Bordeaux 2019 Primeurs: Pomerol
We come now to Pomerol, one of the largest of my single-appellation primeurs reports. Unlike St Emilion, there is no classification system in play here, and so there is no obvious way for me to split my report into smaller, bite-size chunks. I suppose I could invent my own classification of the Pomerol appellation which I would then use to carve up the appellation, but it is difficult to imagine me enacting this without feathers being vigorously ruffled (not mine) and blood being spilt (possibly mine). As a consequence, I present here just shy of fifty new tasting notes on the wines of this region, including many of the appellation’s leading properties, including Château Trotanoy, Château Le Gay, Château l’Église-Clinet and Château Lafleur-Pétrus, to name just four.
Following one of the themes of the 2019 primeurs, alongside these famous names I have also tasted some wines much less familiar or less frequently seen. I have been meaning to check out the wines of Château de Sales, for example, for some time. One of the Pomerol appellation’s largest estates (perhaps the largest?), with an imposing château which would put many of its right-bank peers to shame, this property maintains a surprisingly low profile. Indeed, despite many years of visiting the Bordeaux region, I think this is perhaps the first time I have tasted it.
Another new experience for me is Enclos Tourmaline, a micro-estate operating at the other end of the spectrum from Château de Sales, with barely more than a hectare of vines on the Pomerol slope. I have had the intention of tracking down this wine for a few years, but during the course of my primeur tastings it suddenly fell into my lap (well, it was delivered to my door in a cardboard box, to be honest), without me even seeking it out. New opportunities to taste the wines of less familiar properties has been one of the more enjoyable features of the 2019 primeurs, but nowhere else has it yielded such positive results than with Enclos Tourmaline, a quite striking wine.
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