2012; the generous, Merlot-led wines a well-established entity today.

Château Canon, St-Emilion 1GCCB

Canon is symbolic of the restoration and change St-Emilion has witnessed in the past 20 years. Ranked first growth since the inaugural St-Emilion Classification in 1955 and ideally located on the limestone plateau, it was in poor condition when purchased by the Wertheimers, owners of Chanel, in 1996. Since then investment, dedication and professional expertise have given the 34ha property a new lease of life; the wines now pure, refined and expressive of the terroir. ‘It’s been a pleasure to lift the property to the status it merits,’ says Canon’s long-serving technical director, Stéphane Bonnasse.

Change did not come overnight as the renovation has been extensive. Nearly 80% of the core area of the vineyard has been replanted, the old vines having been virus-ridden; a portion of the underground galleries were reinforced and the cellars cleaned of a TCA problem as well as being modernised. There’s also been expansion, with the acquisition and integration of neighbouring vineyards, and a 12thcentury chapel remodelled as a separate winery for the second wine, Croix Canon. It’s the sort of project that only a wealthy benefactor could undertake, but it’s been done with taste and consideration, as well as an eye for the style and brand of Canon.

Château Figeac, St-Emilion 1GCCB

Figeac’s 1979 was one of the first wines I ever bought to lay down. This was followed by a case of the 1982. Visits have been reasonably frequent, the highlight a 2001 dinner hosted in the cellars for the now-defunct association of premiers grands crus classés. In short, it’s a property I’ve come to know; the wines, with a high Cabernet content, impressing with their finesse and ability to age.

The late Thierry Manoncourt, a degree in agricultural engineering in hand, established Figeac’s modern reputation in the 1950s and 1960s. His decision to cultivate 35% each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and 30% Merlot did more than anything to establish the Figeac style. Development since has been steady, but if the estate marked time in the 1990s it is now ploughing ahead with renewed vigour. Much has been accomplished in the vineyard in terms of replanting, and next in line is a new cellar complex in 2019. Already, if progress can be measured by vintage quality, 2015 and 2016 are among the greatest wines ever produced at Figeac.

Vieux Château Certan, Pomerol

‘Quality is in the detail,’ says Alexandre Thienpont, and at Vieux Château Certan that has been made into a fine art. Alexandre’s grandfather, Georges Thienpont, bought the 14ha property in 1924. It was then run by his father, Léon Thienpont, before Alexandre took over in 1985. He has since been joined by his son, Guillaume, so the continuity and family succession are confirmed. It’s this type of shared knowledge, plus a sharp intellect, that has kept VCC at the top of its game. Stumbles are uncommon and stylistically it is rarely blown off course.

The vineyard is the focal point, located as it is at the heart of the Pomerol plateau. One section abuts that of Petrus but overall there’s a different soil profile, which dictates a distinctive spread of grape varieties: Merlot (65%) is planted on heavy clay, Cabernet Franc (30%) on gravelly clay and Cabernet Sauvignon (5%) on gravel. The blend can differ radically according to the vintage but the wine remains profound, firm and fine in style. Batches of wine from vines that are under 25 years old are destined for the second label. ‘We eliminate everything that can ruin quality,’ asserts Alexandre.

Clos des Baies, St-Emilion GC

The days of finding tiny, independent, start-ups in St-Emilion are limited but they do still exist. Philippe Baillarguet waited 13 years to make his first wine and 17 to own his first plot of land. ‘I felt I needed the experience before launching out on my own,’ says the man who has been the cellarmaster for Château Ausone and other Vauthier family properties since the mid-1990s. Clos des Baies first saw the light of day in 2006 with a wine made from rented land; 2010 was the first vintage produced from the tiny plot (less than a hectare) acquired on the clay-limestone slope of the côte sud just below Tertre Roteboeuf.

Baillarguet readily admits his personal venture would not have been possible without the support of the Vauthier family. He makes the wine at Château Moulin St-Georges and is assisted in some of the vineyard work by the Ausone team. ‘Prices of land have rocketed, making start-up costs prohibitive,’ he explains. Garage in size, less so in style, his 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc blend is dense, full and firm, with an acidity that highlights freshness and structure.

Tertre Roteboeuf, St-Emilion GC

François Mitjavile has always been a maverick. When custom dictated the Guyot system of pruning, he adopted the cordon system. Low yields and late-harvesting appeared at an early stage. In the 1990s the fashion for power and colour was queried and rejected, the wine remaining resolutely ruby-red and exotic in style. And if, in the early days, the négociants in Bordeaux were unsupportive, then overseas importers provided a solution. The final non-conformist gesture was to eschew classification and drop the ‘Château’ moniker.

He’s followed his own path and in so doing created a unique expression and identity with Tertre Roteboeuf. It’s a bijou property, more Burgundian than Bordelaise, located on the clay-limestone soils of the côte sud. From the start in the 1980s he knew that the 5.5ha estate had to be run in a certain way. ‘Low production and high working costs meant I had to go for outstanding quality and sell expensively,’ he explains. Without classification the wine is up there with the first growths. Stylistically, the opulence, and the quality and texture of tannin, owe much to the Merlot on this terroir being picked on the edge of overripeness, as well as to a lengthy period of maturation in 100% new oak barrels with controlled oxidation. In this approach Mitjavile has never wavered.

See Lawther’s t0p picks from his favourite Pomerol and St-Emilion chateaux

See Jane Anson's most highly rated Pomerol wines following her Bordeaux 2017 en primeur tastings.

Introduction by Decanter Staff

The notorious frost of the 2017 growing season made things significantly more challenging on the Right Bank, but the recent Bordeaux en primeur tastings showed that quality is still very high for the wines that made it through.

Yields inevitably suffered in the worst-hit areas. Pomerol overall was down at 23.9 hectolitres per hectare of vines for 2017, which is around 40% lower than 2016.

However, such figures disguise the uneven nature with which frost enveloped certain vineyard areas in Bordeaux.

Among the top scorers below, for example, Trotanoy and Petrus escaped the frost and subsequently produced very impressive wines, even if slightly below the intensity level of 2015 and 2016. L’Eglise Clinet was also ‘one of the real successes’ of the vintage, according to Decanter’s Jane Anson.

As Anson notes more generally, ‘The gravel-clay plateau in Pomerol and much of the limestone plateau across Fronsac, St-Emilion and Castillon survived many of the season’s challenges, although the cool nights meant that the austere, saline side of limestone is very much on display in a lot of them, something that will not make them universally popular.’

In the selection below, you can find all of the Pomerol 2017 barrel samples rated at least 91 points by Anson.

See all Pomerol 2017 wines

More about Decanter Premium

See Jane Anson's tasting notes and ratings for Pomerol 2015 wines, nearly two years out from the original en primeur showing.

Below, Decanter Premium members can view Jane Anson’s ratings and tasting notes on dozens of Pomerol 2015 vintage wines, as part of our Bordeaux 2015 in the bottle series.

Highlights include several top estates that scored above 95 points, including some 100-point wines; helping to cement the view that the Right Bank, with its focus on Merlot and Cabernet Franc, did particularly well in the Bordeaux 2015 vintage as a whole.

All of the wines below were tasted in Bordeaux towards the end of 2017.

Top Pomerol 2015 wines:

Related

• You can find Jane’s top Médoc 2015 classified wines here

• For St-Emilion 2015 in-bottle, see:

St-Emilion Grand Cru | St-Emilion Grand Cru Classé | St-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé B | St-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé A

Back to the main Bordeaux 2015 page

Our en primeur tasting notes for Pomerol 2016...

All Pomerol 2016 wines

This vintage’s wines are not as immediately sexy as in 2015, but they are still voluptuous and beautifully structured, with perfectly ripe fruit and clear potential for long ageing.

• Bordeaux 2016 Right Bank: Anson’s first impression

• Latest on Bordeaux en primeur 

• More Bordeaux 2016 tasting notes

The below wines are some of the top scoring wines from Pomerol 2016 – find all Pomerol 2016 wines here. 

The vintage that started everything? Andrew Jefford says Ave Atque Vale - hail and farewell - to some great Pomerol 1982 wines...

Everything, it seems with hindsight, began in 1982. That was the vintage which, with a crash of cymbals, ushered in the modern wine world – in Bordeaux, of course, but given Bordeaux’s significance, in the wine world more generally.

• Scroll down to see Andrew Jefford’s Pomerol 1982 wine notes

Everything? In the vineyards, 1982 marked the turning of the tide on ‘chemical viticulture’, and a slow return to the understanding that there can be no great wine without the effort and endeavour needed to tend vines assiduously, and nourish soils sustainably. 1982 set a benchmark for ripeness, and launched three-and-a-half decades during which climate change seems to have rendered the ripeness which formerly marked only very great vintages more commonplace than in former decades.

Economically, 1982 marked the start of an unparalleled period of prosperity for fine wine in Bordeaux and beyond, as a run of generous vintages coincided with a surge in the global numbers of those able to afford such wines and newly interested in doing so. It also marked the rise of Robert Parker and the beginning of wine criticism as distinct from wine writing, with points as the magical tool which put ‘buying the best’ within the reach of all. (At least until prices soared beyond the reach of most in the C21.)

Related content:

• Jane Anson: How Bordeaux 1982 tastes today – October 2016

I’m old enough to have known this Bordeaux vintage a little bit in its infancy, and to have had a chance to taste it intermittently ever since, and I’ve always loved it. For simple wealth of flavour, grace, affability, charm and textural ease, allied to an unfussy but faithful expression of the genetics of each individual site, I don’t think we’ve seen its like since. Perhaps 2005 and 2010 are even greater than 1982, but they are different sorts of great vintage, with a little more severity of complexion and inner tension (‘classicism’, some might say). The style rivals to 1982 have been 1990, 2000 and 2009.

As time has gone by, 1990 and 2000 have revealed a little less glowing resonance and perfection of balance than 1982 did, outstanding though both are. With 2009, by contrast, we were truly in the modern world where no ‘qualitative gesture’ went unperformed — and the consequence of all of this effort in vineyards and cellars was that a rich vintage was rendered just a little bit over-rich and corpulent on occasion, without the spontaneous, artless poise and easy athleticism which marked the higher yielding 1982s. It’s early days for 2009, though, and most of those who taste more great Bordeaux than I get the chance to do rate 2009 above 1982. They may be right. A gap of 27 years, in any case, makes exact comparison difficult, and I’m sure that few 1982s when young had the density of the best 2009s.

Whatever the truth, 1982 constitutes five syllables that have always made my heart beat a bit faster, so when some friends in Hong Kong asked if I would like to come along as they took a look at some of their treasured 1982 Pomerols, my reply came garnished with exclamation marks. (Pomerol was a sub-region which performed particularly well in 1982.) Some notes on the wines we tasted (the first six of which were served blind) are given below.

How are the wines showing? They are gorgeous, but no longer in that assured, mid-life kind of way which promises limitless interactions to come. All, for me, are fully mature while some are tiring, and I cannot see how any of them might actually acquire further sensual nuance in the years to come, though Evangile, La Conseillante, Petrus and the legendary Lafleur will certainly endure for longer. The tasting, in other words, had a slightly valedictory feel: the springy poise and flesh of the 1982s is no longer in evidence, and its face has become a little less smiling, a little more set and grave. It’s many years since I owned any 1982 Bordeaux, and I never owned any Pomerol from that vintage, but if by great good fortune you do, I would begin planning a few special dinners.

The wines

Château Latour à Pomerol 1982

This wine still had impressive depth of colour, though the hues were now tile-red. The aromas were full and warm: no fruit as such, but earthy, meat-jus notes and incense spice more than compensated. It was deep on the palate, too, but a little more brusque than the aromas had suggested. Elemental and sturdy; some puff left for a few more years. 90 points / 100

Ch Le Gay 1982

This was not an outstanding bottle (hence the bracketed score): the aromas were a little stewy and stinky, and this character did not noticeably lift in the glass. On the palate, by contrast, it seemed rather better than its dismal reputation: not deep or succulent, but held in place by a lingering tannic frame, and with a mid-palate that showed some grace and charm. (87)

Ch Eglise-Clinet 1982

This was the last vintage prior to Denis Durantou taking over in 1983 (though he took part in the vintage, and remembers it well); the wine has a poor reputation. It was, though, one of the wines which was served blind, and impressed several tasters including me. In contrast to Le Gay and Latour à Pomerol, it has a true Pomerol nose, with creamy warmth and refined Havana-leaf notes. It was soft, gravelly and elegant on the palate, and still had some wealth of flavour and tannic engagement. Has the quality of the site won through in time? Or was this just a lucky bottle? 92

Ch Trotanoy 1982

A very good wine, as it had been when I last tasted it with Christian and Edouard Moueix in 2014. Aromatically, it needs teasing out of the glass, but then it opens beautifully: sweetly rich, with some lingering fruit glow and a little planty freshness. On the palate, it has slightly brighter acidity than some of its peers, yet it had retained plenty of weight and poise, too, and the aromatic sweetness seems almost to have a chocolate cast here. 96

Vieux Château Certan 1982

The colour is holding well enough, but the aromatic spectrum seems to be tiring a little: dusty and medicinal. On the palate, too, this is now a wine of pale complexion; the bones are beginning to show beneath the skin. Still a delicious drink: elegant and harmonious, but no longer as exciting as it once would have been. 91

 Ch l’Evangile 1982

Another dark wine, with a rich and exotic scent: lots of sweet spice and incense here. Still very sturdy on the palate, too, with its acidity held in check (a gauge of longevity in older Bordeaux: the more the acidity shows, the nearer the end). It’s still possible to pick out plums in its cascade of flavour amid the warm, meaty depths. An outstanding wine. 97

Ch La Conseillante 1982

Deep in colour, and a gorgeous wine to smell: warm, fat and rich, brimming with good things – savoury notes, very soft sweet fruits, the autumn land. On the palate, it was a more vital wine than I was expecting: behind lavish raspberry and plum fruit there were sustained, upright tannins mingled with lively ripe acidity. Brisk and poised yet at the same time generously ripe: on a perfect evolutionary plateau just now. 97

Ch La Fleur-Pétrus 1982

After the quiet thunder of Trotanoy, Evangile and La Conseillante, La Fleur-Pétrus was clearer, lighter, silkier, floating on the breeze. I can’t say that it has a lot more kite time ahead of it and it’s structurally a much softer wine than its peers, but the forces are gathered, seamless and harmonious; there’s no sign of the acid component beginning to poke through the sheeny skin. 93

Ch Petrus 1982

This is more translucent than Lafleur and a glowing brick-red in hue. There’s plenty of head-turning exoticism on the nose: spice, truffle, the coffee-roaster’s yard. On the palate, the wine shows its age without being tired; the acid levels seemed among the lowest of the group, and once again there was no sense of bony senescence. The flavours were unapologetically mature: wild mushroom, beef stock, fine tobacco. Rewarding and delicious – just not quite the blockbuster one hopes for on sight of this label. 95

Ch Lafleur 1982

This magnificent bottle lived up to its reputation. It was dark in colour, and still powerfully aromatic, with all of the truffley richness which you hope for in well-aged Pomerol, lifted and freshened by a little rubbed plant leaf. On the palate, the wine is deep and commandingly textured still, earthy and dense on the mid-palate, growing creamier and more truffley towards the end. Despite this generosity, its energy levels were clearly higher than for any of its peers: the mid-life assurance and the rangy athleticism were still there. The only challenge was to drink it with innocence. A rare, once-in-a-lifetime treat for this lucky Pomerol fan. 99

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The man who sold Château de Sours to Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has used some of the proceeds to buy and re-name a wine estate in Pomerol on Bordeaux's Right Bank.

Martin Krajewski, who earlier this year sold Château de Sours in AOC Bordeaux to Alibaba Jack Ma, has acquired Château Monbrun, a small estate in the Pomerol appellation.

The 2.23 hectare Monbrun estate is planted to 100% Merlot, with vines up to 55 years old, and is situated close to the village of Catusseau, facing Château Nenin and Château La Pointe.

A separate plot of land near to the vines has also been purchased with a house and winery that was formerly a tiny family-owned property. It will now be entirely renovated.

Krajewski has re-named the property Château Seraphine, and created a new label incorporating elements of his family’s ancient Polish coat of arms.

His daughter, Charlotte Krajewski, will be joining him from Elephant Hill in New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay.

Terroir expert Xavier Choné will study the estate’s soils to help establish a vineyard strategy. Florent Dumeau will join as winemaking consultant.

‘Both Xavier and Florent have already worked with us for the past 12 years at Château de Sours and Clos Cantenac in St-Emilion, and more recently, on our Aristea Wines project in the Cape in South Africa,’ Krajewski told Decanter.com.

