Best Pomerol 2018 wines: A ‘signature’ year

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.

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