2023 Chateau La Violette, Pomerol

From the team of Château Le Gay and a smaller production release based on 100% Merlot vinified and aged in new barrels, the 2023 Château La Violette is slightly deeper purple-hued and offers an absolutely awesome bouquet of red and blue fruits, smoked earth, graphite, spring flowers, and incense. Complex, layered, and nuanced, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a broad, layered, seamless mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and a great, great finish. It's up with the top handful of 2023s and is a brilliant effort in the vintage.

Full-bodied with a rich and chunky mid-palate, packed with fruit and chewy tannins. It’s very well framed and muscular, but not heavy. This should develop well with more time in barrel.

The 2023 La Violette emerges from a tiny 1.68 hectare vineyard in the heart of Pomerol 100% hand-destemmed and vinified in 100% French oak barrels from cooper Saury. Sumptuous and racy the 2023 offers up a beguiling mix of crème de cassis blueberry menthol licorice spice and French oak. La Violette remains one of the most distinctive wines in Pomerol. 2030-2048

Perfumed and aromatic on the nose. Cool straight away, blueberries and blue cherries, really quite fresh and minty. Quite light, perhaps missing a touch more plushness, but it’s direct and streamlined with a really long finish. Smooth tannins, well built and nicely structured. Ageing 70% new oak.

This is intense, rich character, grilled coffee, blueberry, a little heavy through the mid palate although has good depths and texture, Pomerol typicity, very much also on the estate signature. Close to the church plots in Pomerol, Vignobles Parent.

The 2023 La Violette has a lovely nose quite refined compared to past vintages with layers of black plum truffle and violet. The oak is neatly enmeshed. The palate is medium-bodied with a lactic entry dark chocolate interwoven into the layered red fruit with a smooth spicy finish. It just misses the complexity that I know this estate can produce. This is maybe an atypically conservative La Violette?