Château Le Gay: Tasting & Drinking
Having visited Château Le Gay several times and having tasted the wines, I have been convinced. While the wines – speaking purely of Château Le Gay, and not any of the other estates in the Péré-Vergé-Parent portfolio – might not challenge the likes of Petrus and Château Lafleur for top wine of the appellation, they are certainly convincing wines which feel true to the appellation, and I would think they are well worth the money provided you buy at the right time.
It is also worth remembering that here on the periphery of the appellation, it is perhaps not so easy to make a top wine as it is on the gravel and clay at the heart of the appellation. How successful the wine is at any of the estates that are lined up along the Barbanne, which is the northern limit of the Pomerol appellation, depends on whether the vines run down towards the river, or up towards the plateau, and of course whether the proprietor in question is prepared to channel the wines into grand and deuxième vins in order to distinguish between these terroirs.
Here at Château Le Gay, the fruit from the vines behind the château and closer to the Barbanne are destined for the second wine, while those between the château and the road go into the grand vin, making full use of their potential and avoiding any dilution of this by adding in the wine from the sandy soils. Marry this with a determined matriarchal figure in the late Catherine Péré-Vergé, and the winemaking skills of Marcello Pelleriti and the rest of the team, and perhaps we can understand why the wines of Château Le Gay have shown such promise over the years.
Please log in to continue reading: