Bordeaux 2017 at Two Years: Pomerol
Gaining entry to the grounds of Château Le Gay, midway through my schedule of Pomerol visits, was not as straightforward as usual, roadworks on the road in front of the château having all but blocked the entrance. A team of contractors were busy lifting tarmac, with very little in the way of barriers or other protection, and seemingly oblivious to any passing traffic. Edging my hire car around a stocky Frenchman with a clearance of little more than a few inches, I was thankful that I could see a way through to the driveway. The worker in question did not even look up; the entirety of his attention was been fixated (sensibly, perhaps, in view of the obvious power of the instrument) on the industrial grinder he was using to cut through the tarmac, generating a cloud of pebbles, grit and dust as he did so.
Safely through I parked up and hopped, skipped and jumped up the steps of this diminutive château. A visit here is always informative; not only do you get to taste two of the Pomerol appellation’s top names, Château Le Gay and Château La Violette, the range also takes in wines from the lesser slopes of the appellation, behind the château where the slope runs down to the Barbanne, in the shape of the second wine Manoir de Gay, and also on the very low-lying sandy soils at the foot of the Pomerol slope, on the far side of the main road that bisects the appellation, where Château Montviel is found. And there is also a chance to look across the Barbanne to Lalande-de-Pomerol, with the wines of Château La Gravière.
With a range of vineyards on several different slopes and terroirs it was no surprise that the frost hit these vineyards to varying degrees, and this much was evident from the tasting. The harvest was reduced to such an extent that the team here have decided not to show either Château la Gravière or Manoir de Gay, both wines made in tiny volumes in this vintage. That left just three wines for our tasting, starting with Château Montviel; the low-lying vines of this estate were also completely frosted such that the entire crop from the vines around the château was lost. There is, however, is a more peripheral parcel located higher up the Pomerol slope, the fruit of which is also included in the blend, and these vines were spared. In 2017 Château Montviel is made solely from these vines.
