Anson: Comparing six Pomerol châteaux in every vintage from 2012 to 2017

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)