2009 Pomerol Bordeaux Wine Tasting Notes and Buying Guide

2009 Clinet is deep ruby. Produced from 85% merlot, 12% cabernet sauvignon, and 3% cabernet franc, the wine opens with an explosive perfume of jammy strawberry, blackberry, caramel, spice, and flowers that seems to pop from the glass. With an intense concentration of dark berries and licorice, this full bodied wine fills your mouth with fruit and freshness. Although this robust, decadent Pomerol comes in at a whopping 14.5%, it has so much ripe fruit and freshness that you never notice the high alcohol. 96-98 Pts

2009 Clos du Clocher  is medium bodied, and opens with aromas of dark plums, black cherries, and bitter chocolate. It should show well young. 88-90 Pts

2009 Clos L’Eglise is deeply colored. From vineyards located next to the chateau on the break in the Pomerol plateau, where the terroir consists of argile clay with gravel and iron deposits. The pungent nose is filled with fresh blackberry, plum liqueur, violets, espresso, chocolate fudge, and dark cherry aromas, making the wine a pleasure to sniff. With intensity of flavors, this opulently textured wine coats your palate. It finishes in waves of flamboyantly textured chocolate covered plums. 96-98 Pts

2009 La Conseillante, from 81% merlot and 19% cabernet franc, is never the deepest colored Pomerol. The nose is of flowers, spice, fennel, oak, plums, and dark berries. The wine has an intense freshness in the mouth that’s accompanied by a long, pure, sweet black cherry and licorice flavored finish. The wine comes in at 14.2% alcohol, but has no sensation of heat. 96/97 Pts

2009 La Croix St. Georges, produced from 80% merlot and 20% cabernet franc, is aged in 60% new, cigar shaped oak. The wine shows earth, licorice, floral, oak, and black raspberry aromas. Full bodied, with ripe black fruit and some oak in the finish. 89-92 Pts

2009 L’Eglise Clinet is inky black with hints of purple. With pungent aromatics of flowers, blackberry liqueur, oak, earth, coffee, and spice, the wine fills your mouth with incredible levels of concentration and intensity. Flashy, flamboyant, and fat, this serious wine has an amply fresh finish of licorice, chocolate, boysenberry, and cocoa. 97-100 Pts

2009 L’Evangile clocks in at 14.6% alcohol. But there is no sensation of heat found in this wine of 95% merlot and 5% cabernet franc. Inky colored, the wine opens with scents of a fresh flower market, plum liqueur, chocolate, and pure blackberry jam. On the palate, this opulently styled Pomerol is dense, rich, concentrated, fleshy, and powerful. It ends with fresh, chocolate covered black raspberries. Jean-Pascal Vazart prefers the 2009 over other recent vintages. When asked to compare the styles of 2005 and 2009, Vazart called the 05 “strict.” 96-98 Pts

2009 La Fleur de Bouard expresses oak, dark berries, spice, and hints of plum topped with chocolate. Full bodied, powerful and rich, it should offer pleasure early. 89-91 Pts

2009 La Fleur de Bouard Cuvee Gaspard is normally known as Plus. But to celebrate the first grandchild of the de Bouards, the wine was named for Gaspard, the son of Coralie de Bouard who had the good fortune to be born in 2009. This dark as night wine shows floral, black raspberry, licorice, espresso, and dark chocolate aromatics. Fleshy and full bodied, with silky tannins and round textures, the wine ends with licorice, black plum and mocha flavors. 94-96 Pts

2009 La Fleur Petrus pops from the glass with aromas of black and red berries, licorice, spice, mocha, and chocolate. Full bodied, rich, and silky with velvety tannins, this sensuous wine has a long finish filled with layers of black berry, dark cherry, and spice flavors. While more powerful and concentrated than the 2005, everything is in balance and harmony. 94-97

2009 Le Gay is deep ruby, with a nose of tobacco, truffle, forest floor, blackberry, boysenberry and oak. Full bodied and concentrated, silky and round, this ripe dark berry flavored wine is outstanding, although for me the reference point of the modern era remains the 2005. 93-95

2009 La Grave offers chocolate, earth, and berry aromas. Elegantly made. Dark plum and cocoa flavors are found in this lighter style of Pomerol. 88-90 Pts

2009 Hosanna opens with an inky purple hue. Smoke, black and blue fruit, earth, fudge, and kirsch aromas. Powerful, full bodied, and concentrated, with layers of silky fruit, this decadently styled Pomerol fills the mouth while coating the teeth and palate with ripe berries, chocolate, and spice. The finish lasts close to 60 seconds. 97-98 Pts

