Of the 2019 Pomerols that I tasted back in June, a number of good to very good wines have been produced. Top of the tree for me is an undoubted beauty from Château La Conseillante that I have already devoted a post which you can read here. This is amongst the very best of the vintage of the wines I’ve had a chance to look at. The rest of my Pomerol tastings were limited mainly to members of Le Grand Cercle. Amongst these Château Mazeyres, Château Maillet and Château La Clémence [all pictured here] really impressed me. Mazeyres is worth a special mention. This wine is crafted on a biodynamic basis by Alain Moueix and it stood out for its effortless clarity and purity [something which can also be said for Mouiex’s other property Château Fonroque in St Emilion]. There was also a very good performance from Château Lécuyer. Château La Commanderie and Clos Vieux Taillefer were good and solid, if rather chunky. Domaine de L’Eglise, from the Borie-Manoux stable, was sturdy and well-made and Château La Croix du Casse soft and forward.

Bordeaux négociant Mähler-Besse was taken over on Friday 11 July by the Castéja family group BCAP, reports David Rowe from Bordeaux. The BCAP group owns négociant Borie-Manoux as well as a handful of prestigious châteaux, including Château Trottevieille in Saint-Emilion, Château Batailley in Pauillac and Domaine de l’Eglise in Pomerol. Ownership of Château Palmer [pictured here], which is shared between individual members of the Mähler-Besse family and Maison Sichel, is not included in this transaction. So it will be business as usual at Palmer.

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.

So we have a week to collect ourselves during Vinexpo, Bordeaux’s wine trade fair that runs this week, to assess just where we are with the controversial release prices of the 2010 Bordeaux vintage. If you thought prices for 2009 were a bit heady then so far the prices of some 2010s have been eye-watering. In certain notable cases prices are up 40% year on year and that on top of similar increases last year. You wonder why Bank of England chief Mervyn King is losing sleep about the UK’s paltry 4.5% inflation rate. Small beer Merv, get with it. Bordeaux’s up ten times as much.