2020 Château L'Evangile Pomerol

A gem of a Pomerol from Chateau l'Evangile. This winery was one of the first to own a vineyard on the oh so famous Pomerol plateau. The time-honored estate became part of Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) in 1990 who wanted to ensure that the chateau was maintained to the same high standards as DBR. The initial influence of DBR (Lafite) included a more refined selection of the Grand Vin and making Blason de L'Évangile as a second wine. A lot of work was also done to improve the vineyard. The wines of this winery are described as full-bodied and elegant with an incomparable finesse!

Chateau l'Évangile has a vinification method where tradition and modern techniques go hand in hand. In 2004, the barrel room and cellars were completely rebuilt to make them more suitable for plot selection. The grapes from each plot are kept separate in batches in order to assess, batch by batch, the potential at the end of fermentation. Traditional and modern methods are also closely linked in winemaking. The fermentation in barrels is carried out using the traditional method of pumping over and controlled maceration, under frequent tasting. Once fermentation is complete, the wine is aged for a further 18 months in 70% new oak barrels. Average annual production of this wine is between 2,000 and 3,000 bottles. From the 2018 vintage, the Chateau l'Evangile Pomerol was certified organic for the first time.

This beautiful wine is deep garnet purple in color with beautiful shimmers of violet. The nose is very intense with some earthy notes and really luscious scents of ripe black cherries, dried mulberries, plums and blueberries with light vanilla and toasted notes and a hint of chocolate. Medium to full-bodied, the taste is delicious, full and generous, concentrated with a long finish. Grape varieties: 80 - 90% Merlot, 10 - 20% Cabernet Franc.

The winemaker recommends decanting this wine (at least 2 hours) and provides the following guidelines regarding the question: " How long should an old vintage decant?" Contrary to popular belief, decanting is especially required for young wines. They need to be opened to bring out their full flavour. The time required varies between 2 and 24 hours, depending on the wine and the vintage, as wines with strong tannins generally require more time.

Old vintages do not need to be decanted for a long time, the bottle can be opened 1 to 2 hours before tasting. At Lafite, the cellar master always performs a double decantation of red wines:

- decant in carafe
- clean the bottle
-and filling the bottle with the decanted wine
Decanting is recommended, even if only for a very short time, as it allows the aromas to open up.