Winemaker Notes
Mix of fresh and mature fruits, a truffle perception which trnalsates the generos-ity of Pomerol's terroir. A lot of power with a velvety structure. Elegant and gourmet finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Fantastic purity and depth to this young wine and especially for the vintage. Medium to full body. Creamy and beautifully textured with gorgeous richness and balance. Harmonious. Love the texture. 100% merlot. Hard not to drink now, but better in 2022. 2,000 bottles made.
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Jeb Dunnuck
One of the riper, more powerful wines in the vintage, the 2017 Enclos Tourmaline boasts a deep purple color as well as a monster bouquet of blackberries, blueberries, plums, roasted herbs, and candied violets. Structured, tannic, full-bodied, and in need of a solid 4-5 years (or more) of bottle age, it should be one of the longer-lived wines in the vintage from Pomerol. This cuvee comes from a miniscule one-hectare plot, just beside Chateau Clinet, that prior to 2012 belonged to Chateau La Patache. It was purchased in 2012 by Hong Kong financer Peter Kwok and it’s been up with the top wines of the vintage ever since. The wine is always 100% Merlot, aged 20 months all in new barrels, and it hit 14.5% natural alcohol. There are a tiny 2,000 bottles produced. Rating: 94+
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Enclos Tourmaline bursts from the glass with notes of plum pudding, baked blackberries and Black Forest cake plus hints of pencil lead, tar and new leather. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is laden with dried black berries and spicy layers, framed by chewy tannins, finishing a little firm and yet with lovely freshness. Give it a good 2-4 years in bottles and drink it over the next 12-15+.
Rating: 92+
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.