Chateau Gazin 2009

Despite a slightly fiery finish, one of the year’s most classic wines: opulent, velvety, full-bodied and sensual, juicy, with great aromatic length—exemplary, a little Pétrus!

This has it all in place -- dark, smoldering tobacco and cocoa notes, rich plum sauce, braised fig and steeped black currant fruit, joined by lengthy, mouthcoating, tar-tinged grip. Still youthfully raw, though, so cellar for maximum effect. Best from 2014 through 2028. 5,541 cases made.

A smoky wine, its fruit submerged in the wood character. It does have weight, along with powerful, tight tannins. It's a wine that will need many years.

Gazin has vines at the highest point in Pomerol, at just over 40m, right next to Petrus. This is a powerful, upright wine that's just getting going at 10 years old. It was double-decanted for two hours before the tasting, which helped enormously compared to when I tasted it a few weeks ago. You can feel the tannins holding everything in place buy the quality and intensity of the fruit is unmissable.

Very dark, spicy and mysterious, this is a concentrated and graceful Pomerol that shows what was possible in this vintage if everything was done right. The stunningly fine tannins drive the very long subtle finish. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)

Still young, but clearly on the path. With some effort, this concentrated, full-bodied wine offers up its truffle, plum, thyme, floral and wet earth essence. Concentrated, rich, lush and loaded with all the right stuff, another 5 years or so should add more softness and nuance.

Extremely dark purple with lilac and violet highlights. I have never experienced such depth of color in a Gazin at an En Primeur tasting. An intoxicating abundance of blackcurrant, blackberry, smoke, herbs and licorice—dense and multi-layered, with a tender hint of mint hovering over the perfumed aromatics. On the palate, a dream of a wine, full of black berries, elderberry and blackcurrant; you can also feel the ripe, though small, share of Cabernet Sauvignon, lending a fine smoky note as well as a touch of vanilla pulp. The finish carries a chocolatey bitterness with tremendous potential, which with age will give it exactly the breeding some—admittedly much simpler—Pomerols lack.

Extremely dark purple with lilac and violet highlights. I’ve never seen such depth of colour in a Gazin at a primeur tasting. An intoxicating abundance of blackcurrant, blackberries, smoke, herbs and liquorice—dense and multi-layered, with a tender hint of mint hovering over the perfumed nose. On the palate, a pure wine dream, packed with black berries: elderberry and blackcurrant take centre stage. You can also sense the small, ripe proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon, lending a fine smoky note and a touch of vanilla pulp; the finish shows a bitterness of dark chocolate, which will fade with the first signs of maturity given this massive potential, and will then give it exactly that sense of class that a few—admittedly much simpler—Pomerols lack. Has there ever been such a great Gazin? I hardly think so! Tasted several times: once at Moueix, once at the Syndicat Pomerol, then at Ulysse Cazabonne and again at Clinet. (20/20). 15: After a magnum of Almaviva, I spontaneously opened a case. The wine was violet-black. Extremely black-berried, blackcurrant and dark spice. On the palate, mega-concentrated. An unbelievable super-wine. (20/20). 16: It was a little too warm and a little too young. But everything else was completely on point. It’s really not such a big crime to take a look! (20/20). 19: Drunk at the estate with Nicolas de Baillencourt. It was insane. An incredible wine that is increasingly crystallising into a legend. (20/20). 20: Total production: 66,500 bottles. Blend: 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc. Violet-black. A crazy bouquet with an incredible number of facets. First impression: fresh, minty and floral at the same time. Second impression: the fruit power arrives in black-berry form—elderberry, blackcurrant and blueberries—completed by liquorice. On the palate, both substantial and fleshy, an all-encompassing, still-demanding astringency and a dramatic finish. (20/20). 20: Deep violet-purple. Gigantic bouquet, berries without end—everything in the black spectrum, roughly in this order: blackcurrant, blackberries, blueberries, mulberries. Sweet, somehow already quite approachable, yet signalling an as-yet-unknown depth. On the second impression, certain secondary notes break through first: mint, liquorice, dark precious woods, mocha. With a slurp, a Merlot perfume comes into play and releases aromas of wild raspberries. The glass is bursting with an explosive aromatic mood! Perfect palate. Thanks to a certain primary-fruit profile, it is currently deceptively approachable. But you can already tell this is not only one of the greatest Gazins in its history, it also ranks among the very best 2009s. Here—long proclaimed in advance—a sensation and a legend are taking shape. (20/20).

Velvety, creamy, fresh, complex, deep and elegant bouquet, with strawberry chocolates and After Eight. The palate is dense, creamy and full-bodied, with rich, sweet fruit, a fine, tight, layered and elegant structure, concentrated aromatics, fine tannins and a long, persistent finish. 19/20. Drink now–2040.

It conveys the intensity of ripe fruit without any jamminess, with a silky delicacy, while retaining its original slender profile. A benchmark for delicacy and precision. It will age beautifully.

Broad attack, lovely generous substance, velvety, long, very Pomerol.

Garnet-red with slight purplish highlights. An open, seductive bouquet revealing notes of mint, dark chocolate, and prunes. The attack is flavorful and appealing. On the palate, the wine is rich and rounded, with perfectly integrated tannins of very fine grain, and even a touch of freshness on the finish. A very seductive wine that is reaching maturity. I’m not sure about its future, but at the moment it is irresistibly seductive.

Logo on the cork: AL Dark, intense colour with slight development. An intense nose of ripe fruit, with a subtle leafy touch, then creamy. Supple on the attack with a smooth mid-palate development, a touch discreet through the middle; the wine glides into an aromatic finish, yet with a hint of severity (leafy nuances).

A big, powerful, masculine Pomerol with a style not dissimilar from Le Gay, the dense purple-colored 2009 Gazin exhibits black currant, black cherry liqueur, coffee, roasted herb, an exotic Asian spice component, vanillin, creme caramel and toasty oak in its aromatics and flavors. From a vineyard near Petrus, Le Gay and La Fleur Petrus, it is full-bodied with licorice, earth, truffle and creme de cassis in the mouth. Give this powerful, backward 2009 an additional 6-8 years of cellaring and drink it over the following three decades.