Chateau La Pointe held the UGCB tastings in Pomerol

Pomerol looks to have had a great vintage in 2010. The freshness, balance and concentration of the best wines here is quite remarkable. As usual there is plumpness and accessibility but there is grip and stuffing too. Some are a bit simple and a few rather jammy and late picked in feel, but these seem to be the exception in what are a very homogeneous set of wines. One caveat here is that my tastings were limited to those at the Unions des Grands Crus held at Chateau La Pointe and those at the Cercle Rive Droite. Amongst the picks here were Chateau Petit-Village, Chateau La Conseillante and Chateau Clinet which are at least as good if not even better than in 2009. I was also very impressed with Chateau Fayat, Chateau Feytit-Clinet, Chateau Gazin, Chateau La Croix de Gay, Chateau Le Bon Pasteur, Chateau Gazin, Chateau Nenin and Chateau Rouget. Good value can also be had with Chateau Bourgneuf, Chateau Clos du Clocher, Chateau Taillefer and Chateau Montviel. There is such a lot of joy in these wines.

Chateau Beauregard

Deep and saturated; ripe, some rasiny notes; quite a thick style, little straightforward; goodish grip and some degree of freshness but lacks the flamboyance of the best 88-90/100 [65% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc, alc 14.6%] 6 April 2011 UGC

Chateau Beau Soleil

Deep and dense; quite thick nose; little raw; quite dense, some chocolate on the palate; quite opulent and very soft and easy. 88+/100 Tasted 6 April  Le Cercle Rive Droite

Chateau Bonalgue

Deep and dark, arterial almost; little dumb and less expressive than some; some cream; attractive palate; quite thick and rich but with some punch. Oak here. Needs to settle a bit. 86-88/100Tasted 6 April  Le Cercle Rive Droite

Chateau Bourgneuf

Deep and dense; quite thick looking; liquorice and smoke on the nose; soft and ripe mid-palate; really rather yummy; creamy notes with plushness; maybe lacks a bit of sophistication at the end. 88+/100 Tasted 6 April  Le Cercle Rive Droite

Chateau Clos du Clocher

Deep and dense; sweet and ripe; some toast; smoke and plums too; sweet palate, very ripe; concentrated and pretty extracted but somehow works; actually pretty seductive. Pretty good 88-90/100 Tasted 6 April  Le Cercle Rive Droite

Chateau Clinet

Deep and saturated, lovely silky, satiny and seductive nose, perfumed with violets, very attractive; quite forward on the nose – sublimated creamy wine, quite satiny and velvety on the palate too but with extract and concentration giving tannin and grip. Very good. Great length and intensity. The equal of 2009 but stronger in style but a shade less flamboyant. 94-96+/100 [85% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, alc 14.5%] 6 April 2011 UGC

Domaine de l’Eglise

Deep saturated colour; thick looking; little jammy, super-ripe notes here; some boiled sweets; palate full of sweet, ripe fruit; lacks a bit of grip; loads of fruit though. 88-90/100 Tasted 6 April  Le Cercle Rive Droite

Chateau Fayat

Deep, dark and saturated; some cream, some lift; plums and damsons; layers to the palate; nicely done here; attractive palate; lush with density. Good palate and grip. Very positive wine. 89-91+/100 4 April Le Cercle Rive Droite

Chateau Feytit Clinet

Deep and dark; tight to the rim; plums and very ripe; very seductive palate; ‘hedonistic’ to use a Parkerism; nice palate; really unctuous. Very attractive wine but also has some good grip. Good length too. 90-92+/100 Tasted 6 April  Le Cercle Rive Droite

Chateau Gazin

Deep and dark; dense and concentrated nose; strong but brooding, less open than some; dense palate, lots of fruit, lashing in fact but feels pretty tannic too. Lots of fruit in support though. Strong wine. Very good with grip and length 92-94/100 6^th April 2011 at UGC.

Chateau La Cabanne

Deep and saturated; quite solid nose, ripe and deep; but chunky on the palate, feels a bit extracted and tannic. Maybe not that well judged in terms of extraction? Certainly unsettled. 86?/100 6^th April 2011 at UGC

Chateau La Conseillante

Dense and deep, arterial; perfumed and very deep nose, violets with purity, lots of plums and freshness too, ripe and full; dense plummy and concentrated; fresh too with concentration, density but also grip. Fabulous. Chewy on the finish but fresh. This feels better than 2009 to me. 94-96+/100 6 April 2011 at UGC.

Chateau La Clemence

Arterial in colour; quite alcoholic nose; needs to settle; slightly vegetal streak too; palate feels overdone and very extracted. Most unsettled sample. 82-84?/100 Tasted 6 April  Le Cercle Rive Droite

Chateau La Croix de Gay

Deep black, arterial; sweet and sexy nose with some smoke; rich and plush here too, density but also pretty plump; ripe some violet and perfume; structure and grip come later. Lively structure and grip and real depth. Excellent effort. 92-94+/100 6 April 2011 at UGC.

Chateau Le Bon Pasteur

Deep and arterial; legs; dense at the centre; ripe and smoky; cherries, very attractive; soft creamy palate; very sweet and ripe; almost like essence. Big and weighty but with some grip. Lots of flavour. 91-93+/100 Tasted 6 April  Le Cercle Rive Droite

Chateau Montviel

Very deep and dark; very ripe nose, real sweetness here; attractive; almost boiled sweet; some smoke and oak on the palate; quite fat and attractive; sweet and ripe. Wonderful mouthful. 89-91+/100 Tasted 6 April  Le Cercle Rive Droite

Chateau Nenin

Deep and saturated; up to edge; ripe and rich; lots of fruit and density. Less flamboyant than the other Pomerols, feels serious and dense. Lacks a bit of vigour and joie de vivre? 88-90/100 [82% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, 13.9 alc and IPT 80] Tasted 7 April 2011 at Chateau Leoville Las Cases.

Chateau La Pointe

Deep and dense; lots of seductive oak and black fruits; toasty; oak dominate; lots of extract and oak and fruit tannin; early days but feels disjointed. Lots of flesh though but rather too chewy and extracted. Needs to settle. 87-88?/100 Tasted 6 April 2011 at UGC.

Chateau Petit-Village

Deep, dense and saturated; lovely smoky minerality, real depth on the nose; some camphor and iodine; strong and well done; ripe seductive and full of flavour; really good structure, chewy but with lots of extract and tannin. Terrific length and depth. Lovely 94-96+/100 Tasted 6 April 2011 at UGC

Chateau Rouget

Deep and dark at the core; sweet and ripe wine; perfumed and flattering; very soft and plumy palate; very attractive with grip at the end. [85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc] 90-92+/100 Tasted 6 April  Le Cercle Rive Droite

Chateau Taillefer

Deep in the glass; legs; sweet, ripe and attractive nose; attractive wine with some Cabernet Franc notes; good palate, really succulent and sweet; ripe fruit but with grip here; good wine. [75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc alc 14%] 89-91+/100 Tasted 6 April  Le Cercle Rive Droite