P
omerolis a paradox. Its famous plateau terroir is hallowed; it produces (in Petrus, Le Pin and Château Lafleur) three of the most expensive wines in the world; demand is so high and quantities so small that it is very difficult to source back vintages; and its mere mention sends the pulses of Bordeaux aficionados racing.
Yet the landscape of the appellation itself appears flat and uninspiring (a stark contrast to the calcareous contours of its immediate neighbour St-Emilion), there are no grand châteaux here, no visitor centres, no hotels, no cavistes and scarcely a restaurant. It would be utterly forgettable were it not for the quality of its wines, and it belies entirely the adage that beautiful wines come only from beautiful places.
It is the only appellation of Bordeaux’s ‘top five’ to have no system of classification and it was scarcely known before the post-war period, though it was in fact one of the original appellations to be created by France’s National Institute for Origin and Quality (INAO) in 1936.
It is arguably the most intimate and welcoming of Bordeaux’s great appellations, but to the uninitiated it is also the most intimidating. It is, to misquote Churchill, a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.
In short, Pomerol takes some understanding.
And to understand it best one needs first to appreciate a little of its history.
BORDEAUX’S MARKET GARDEN
Pomerol almost certainly takesthe Latin for orchard. And for a long time Pomerol was, in effect, the orchard and market garden of the nearby town of Libourne.