2009 Lafleur was produced from 47% merlot and 53% cabernet franc. Its 14% alcohol could be the highest level recorded by the property, yet there is no sensation of heat. This opaque wine blasts from your glass with blackberry, blueberry, and kirsch aromas, made complex by notes of spice, soil, clay, flowers, and minerals, with a little truffle thrown in. This concentrated, velvet textured wine fills every nook and cranny of your palate with the flavors of dark berries. Like all great vintages of Lafleur, the 2009 will require at least two decades before opening up. 96-98 Pts

2009 Latour a Pomerol has a dark ruby hue. Its perfume is filled with scents of chocolate, dark berries, and flowers. With ripe tannins and opulent textures, the wine finishes with dark raspberry, sweet chocolate, and black cherry flavors. 92-94 Pts

2009 Montviel is this property’s second vintage using micro-vinification. The wine kicks off with aromas of jammy berries, licorice, and espresso. The wine has round textures, but some dryness intrudes in the finish. 87/89 Pts

2009 Nenin, with spicy blackberry and chocolate flavors, is a powerful, structured style of Pomerol. The dark berry, kirsch, and cocoa finish displays a lot of brawn for Pomerol. 89-91 Pts

2009 Petit Village opens with scents of plums and herbs mingled with a touch of oak. This round textured, medium bodied wine needs a bit more stuffing. 87-89 Pts

2009 Petrus is deep ruby with purple tints at the rim of the glass. Spice, plums, blackberries, and blueberries, with cinnamon, clay, mint, mocha, and kirsch, make up the complex perfume. The wine is rich, concentrated, and packed with surreal levels of glycerin. This viscous, thrilling treat provides a seamless, intensely pure finish of spice, jammy cherries, and chocolate. 98-100 Pts

2009 Le Pin has a perfume of coconut, dark berries, black cherries, and hints of citrus flowers accompanied by spice notes. Velvety textured, and richly concentrated, this exotic wine finishes with a blast of plums. 95-97 Pts

2009 La Pointe is filled with black raspberry jam with overtones of cassis and coffee. This chateau has shown marked improvements since Hubert de Bouard began consulting the property. 88-90 Pts

2009 Providence starts with scents of jammy berries, chocolate, and spice. Full bodied and richly textured, this vintage lacks the excitement, complexity, and length of the 2005. The wine finishes with elegant dark cherry and black raspberry flavors. 93-95 Pts

2009 Trotanoy sports a dark ruby color. Spice, jammy dark berries, black raspberries, truffles, plum liqueur, Valhrona chocolate, fresh flowers, and licorice in the nose. This wine is packed and stacked with endless layers of silky, velvet fruit. The textures offer incredible sensations of opulence, richness, and cashmere. The wine coats your palate with endless layers of intense, decadent fruit, chocolate, and spice. The seamless finish lasts more than sixty seconds. The wine should be forced to carry a warning label: “Open when in need of extreme hedonistic pleasure.”

This remarkable Trotanoy offers a more complete tasting experience than either the sublime 1998 or the off the charts 2008. As good as those vintages are, they don’t make the strong statement the 2009 does. 98-100 Pts

2009 La Violette starts with chocolate, floral, boysenberry, plum, coffee, and spice aromas. This concentrated wine displays ample layers of decadent fruit combined with with silky tannins. The wine finishes with flavors of sweet dark berries, licorice, fudge, and spice. 94-96 Pts

2009 Vieux Chateau Certan, a blend of 84% merlot, 8% cabernet sauvignon, and 8% cabernet franc, is deep, dark ruby. Its nose displays berries, flowers, chocolate, licorice, and plum liqueur. This concentrated, velvety textured wine is packed with elegant, powerful, sweet round fruit, and it has a long, pure, decadently textured finish of chocolate covered plums and black cherries. It was one of the finest Pomerol wines from 2009. 97-99 Pts

During the tasting, Alexandre Thienpont stated without hesitation, “2009 is the best Vieux Chateau Certan of the modern era. The wine is similar in style to the famous 1950 and is the most concentrated vintage for the chateau since 1950.” He concluded by saying that the 2009 is a perfect vintage for him. Some vintages at the property favor cabernet franc, while others are better for merlot. That 2009 is a merlot year might not please all the traditionalists who prefer the large percentage of cabernet franc usually found in the wine. But I loved the 2009 and purchased a case after tasting it. Regardless of a note or score, the highest compliment any taster can pay to a chateau after tasting a wine is to buy it for his own cellar.

2009 Vray Croix de Gay is filled with ripe plums, dark chocolate and spices, with soft, elegant textures. The only drawback is the slight dryness in the finish. Since this property now has Stephane Derenoncourt as a consultant, it’s an estate to watch. 88-90 Pts