A new winery is planned for the 2017 harvest.

Krajewski also owns a distillery in Oslo, the first privately owned distillery in Norway since 1927, where he is currently producing a gin, an aquavit and bitters.

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British businessman Martin Krajewski, who a few months ago sold Château de Sours in Bordeaux to Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, has signed a deal to buy a wine estate in Pomerol.

Martin Krajewski sold Château de Sours to Alibaba founder Jack Ma earlier this year in a deal that ‘more than recouped’ Krajewski’s investment in the estate.

He has since used some of the proceeds to buy a 2.2 hectare estate in Pomerol, close to the village of Catusseau and in the vicinity of Château Nenin and Château La Pointe, with a view towards the church spire in Pomerol village.

The final sale should be completed in May 2016, but until then Krajewski declined to give the current name of the estate. He intends to re-name it Château Séraphine once fully acquired.

He did not give a purchase price. One hectare of vineyard in Pomerol costs 1.1m euros on average, according to 2015 figures from French land agency SAFER.

Krajewski said an architect has started drawing up plans for a new winery and house for the Pomerol property. ‘The opportunity to have an estate in both St-Emilion and Pomerol is really something exceptional and something that I could have only dreamt about when first moving to Bordeaux in 2004,’ Krajewski told Decanter.com.

Krajewski is still the owner of Clos Cantenac in St-Emilion, which he bought in 2006 at 1.6 hectares and has now enlarged to six hectares. Famed for his rosé wines at Chateau de Sours, he has released Exuberance de Clos Cantenac Rosé from his St-Emilion vines, a highly unusual move for the red wine area (bottled AOC Bordeaux Rosé).

The former director of a headhunting firm in the City of London also owns Aristea Wines in Constantia, South Africa and has recently invested in a private distillery in Norway called Oslo Handverksdestilleri (OHD).

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The small team of smartly dressed Parisians from Christie’s auction house, with their measuring tapes and notepads, are buzzing from room to room in Château Siaurac. It couldn’t be better scripted to signpost the ‘significant, but still a minority shareholding’ investment by François Pinault’s Artemis Group in March 2014. Christie’s is, of course, the auction house that has sat within Pinault’s sprawling business empire for almost 30 years.

This modest corner of a modest appellation barely makes a ripple in Pinault’s US$40 billion business empire, that spans Gucci and Stella McCartney to the Theatre Marigny in Paris and the Palazzo Grassi in Venice. But that doesn’t mean that the investment didn’t get plenty of column inches in Bordeaux. The vineyard holdings within Artemis have to date been highly selective. Besides the Pauillac flagship of Château Latour are Domaine d’Eugenie in Vosne-Romanée, Château Grillet in the northern Rhône and Araujo Estate in Napa. Even the most charitable observer would have to say that Château Siaurac doesn’t quite fit this pattern. At 46 hectares, it’s the largest estate in Lalande de Pomerol – but not one that had set hearts on fire any time recently.

• Read James Lawther MW’s first impressions of the Bordeaux 2015 right bank

Two years later, and on one level it’s business as usual over here. This has long been one of the most vibrantly tourist-friendly properties on the right bank and it continues to be so. From April 2016, La Table de Siaurac will offer a restaurant service – advance bookings only – and when I was there, a family was just being set up on a table to eat outside in the spring sunshine, overlooking the park and 19th century formal gardens. The outside spaces here have been recently designated a Jardin Remarquable, one of only eight in the Gironde region, and the house itself was awarded the Monument Historique label at the end of 2015. Both of these developments were being lobbied for several years, and would have happened without the arrival of Pinault. It’s certainly a far cry from the gatehouse guard that watches over Latour.

• Anson: The best Bordeaux restaurant wine lists

Behind the scenes also, still-majority-owner Paul Goldschmidt remains at the helm and the commercial distribution of Siaurac and his other two properties Vray Croix de Gay in Pomerol and the classified Le Prieuré in St-Émilion, which continues through Bordeaux merchants in the en primeur system. But he is happy to admit that, below the surface, the influence of the Artemis money and expertise has given him room to breathe – and perhaps to enjoy the three estates – for the first time in years.

Goldschmidt made no secret of the fact that he sought an outside partner to relieve financial pressure. The vineyards had been in his ex-wife’s family since 1832, and they bought the shares held by other family members in 2007.

Although financial details of the investment were not made public, we can assume that things are different now, and for any of us interested in the influence of money on terroir (and let’s not pretend one doesn’t help the other), Siaurac is going to make a fascinating case study over the next few years.

‘The arrival of François Pinault and Artemis has meant we can now take a different approach to risk,’ says Goldschmidt. ‘So where we might previously have not taken chances with ripening of the grapes if there was rain forecast, we are able to push things by a few more days. And where we might not have cut yields, or been so drastic in the selection after harvest, we can now do so.’

For a start, Penelope Godefroy – an agronomist who worked previously at Latour as well as Pinault’s Rhône and Burgundy estates – has gamely moved over to the right bank, and is in charge of the technical direction of the three châteaux. Godefroy is part of a strong team of women that Artemis has in place making technical decisions – Hélène Mingot in Napa, Hélène Génin at Latour, Sophie Mage at Château Grillet and Jaeok Chu at Domaine d’Eugenie.

The first thing she did here was introduce the house philosophy into the vines, changing all farming at Vray Croix de Gay and Le Prieuré over to biodynamics in one fell swoop. These are relatively small properties – 3.67 hectares spread over two gravel plots in Pomerol and 6.24 hectares on the limestone plateau of St-Émilion – and certainly prestigious terroirs, so clearly merited the change.

And where Latour has Eric Boissenot as a consultant, Siaurac is now one of the few estates on the right bank to have secured the services of the iconic Jean-Claude Berrouet, ex Pétrus (the chateaux lie less than half a mile apart, and in the past Siaurac was distributed by Moueix, so Berrouet has known the wines for over 40 years). Berrouet tells me that the call came from Latour’s CEO Frédéric Engerer just after the investment was finalised and that his role is simply to ‘offer my experience to Penelope on how the right bank soils behave’. Berrouet’s Irouleguy estate, Herri Mina, has been farmed biodynamically for the past seven years, and there is surely nobody better suited as an advisor and guide.

Horses are already roaming in Le Prieuré, but things are going to take longer at Siaurac. All pesticides and herbicides have now been stopped, but it will take time for the soils to recover, and they have set themselves a five-year time frame to slowly move over to 100% organic farming. A new orchard was planted last year, while beehives give a small production of honey, and a sharply-tanged marmalade comes from the line of orange trees in a particularly sunny spot.

All this means that for today, Siaurac remains the distant third in the triumvirate. But Lalande de Pomerol has a buzz around it, with increasing recognition for wines such as Château Angélus’ La Fleur de Boüard, Château de Chambrun, Benoit Trocard’s L’Ambrosie and above all Denis Durantou’s Les Cruzelles. There’s no doubt that the Latour name has added a serious amount of weight to the idea of Lalande de Pomerol being the next big thing in Bordeaux – the modest appellation where the smart money goes.

Updated 12:00pm 08/04/2016 to clarify that Silvio Denz no longer owns Château de Chambrun.

With no classification plus varied terroirs and quality, this appellation isn’t easy to understand. But Stephen Brook says the ageworthy 2010 vintage is worth investigating...

Pomerol is not an easy region for consumers to fathom. Its terroir is extremely varied, although the greatest wines tend to come from a small plateau around the church that is mostly composed of clay and gravel soils. As the land slopes down towards the town of Libourne, the terroir becomes less distinguished, with a good deal of sand. There is nothing on the label to indicate the origin of a wine and, as so often in Bordeaux, many châteaux own parcels of vines in different sectors and blend them.

Then there is no classification. Hierarchies aren’t definitive as they omit the human factor, but they can be helpful in indicating which estates are most highly regarded. Price tends to be a reliable guide, though sometimes it reflects scarcity rather than quality. In a tasting such as this, each wine has to fight its own corner: large property against minuscule, famous against essentially unknown.

In a fine vintage, Pomerol offers perfume, charm and a discreet structure; tannins tend to be less muscular than in neighbouring St-Emilion. And 2010 was a fine year here, though Pomerol shared the vintage’s peculiar character with other regions of Bordeaux.

