Pomerol

Pomerol is a French wine-growing commune and Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) within the Libournais ("Right Bank") in Bordeaux. The wine produced here, predominately from Merlot with Cabernet Franc playing a supporting role, is also known as Pomerol. Unlike most other Bordeaux communes, there is no real village of Pomerol, although there is a church. The houses are set among the vineyards.

The region was recognized as a distinct wine region apart from Saint-Émilion and the greater Libournais region by the French government in 1923 and was granted AOC status in 1936 as part of the first wave of AOC establishments by the Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO). While it is now one of the most prestigious of the Bordeaux AOCs, this situation is relatively recent, dating to the second half of the twentieth century, which is often given as one of the reasons why Pomerol is not included in any of the Bordeaux classifications.

Pomerol is the smallest of the major fine wine regions in Bordeaux, covering an area that is roughly three kilometers wide by 4 kilometers long. It is roughly one-seventh of the size of its much larger Right Bank neighbor Saint-Émilion AOC and is on par with the smallest Left Bank commune of Saint-Julien AOC in the Médoc. In 1998, there were 784 hectares of grape vines planted within the AOC boundaries producing 36,066 hectoliters (400,733 cases) of wine. In 2003 there were 150 declared producers in Pomerol harvesting 780 ha and producing a year average of 32,250 hl (around 358,333 cases) of wine. Almost all the wine is estate-bottled. Unlike other French wine regions, such as Burgundy and the Rhône Valley, there are no co-operatives currently operating in Pomerol. By 2007, the number of planted hectares had risen slightly to 800 ha (1980 acres).

While many Pomerol wines now fetch very high prices at wine auctions and in the private market on a par with the most highly rated classified growths of Bordeaux, there is no official classification of Pomerol wine. However, the region does contains one property widely held to be equivalent to premier cru: Château Pétrus.

Wine

Pomerol now produces exclusively red wine, although 100 years ago it produced a great volume of white wine. Merlot is the most important grape here, accounting for 80% of the vineyard area. Although it is almost invariably blended, the proportion of Merlot can reach as high as 95%, though it is more usually in the range 70-80%. The next most important grape is Cabernet Franc, locally known as le Bouchet, accounting for around 15% of the vineyard area and usually accounting for 5 to 20% of the blend. Malbec, known locally as Pressac, and not much planted in the rest of Bordeaux, is also used. The remaining permitted grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, are barely planted and rarely used in the grand vin though, like Malbec, they may appear in an estate's second wine.

In the early 20th century, as Pomerol's transition to a red wine producing district was completed, Cabernet Franc was the dominant grape variety. However, an early spring frost in 1956 killed a large portion of the Cabernet Franc plantings and many estates took this event as an opportunity to replant with the higher yielding and earlier ripening Merlot. Despite Merlot's tendency to suffer from coulure if the weather is cold and rainy during flowering, the grape quickly rose to prominence in Pomerol and has become the grape most closely associated with the region. Nevertheless, very few Pomerols are pure Merlot and Cabernet Franc is still valued for the tannic structure and acidity it gives, which can add longevity and aging potential to the wines. In fact, as the trend of the late 20th and early 21st century towards harvesting Merlot later and at increasingly higher sugar levels has continued, the role of Cabernet Franc in balancing the opulent but potentially flabby nature of over ripe Merlot has become even more appreciated by Pomerol winemakers.

In general, Merlot tends to be planted on predominantly clay soils while Cabernet Franc is more likely to be on limestone outcroppings and Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec planted in the more gravelly soils.

Among the few estates with plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon are Vieux Château Certan, Château Beauregard, Château Certan de May, Château Gazin, Château Nenin and Château Petit-Village. Château La Conseillante is among the estates with plantings of Malbec.

AOC regulations

Pomerol is exclusively a red wine with the only permitted grape varieties for AOC wine being Merlot, Cabernet Franc (Bouchet), Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec (Pressac). Harvest yields are restricted to a maximum of 42 hectoliters/hectare (≈ 2.2 tons/acre) with the finished wine needing to attain a minimum alcohol level of at least 10.5%.

Wine from Pomerol may be labelled as Bordeaux or Bordeaux Supérier (declassified): this would typically happen if the producer felt that the wine was not of a sufficiently high standard to merit the Pomerol label.

Styles and aging

The style of the wine varies with the terroir. In the west, where the soil is more sandy, the wines are lighter; in the south, where the soil is more gravelly, the proportion of Merlot is lower, and the wines tend more towards the flavors of the Médoc.

The wine has been described as 'velvety' or 'unctuous'. The characteristic fruit flavor is plum, sometimes tending towards prune. According to wine expert Oz Clarke, Pomerols can have, in addition to the characteristic plum notes, honeyed spice, truffles, peppermint, chocolate, roasted nuts and raisin notes with a creamy, sometimes buttery mouthfeel and supple tannins.

Master of Wine Clive Coates describes Pomerols as a "halfway house" between the soft, plump, flesh fruit of a Saint-Émilion and the austerity and backbone associated with the wines of the Médoc. Coates notes that Pomerols tend to have less "fruitcakey" flavors than Saint-Émilion with more rich, velvety and plum notes compared to the dominant "black currant" notes in most Médocs. This concentrated rich fruit stems from the nature of Merlot which also allows the wines of Pomerol to be less overtly tannic than the Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines of the Médoc.[1]

According to wine expert and Master of Wine Hugh Johnson, Pomerol requires less aging than most Bordeaux: 5 years is usually sufficient, and 12 years is enough even for the grandest vintages. Johnson notes that Pomerols are usually distinguished by their deep color and sometimes creamy, concentrated ripe-plum flavors but without the high acidity and tannins that are typical of other Bordeaux wines.

Source: Wikipedia

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