The remaining permitted grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, are barely planted and rarely used in the grand vin though, like Malbec, they may appear in an estate's second wine. When the region received its full AOC status in 1936, the AOC regulation specifically outlawed the plantings of any white grape varieties in Pomerol. This is a small region of only about 20 hectares (50 acres) that is very atypical of the soils found in rest of Pomerol, but because the vineyard of the noted estate of Château Pétrus is planted on more than half of these hectares, its influence on the wine has been much discussed in the literature. While Peynaud's techniques were largely successful in the Médoc, they did not always translate well to Pomerol. The commune is the home of Ch. #4 Growers used to produce white Bordeaux wine in Pomerol until some time in the 1800’s. They allow you to use the functionality of these networks, especially to share content with other people. WINE SCHOOL. This leads to a greater concentration of Cabernet grapes, which prefer free-draining soils. Please consume with moderation. About The vineyards around Néac are planted on soils that have components of clay and gravel. It lies just to the north of the more-prestigious Pomerol title, in the area known as the Libournais, after the city of Libourne. Pomerol is something of an anomaly in the Bordeaux hierarchy of venerable wine regions. The necessary cookies allow the site to function properly. However, as with most of Bordeaux, the wines of Pomerol were of lesser repute than the wines from further up the Garonne in the present-day departments of Tarn-et-Garonne and Lot-et-Garonne. [3], Influence of Michel Rolland and contrasting philosophy, Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité, https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=LEGITEXT000024836173&dateTexte=20180415, 10 Things Every Wine Lover Should Know About Petrus, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pomerol_AOC&oldid=975351478, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 28 August 2020, at 01:21. The two main villages of the appellation are Lalande-de-Pomerol and Néac. Pomerol is none of these things, yet has managed to earn itself a place among the world's most revered wine region. © 2020 Wine-Searcher™ All rights reserved. Pomerol is the smallest of Bordeaux's major appellations, with about 150 producers and approximately 740 hectares of vineyards. While the appellation was barely acknowledged in the middle of the last century, wines like Petrus and Le Pin now command higher prices than many cru classé properties in the long-established Médoc. However, he found that market heavily saturated, so he moved across the river to the Libournais region and opened up a négociant house in the city of Libourne in 1937. Privacy Policy The chief grape here is not the tough-skinned Cabernet Sauvignon, whose wine has to live through a tannic and often austere youth. Indeed, geologically it is another big gravel bank, slightly rising and falling but remarkably flat overall. While the Medoc and St-Emilion place much value and emphasis on their classification system, Pomerol has always got by without one. Accept statistics cookies to allow us to track the traffic of our website and help us improve the quality of our services. We offer luxury food and wine tours for private groups of minimum 2 guests. Reasoned control is one of the great convictions of the Château, they wish to produce grapes with passion and … The stellar success of Pomerol has stimulated viticultural activity and new investment in Lalande-de-Pomerol. [2] The characteristic fruit flavor is plum, sometimes tending towards prune. However, as Moueix began buying and leasing properties and exhibiting more creative control over the winemaking process he began looking to expand Pomerol's recognition on the world market. Beef fillet or well hung venison is a good partner, particularly cooked in wine. Learn more and adjust your cookie settings. Roughly speaking the vineyard soils to the north and east, closer to the border of Saint-Émilion tend to have more clay while the soils to the west and south become lighter and more gravelly. Its renown is based on Bordeaux’s gentlest, richest, most velvety and hedonistic red wine – white grapes are not permitted in Pomerol, although white styles were made well into the 19th century. We are proud members of Slow Food, UNAV (Travel Agency Association in Spain), and the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals). The finest estates, such as Petrus, La Conseillante, L’Evangile, and Lafleur-Petrus are tightly grouped together on the clay plateau, and make the densest, fleshiest, and most opulent wines. [4][5] The terrain is relatively flat with slight undulating slopes that fall from a height of 35-40 meters (115–130 feet) above sea level over a course of 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) to around 10 meters (33 feet). Many of even the most distinguished estates are housed in what are often described as "simple farm houses" with very little exterior identification. There is no long tradition of steady selling to build on. The wine almost always goes through malolactic fermentation. Merlot is the dominant grape in Pomerol and plays a large part in making the wines rich, smooth and approachable at an early age, while also being capable of extended aging. #4 Merlot and Cabernet Franc are the two most important grapes used to produce wine in Pomerol. A 1943 comparative price list commissioned by the Vichy government listed Pétrus only at the level of a mid-tier Second Growth from the Médoc with the next highest rated Pomerol estates, Vieux Château Certan and Château La Conseillante commanding prices in line with Third Growth estates like Château Giscours and Château La Lagune. In the season of 1991, for example, spring frost damaged a large proportion of Pomerol's vines. Merlot is an early-flowering variety and is susceptible to spring frosts. Some producers, such as Nicolas de Bailliencourt of Château Gazin, believe most of the opposition is from small growers who fear being left off any ranking making their wines perceived to be inferior. Pomerol is none … [11], Nevertheless, the threat of harvest rains is still present in Pomerol, especially for winemakers employing the philosophy of "extended hanging" time in order to prolong the ripening process. As Rolland rose to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s, aided by a style that favored the palate of wine critic Robert Parker, many Pomerol wine estates began adopting the "Rolland style" either by imitation or by hiring Rolland as a consultant winemaker. Despite Merlot's tendency to suffer from coulure if the weather is cold and rainy during flowering, the grape quickly rose to prominence in Pomerol and has become the grape most closely associated with the region. [5], The wine has been described as 'velvety'[6] or 'unctuous'. © CIVB, 2020   Alcohol abuse is bad for your health. Harvest yields are restricted to a maximum of 42 hectoliters/hectare (≈ 2.2 tons/acre) with the finished wine needing to attain a minimum alcohol level of at least 10.5%. As the terrain moves down the slopes of the plateau and towards these rivers the soils become more alluvial and sandy.

Aldo Jewelry, Holographic Charizard Card, The Carmilla Movie 123movies, Nordstrom In Montreal, Hunnic Names, Joshua Rush Tumblr,