The hot early summer and warm but cloudy August meant that the grapes ripened steadily, so that by early September they showed good sugar levels but also very high acidity. Growers had to wait for those acidities to drop and for tannins to become less strident. And wait they did, enduring cool nights that kept those acidities stubbornly high. When the harvest began in late September, the wines were high in acidity and tannins (but not excessively) and had unusually high sugar levels.

The resulting wines can feel more like Barossa than Bordeaux, and alcohol levels of 15% or above are by no means unusual. Yet low pH levels meant that the wines have kept their vibrancy and even a degree of freshness. They are not as voluptuous as the resplendent 2009s, but the best are truly exciting.

A quality minefield

Quality is far from uniform. It never is in Pomerol, due to the varied terroir and because some growers are content to release mediocre wines in the hope that the glowing reputation of the region as a whole will pull them into saleability. At the same time there has been a growth in sophistication and quality in the appellation’s lesser districts, where even growers on unsensational terroir still strive to make balanced and enjoyable wines at a fair price.

Although the 2010 vintage followed the irresistible 2009s, producers saw no reason to lower their prices. The 2010 was different from 2009 but by no means inferior, and many consumers will prefer their greater tension and undoubted ageability. This is a vintage to cellar, at least at the top level.

Great Pomerol is never cheap: volumes are just too small. Moreover, Merlot’s fruitiness and elegance beguiles many wine lovers, so there is an avid following for the finest wines. But many less well known properties still produced excellent wines at a more than reasonable price.

But be patient: with more age the still-youthful 2010s will begin to display the truffley sexiness of mature Pomerol.

The scores

83 wines tasted

Outstanding 3

Highly recommended 14

Recommended 63

Fair 3

Poor 0

Faulty 0

The results

This tasting naturally invited comparisons with the (also highly regarded) 2009 vintage in Pomerol. 2010 offers some great wines but for the longer haul, agreed our tasters. Amy Wislocki reports…

Pomerol. the great 2010 vintage – what’s not to like? However in the event, it wasn’t quite that straightforward. ‘I found this one of the most taxing tastings I’ve ever done for Decanter,’ said Steven Spurrier.

James Lawther MW and Stephen Brook agreed, describing the tasting as ‘hard-going’ and ‘punishing’ respectively. So what was the problem?

It seemed to be twofold, down partly to the nature of the vintage, and partly to the wines not showing particularly well at this time. ‘In October 2012 I loved these wines and rated them very highly,’ recalled Brook. ‘But they seem to have closed up. Many were very unexpressive and will show a hell of a lot better in five years’ time.’

Not only that, but 2010 was very different to the accessible and supple 2009 vintage, which ‘started to give what they had to give from the outset and will no doubt continue to do so’, said Brook.

‘The 2010s are very structured, with marked acidity levels, high alcohol levels and tannins that are also very present,’ said Lawther. ‘It’s probably more uneven than 2009, and the successful wines are for long-term keeping.’

Alcohol was a recurring theme for discussion. ‘We were dealing with wines that ranged from 12.5% to 15.5% alcohol,’ observed Lawther. ‘The good wines were those at around 13.5% or 14%, because they were balanced; the acidity was there.’

Brook explained further: ‘I don’t have a problem with wines at 14% and 14.5% as long as they’re balanced, but often the higher-alcohol wines had really bruising, rugged tannins. And as for the really high-alcohol wines – there’s no reason why Pomerol in any vintage should have 15% alcohol, let alone 15.5%. It’s about winemaker choice – they’re picking too ripe, and they don’t need to do that. They’re getting too much tannin and concentration. The wines are monolithic – it’s just not what Pomerol is all about.’

So is there any evidence of what it is all about? ‘What I love about Pomerol is the red fruit purity and finesse, allied to structure and a certain opulence. There were wines that fit that template but not as many as I expected, and there were lots of wines with darker fruit, which surprised me.’

‘To me, this tasting represents a redefinition of Pomerol,’ said Spurrier. ‘In the old days, the 1970s and 1980s, it was overproduced, soft Merlot with no grip. Here we have wines that have tremendous vigour and grip, a good youthful colour, and many with that irony hallmark of Pomerol. These were still Merlot wines, but they were Pomerol wines.’

Brook expressed a concern that some wines lacked typicity. ‘Many will come from the weaker sandy soils that make agreeable but not very distinguished wines, and I wonder whether the extreme climatic conditions will have obliterated some of the differences.’

Spurrier was more upbeat. ‘The traditional view was that Pomerol had perhaps a dozen great properties and the rest was rubbish. But there were a lot of brilliant wines here, wines that were very Pomerol. In my view, this vintage is the new Pomerol.’

So when will these wines be ready to broach? Pomerol evolves quite early compared to the Médoc, said Spurrier, and these should be nice to drink in just a few years. ‘But will they be great Pomerols?’ challenged Brook. ‘You need 10 years for the truffley aromas to emerge. I’m not saying you won’t enjoy these wines in five years’ time, but you’ll get much more out of them in 10 or 12 years.’

Expert summary: Stephen Brook

You need to tread carefully in Pomerol to avoid making a costly mistake, but there are some fine wines available at fair prices from both known and more obscure estates.

The results of this tasting didn’t bring any major surprises. The best-known properties fared well, though as always with Pomerol the list is scattered with more obscure names.

Many of the most celebrated wines didn’t enter this tasting, though one outstanding property, La Conseillante, has been rewarded for its courage in participating; another top estate, Clinet, also did well, if not so spectacularly.

But there was a solid showing by so-called second-tier estates: Beauregard, Nénin, Vray Croix de Gay, Bon Pasteur, Clos du Clocher, Clos l’Eglise, Fleur de Gay and Gazin. Only one of the major estates disappointed: Petit-Village.

Many of the other wines in the bottom third of the rankings were in fact second wines from good estates such as Nénin, Clinet, Pomeaux and Vray Croix de Gay. Even among those lower rankings there were hardly any mediocre wines – a testament either to the quality of the vintage or to the improvements in winemaking in Pomerol in recent years.

The panel didn’t seem to show any obvious preference for one style over another. The top wines included the oaky, garagiste Le Moulin as well as more traditional styles. Wines that are rich and full can be admired alongside others that are perfumed and poised. Both are perfectly acceptable expressions of the Pomerol terroirs.

What the tasting clearly demonstrated was that, despite Pomerol’s reputation for producing exceedingly expensive wines – Pétrus, Trotanoy, Lafleur, Vieux Château Certan – you don’t need to spend a fortune for a really pleasurable wine from here. Far less costly wines, such as La Truffe, Beau Soleil, Mazeyres, Franc-Maillet and Vieux Maillet, all showed well.

There have been some changes in ownership in recent years, which may account for a few unexpected results. The rising star, Gouprie, showed well, as it did in 2009, but the panel wasn’t convinced that its all-Merlot, all new oak Excellence cuvée was actually superior to the regular wine.

The new estate Altimar wasn’t among the favourite wines, but, like the 2009, it shows great promise.

La Pointe and L’Enclos, both of which changed hands a few years ago, disappointed in the sense that the dedication of the new owners should have been more evident in the wines by now.

Another newish property, L’Ecuyer, got off to a good start in 2004 but seems to be faltering in recent vintages.

Top Pomerol 2010 wines from the panel tasting:

Published in the December 2013 issue of Decanter magazine.

With 23ha, the fourth largest estate in Pomerol after De Sales, Nenin and Gazin, La Pointe rose to prominence under France’s Second Empire.

In the 1883 edition of Cocks et Féret’s Bordeaux et ses Vins, Château La Pointe was just one of three awarded the prestigious ‘Château’ prefix. It has always been a well thought-of, middle-of-the-road Pomerol.

The first vintage that Bordeaux expert David Peppercorn MW came across was the 1943, and Stephen Brook mentions the 1947 in his book The Complete Bordeaux (Mitchell Beazley, 2007). It was a regular on wine lists due to its open style and modest price, the d’Arfeuille family, also owners of La Serre in St-Emilion, assuring a good average quality (its 1996, in my Dorset cellar, is perfect now).

In 2007 the estate was sold to the Generali France insurance company, and now under the direction of agronomic engineer Eric Monneret (ex Raymond-Lafon in Sauternes), with Hubert de Boüard de Laforest as consultant, investments are ongoing to ensure that La Pointe reaches its full potential.

