Score: 94/100
Château Pomeaux’s vineyards are located on the Pomerol plateau on the right bank of the Bordeaux region, near the border of the communes of Pomerol and Saint-Emilion. This is a particularly famous and highly-praised area, for Château Pomeaux is located about 1 mile from Pétrus, or half a mile from Chateau Le Pin and Vieux Château Certan, and approximately a quarter of a mile from Cheval Blanc.
This is 100% Merlot Noir wine, from vines averaging over 40 years, grown on soils made from a combination of gravel, clay, and ferruginous sand with iron-pan and clay in the subsoil.
The 2012 vintage was a challenging, if not difficult season for the Bordeaux region, with relatively cool temperatures compromising the ripening of the grapes, and heavy rains in September affecting harvest.
Although, 2012 was often described as a ‘Merlot-year’ in Bordeaux, for Cabernet Sauvignon often did not reach full maturity in that vintage.
An Merlot is exactly what Château Pomeaux makes. So how well did do that year, and how good in 2012 Pomeaux?
Let’s find out with my…
Tasting Notes
This right-bank Bordeaux red comes indeed in a very dark and intense red color like it’s common in dense Merlots from Pomerol. It’s nearly black to the core, with an intense red still filled with purple hues to the rim, looking vibrant and fairly youthful for a 5-years-old wine. Some notable tannins deposit observed at decanting.
The nose is, straight away, captivating… thanks to its depth, even at first smelling it!
I guess you could say that the fruit character is dominant, as clearly the wine is filled with intense, juicy-smelling dark cherry aromas, some fresh but ripe blackberry, hints of zesty raspberry as well. But there is also so much dark cocoa, hints of coffee, elegant French vanilla, plenty of spices like clove and nutmeg, and hints of black pepper and peppermint as well. Clearly, the fruit character isn’t just the one side to be smelt in this wine. A complex, multifaceted and profound nose.
The round and smooth palate features outstanding savory characters of wood ashes mixed with sweet spices, intense clove blending into a meaty, juicy meat-stock character.
You know you’re in the Old World, and in Bordeaux in particular. The fruit flavors of dark cherry and blackberry are vibrant and make you salivate and lick your lips in delight, while the tannic structure is smooth like we love and expect from Pomerol.
Yet, Pomeaux brings along so much vinosity and depth of flavors, all in somewhat of an austere dryness if you were to compare with a more ‘New World’ and more opulently-ripe approaches, that you can taste the Earth and terroir of Pomerol, the deep clay and relatively organic-matter-rich soil that is unique to the area, and that promises and outstanding wine for pairing with complex yet elegant dishes.
Despite the obvious fruit ripeness here, the wine’s acidity is outstanding, which sustains a constant tension in the tasting experience, and keeps the wine’s fruit character lively all along.
Overall Conclusion?
An outstanding Pomerol wine, not only from its concentration and the smoothness of its fruity approach. But one that brings in a rare acidity to the style, punchy liveliness and personality from a decadent vinosity, but also earthiness and welcome warming spices for an explosion of controlled complex flavors.
This makes every sip a new discovery, and a pleasant deep tasting experience. What else do you need?
If this is what Château Pomeaux is able to deliver in a challenging vintage like 2012? I can’t wait to taste what they have pulled out other years!!!
Enjoy 🙂
Learn more about the producing winery on pomeaux.com
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