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Château La Grave à Pomerol 1989

Another episode of random old Bordeaux this week. Or should that be old-ish? After all, in a region where some bottles can surprise at eighty, ninety or even one hundred years of age, I guess 1989 isn’t really that old.

As is the case with a number of Pomerol properties, the origins of Château La Grave à Pomerol are not perfectly defined. The first name to be associated with the vineyard and vines with any certainty is Trigant de Boisset, a family who probably arrived on the estate sometime during the late-18th or early-19th century. My own research into the history of the estate and region suggests the first to arrive here was probably Jean Trigant de Boisset (1739 – 1806). It is not certain that Jean lived here, but there is cast-iron evidence linking his son, Jean-Jacques, to the estate.

Eventually through marriage the property came into the Dubourg family, but along the way the name Trigant de Boisset was appended to the name of the château, and it has remained through to recent times. Indeed, the very first vintages I encountered more than twenty years ago were still labeled as Château La Grave Trigant de Boisset, and this remained the case through to the 1980s. This is despite the act that the property subsequently passed through the hands of the Bouché and Marc families during the 20th century, before in 1971 it was purchased by Christian Moueix, on behalf of Établissements J-P Moueix.

Château La Grave à Pomerol 1989

It was presumably Christian who decided to minimise the presence of Trigant de Boisset on the label (but interestingly not eradicating it entirely, as pictured above), a change made real with the 1986 vintage. The property remains a Moueix possession to this day.

Looking back at my tasting and drinking history it has not exactly been rich in encounters with old bottles of Château La Grave à Pomerol. Indeed, my earliest experiences with the 1982 a little over two decades ago remain the oldest bottles I have encountered. I suppose, at the time, they were not even that old, nevertheless they seemed to behave in a rather geriatric fashion. Revisiting my two 25-year old tasting notes the wines showed some slightly stewed fruit and hints of prune on the nose, with spice and some smoky edges on the palate. All the same, I seem to have rather liked them. I wonder, with the way my palate has evolved during the intervening period, whether I would score them the same today? Somehow, I suspect not.

I encountered the 1988 a little more recently, back in 2010, at a Pomerol tasting. I was rather more reserved in my words after tasting this vintage, which seemed a little dry and astringent. I have also tasted the 1989 once before I pulled the cork on this week’s bottle, a long time ago again, back in 2002. Structured with firm and perhaps slightly hard tannins, it ended deliciously sweet, full and rounded. After that, my next notes move to 2007 and younger vintages, perhaps not so interesting to reflect upon.

Nearly a quarter of a century on from that encounter with the 1989 vintage, it probably isn’t too soon to take another look. Coming back to the 1989 Château La Grave à Pomerol at 36 years of age it shows a delightful translucent hue, a honey-red leather, with a faded bricking to the rim. It possesses a quite precisely defined nose, with fine threads of liquorice, incense, aniseed, black pepper and yeast extract, with a scented note of bay leaf and hedgerow. The palate is fine and silky, pristinely integrated, which yields to a more confident and structured middle. I find some charming energy here, the dark and savoury fruits interleaved with leather and black pepper, the substance taut, sinewy and substantial, before a delicately sour and long finish. It has a surprisingly strong finish and length. All in all this is a very drinkable, savoury, energetic yet old-school Pomerol. Drink now or hold, but there is little benefit in waiting here I think. The alcohol is 13% on the label. 91/100 (20/7/26)

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