• Spurrier recommends: Château La Pointe, Pomerol 2010

One of the first properties to the north of the village of Catusseau on the outskirts of Libourne, the terroir is fine sandy-gravel with a little moisture-retaining clay but none of the iron elements found in the centre of the appellation, even though one parcel is near to Trotanoy. An indepth geological study of the soils and sub-soils undertaken by Pierre Becheler, who had conducted similar surveys at Branaire-Ducru, Cos d’Estournel, Montrose and Palmer, resulted in the uprooting of all the 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and the severe limitation of yields from the Cabernet Franc.

A totally new vat room and barrel cellar (50% new each year) were ready in time for the 2009 harvest, allowing for plot-by-plot vinification, and later enabling fine-tuning of the selection for the grand vin, the second label being Pomerol de La Pointe. La Pointe is now regaining its 19th-century glory.

See the scores and tasting notes for the top 10 Lalande de Pomerol wines from the 2014 vintage, tasted by James Lawther MW.

It’s an uneven vintage on the Right Bank in 2014, the key factors for success being soil type, work in the vineyard and a percentage of Cabernet Franc in the blend.

As with the rest of Bordeaux, the Right Bank experienced a reasonably successful flowering, cool, wet July and August and the saving grace of an Indian summer. But there was more rain than on the Left Bank (particularly in the months of July, August and September), although it varied by sector and the earlier ripening Merlot not only swelled but benefited less from the fortuitous late-season weather.

Hence success in the vintage is closely linked to vineyards on well-drained soils that were able to regulate the water supply, mainly limestone and good vineyard management. The vine continued to grow through the ripening cycle so there was a constant need for maintenance. Vigilance was also needed for downy mildew.

If it’s more of a Cabernet year, it’s also a Cabernet Franc year, the grape ripening magnificently in the late-season sunshine and harvested the second week in October. So expect more Cabernet Franc and even Cabernet Sauvignon in blends.

This doesn’t mean to say the Merlot was a write-off. It was largely harvested at will without threat of rot and within the above mentioned parameters, there are some very attractive wines. These have an ageing potential of 10 years for “petits châteaux” and 20 years or more for those with a more serious aura. Potential buyers should look at Fronsac/ Canon-Fronsac and Castillon-Côte de Bordeaux for early drinking and St Emilion for wines to cellar.

Stylistically, the wines have attractive fruit, tender tannins, alcohol of 13% to 14.5% and a freshness linked to high acidity and low pH. In other words these are good, classic Bordeaux. They are not as rich and intense than 2011, 2012 and 2013. Equal to a superior 2012 or a 2008 for the best.

As in Pomerol, the weather in 2014 was generally less favourable to producers in Lalande de Pomerol. Much of the appelation is on rather flat sandy-gravel soils so the rain was a mitigating factor including the 60mm rain storm that fell on 18 September. There are, of course, exceptions some of the vineyards have clay and gravel and there’s the individual skill of the producer but generally the wines are lighter in style (though not as light as 2013), some with a green edge.

The Moulin family of Galeries Lafayette Group has formed a partnership with Florence and Daniel Cathiard of Chateau Smith Haut-Lafitte to buy four properties across Pomerol, Sauternes and Graves.

Among the acquisitions is Chateau Beauregard in Pomerol, a 17ha estate that has been producing wine since the 12th century.

Also included in the purchase is 8ha property Pavillon de Beauregard in Pomerol, second growth estate Chateau Bastor Lamontagne in Sauternes with 52ha of vines and 30ha of parkland, and Chateau St Robert in Graves with 33ha of vines.

The properties were sold by BPCE Group, the second largest banking and insurance group in France, with the Moulin family taking the majority shareholding in what is their first viticultural acquisition.

The Cathiards will be minority shareholders, but will oversee all winemaking and estate management, alongside the existing chateaux teams.

‘We have been friends with Christiane [Moulin] and Philippe [Houzé] for over 35 years,’ Florence Cathiard told decanter.com, ‘and we would not be doing this with anyone else.

‘It’s a wonderful opportunity for them to find properties on both the Left and Right Bank – and to secure a 17ha estate in Pomerol is really exceptional. We are thrilled because Daniel is a great lover of Sauternes, and I am a great lover of Pomerol’, she said.

Cathiard confirmed that they will not be turning the entire Sauternes production to dry white wine, but will look to develop a lighter style of Sauternes alongside the traditional Bastor Lamontagne. ‘The Moulin family has a great belief in the appellation, as do we’.

Although the price of the transaction has not been disclosed, land values in Pomerol are between €1m and €2m per ha, depending on location.

Vineyard prices in Graves are closer to €30,000 per ha, and in Sauternes around €50,000 (a steep drop from €174,000 per ha in Sauternes in 1991, according to 2012 figures from French land agency SAFER).

Written by Jane Anson

Pomerol fared slightly better than St Emilion on Bordeaux's right bank in 2013, but yields are 'wildly down' and there is a lot of variation between chateaux in both areas, according to Decanter contributing editor James Lawther MW.

Average yields across the right bank are down by up to 40% in many cases. Poor weather during flowering set the trend for the year, Lawther (pictured) told Decanter.com following his initial look at right bank wines during en primeur week.

‘There’s no getting away from it, this is probably the hardest vintage they’ve had to deal with since 1992, and maybe even further back,’ he said, following a tasting of right bank cru classe wines hosted by Chateau La Pointe.

‘Pomerol came about slightly better, because it’s an earlier ripening area. When you taste St Emilions, you find it’s those on the plateau and the slopes with the clay and limestone soils where you’ve got a better ripeness and better maturity.’

That said, Lawther echoed many producers, consultants and other critics in describing 2013 as a light vintage.

‘There will proabbly be none in the outstanding category in terms of my scores for right bank – so that’s more than 18 points out of 20. There will be some rare scores in the 17 to 18 range, and there will be a lot around 15 to 16.’

But, Lawther added that 2013 for many chateaux will still be a ‘good drinking wine’, and it’s a vintage consumers should look out for in restaurants after the wines are bottled.

Few producers have delusions of grandeur about the wines they have just made, despite the extra pickers and money required.

‘With this type of vintage, nature reminds you that she’s the boss in the end,’ said Olivier Berrouet, head of winemaking and vineyards at Petrus.

‘You know you won’t make the vintage of the Century, so you just focus on the pleasure that people will have when they open the bottle.’

He added that producers needed a ‘gentle touch’ in what has been a delicate vintage to handle. ‘It’s a very Burgundy approach,’ he said.’If you push a vintage when maturuty is not perfect, you will get the green taste form the skin and you don’t want that.’

Pierre Lurton, at Cheval Blanc, described 2013 as a ‘strategic’ vintage. The timing of the harvest was a test of nerve, with rain and rot a constant threat.

‘We did three green harvests for Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauivgnon to select the best bunches as possible,’ said Frederic Faye, of Chateau Figeac in St Emilion. ‘It’s expressive and elegant, it’s a charming vintage,’ he said of the premier grand cru classe estates’s 2013 wine.

Several producers believe there is decent ageing potential on the right bank for some 2013 wines, but there is a lot of variation.

‘It’s a very up and down vintage,’ said Lawther. ‘For the better producers, it’s for consuming within five to 15 years plus.’

Written by Chris Mercer

The owner of Chateau Latour, Francois Pinault, has acquired a minority stake in Baronne Guichard, which owns three estates across Pomerol and St Emilion.

Francois Pinault, whose Artemis Holdings owns Chateau Latour

Pinault’s investment firm, Paris-based Artemis Holdings, has invested in the winemaking operations and become a minority shareholder in the Baronne Guichard estates of Chateaux Siaurac in Lalande-de-Pomerol, Le Prieuré in Saint Emilion and Vray Croix de Gay on the Pomerol plateau.

Baronne Guichard’s owner, Paul Goldschmidt, described the deal to decanter.com as a ‘technical partnership’. It should be completed for the 2014 vintage.

The exact amount invested was not confirmed, and he said Pinault has not taken any portion of ownership in the vineyards themselves.

Goldschmidt will remain as managing director and majority owner, and will continue to use his existing commercial relationships with the Place de Bordeaux.

Former technical director of Latour, Penelope Godefroy, has begun working full-time at Siaurac across all three Right Bank properties.

‘Godefroy is currently carrying out a full inventory of the vineyards, and will be making recommendations as to what extent we will follow Latour into organic and biodynamic winemaking,’ said Goldschmidt.

‘We have three magnificent properties here, and this investment from a solid, serious partner will ensure that they reach their potential’.

