Château Pomeaux 2020

The basic pattern of the 2020 Bordeaux wine vintage was a wet spring, followed by a dry, hot summer, ending with a warm, dry harvest. A rainy winter gave vineyards ample water reserves, but the rain stretched into spring, leading to severe mildew pressures. Summer turned hot and dry, but the Right Bank escaped the heavy August rain which adversely affected many Left Bank estates, with Pomerol looking particularly strong. Because of a combination of frosts in March, the threat of mildew from spring wetness, higher than average summer temperatures, and summer droughts, yields in the 2020 vintage were generally about 10% lower than in 2018 and 2019, which were vintages of average yields. From barrel samples, the best Bordeaux wines from the 2020 vintage are expressive, pure-fruited wines, with sweetness and intensity, freshness, forwardness, finesse, finely integrated tannins, and balance.

The 2020 vintage of Château Pomeaux was harvested in the last week of September under ideal conditions.  Château Pomeaux was able to harvest a moderately large crop of optimally ripe grapes. After malolactic fermentation in small oak barrels, the 2020 Château Pomeaux wine is maturing in new French oak barrels and will be bottled in the summer of 2022. Barrel samples indicate that the 2020 vintage of Château Pomeaux wine will be of an extraordinary quality that will match the outstanding quality of Château Pomeaux’s wines in 2018 and 2019 and will be intense, concentrated, lush, rich, powerful, well-balanced, and delicious.

REVIEWS

JAMES SUCKLING

Score 93/100

“Aromas of dark, smoky plums, ripe mulberries, baking spices, crushed walnuts, some tobacco and cedar. It’s full and meaty on the palate with an array of fine-grained tannins and round texture. Silky and polished with beautiful fruit underneath. Lingering finish. Try after 2024.”