Château Gazin 2017

Critic scores

• James Suckling94-95
• Wine Enthusiast94
• Wine Advocate93
• Vinous93
• Decanter91

The 2017 vintage in Pomerol

Vintage benchmark: 87/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: Frost struck the slope-foot vines: the plateaus saved the day, and the vintage must be judged plot by plot.

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

On the nose, the wine shows a complex aromatic palette blending black and red fruit, along with floral notes joined by aromas of mocha and vanilla from the ageing. On the palate, one notes a fine freshness; the wine is round on the attack, very long, with pretty fruitiness (cherry and blackcurrant). A wine that is direct and taut, with a fine structure showing very silky tannins.

A very fine balance.

Blend of the 2017 vintage

Figures from the 2017 sheet

• 100,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

Alcoholic fermentation takes place in small concrete vats, separated by variety and by plot; the juice and skins are then left to macerate for two to three weeks.

Ageing

Ageing in barrel for 15 months. 40% new barrels

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.