WINES OF POMEROL

Localization

Among the 13.000 hectares of the Libournais’s vineyard, 760 hectares are dedicated to Pomerol. “Libournais” is one of the viticultural areas of Bordeaux; it gathers the following names: Canon-Fronsac, Fronsac, Lalande-de-Pomerol, Saint-Emilion, Saint-Emilion grand cru, Bordeaux-Côte-de-Francs, Côtes-de-Castillon, Saint Georges Saint-Emilion, Puisseguin-Saint-Emilion, Lussac-Saint-Emilion, Montagne-Saint-Emilion and Pomerol.
The Pomerol’s vineyard is a vineyard of 4 kilometers out of 3, located in the North of Libourne. The parcels of the castles are, on average, not larger than one hectare.

History

Romans have probably established vines in the area of Bordeaux, thus in the Libournais, and more accurately in Pomerol. The plate of the Pomerol’s vineyard was furrowed by two antique roads. One was often used by the famous Latin poet Ausone. He made poems of the area of French wines and in particular those of St. Emilion.

With Middle-Ages, the Saint-Jean-of-Jerusalem’s hospital also cultivated the Pomerol’s vines. They established their first commandery in the Libournais, with a manor, a hospital and a church. Saint-Jacques-of-Compostelle’s pilgrims stopped there in particular to take rest and also to taste the Pomerol’s wines.

However, the 100-year-old-war damaged the area and its vineyard. It is necessary to wait the XVth and XVIth centuries in order to reconstitute the vineyards.

Since then, the area made beautiful great strides. Under the second empire, the merlot became the main type of vine of the Libournais, followed-up by the “cabernet franc”. The vineyard of the area did not suffer from the two world wars. Today, the brotherhood “les hospitaliers de Pomerol” represents the wines of Pomerol at the time of various demonstrations, in order to promote the wines of Pomerol, their soil, like their history, their values and their traditions.

Type of vines
The two principal types of vines of Pomerol’s wines are the merlot and the cabernet franc. There is also a bit of cabernet-sauvignon, but in very small quantity. The merlot is the typical type of vine of the area of Bordeaux. It belongs to the family of cabernets. It offers wines complex in flavours, easy to drink and suited to a long ageing. It enters, in a quasi-exclusive way, in the composition of the Pomerol’s wines. It is also an important type of vine in the composition of the St. Emilion.
The cabernet franc is a traditional type of vine, used in Bordeaux, but it is, above all, a type of assembly vine. It is of a large aromatic smoothness, with spiced aromas. It proposes a good aptitude for ageing.

Pomerol Appellation

The vineyard of Pomerol includes AOC (Appellation d’origine controlée) wines of the commune of Pomerol, as well as a small part of the commune of Libourne. The area is in the North East of Bordeaux and is practically closed to St. Emilion. Pomerol’s appellation includes famous wines such as: Petrus, La Conseillante, l’Eglise Clinet, Beauregard, Lafleur … We can also notice that the appellation of Lalande de Pomerol is an appellation closed to Pomerol.

Grounds

The soil is composed mostly by Graves on the surface. The basement is made with clay and is rich in oxides of iron in North; and it is sandy in South.

How to read a wine label of Pomerol?

There must be various mentions on a wine label:
- The name of the producer, of the domain or of the field
- The wine denomination: “Appellation” in French
- The alcoholic strength
- The bottle-filler, i.e. the name and the address of the person who made the bottle-filling
- The country of origin
- The volume of the bottle
- The number of batch
- The allergens mentions

Other mentions can be present on this same label:
- The year. It will be presented on the label only if all harvests come from only one year.
- The mode of culture. Ex: biological wine

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