Château Gazin 2010

The 2010 vintage in Pomerol

Vintage benchmark: 98/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: The dry summer and cool nights gave dense, tannic wines of extraordinary ageing potential — the exact opposite of 2009.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Pomerol. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

2010 is all smoothness and finesse, showing a good volume on the palate but without excess, with a soft finish that for now is still a touch tannic. The oak is already perfectly melded and accompanies a complex nose of red and black fruit, tobacco, almond, vanilla and chocolate... The palate is long and silky. No heaviness in this lively, fresh wine. After 9 or 10 years of ageing (2020) this 2010 will, moreover, offer the traditional notes of Pomerol: truffle, undergrowth, fur, leather, and will pair wonderfully with red meats and both furred and feathered game.

Blend of the 2010 vintage

Figures from the 2010 sheet

• 14 % vol.Alcohol
• 39 hl/haYield
• 35 yrsVine age
• 100,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

Alcoholic fermentations take place in small concrete vats, variety by variety and plot by plot, followed by a period of maceration of the juice with the skins, for two to three weeks.

Ageing

In barrel for 18 months (50% renewed each year)

Terroir

The vineyard of Château Gazin covers an area of 26 ha in a single block, situated on the high terrace of the Pomerol terroir. The terroir of Château Gazin is made up of Günzian gravels at the surface and, in the subsoil, blue and green clays containing iron oxides (crasse de fer). These clays (smectites) provide the vine with a regular and moderate supply of water, a characteristic of the great terroirs. The clay-gravel subsoil of the Pomerol plateau makes up the essential part of Château Gazin’s terroir. The vineyard is planted with 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc. The average age of the vines is 35 years.