Latour’s president, Frederic Engerer, will sit on the Baronne Guichard board. Alongside Latour, Pinault’s Artemis owns Chateau Grillet, Domaine d’Eugenie and Araujo Vineyards in Napa, California.

Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux

The appeal court of Bordeaux has ruled against a group of Pomerol winemakers, known as Les Bannis de Pomerol, who are contesting a syndicate ruling that all AOC Pomerol winemakers must vinify within the appellation from the 2018 vintage.

The nine chateaux – Domaine de La Pointe, Vieux Taillefer, Haut-Tropchaud, Lafleur-Grangenveuve, La Truffe, Les Graves de Canterou, Clos de la Vieille Eglise, Vray Croix de Gay and Grand Moulinet – have been fighting for three years for the right to continue bottling their wines in cellars located outside of the Pomerol appellation.

To do so they have brought two separate suits, one against the Pomerol syndicate, and one appealing directly to the Conseil d’Etat, the highest administrative court in France.

The Bordeaux appeal court this week ruled that the Pomerol Syndicate had acted legally and fairly in their original ruling, and that the Bannis de Pomerol should comply, or no longer use the Pomerol appellation on their label once the deadline has passed.

The lawyer acting on behalf of the syndicate, Jean-Philippe Magret, managed to prove in the tribunal that in each case, there were solutions available. Ets JP Moueix, for example, has offered the old ageing cellars of Chateau Guillot to Baronne Guichard, owner of Vray Croix de Gay.

‘The ruling validates the idea of mise-en-bouteille au chateau,’ president of the Syndicate, Jean-Marie Garde told Decanter.com. ‘And it is reassuring to know that we have been acting legally and within our rights. But it’s not over yet.’

The Conseil d’Etat had already ruled, in March 2012, in favour of Les Bannis, and the appeal process on that decision is not expected for another few months.

‘There are existing cellars in Pomerol that can be used,’ says Garde, ‘and not one single plot of vines would have to be pulled up. All we want is to uphold the image of Pomerol wines.’

Written by Jane Anson

On Saturday 14 June 2013, just before Vinexpo opened its doors, the Confrérie of the Hospitaliers of Pomerol gathered at the beautiful Chateau de Sales in Pomerol to initiate a small group of ten new members to this prestigious order.

They included Decanter’s veteran advertising manager for France Michael Denton (far right in picture), Miss Lijuan Li (Maxwell-Storrie-Baynes Christie’s International Real Estate executive, responsible for selling Bordeaux vineyards to Chinese buyers), Catherine Leparmentier (Great Wine Capitals Director, who selects the “Best of…” in wine tourism cities around the world) Juan Carlos Rincon (jounalist and wine judge), Mr. Zuo Tao Qiang (Managing Director of Milon Wine Group), Derrick Wu (Deputy General Manager of Milon Wine, Mrs Stella Mak (Executive Director of Milon Wine), and Laurent Moujon (International author who just released his new detailed and essential 298 page Guide Book on Bordeaux ‘s Vineyards called “Bordeaux Patrimoine Mondial et Routes des Vins”. English, Dutch, and Chinese versions of this book have also been published).

The hosting Pomerol producers, Bruno de Lambert of Château de Sales, Mme Dominique Vayron of Château Bourgneuf, François Estager of Château la Cabanne, and President of the Pomerol Producers, Jean-Marie Garde, owner of Clos René oversaw the swearing in of the new candidates under a lovely sunshine which was followed by cocktails and tasting of these Pomerol wines.

Written by John Abbott

Chateau La Commanderie in Pomerol has been sold to a young Hong Kong couple, Andrew and Melody Kuk.

‘A page of French history’… La Commanderie

The purchase of La Commanderie is the second by a Hong Kong investor in Pomerol, after Peter Kwok, who is Taiwanese but lives in Hong Kong, bought Chateau La Patache in 2012.

The couple are in their early 30s, and are originally from Beijing. They are in the financial business in Hong Kong and mainland China.

The agent responsible for the sale, Damien Mounet of Square Viti, told local newspaper Sud Ouest the investment was personal rather than part of their wider business. ‘It’s for their passion and love of wine,’ Mounet was reported as saying. ‘They are buying a page of French history and will respect its heritage.’

Chateau La Commanderie has six hectares of vines in AOC Pomerol, and produces 25,000 bottles per year. It was bought for around €8m through Kuk’s Hong Kong company Grace Star.

‘Currently there are around 50 Bordeaux estates owned by Chinese, Hong Kong or Taiwanese companies and individuals,’ Lina Fan, who runs an agency in Bordeaux specialising in Chinese vineyard investments, told Decanter.com. ‘I would fully expect that number to rise to 200 within the next five years. After that, it should stabilise.’

Andrew Kuk was not immediately available for comment, but a spokesperson at the chateau confirmed the purchase.

Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux

The dry whites of Pessac Leognan have come out of this year's en primeur tastings with a solid vote of confidence from Decanter's tasting team – followed by Pomerol and Margaux.

Vines in Pomerol, a ‘stand-out’ appellation

A one-sentence summary might be that the vintage can be rated alongside 2011, ‘but in a different style – more fruity and pleasing up front,’ as Decanter’s James Lawther MW said.

It was definitely what French winemakers call ‘heterogeneous’, and what critics, with less formality, describe as ‘all over the place’, or ‘a little up and down’, as Stephen Brook said.

Thus it is very difficult to generalise on quality, or to say with any confidence that 2012 favoured Merlot, or Cabernet Sauvignon. What is certain is the weather was so difficult, with spring rains and summer heatwaves, that the richer properties, those who could afford to work hard in the vineyard, generally made better wines than those more at the mercy of the elements.

But Decanter’s team – Steven Spurrier on the left bank, Lawther on the right bank, and Jeannie Cho Lee MW in Sauternes and Barsac – are united in finding the vintage ‘better than expected’.

In this they are backed up by other critics such as Brook and Ian D’Agata.

‘There were some lovely wines,’ D’Agata said. ‘They’re going to be ready to drink sooner so we can have fun with the 2012s while we wait for the blockbusters of 2009 and 10 to arrive.’

For Spurrier and for others, a pleasant surprise was Pessac Leognan. ‘This is really a very good vintage for white wines (though unfortunately not sweet whites),’ Spurrier said. ‘I think the best whites were in Pessac Leognan without a doubt.’

On the left bank, Spurrier said Margaux and St Estephe showed better than St Julien, which was ‘all over the place’, and Pauillac.

‘The tannins in Margaux have been among the ripest I’ve tasted,’ said Lynne Coyle, head of wine buying at O’Briens in Dublin, ‘and the commune as a whole stood out.’

On the right bank Pomerol was highly praised. The JP Moueix properties – which include La Fleur Petrus, Hosanna and Trotanoy as well as Magdelaine and Belair Monange in St Emilion – were singled out as a high point for many of the hundreds of critics who attend the tastings at the company’s Libourne HQ.

Lawther agrees, calling Pomerol the ‘star appellation: the right bank has the greatest chance of fruitiness.’

Spurrier said, ‘Pomerol has had all the luck, with St Emilion following on, but a lot of St Emilions I found rather extracted.’

Overall, Brook said, ‘the Pomerols were very good, just as in 2006 – they benefitted from being able to pick early, before the heavy rains, because they have soils which allow early ripening.’

At J-P Moueix, Edouard Moueix told Decanter.com they achieved good concentration and ripeness by ‘a good deal of work in the vineyards, leaf-cutting and green harvests.’

On average the Moueix properties had an extremely low yield of 22 hectolitres per hectare – a third the average for the rest of Bordeaux. At Cheval Blanc in St Emilion, for example, the figure was 37hl/ha.

Such attention to detail bears out the view of many that this was what is popularly called ‘a winemaker’s vintage’ – one that required great effort and expense to make it worthwhile.

Spurrier said, ‘it’s more of a terroir vintage: if the work wasn’t done in the vineyards then it could not be done in the cellar.’

He added, ‘it becomes more and more plain in Bordeaux that it’s the chateaux that have the finances, that sell their wines for more money, that re-invest, who are drawing ahead of the pack.’

Philippe Dhalluin, technical director at Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, corroborated such a view when he told Decanter.com they had ‘500 pickers’ ready to be deployed to seize every opportunity in every parcel of the vineyard.’

The disappointment of the week was Sauternes. High-profile chateaux such as Yquem, Rieussec and Raymond Lafon chose not to make a vintage in 2012, decisions announced in December and which angered many who considered they had the potential to make an acceptable wine.

