Winemaker Notes
Blend: 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A delicious Pomerol that manages to combine the richness the appellation is famous for with a lovely freshness and vitality. I love the elegant tannins that makes this turn ever drier as it flows over the palate. Plenty of life at the bright finish. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Cabernet Franc that achieved nearly 14% natural alcohol, the 2009 Nenin is the finest wine I have tasted since the estate was acquired by Jean-Hubert Delon (the family that also owns Leoville Las Cases). The full-bodied Nenin exhibits lots of cranberry and boysenberry fruit, a hefty, rich mouthfeel, and a fresh, lively, long, rich style. It can be drunk young or cellared for three decades.
Barrel Sample: 91-93 Points -
Wine Spectator
This is a noticeably grippier style, showing a chunky edge to the bittersweet cocoa and charcoal notes which support the core of dark fig and blackberry fruit. This has good, racy structure though, so it should settle down with cellaring. Best from 2014 through 2027.
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.