As Robert and Keith have mentioned, look for Pomerol in vintages that were not highly rated. The ratings tend to reflect the left bank wines and many times the right bank made excellent wines. 12 and 01 are particular standouts.
im curious if youve tried the 13 VCC?
I have yet to buy a single '13 Bordeaux because my aunt that lives IN the town of bordeaux basically told us to avoid the entire vintage when we were getting into wine and visiting them a few years ago. as ive learned more ive also learned broad statements like that tend to hold up poorly, but am curious if the VCC reflects the rule or the exception to the rule in 13?
I haven’t, I imagine alfert or mark have. I just saw it was on their tent sale for what seems like the lowest price in the country.
CT scores seem good, for what it’s worth.
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I’ve only had Ausone from 2013. Excellent, but hard to justify the price. I might bite on the VCC.
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Actually strangely Wally’s has good prices on several vintages of VCC including 14, 11 and 16.
I had the 13 de Sales, and it was awful. Realize its a machine picked low end Pomerol, but weather wasn’t cooperative that year.
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2018 Ch. Clinet. ~$140.
I haven’t had the VCC but I’ve had La Conseillante. Several years ago K&L closed them out at $71 (at that time you could still buy the 2014 for $100). It’s not a bad wine but there will be lots of better wines for the price.
Sometimes those light vintage wines from good terroir turn into swans with age, so you never know, but I’d be inclined to pay up for a higher tier vintage like 2011 or 2014. Those VCCs are excellent wines.
2014 La Conseillante is the Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts 2021 Wine of the Year. There might still be one bottle left at the Manchester Total Wine. I snagged 4 of them after the accolades were bestowed in December.
I’m considering opening one up now to see what all the fuss was about.
They have a CT note up with past winners. “Congratulations Chateau La Conseillante, as the first Pomerol representative in the 21 year history of BWE, and as a well-deserved celebration of the glories of the wines of 2014, from both the left and right banks!”
2014: 2010 Chasse Spleen
2015: 2012 Leoville Las Cases
2016: 2012 Barde-Haut
2017: 2014 Calon Segur
2018: 2015 Brane Cantenac
2019: 2016 Tour Saint Christophe
2020: 2016 Leoville Barton and 2008 Dom Perignon
2021: 2014 Chateau La Conseillante
Looks like BWE didn’t drink enough in 2016 with Barde Haut and in 2019 with Tour Saint Christophe. 
Btw 11 and 14 are both 200 at Wally’s
Yeah, that Barde Haut is a definite outlier, but the TSC is up and coming, getting high marks in recent vintages. (Not to mention that the BD of BWE is friends with Chateau owner Howard Kwok.)
Thanks for the link. That explains why I am a big fan of the '09 La Fleur de Gay which I find is reasonably priced for the quality.
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The BWE stuck with priorities. Well done. 
Despite its small size, Pomerol is actually quite a heterogenous appellation, with quite a variety of soil types and different blends of grape varieties. Merlot + clay is the stereotype of Pomerol, exemplified by Pétrus; but the AOC’s lesser wines derive from lower-lying sites and sandy soils that have more in common with Lalande-de-Pomerol than the best parts of the plateau of Pomerol. And aside from the pure clay of Pétrus, most of the top estates on the plateau have some sort of clay-gravel amalgam, or indeed very gravelly as in the case of Lafleur for example. Unfortunately, Pomerol is always expensive, and any genuinely inexpensive wines likely come from the lower-lying sandy part of the AOC, so to get a taste of “true” Pomerol you will likely have to spend a bit of money. You might look at La Fleur-Pétrus, for example, or Clinet, and consider a vintage such as 2012 if you can find it.
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Does that really constitute a fuss?
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Gonna try 98 VCC tomorrow
I really love older Conseillante and L’Evangile. I find they tend to be in a significantly softer, more feminine style than Trotanoy and VCC (also excellent in their style), so it’s nice to try them for the contrast. You can still find the 2004 Conseillante at $150 and it’s an excellent wine that is fully mature.
I agree that the 2011 VCC is very good, doesn’t feel like it’s from an off vintage whatsoever. However its quality seems to have been recognized recently and it has gone up to $200 when a year or two ago it was closer to half that
Those Oxford Brits really know how to twist the rhetorical knife…