Pomerol Tasting, 2002
Pomerol is the smallest of all the significant red wine producing communes of Bordeaux, with something in the region of 770 hectares planted to vines, compared with over 5000 in St Emilion, the other major wine producing region of the right bank. In fact, the area under vine is less than that in St Julien, the smallest commune of the Médoc. Pomerol is also one of the more divided regions of Bordeaux, with many of the individual domaines being quite small, particularly when compared to their companions on the left bank, which often have huge production volumes. A small number of domaines, producing relatively small quantities of wine, in combination with high demand, not least from the USA, is the age-old recipe for high prices. Many Pomerols do indeed carry stratospheric price tags, especially the garagiste and micro-cuvée wines which are concentrated in this region. There do still exist, however, a number of domaines that offer good value.
I recently tasted and assessed a number of Pomerols, with my main focus of interest being the 1982 vintage, although I also looked at a few wines from later vintages, including 1983, 1989 and 1993. Several of these domaines can be considered as producing good value wines, although domaines such as La Conseillante (pictured above) are leaders within the appellation and as such command a higher price. (15/5/02)
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