Château La Croix — Château La Croix 2021

Every tasting needs a reference point. For a Merlot comparison, Pomerol is an obvious choice – that small appellation on the right bank of the Dordogne that produces some of the most expensive Merlot-based wines in the world. Pétrus, Le Pin, Lafleur – the icons, of course, play in a league that would blow the scope of this tasting wide open. But Château La Croix, as a solid mid-range Pomerol, offers an honest, realistic benchmark.

The estate is located in Catusseau, right next to Château Beauregard, on sandy-gravelly terraces with iron-rich soil. This terroir was long considered second-rate in Pomerol – too light, too sandy. It took climate change to show that precisely these soils can produce wines of unusual finesse. The Janoueix family has owned the ten-hectare estate for over 150 years and also manages other vineyards on the right bank. As for the composition of the 2021: the publicly available information is astonishingly contradictory. Depending on the source, you'll find 90% Merlot with 10% Cabernet Franc, or 95% Merlot with 5% Malbec – and even the alcohol content varies between 13.0 and 14.0 percent. Even the Lobenberg website lists different cuvée details for the same wine and vintage on two different product pages. For the Greek wines in this tasting, the data can usually be verified directly with the producer; with Bordeaux, where information passes through multiple négociant layers, that is sometimes more difficult. I'm going with 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc at approximately 13.5% alcohol here.

The La Croix 2021 is very dense on the nose, and this density continues on the palate as well. Lots of dark berries, especially sloe, plus a fine sandalwood that lays itself like a carpet beneath the fruit. But then, with a bit of air and time, the wine opens up and shows an entirely different side: juicy, fruity, refreshing – a beautiful, classic Pomerol that doesn't seek to impress with extraction or excessive oak, but speaks through the grape and the terroir. 92 points.

At roughly the same time, I had the La Croix 2015 in my glass – and the comparison makes the vintage difference tangible. 2015 is considered one of the clear counterparts to 2021 on the right bank: Decanter calls the vintage "seductive" – Merlot was a great success, with abundant fruit and very fine tannins. My impression of the La Croix 2015 confirms this: it scores at least 94 points and shows what this estate can achieve in a great Merlot year. The two-point difference from the 2021 sounds small on paper, but is clearly perceptible in the glass.

Lobenberg gives this wine 97–98+ points, the Weinwisser 95–96. I consider that clearly too generous. The La Croix 2021 is charming and drinkable, no question. But 2021 was a difficult vintage for Bordeaux Merlot, and the wine reflects that. It is lighter and more delicate than La Croix in great years – a solid benchmark, but not a revelation. Yet that is precisely what makes it the right reference wine for our purposes: What can an honest Pomerol deliver in a difficult Merlot year? The answer is: 92 points. That is the bar.