2011 Château Le Gay, Pomerol, Bordeaux

2011 Château Le Gay, Pomerol, Bordeaux

Product: 20118124302
 
2011 Château Le Gay, Pomerol, Bordeaux

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Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
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Description

Dense and masculine with an inky/purple color, the 2011 Le Gay offers notes of truffles, roasted meats, black fruits, graphite and flowers. It is a powerful, rich Pomerol with stunning intensity and a long finish. This burly, full-throttle effort has a lot in common with the style of Trotanoy (even though the terroirs are different). Give it 3-4 years of cellaring and drink it over the following two decades.
(Robert Parker - Wine Advocate - April 2012)

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate92-94/100
Dense and masculine with an inky/purple color, the 2011 Le Gay offers notes of truffles, roasted meats, black fruits, graphite and flowers. It is a powerful, rich Pomerol with stunning intensity and a long finish. This burly, full-throttle effort has a lot in common with the style of Trotanoy (even though the terroirs are different). Give it 3-4 years of cellaring and drink it over the following two decades.
(Robert Parker - Wine Advocate - April 2012) Read more
Wine Spectator91-94/100
This isn't shy about its toast, with mocha and spice aromas boldly leading the way, but there's serious flesh too, with açaí berry, blueberry and blackberry notes all melded together and driving through the anise-tinged finish. A strong showing.
Wine Spectator's 2011 Top-Scoring Red Bordeaux
(James Molesworth, Wine Spectator, April 5, 2012) Read more
Robert Parker92-94/100
Dense and masculine with an inky/purple color, the 2011 Le Gay offers notes of truffles, roasted meats, black fruits, graphite and flowers. It is a powerful, rich Pomerol with stunning intensity and a long finish. This burly, full-throttle effort has a lot in common with the style of Trotanoy (even though the terroirs are different). Give it 3-4 years of cellaring and drink it over the following two decades.
(Robert Parker - Wine Advocate - April 2012) Read more
Decanter17/20
Engaging wine. Deep colour. Reticent red/dark fruit nose. Lovely purity of fruit, super texture and a firm, long finish. Read more

About this WINE

Chateau le Gay

Chateau le Gay

Château Le Gay is a Pomerol property, which is now beginning to realise its potential after many years of underperforming. Previously owned by sisters Marie and Thérèse Robin, Le Gay is now owned and run by their niece and nephew, Sylvie and Jacques Guinaudeau. They also own Château Lafleur. Le Gay consists of 9 hectares of 40-year-old vines planted just to the north of the Pomerol plateau.

Yields are minuscule, often being as low as 15-20 hectolitres per hectare, and it is this, combined with the old age of the vines, that give the wines their depth and complexity. Typically the Le Gay is a blend of 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Franc. It is aged in oak casks for 18-20 months. Le Gay is a Pomerol property on the rise.

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Pomerol

Pomerol

Pomerol is the smallest of Bordeaux's major appellations, with about 150 producers and approximately 740 hectares of vineyards. It is home to many bijou domaines, many of which produce little more than 1,000 cases per annum.

Both the topography and architecture of the region is unremarkable, but the style of the wines is most individual. The finest vineyards are planted on a seam of rich clay which extends across the gently-elevated plateau of Pomerol, which runs from the north-eastern boundary of St Emilion. On the sides of the plateau, the soil becomes sandier and the wines lighter.

For a long time Pomerol was regarded as the poor relation of St Emilion, but the efforts of Jean-Pierre Moueix in the mid-20th century brought the wine to the attention of more export markets, where its fleshy, intense and muscular style found a willing audience, in turn leading to surge in prices led by the demand for such limited quantities.

There is one satellite region to the immediate north, Lalande-de-Pomerol whose wines are stylistically very similar, if sometimes lacking the finesse of its neighbour. There has never been a classification of Pomerol wines.

Recommended Châteaux : Ch. Pétrus, Vieux Ch. Certan, Le Pin, Ch. L’Eglise-Clinet, Ch. La Conseillante, Ch. L’Evangile, Ch. Lafleur, Trotanoy, Ch. Nenin, Ch. Beauregard, Ch. Feytit-Clinet, Le Gay.

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Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.

In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and  Australia.

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