Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
The deliciously ripe and juicy red currant, plum and raspberry fruit is well-knit, revealing hints of tobacco, singed chestnut and cast iron in the background. Shows lots of range and drive, with serious grip on the finish.
Barrel Sample: 93-96 -
James Suckling
This is a powerful Pomerol with dense, layered tannins that coat the mouth and show so much intensity and richness. It’s full-bodied and chewy. A wine that’s structured for the long term. Drink after 2025.
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Decanter
Delivering a ton of Pomerol signature, this is a really enjoyable, solid wine that has easy pleasure and lots of layers. Sweet black cherry fruit and a nice freshness through the finish, with touches of crushed mint. This is a lovely wine. Drinking Window 2024 - 2040
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Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from the team of Christian Moueix and a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Château Bourgneuf is a seamless, elegant Pomerol that still brings plenty of muscle, offering loads of ripe black cherry and cassis fruits as well as spicy oak, medium to full-bodied richness, lots of tobacco, truffle, and chocolaty nuances, silky tannins, and a great finish. This is another Pomerol that delivers the goods in 2018. Drink this beauty any time over the coming 15-20 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Composed of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Bourgneuf has a medium to deep garnet-purple color and fragrant notes of lavender, kirsch, black truffles and cinnamon toast over a core of blackberry pie and Black Forest cake with a waft of woodsmoke. The intense, medium to full-bodied palate packs in the black fruit layers, supported by ripe, rounded tannins and bold freshness, finishing long and savory.
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Wine Enthusiast
In this wine, dense black fruits laced with dark chocolate and licorice flavors have a powerful, solid character. The wine has a massive feel, pushing richness and demanding aging. Best after 2026.
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.