Pomerol
With 150 or so producers and roughly 740 hectares of vineyards, the smallest of Bordeaux's major appellations is home to myriad bijou domaines – many making little more than 1,000 cases per annum. If the topography and architecture of Pomerol are typical, the style of its wines is anything but. The best vineyards are planted on a seam of rich clay extending across the raised plateau of Pomerol from the boundary of St Emilion.
Hide All Details
Chateau la Conseillante,
Ready, but will keep,
This is one of the very few `wow' wines in 2007 with a jaw-dropping concentration, exotic richness and complexity that mark it out as one of the wines of the vintage. The 15% Cabernet Franc (along with 85% Merlot) has bestowed this Conseillante with a stunning, elegantly floral nose of blackcurrant coulis and spice. The palate is even better, with sumptuous creamy blackberries, raspberry sorbet and a lovely minerality all supported by substantial velvety tannins. Aristocratic, feminine and irresistible, this will happily age for more than 15 years. So when should you drink it? That's easy: as often as possible.
Chateau l'Eglise-Clinet,
For laying down,
Lucid in color, it has a quintessential L'Eglise-Clinet bouquet with blackberry, raspberry coulis, liquid minerals and hints of iris and incense. The palate is very precise and crisp, some of the finest tannins that you will encounter in Pomerol, tensile right from the beginning, taut and linear with immense precision towards the extended mineral-soaked finish. This is nothing less than a brilliant wine from Denis Durantou, undoubtedly one of the stars of the vintage.
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate #230, April 2017
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate #230, April 2017
Le Pin,
For laying down,
Le Pin 2011 boasts an intense nose of cedar with very slight hints of the new oak that will meld into the wine during elevage. On the palate, it is rich and firm with both redcurrant and brambly fruit and a touch of spice. The finish is very impressively long and extremely intense. This is a wine of supreme intensity but without overt weight, and it looks to be an outstanding Le Pin made with a new precision from Jacques Thienpont's new chai. This is top of the tree in Pomerol.
Nicholas Pegna, Berrys’ Asia
Nicholas Pegna, Berrys’ Asia
Chateau la Conseillante,
For laying down,
This is fantastic. La Conseillante is known for its elegance and finesse, but this really is something else. Sweet, rich and showing a depth of fruit and layered complexity, it is one of the best wines I tasted during en primeur week. There is a cool, fresh precision to this wine. It is not a big wine, but there is certainly a depth of flavour and richness to the fruit. Perfectly balanced tannins complement the acidity to create a sumptuous mouth-feel. There is lift to the finish too, and the taste buds long for more – the palate tingles. Jean-Michel Laporte and his team should be proud of another delicious wine in 2014, it is almost Burgundy-like.
78% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc
78% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc
Chateau Clinet,
For laying down,
This wine demonstrates why Clinet is currently one of the most exciting properties in Bordeaux. There is an alluring perfume on the nose, which is full of ripe blueberry and redcurrant fruit.
The tight kernel of fruit unfurls on the back palate coupled with persistent tannins. The finish is accompanied by an attractive smoky profile, suggesting clever use of oak. With plenty of dense and concentrated fruit, liquorice and blackberries, this is the most enjoyable tasting of this wine en primeur that we can remember.
Blend: 90% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc
The tight kernel of fruit unfurls on the back palate coupled with persistent tannins. The finish is accompanied by an attractive smoky profile, suggesting clever use of oak. With plenty of dense and concentrated fruit, liquorice and blackberries, this is the most enjoyable tasting of this wine en primeur that we can remember.
Blend: 90% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc
Chateau la Conseillante,
For laying down,
This is superb. The wine brims with elegant damson fruit, eucalyptus and waves of multi-layered fruit, spice and acidity. Black fruits dominate. This is tremendous Pomerol. Tannins are in fine balance. Soft, silky, long and sophisticated, this is big and serious, but approachable, rich and sumptuous on the palate. The finish lingers for some time. Acidity is pre-eminent and the tannins are fine and ripe, it is surprisingly powerful.
Blend: 81% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc
Blend: 81% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc
For laying down,
Brimming with elegant damson fruit and an intriguing note of eucalyptus, there is an attractive and enticing level complexity here. Beautifully fresh like all the best wines from 2015, there is a depth of fruit, generous and concentrated, which is another hallmark of the vintage. Ultra-fine tannins and a delicious, crunchy finish complete the picture. This is clearly a fine performance from this lovely estate.
For laying down,
51% Merlot, 49% Cabernet Franc. ‘Both varieties were good this year,’ insists Baptiste Guinaudeau. True to form, this is a complex, crafted wine with enormous depth and detail. The palate is unctuous and layered, the carpet of ripe tannin providing tremendous presence and persistence. Huge ageing potential.
Drink: 2027-2050
James Lawther MW - decanter.com - April 2016
Drink: 2027-2050
James Lawther MW - decanter.com - April 2016
For laying down,
A third of the crop and probably the most precise wine yet from this Léoville-Las Cases-owned property. Constructed in the house style with fine-grained tannins and impressive length and freshness. Less opulence than previous years but very pure.
Drink: 2023-2040
James Lawther MW - decanter.com - April 2016
Drink: 2023-2040
James Lawther MW - decanter.com - April 2016
Chateau l'Eglise-Clinet,
For laying down,
Only 4.2ha. 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc. Seductive fruit and aroma. Inhabitual fragrance at the en primeur stage. Floral, berry fruit and chocolate notes. Voluptuous fruit hides the power of ripe tannins behind. Firmness and persistence on the finish. Both solid and seductive. Great potential.
