The Best 2015 Pomerols Are Benchmark Wines
The 2015 vintage was an exceptional year for Bordeaux’s Right Bank, particularly the appellation of Pomerol. The best wines of Pomerol originate primarily in an area known as the clay knoll, which is a slightly raised area with very gentle slopes near the tiny village with the same name as the district. The area’s unique soils are made of primarily blue clay, which produces some of the best merlot in the world. For instance, it has created some of the best names in fine red wine including Petrus, Lafleur, Vieux-Cháteau-Certan, L’Evangile and Trotanoy. We believe that all these wines are wines of perfect quality with 100-points ratings. The clay composition in vineyard soils offers remarkable draining for the vineyards, and this is exceptionally important in hot vintages such as 2015. The clay composition allows the soils to retain moisture throughout the hot growing season of 2015, as well in years with late rains during the harvest as these producers usually pick their grapes ahead of most other estates in Bordeaux.
The best wines of Pomerol also share a distinctive personality whereby the wines are softer and more generous in fruit and texture at an earlier stage. This is evident if you compare it with other top wines of Bordeaux, especially those from the Medoc such as Latour and Margaux. Yet, at the same time, they have an extraordinary possibility to age well. James has tasted and drunk Pomerols with 50 and even 100 years of age, and they remain soft and energetic after so many years in bottle.
Pomerol also differs from the Medoc in the sense that most of the wineries in Pomerol are family-owned with member cultivating the plot and making the wines themselves. James often points out that they have more in common with Burgundy than some of their top counterparts in Bordeaux.
Keep mind that the top names of Pomerol are some of the most expensive wines in the world with names such as Le Pin or Petrus, costing thousands of dollars for a bottle. Yet, the best of Pomerol continue to be the benchmarks in the fine wine world at large, and 2015 will be long remembered as an exquisite year.