EIGHT TO TRY, FOUR TO COVET: Colin Hay’s Pomerol in three steps
1 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).
1 Château de Sales 2019 92
£25.83 Millésima
Aromatically expressive and authentically Pomerol on the nose, with lavender and violet, cedar and graphite, blueberries and brambles and a delightful herbal note of thyme and rosemary. The progression at this property in recent vintages is exceptional and this is the best yet (though look out for the 2020, too). Drink 2022-2030 Alcohol 14%
2 Château Mazeyres 2018 91
£21.60 (ib)-£44.50 Christopher Keiller, Cru, Crump Richmond Shaw, Four Walls, Millésima, Wineye
Vibrant, vital and beautifully glossy in the glass. This is a wine I used to find somewhat heavy, burly and rustic; it is now the very antithesis and the transformation is an excellent advert for the biodynamic winemaking here. Wild, lively, bright and dynamic, this has lovely zingy fresh fruit and herbal notes, with intense dark crushed berry fruit – brambles, blackberries and loganberries. Drink 2022-2028 Alc 14%
Sacré Coeur 2018 91
£21.17 (ib) Crump Richmond Shaw
From a tiny vineyard of 1.5ha on a mix of fine gravel and sand. Red cherries, redcurrants and loganberries, with a hint of rosemary. I like the saline minerality that seems to weave itself into the fine grains of the tannins. It is the key to this wine, reinforcing its sappy juiciness. Excellent value. Drink 2022-2028 Alc 14%
Clos René 2018 90
£22.84 (ib)-£50 Crump Richmond Shaw, Millésima, Montrachet, The Wine Cellar Woburn
A distinct and very evocative Pomerol nose. Dark berry fruit with a delicious herby earthiness that I really like, a touch of woodsmoke, cinnamon, a hint of ferrous minerality, a natural sweetness and just a suggestion of cedar. Plump, rich and quite glossy on the palate, too, with reasonably fine-grained but assertive tannins. This should age very gracefully. Drink 2022-2032 Alc 14.5%
2 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.
3 Château Latour à Pomerol 2018 95
£64.17-£75 (ib) Bordeaux Index, Cru, Crump Richmond Shaw, Fine & Rare, Ideal Wine Co, The Holland Park Wine Co, VinQuinn, Wineye
Reliably excellent, as it is here. Deep, rich, plungepool cool dark fruit – blackberries, damsons, brambles and raspberries; a touch of very dark chocolate and even freshly ground coffee. Mint leaf (just a hint), and hints of subtle spice – clove and nutmeg, even fennel seed. Earthy and loamy. Very complex and beautifully refined. Another superb wine from this estate. Drink 2025-2040 Alc 14%
4 Château Porte Chic 2016 94
£49.95 St Andrews Wine Co
A wine that gets better and better with each vintage – arguably the 2018 and 2019 are better still. It comes from a tiny vineyard of about 2ha on what used to be
the horse-racing track very close to the village of Pomerol itself and is named after a race horse. Quite light and very limpid and glossy in the glass. An engaging, quite complex nose – rich, dark berry and stone fruit, garrigue herbs, but also cinnamon and nutmeg, violet and vanilla, and baked earth. Rich and spicy on the attack, but gentle with incredibly soft and enticingly seductive tannins that build in texture and power as this unfurls. Drink 2022-2035 Alc 14%
Château du Domaine de L’Eglise 2012 93
£53.33-£66.25 (2015) Millésima, Morgan Edwards, Strictly Wine, Wine Poole, Wine Republic
For top plateau Pomerol (situated between Châteaux Le Gay and L’Eglise-Clinet) and from this accessible and seductive, if somewhat underappreciated Pomerol vintage, this is superb value (as it often is). A hauntingly beautiful nose, combining cedar, ripe, rich blueberry and black cherry fruit with wild floral notes and baking spices. Soft and caressing on the palate, this is elegant, delicate and refined. Perfect drinking now. Drink 2022-2026 Alc 13.5%
Château Montviel 2018 92
£62.99 The Grapevine
From Vignobles Péré-Vergé and, like the same group’s Châteaux Le Gay and La Violette, now made using 100% micro-vinification, Montviel is close to achieving the same effect texturally. Intense and expressive on the nose – baked plums, cinnamon spice, but with a lovely dark herbal element from the Cabernet Franc. Lithe, dynamic and quite sinuous for the vintage, with very soft and fine-grained tannins. Top-end winemaking at a relatively affordable price for the appellation. Drink 2022-2035 Alc 15%
3 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, from p22) – it is rather underappreciated, 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.
5 Château Lafleur 2019 100
£1,361-£1,432.50 (ib) Cru, Ideal Wine Co, Wineye
Fresh berries, plums, damsons, sloes, a touch of spice and irises and peonies. But that’s just the start. For as this gathers in the air, breathes, relaxes, then exhales just a little it releases more floral notes, almonds too, pain d’épices, cassis and then, eventually, graphite and cedar. Quite ethereal. But what is most amazing about this wine is its structure and the dynamism in the mouth that it imparts. The potential here is quite staggering. One of the most remarkable tasting experiences of my life. Drink 2030-2080 Alc 14.5%
6 Château L’Eglise-Clinet 2019 99
£400-£422 (ib) Asset Wines, Cru, Honest Grapes, Montrachet Profoundly fascinating on the nose. Very floral. Irises and violets first, then hints of blossom and a whiff of graphite minerality – then the fruit starts to appear. Damsons and blueberries, brambles and both black and red cherries. Truffles too. This has a gorgeous texture. Broad and intense, yet deep and brooding, and so soft it’s almost difficult to discern at first the considerable structure. A very fitting if exceptionally poignant tribute to the genius who created it (the late, great and much lamented Denis Durantou – this was his last vintage). Drink 2025-2060 Alc 14.5%
Vieux Château Certan 2019 98
£250-£310 (ib) Christopher Keiller, Claret-e, Cru, Crump Richmond Shaw, Farr Vintners, Honest Grapes, Ideal Wine Co, JN Wine, Montrachet, VinQuinn, Vinum, Wineye
This is glorious. Damsons and sloes, black and red cherries, violets, dried petals and saffron, cumin and curry leaf too – and then cedar and graphite from the Cabernet. Cool and fresh, lifted with cashmere tannins and a plunge-pool depth and elegance. Wonderfully harmonious, it flows across the palate in the most luxuriant way. The latest in a succession of great wines from VCC and probably the best of them all. Drink 2025-2050 Alc 14.5%
Château La Conseillante 2012 96
£99.50 (ib)-£140 Albany Vintners, Berry Bros & Rudd, Bordeaux Index, Christopher Keiller, Crump Richmond Shaw,
Farr Vintners, Goedhuis & Co, Jeroboams, Lay & Wheeler, Montrachet, Nemo Wine Cellars
One of my favourite vintages. A little Cabernet Franc (11%) goes a long way. Ethereal, beautiful nose. Soft, delicate, elegant, subtle. Intensely floral, violets and little hedgerow spring flowers. Exquisite balance and harmony, even if it might be said to lack some of the density of ostensibly greater vintages. I can live with that; though I’d drink this sooner. The essence of plateau Pomerol: soft, seductive, with truffle notes, blueberry and raspberry; tender and lithe, compact and juicy on the finish. Drink 2022-2040 Alc 14.2%