Andrew Jefford | Dark black-red to scarlet at the rim; no purple here. The aromas are complex, refined, deep, and very complete. You have some of the fine, graceful fruits of Hosanna, but there is more black fruit and less blue fruit here than in that wine; there are stones, gravel, and earth, and all of them warm: the glow of the gravels. There is beginning to be a bit of mushroomy evolution just creeping into the wine, too, and some of the viscerally appealing furry Pomerol underbelly which no other zone of Bordeaux can come anywhere near duplicating. On the palate, the wine is vivid, lively, deep, and pure, with more vinous and less primary fruit than Hosanna, more secondary and in many ways more complex. The tannins are present but light-fingered, and the acidity supporting yet tender. Graceful, ample wine with the finesse of the old La Fleur-Pétrus allied with a broader structural architecture and more overall depth and wealth, coming from the new vineyard sources. The freshness of ’16 is there as well, and it has both drinkability and accessibility at this early stage. Hugely enjoyable. Do you prefer this or the Trotanoy? It’s a question with no right answer, of course. In the end I prefer this for its openness, charm, affability, and sunniness of temperament, but both are equally good and they are a perfect lesson in underscoring the differences of terroir that you can find within Pomerol. | 95

Michael Schuster | Lovely fruit fragrance and subtle minerality to smell; nicely concentrated, fairly full wine, fresh and moderately tannic; freshly sweet and fragrant in flavor, long and fine and subtle to taste, and with excellent mineral and cassis-sweet fruit persistence. Beautiful, complete, classy, elegant Pomerol. 2026–46+. | 93