Drink: 2023-2045
James Lawther MW - decanter.com
Drink: 2023-2045
James Lawther MW - decanter.com
Vieux Chateau Certan,
For laying down,
Alexandre Thienpont has succeeded in creating a terrific wine again in 2015. Fabulously elegant, it is almost Burgundian in style and finesse. This is pure, focused and graceful: a wonderful success.
Real acidity provides freshness and a lovely texture. It is really polished. An underlying core of some depth, but the wine is very light in its feet. Very clean and precise, it is soft, light and beautifully spicy. There is so much complexity on the palate, yet the flavours are so refined. The wine has real length, but everything is understated and elegant.
Blend: 80% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon
Real acidity provides freshness and a lovely texture. It is really polished. An underlying core of some depth, but the wine is very light in its feet. Very clean and precise, it is soft, light and beautifully spicy. There is so much complexity on the palate, yet the flavours are so refined. The wine has real length, but everything is understated and elegant.
Blend: 80% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon
Petrus,
For laying down,
Quite restrained on the nose, this wine is so opulent on the palate. Expressive, seductive black fruits and spicy cedar wood dominate. Tannins are totally ripe and acidity is in perfect balance with fruit and the gloriously long finish. Juicy, rich, fresh fruit appears on the mid-palate. The length is very impressive.
A huge wine, but so elegant, grown-up and heady, this is a genuinely multi-layered wine which offers a lovely cornucopia of flavours throughout the palate and finish. There is such focus here. It's a really successful result: so, so soft and utterly charming.
Blend: 100% Merlot
A huge wine, but so elegant, grown-up and heady, this is a genuinely multi-layered wine which offers a lovely cornucopia of flavours throughout the palate and finish. There is such focus here. It's a really successful result: so, so soft and utterly charming.
Blend: 100% Merlot
Vieux Chateau Certan,
For laying down,
Richly-perfumed, charming and delicious, Vieux Château Certan has been a favourite of mine in previous years and the 2014 is really tasty. Alexandre Thienpont told us that September and October saved the vintage, and we are all thankful for that. Strong acidity provides freshness, complexity and generosity. It is really seamless, gloriously sweet and focused on purity. There is not much weight or power here, but everything is carefully integrated. Clean and precise, it offers excellent length on the finish too. This is quite simply delicious.
80% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon
80% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon
Vieux Chateau Certan,
For laying down,
Vieux Ch. Certan, Pomerol displays deep black-red, cherry-red at the rim followed by a bright berry fruit nose; succulence on the palate, lovely weight, depth and texture. Good density. Tannins are plentiful but ripe with a long finish. A real sense of minerality to the wine, clearly from a noble terroir.
The intelligent, fascinating and hugely talented Alexandre Thienpont has made a wine that perfectly reflects his personality in 2005. This is the Grand Cru Burgundy of Bordeaux. It is simply in a different class, even in such an exalted vintage as 2005. The nose is heavenly: very Merlot with orange hints to the fragrant aromatic red fruit. The palate then takes you to another dimension with its incredibly pure, silky, intense raspberry fruit supported by firm but very fine tannins. Roll out the red carpet for this one.
The intelligent, fascinating and hugely talented Alexandre Thienpont has made a wine that perfectly reflects his personality in 2005. This is the Grand Cru Burgundy of Bordeaux. It is simply in a different class, even in such an exalted vintage as 2005. The nose is heavenly: very Merlot with orange hints to the fragrant aromatic red fruit. The palate then takes you to another dimension with its incredibly pure, silky, intense raspberry fruit supported by firm but very fine tannins. Roll out the red carpet for this one.
Le Pin,
For laying down,
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Le Pin hits the dance floor with a completely gregarious nose of plum preserves, blackberry tart and wild blueberries, boldly accented by suggestions of Chinese five spice, cigar boxes, menthol and violets plus an earthy waft of underbrush. Full-bodied, concentrated, muscular and earthy with a firm backbone of exquisitely ripe, grainy tannins and plenty of freshness, it has an incredibly long finish featuring exotic spice and mineral layers.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown - 21/02/2018
Lisa Perrotti-Brown - 21/02/2018
Petrus,
For laying down,
The sweet opulence one expects of this famous château is certainly present. Raspberry aromas sing alongside leafy undertones on the nose. Juicy, ripe, fleshy fruit appears in the palate to create a complex wine of impressive length. Fine-grained tannins and focused structure offer sound promise for longer term aging. Exceptionally pure, less powerful than usual, Ch. Pétrus is elegant and heady. Another fantastic wine from 2014, and another wine which is rewarding, charming and offering finesse rather than power – a theme of the vintage on the Right Bank.
Chateau Clinet,
For laying down,
This small Pomerol Château has crafted a wine which exploits the very best hallmarks of the vintage. Modern and forward in style, it offers pure black cherry, blackberry and blueberry characters alongside an attractive bramble spice. Lifted, succulent and intense, this really is silk in a glass. Fine acidity injects real energy across the palate and the tannins are very fine with the balance exceptional.
Martyn Rolph, Private Account Manager
Martyn Rolph, Private Account Manager
Max Lalondrelle, Wine Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd