Some Pomerol picks from 2016 in bottle

Having been to Bordeaux last month to taste from bottle (and heading back next month to complete my notes), I really liked 2016 in Pomerol.
So much so that you can find excellent wines in the $30 to $55 retail price range.
A strengthened dollar is only helping matters.
I include also four top high end wines that are more predictably delicious in the second flight, here.
All wines tasted here in Pomerol during the week of 8 October last month.
For full notes and photos, please go to wine-chronicles.com. Thanks!

Low- to mid-range priced Pomerols well worth your money

• 2016 Château Lagrange (Pomerol) - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
  Tasted from bottle at the Moueix offices in Libourne, coming from a nine-hectare vineyard and blending 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, this wine is an excellent price/quality ratio. There is a tannic edge here, but more suave than the inferior Château Bel Air Lalande de Pomerol, tasted just before. Sure, more expensive, too but at about $30 retail (in Europe), a great deal. A rather sumptuous wine, but with fine grip with wet-stone like appeal. The ripe fruit leads to a finish with bright lift. 14% alcohol. Go for it! (92 pts.)
• 2016 Château Bourgneuf - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
  Tasted twice at separate tastings in Bordeaux in October, with consistent notes, this wine, at 14.5% alcohol, displays no overt headiness. Blending 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, and paired in a flight with La Grave A Pomerol. While tasting with Jane Anson, I made a remark that you could take a bath in either one. Bourgneuf is smooth and refined, albeit a tad more sumptuous than the La Grave, and slightly pricier, too. Lovers of what seems from bottle to be a more “traditional style” may prefer the La Grave, as I do. Tasted also at the Grand Cercle two days earlier, the lovely and elegant cool fruit on the nose stood out among more modern styled wines. Just a lovely Pomerol, confirmed in two tastings. 93 (93 pts.)
• 2016 Château La Grave a Pomerol Trigant de Boisset - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
  So here we come to a rather pricy wine from bottle – or a brand that has gotten pricier but that still – and in 2016 especially – is well worth your $50 retail while. Why? The blend of 96% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc, from vines grown on gravely soil over fine clay, yields a gorgeous and floral and elegant wine. It lacks the depth of the bigger boys that cost four or five times as much, but oh so smooth and refined. Buy this Pomerol with confidence, as it will get better in bottle. By the way, my from barrel review ranges between 92-94 points, but this deserves 94+ easily, from bottle! Alcohol is 14%. (94 pts.)
• 2016 Clos du Clocher - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
  Bargain alert! At under $50 retail, here we have a lovely blend of 25% Cabernet Franc and 75% Merlot, clocking in at 14.5% alcohol that is very well integrated and balanced. The wine is smooth and refined, with smoother tannins than chez La Cabanne, for example. It has greater potential for complexity, gaining potential for longer term cellaring, as the Cabernet Franc lends noticeable yet suave structure. If you purchase, please wait five years for a more optimal early drinking window. The finish is marked again by smooth and refined tannins. Three cheers: hip, hip hurray! (94 pts.)
• 2016 Château Vray Croix de Gay - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
  Blending 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc and clocking in at 14% alcohol, this wine recently bottled offers up a pure fruit driven (and clean) nose. The palate may be just a tad austere, but it is purity of expression of ripe tannin and fruit lead to fresh lift on the finish, reassuring the impression of a baby wine just bottled and not out of the gate just yet. The good sign here is that their second wine, L’Echanteur de Vray Croix de Gay, at 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, may be shorter on the finish, but both fresh and pleasing as well. 94+ (94 pts.)

Four superb higher end Pomerols

• 2016 Château La Fleur-Pétrus - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
  This is gorgeous. As I had experienced from barrel, a candidate for top ten of the vintage and far better than the Hosanna, tasted just before. So much more lift andrefinement: a fantastic blend of 91% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc, it brings about floral aspects, ripe red and black fruit, subtle depth and more than evident length, leaving the taster with the impression of finesse and silk on the long finish. Aged in 50% new oak. OK, it costs about $220 per bottle, so only for those with the means… Or for very special occasions. Has the staying power to reward another 20+ years in your cellar. (98 pts.)
• 2016 Château Trotanoy - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
  Ever the “Pauillac of Pomerols”, there is no exception in 2016, as this displays so much power. Quite coiled in, but give it time. Very deep – and even a bit muscular, but it was even more so from barrel. This powerhouse blend of 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc was bottled in May, after having aged in 50% new oak. I thought it was almost tooforeboding and tootannic from barrel and preferred the La Fleur Petrus. Today, I still prefer the La Fleur Petrus – if only because Trotanoy will cost you another $100per bottle, at about $325 retail. But, as I had discussed with Jane Anson, as we tasted together the Moueix line in Libourne, we agreed that Trotanoy will outlast La Fleur Petrus. But I do not think that it will ever be as sumptuously charming. (98 pts.)
• 2016 Vieux Château Certan - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
  Mea culpa! I underestimated VCC from barrel. Sure, back then, it seemed a perfect example of 2015 being more “charming” than 2016. But even in those barrel notes, I stressed that the 2016 should last longer. As fellow taster Jane Anson had written: “A muscular, big wine, more so than in some years, but it is so precise and intellectual” … I agree today, and I forget how barrel aging softens tannins (a basic concept that all tasters must keep in mind). From bottle, this is a gorgeous expression of ripe red and black fruit and refined, crushed tobacco. There is vivacity from the balance of acidity and ripeness in this blend of 85% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, that was bottled in early June after aging in 70% new oak. It clocks in at 14.5% alcohol. The oak is so well integrated that you do not notice an iota of vanilla or extracted oak tannin (what happens with so called modern wines). Owner Alexandre Thienpont prefers it to his 2015, dubbing it a hypothetical blend of the 2009 and 2010. I was thinking more like a mix of 2014 and 2015. Whatever, this easily gets 98+ (98 pts.)
• 2016 Château La Conseillante - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
  Tasted at the estate, the wine recently bottled exhibits lovely, floral notes and ripe fruit displaying balance. The palate shows some tight tannin, but never hard or over extracted. The wine blends 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc and was aged in 70% new oak, clocking in at 13.8% alcohol (the 2015 was 14.5%). Sure, one gets touches of oak derived tannins but never obstructive and the cool, lifting – and long – finish is marked by some fine dark chocolate notes. (97 pts.)

All in all, Pomerol is a top flight appellation in 2016. Far more cohesive than Saint Emilion, but that is to be expected. Notes from other appellations coming soon in wine-chronicles.com: thanks for subscribing to my website. It is free and you get email updates.

maybe if I can find halves. Thanks for the notes!

We too old, Neal!!! Was painful to read this thread, ha.

Great post, Panos. I love how your passion and enthusiasm shine through.

Damn, the only price I can find for Lagrange is $80.

Panos, thanks for the notes on the 2016s in bottle. Any initial thoughts or comments to convey from your recent trip to Bordeaux on the 2018s?

Great update Panos.

I’m also too old but I still put in for a half case of Conseillante, a perennial favorite. Your notes are tempting me to go deeper, but I’m done. I swear.

Go deeper!

Lol, you cray!

Cheers everyone! I will be posting soon on the Medoc but to answer Jim, when I tasted GGC Saint Emilion, it was so uneven. So many “modern” styled wines that over extracted oak or just came across disjointed. Such a contrast with Pomerol, which was more cohesive and solid. In terms of the Left Bank, I will visit the Graves region next month, but the Medoc in the north did quite well indeed, more so than in the south. 2015 was great for Margaux, but just very good in 2016 based on bottle tastings. Leoville Las Cases deserves something like 100 points while Chateau Margaux does not, for example. I tasted one of the best super young Leoville Poyferres from bottle with the 2016. The freshness of the vintage matched the later picking style well in 2016, so you get smooth ripe tannin but more lift than usual. GPL was terrific tasted blind, alongside most other Pauillacs, including the two Pichons: it more than stood its ground. So off top of my head, if you get a decent enough price, go for GPL and Leoville Poyferre. LLC of course is more expensive than both.

Yikes that is too pricey!

You’re just a young whippersnapper compared to Neal and me. Back up the truck!

Definitely appreciate the look-in Panos. Hope you are otherwise doing well!

Cheers,

Mike

Wow great notes, especially on some estates we don’t hear about that much.

Panos, I have now finally tried all the cheaper 2016 suggestions
And the Clos du Clocher was best😎

Thanks again Panos and Claus!

It’s the Rolland pixie dust!

Thanks for notes. Damn I love pomerol. I know… totally worthless post. But had to share.

Thats less expensive than I found

Some people can enjoy both deliciou green Loire Cab Franc and lush Rolland Pomerol Cab Franc