But even the best Sauternes were mediocre. ‘I must be honest and say it is not a good Sauternes year. Not bad, but light,’ Brook said.

Cho Lee called it ‘a modest year for most Sauternes producers. The quality is focussed on Barsac, while in the centre of Sauternes there aren’t many stand-outs. I would say overall go for Barsac – they have generally outperformed the vintage conditions.’

Written by Adam Lechmere, Jane Anson and Georgie Hindle in Bordeaux

Nine Pomerol chateaux are celebrating a victory over hugely unwelcome changes in appellation rules.

Pomerol: ‘huge relief’

Under the new rules, published in 2009 and coming into effect in 2019, all winemakers who were bottling an AOC Pomerol wine would have to produce the wine from a chai, or cellar, within the appellation.

This meant that 23 chateaux which did not have winemaking facilities within Pomerol would have to construct them by the 2019 deadline, or risk no longer being able to produce a Pomerol wine.

The group, the Bannis de Pomerol, consisting of nine of the excluded chateaux, appealed to the Conseil d’Etat, the highest administrative court in France, and has won a reprieve.

On 9 March the court ruled that the original decree of 14 October 2009 exerted an excess of power, and went against the European Charter of Human Rights, and the usual rules in French winemaking.

Winemakers in AOC Pomerol should now still be allowed to vinify their wines outside the appellation. Things have been slightly complicated by new appellation rules published in November 2011 allowing cellars within the commune of Libourne to vinify Pomerol.

This means the Bannis de Pomerol will still have to ensure the appellation rules are extended to allow Lalande-de-Pomerol as a zone of bottling, but the decision of the Conseil d’Etat should make this possible.

Paul Goldschmidt, of Chateau Vray Croix de Gay, told Decanter.com, ‘We are not quite there yet, but this is a huge relief. Some producers transport their grapes even further distances from vineyards to cellars within Pomerol itself, and it makes no sense to penalise us because we move them a few kilometres over the border to Lalande-de-Pomerol.’

Yannick Evenou of Chateau Fayat in Pomerol was less certain. ‘Anything that can cast doubt on the quality of Pomerol wines is not something to be celebrated.’

The nine chateaux involved were Grand Moulinet, Haut-Tropchaud, Lafleur Grangeneuve, La Truffe, Les Graves de Canterau, Vray Croix de Gay, Clos de la Vieille Eglise, Domaine de la Pointe and Domaine Vieux Taillefer.

The Conseil d’Etat awarded them €3,000 in compensation.

Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux

拉朗德 波美侯

拉朗德 波美侯 Lalande de Pomerol

拉朗德 波美侯Lalande de Pomerol各种各样的土壤（沙质土、砾石土、粘土）意味着此处有有各种各样风格的葡萄酒。含沙质土的土壤在干燥的情况下有更多的困难，单宁和果实的成熟度和质量相对更充满悬念。在有部分粘土的土壤中，葡萄树遭受的苦难少一些，一些出色的葡萄酒在此处被打造。酒精度高但有相当多的果香，好的酸度以及坚实，成熟的单宁。

4 星 ****

Le Plus de la Fleur de Boüard 17.5分

饱满的紫黑色。比此酒庄的正牌酒（La Fleur de Boüard）更有力度、更浓郁。紧致坚实的结构有利于长时间的陈年。余味带有矿物的清新。是卫星AC里一款庄重的葡萄酒。适饮期2018–30

La Fleur de Boüard 16.5分

超级的新鲜和回味——一定百分比的赤霞珠和年份条件提高了新鲜度。樱桃和浆果的香气和味道。近乎完美。适饮期2016–22

3 星 ***

Ch de Chambrun 16分

成熟，现代，丰满。柔滑的质感和单宁。持久。适饮期2015–20

Ch La Sergue 16分

现代感。香甜成熟，良好结合的橡木桶提供了可可和甘草的香气。口感和单宁柔滑。适饮期2014–20

Ch Les Cruzelles 16分

成熟，可口，浓郁以及比09年更紧实的结构。充满迷人的勃艮第式的红色水果芳香。悠长。在较淡风格的波美侯酒之中，具有很好的竞争力。适饮期2015–20

Ch Siaurac 16分

浓郁而充满生气和新鲜度的一款酒。坚实而带有活力的单宁。适饮期2016–22

Ch Tournefeuille 16分

深颜色。吸引人的香气中以黑醋栗作为提升。纯净新鲜。单宁柔滑，成熟。适饮期2015–20

Domaine des Sabines 16分

这是一款由 J-L Thunevin 酿造的酒。成熟有魅力，带有相当一些果香和清新。现代的风格而不乏和谐。适饮期2014–20

Ch Grand Ormeau 15.5分

中酒体的葡萄酒。丰富的红色果味。柔滑的单宁。适饮期2015–20

Ch Jean de Gué 15.5分

成熟细腻。现代感表现的于情于理。回味清新。适饮期2014–20

Ch Sergant 15.5分

中酒体，柔顺容易亲近的葡萄酒。富有表现力的新鲜的覆盆子芳香和味道。令人满意。适饮期2013–18

3 星 (15 & 14.5 分) ***

Ch Garraud 15分

Ch La Gravière 15分

L’Ambroisie de Ch la Croix des Moines 15分

Ch Perron, La Fleur 14.5分

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波美侯

波美侯 Pomerol

很明显对波美侯来说这是非常杰出的一年，堪比2005、2006和2009年，对于当地葡萄酒生产的佼佼者以及紧随其后的酒庄来说更是如此。干旱的夏季为葡萄的稳步浓缩提供了条件。而凉爽的夜晚则可以阻止干旱带来的负面效果，并使葡萄发展出芳香的气味。葡萄的采摘选择在条件最为有利的9月22日至10月5日之间。去年由于浆果个体较小以及座果不良coulure，产量下降了近20%。单宁和青花素（色素）水平以及酒精度都较高，而其高酸度为酒提供了清爽风味和平衡。因此，这个年份的酒一般颜色较深，有怡人的花卉及红色浆果的香气，单宁结构紧实而又细腻，回味悠长。需要注意的是不要过分提纯该年份的葡萄，而这一点普遍都被处理的很好。只是在 产区协办会的中心，全面品尝该地区精选葡萄酒的时候，有一点是清楚的，那就是仍然有一部分酒庄其实不具备在酒标上标注波美侯的资格。

5 星 *****

Ch Lafleur 19.5分

出类拔萃的酒——结构紧实， 精致，繁复。62%的品丽珠——有史以来的最高比例。闻起来精致而复杂 （紫罗兰、浆果和可可的香气）。口感清新而活泼。单宁丰富但精准。回味尤其悠长。适饮期2022–60

Ch Pétrus 19分

一款卓越的酒。精确，可靠而不过尺度。是伟大葡萄园的自然表达。结构与回味坚实，单宁轻柔而精致。有着怡人的水果风味。和谐。时下很受欢迎，亦能经久陈年。比2009年份更加“经典”。适饮期2022–60

Vieux Ch Certan 19分

与2009年份相比，或多或少使用了相同的混酿组合（86%美乐，14%赤霞珠和品丽珠），但风格不同。少了几分丰饶却多了几分经典。怡人的“自然”水果风味，高度浓缩，酒精度更高 （14.5%），回味悠长，单宁度高，新鲜感成为该年份的标志。整体和谐。拥有巨大陈年潜力。适饮期2020–60

Ch La Conseillante 18.5分

比09年更直接一些，但相当精致。颜色较深。闻起来有愉悦的黑加仑浓密果香。口中有丰富感但也不失清新。回味持久。有紫罗兰和甘草的余味。紧实，有颗粒感的单宁。适饮期2020–45

Ch La Fleur-Pétrus 18.5分

是今年我最喜欢的 J-P Moueix 集团品牌。 在强势的年份中洋溢出优雅与纤细。有完美的水果风味，单宁精妙。回味悠长而持久。和谐。适饮期2020–40

Ch l’Eglise-Clinet 18.5分

毫无疑问具有浓烈与浓郁的特质。丰满，浓厚，深远而不张扬。具有层次的果味。虽然在目前年轻的阶段略显笨拙，但比09年结构庞大。适饮期2020–40

Ch l’Evangile 18.5分

风格浓厚而丰饶如常，同时也非常精致。酒体饱满，多汁，具有丰富浓缩的果香。浓烈，但比优秀的09年份有更明显的新鲜感。口感优美——单宁柔和而顺滑。回味悠长清新。适饮期2020–40

