A dozen 2009 Pomerols were shown by the MW Institute last November. I can say hand on heart that the wines were an absolute joy. Many will repay further cellaring but pretty much all of them can be enjoyed already for their youthful vibrancy and lush fruit. Clinet, La Conseillante, L’Eglise Clinet, Gazin and La Fleur-Pétrus have produced tremendous wines here but there’s real excitement too at the ‘lower’ echelons. For me Clos René, La Pointe and Petit-Village have produced fabulous Pomerol while the likes of Beauregard, Nénin and Domaine de Eglise, whilst perhaps not in the same league, have produced wonderfully appealing, positive wines.

Pomerol has made a really serious fist of 2012. There is plenty of creamy, fat Merlot on offer and with diligent vineyard work and a steady nerve it was possible to harvest ripe and flavoursome Cabernet Franc. There is wonderful freshness and vibrancy to the best wines, and generally much more flesh on offer than in 2011. There is also impressive structure too. Some estates are comparing the vintage with 2001 in terms of balance. At Vieux Chateau Certan they talked about 1985 while Christian Moueix has even been comparing it with 1971. What’s in the glass is delicious in my opinion and there is considerable depth on offer too.

There’s no doubt that 2010 is an outstanding vintage in Pomerol. As ever the winemaking seems to be more in check here than in neighbouring St Emilion. Pomerol’s clay soils too helped the vineyards cope with the drought conditions that characterized the 2010 growing season, which would have also improved grape ripening and the preservation of acidity. And it’s acidity and freshness that defines the beauty of these wines here in Pomerol in 2010. Cool nighttime conditions in August – 2010 was a dry vintage rather than heatwave – will further have helped preserve this acidity, especially so for growers who pick at optimum ripeness but who also keep a keen eye on grape acids.

Overall Pomerol has produced some very vibrant wines in 2011 despite a tricky growing season. Maybe the clay soils that the region is famous for helped guard against the early drought and heat spikes. September rain too undoubtedly affected some and rot would have been a concern. There is variability here, however, particularly among the less well known estates. Some display under ripe characters, others have over extracted, some, it seems, are green and extracted. It’s the usual 2011 story then, here ,as elsewhere. Making the best wines needed laborious work in the vineyard, the grapes required strict selection at harvest and the resultant wines suited a gentle hand in the cellar.