Winemaker Notes
Blend: 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Another fine surprise from this estate. The plummy fruit here is more stewed than fresh in character, but the wine shows elegance and refinement in its expression of Merlot (75% blended with 25% Cabernet Franc). There are some balanced tertiary notes. It may lack some of the density of the 2015, but I still enjoyed its greater freshness and lovely sap. La Pointe shows ‘particular coherence’, according to Alsace-based wine merchant Fabrice Renner.
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James Suckling
Sweet tobacco and berries, with hints of grilled meat in the nose. Full-bodied with velvety, chewy tannins and a long finish. Lots of new wood, but balanced with everything else going on.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is impressive—a ripe, open wine, but showing some lovely, polished new wood flavors, vanilla and just a touch of spice.
Barrel Sample: 91-93 -
Wine Spectator
Offers a fabulous nose of toasty oak, coffee, cigar box and ripe fruit. Full-bodied, with chewy tannins and loads of ripe fruit, toasty oak and spices. Long and silky. Very well done for this estate and better than the 2000.
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.