Ch Le Pin 18.5分

拥有09年的所有魅力，对我而言多了生命力与结构。美好的有勃艮第风味的红色水果芳香以及香料的香气和风味。充溢口腔的柔顺果香。在口中有丝丝的甜味，然后是长久的镶嵌在口腔般的精致单宁。适饮期2020–35

Ch Trotanoy 18.5分

稠密，复杂，本年份一款结构紧密的葡萄酒。肯定比09年更阳刚。强劲的单宁框架但有果香的层次，总是带有矿物气息的新鲜度和回味。适饮期2020–45

4星****

Ch Hosanna 18 分

维护了自1999年份首次生产以来建立的一致稳定品质。稠密，饱满，鲜美——透露出深度和力量感。相当多的活力。诱人的果香，绵长，坚实的回味。适饮期2020-2040

Ch La Violette 18分

饱满的结构然而不乏天然和优雅。适当的果香深度，精美的单宁和口感，新鲜的回味。比09年表现的更出色。适饮期2018-2035

Ch Petit-Village 18分

令人印象深刻的年份。也许是有史以来最好的？稠密，复杂的香气。口腔中有爆发般的果味。天鹅绒般的口感。充盈的新鲜度以及绵长，持久的回味。适饮期2018-2035

Ch Feytit-Clinet 17.5分

愉悦的果香深度。口腔中感觉多汁且成熟伴着新鲜与绵长的回味。我也许低估了09年份，但这款酒确实非常好。适饮期2017-2030

Ch Gazin 17.5分

饱满且鲜美。口腔中有相当多的果香。同时具有力量感和优雅的结构。持久。需要时间陈年但不会令人失望。适饮期2018-2035

Ch Le Gay 17.5分

香气保留的非常好，优雅的口感。纯净的果香，平衡的酸度和精致，成熟的单宁。适饮期2017-2028

Ch Nénin 17.5分

2009年酿制出了 Delon 时代有史以来最好的 Nénin 葡萄酒，这一点也适用于今年。稠密的体积。愉悦的果香。新鲜的酸度和单宁。比上一年更具有线性和结构。适饮期2020-2035

Ch Vray Croix de Gay 17.5分

是这个年份的巨大成功。清新和芬芳——蓝莓，紫罗兰香气隐藏着一丝烧烤的橡木味。尝起来纯净而清爽。精致，成熟的单宁。回味绵长。适饮期2017-2030

Ch Beauregard 17分

这正是所需要的。香水般的香气，花香，新鲜以及让人愉悦的回味。有可能是这个酒庄有史以来最好的一款酒。适饮期2017-2030

Ch Clinet 17分

颜色深浓，饱满并且强劲。相当好的作品。无疑具有深度并收敛，但我更欣赏09年的平衡与魅力。也许今年的提纯过多了一点？适饮期2018-2035

Ch Le Bon Pasteur 17分

非常成熟但和谐。香滑，覆盆子的香气带有近乎柑橘类的果香。柔顺，融合的橡木香气。柔和的口感。精致，成熟的单宁。持久。适饮期2017-2030

Ch Latour à Pomerol 17分

许多的新鲜度和回味。单宁圆润并精致。非常纯粹和谐。与09年同样出色。适饮期2018-2035

Domaine de l’Eglise 17分

比09年表现出色。诱人的果香。新鲜，成熟而轻盈。中到饱满酒体。和谐。具有很好的回味。适饮期2017-2030

Le Moulin 17分

现代，饱满以及丰富的风格。许多的提纯但不会过量。顺滑，天鹅绒般的口感。回味带有新鲜感。很好的回味。适饮期2015-2023

Pensées de Lafleur （副牌）17分

不如09年诱人，但肯定有很好结构适合陈年。柔顺且口感精细，同时酸度增加了回味的活力。不仅是一款简单的副牌酒。适饮期2018-2030

Ch Certan de May 16.5分

甜美成熟的香气，带有一丝果酱的香气。圆润，柔顺的口感，回味长，单宁具有清新感。若有多一丝的强劲则更好。适饮期2018-2030

Ch La Pointe 16.5分

继续09年品质提升的步伐。更多的结构但一样的诱人果香。被塑造的很好。适饮期2017-2025

Ch Montviel 16.5分

比以往更严格的筛选，表现在葡萄酒中。稠密，新鲜，纯粹。单宁成熟而精致。持久。适饮期2016-2025

Ch Providence 16.5分

相对09年来说我更喜欢这一款。多样的果香和花香但也很精致。共同塑造出和谐的葡萄酒，带着诱人的红色水果香气。精致的单宁骨架以及好的回味。适饮期2018-2030

Ch Rouget 16.5分

成熟，圆润具有力量感。李子与红色浆果的果香。饱满，丰润，但我更喜欢09年的平衡度。适饮期2016-2025

Clos l’Eglise 16.5分

无疑是一款非常好的葡萄酒，但处在一个尴尬的阶段。紧致，坚实伴随着富有层次的果香但带一丝突兀的橡木香气。酿制得非常好。适饮期2018-2028

Fugue de Nénin（副牌）16.5分

甚至比（非常好的）09年还要优秀且仍显出很好的潜力。愉悦的果香以及新鲜度。美好的紫罗兰香气。很好的回味。适饮期2015-2025

3星 ***

Ch Bourgneuf 16分

比09年表现出色。单宁结实但更精细。诱人的红色/黑色水果香气，带有一丝香草的橡木气息。感觉柔软。一点酒精的感觉但有平衡的酸度。适饮期2017-2028

Ch La Croix de Gay 16分

美好的红色水果果香。一抹勃艮第式的芳香。中到饱满酒体，圆润甜美的果香。单宁结实。显现出酒精味。适饮期2016-2025

Ch La Fleur de Gay 16分

带有浆果和烧烤的香气。浓缩但有太多的橡木味在口中。结实成熟的单宁。需要在橡木香气稳定后再次品尝鉴定。适饮期2018-2030

Ch Le Chemin 16分

由 François Despagne （Grand Corbin-Despagne）执掌的新葡萄酒的第二个年份。受认证的有机葡萄酒。愉悦的果香纯度。柔顺，甚至丰盛，但天然而新鲜。精致的单宁框架。和谐。适饮期2016-2025

Clos du Beau-Père 16分

饱满，成熟而细腻。浓烈的覆盆子利口烈酒般的果香。口感圆润且柔顺。更轻盈的框架但让人满足。适饮期2015-2024

Clos du Clocher 16分

深色，结实紧致。比09年更大的结构——甚至有一丝的强劲。需要一段时间的陈年。适饮期2017-2025

Domaine Fayat 16分

颜色深而有节制。在口中有新鲜的碎浆果香气以及巧克力香气。新鲜并令人愉快。比09年具有更多的结构感。适饮期2016-2025

Duo de Conseillante （副牌）16分

本年度有明确的美乐特点。甜美，圆润并可口多汁。比09年多了活力但少了魅力。适饮期2014-2020

La Petite Eglise （副牌）16分

比以往更肥美丰富，肯定比09年要多。成熟，圆润并表现出红色水果以及巧克力的香气。单宁稍显粗糙，否则将有更高的评价。适饮期2015-2025

Ch La Cabanne 15.5分

很好的浆果香气提纯，但单宁强健结实。缺少一点吸引力。适饮期2016-2024

Ch La Croix du Casse 15.5分

红色水果的柔和香气与风味。柔顺圆润带有一抹微妙的橡木香气。轻盈但成熟的单宁骨架。适饮期2015-2023

Ch La Grave 15.5分

中酒体，柔顺，新鲜。也许不如09年成熟但有精致的单宁和回味。将成为一款相当适饮的葡萄酒。适饮期2015-2022

Ch Mazeyres 15.5分

中酒体，相对轻盈风格的波美侯。多叶的浆果果香。圆润。令人愉快。适饮期2015-2022

Ch Moulinet 15.5分

是第一个由 S. Derenoncourt 作为顾问的年份。诱人的果香。相对轻盈的结构但成熟而结实。适饮期 2015-2022

Ch Vieux Maillet 15.5分

饱满，圆润并接近过度成熟。十分充盈但单宁有点强劲。适饮期2015-2022

3星（15分） ***

Ch La Croix Taillefer 15分

Ch Lafleur-Gazin 15分

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