A dozen wines from Lalande de Pomerol tasted earlier in the year certainly show how the appellation has captured the lush fruit qualities of the vintage. Once again, plenty of sweet, ripe and unctuously styled fruit is on display here. There was a little overextraction evident in some cases, but you would imagine that most of the wines will settle during elévage. The missing ingredient here is really acidity. 2018 will give a lot of pleasure for sure, but, as in St Emilion and Pomerol, the vintage lacks the appetizing vibrancy of 2015 and 2016 with their emphasis on freshness and texture. That said there is a lot to enjoy in these wines. Undoubtedly they will give plenty of pleasure at comparatively modest prices.

Earlier in the year I had a look a half a dozen wines from Lalande de Pomerol from the 2017 vintage. Overall these were perhaps a little less generous than I expected. Evidently the frost had a lasting legacy here. The last two vintages 2015 and 2016 have been exciting. There is elegance and interest in 2017 amongst the wines I tasted but I’d be opting to seek out wines from those two vintages over 2017. La Fleur de Boüard is the most powerful wine in the appellation. It has produced a very stylish wine in 2017. I was also impressed with Château Moncet in a lighter style, along with Château Jean de Gué and Château Tournefeuille which offer good texture and balance.

The best wines in Lalande de Pomerol in 2016 have really good succulence and texture. My picks? Jean-Luc Thunevin has produced another beauty at Domaine des Sabines [pictured left]. This wine shows remarkable consistency year to year. Hubert de Bouard has produced two terrific wines in La Fleur de Boüard and Le Plus de la Fleur de Boüard. The former is ravishing; the latter profound and concentrated. Château La Fleur St George, another de Boüard property, also looks good. Château Grand Ormeau, Château Jean de Gué, La Sergue, Château Saint-Jean de Lavaud and Château de Viaud all impressed at the Grand Cercle tastings. Château Siaurac and Château Tournefeuille, two well-regarded properties, also show promise. Siaurac was a little backward but nicely structured and Tournefeuille displayed plenty of joyful fruit.

There was some variation amongst the 2014 Lalande de Pomerol’s tasted in Bordeaux last month. A number are extremely impressive. Top of the list here would be Château La Fleur de Boüard [and sibling Le Plus], Domaines des Sabines and Château Les Vieux Ormes. I also enjoyed the tension and elegance in Château Siaurac, the grit and chew of Château de Chambrun and the plushness of Château Grand Ormeau. To varying degrees the other wines felt a little lean and harder edged. You’d imagine these will fill in and round out after elévage, so it would be good to look at them again further down the track.