Chateau La Grave a Pomerol 2014
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James
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Robert
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Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A full-bodied wine with firm tannins and lots of dark cherry and berry character. Solid core of fruit with a silky finish. Very fine. Barrel Sample: 93-94 pts.
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Wine Spectator
Lovely, with a caressing feel that lets alluring notes of raspberry, boysenberry and red currant preserves glide through, picking up red licorice, black tea and singed allspice accents along the way. The long, refined finish has a beautiful iron echo. Best from 2020 through 2035.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine is rich and perfumed on the nose. A firm tannic background on the palate melds into fresh blackberry fruit intensity, providing enough concentration to sustain medium-term aging. Barrel Sample: 90-92 pts.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 La Grave a Pomerol conveys an almost comforting sense of warmth and homeliness on the nose. It is not complex or intense, yet it is very well defined and offers a beguiling fireside hearth/burning embers scent that infuses the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with a slight toastiness on the entry. It is well balanced with a sense of roundness and softness, yet it is not flabby in any way, just a Pomerol that welcomes you with arms open wide.
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La Grave could be considered the equivalent of a third growth in the Médoc and ranks amongst the top Pomerol. His very first personal acquisition, Christian Moueix purchased the estate in June 1971 and gave a great deal of attention to the restoration of the chateau, cellar, and vineyard. Today, as part of the Ets Jean-Pierre Moueix properties, it receives the same meticulous care as the other family’s top chateaux.
The illustrious and famed Bordeaux negociant firm of Ets. JeanPierre Moueix was founded in 1937 and holds exclusive rights to sell and manage some of the greatest vineyards on the right bank of Bordeaux. The properties of Jean-Pierre Moueix can be found in the appellations of Pomerol and St. Emilion with each estate being carefully selected by Christian Moueix. The Moueix family has defined a style of winemaking distinguished by integrity and total devotion to the expression of each individual vineyard.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
A source of exceptionally sensual and glamorous red wines, Pomerol is actually a rather small appellation in an unassuming countryside. It sits on a plateau immediately northeast of the city of Libourne on the right bank of the Dordogne River. Pomerol and St-Émilion are the stars of what is referred to as Right Bank Bordeaux: Merlot-dominant red blends completed by various amounts of Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Sauvignon. While Pomerol has no official classification system, its best wines are some of the world’s most sought after.
Historically Pomerol attached itself to the larger and more picturesque neighboring region of St-Émilion until the late 1800s when discerning French consumers began to recognize the quality and distinction of Pomerol on its own. Its popularity spread to northern Europe in the early 1900s.
After some notable vintages of the 1940s, the Pomerol producer, Petrus, began to achieve great international attention and brought widespread recognition to the appellation. Its subsequent distribution by the successful Libourne merchant, Jean-Pierre Mouiex, magnified Pomerol's fame after the Second World War.
Perfect for Merlot, the soils of Pomerol—clay on top of well-drained subsoil—help to create wines capable of displaying an unprecedented concentration of color and flavor.
The best Pomerol wines will be intensely hued, with qualities of fresh wild berries, dried fig or concentrated black plum preserves. Aromas may be of forest floor, sifted cocoa powder, anise, exotic spice or toasted sugar and will have a silky, smooth but intense texture.