BKWine pick: Château Tournefeuille, Lalande de Pomerol

This beautiful chateau is in the Petit family since the 18th century. The chateau is surrounded by 17 hectares of vineyards in the appellation Lalande de Pomerol. It has a beautiful view over the region – you can see the church in Pomerol, Chateau Cheval Blanc, Vieux Chateau Certan, Petrus (if you look closely)… Emeric petit is the current generation of owner/winemaker and he explains that in Lalande (as opposed to Pomerol) the chateaux are usually inhabited by the owners. “The appellation covers 1100 ha in total and there are 180 growers. So on average, each one has 7 ha.”

Even though the vineyard is in one single plot the soil is very varied, Eric explains. There is clay that gives wines with intense colour and power with pronounced tannins, there is gravel that gives more elegance and lighter colour and tannins. There is 70% merlot and the rest is cabernet franc.

Rosalcy 2008, Lalande de Pomerol, is a delicious wine very much on the fruit, with both raspberries and cherries, elegant and round tannins (approx 9-12 euro). Chateau Tournefeuille 2006 has been aged in oak barrels for 12 months, a third of which were new. The bouquet has complexity and already some maturity characters (secondary aromas), mushrooms and truffles. It’s a classic Bordeaux/Pomerol style which is exactly what Emeric is aiming for (~15-23 euro). In 2004 the Petit family bought three hectares in Pomerol. the result is a wine they call L’Ecuyer. The 2005 is made from 90% merlot and is starting to develop some maturity and has a lot of elegance. “Delicate, as a Pomerol should be”, says Emeric.

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