When asked if she was going to join Alcoholics Anonymous: “Certainly not. They want me to stop now.”
Dorthy Parker

And I’m not stopping any time soon either because you never know when your last bottle is so we are taking down as many great bottles with our “Wine Drinking People” as we can again this year.  We are trying to give you lots of reasons to come out and drink with us at the Wine Watch Wine Bar and even though we are not open for regular service we have a single table in the Wine Cave that is available on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

We have a minimum of 6 people to reserve the table in the Cave but we will take up to 15 people for a curated dinner by Chef Toni.  We must know in advance what food items you want so you will have to coordinate the menu with Toni ahead of time, but she can put together any of your favorites from past Wine Bar menus or whatever you want if she has enough notice. The best thing about this table is the view of the wine, we have the largest selection of vintage wine in South Florida and everything is available at a retail price!!  You may want to bring a sweater it is 64 degrees in the wine cave.

If you were to ask me what my favorite wines in Bordeaux, I would not hesitate to tell you that the powerhouse wines of Pauillac and the finesse wines of Pomerol would be my top two choices as far as appellations go.  Not to say that I do not have favorite wines in other appellations but overall those are my picks so that is the subject of study tonight and we have some of the top Chateau from both appellations on the table from great vintages everything served tonight is 15+ years old.

Join me as I take you through 10 wines going back 40 years and chef Toni has a special five-course menu to accompany the tasting wines.  There are only 12 spaces available for this tasting and the fee for this event which includes dinner is $795 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com. 

If you can’t make the tasting I have included everything we have in the store from these two appellations on this offering.

Pomerol vs Pauillac Wine Tasting
My two favorite Appellations in Bordeaux
Friday, May 14th, 2021
7:30 PM

1979 Chateau Latour a Pomerol Pomerol
1979 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac

1982 Chateau L'Evangile Pomerol
1982 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac

1986 Chateau Lafleur Pomerol
1989 Chateau Lynch Bages Pauillac

2000 Chateau Lynch Bages Pauillac
2005 Chateau L'Evangile Pomerol

2005 Chateau La Fleur Petrus Pomerol
2003 Chateau Lafite Rothschild Pauillac

Menu
Selection of Cheese and Charcuterie
Grilled Portobello Mushroom and Burrata Salad with Bacon Balsamic Vinaigrette
Beef Tartar with Parmesan Crisps
Coffee rubbed Pork Loin stuffed with Prosciutto and White Cheddar with Currant Bordeaux demi glaze
Chocolate Crème Brulee

 There are only 12 spaces available for this tasting and the fee for this event which includes dinner is $795 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.  Please let us know when you make your reservation if you have any dietary restrictions and chef Toni will be happy to accommodate you. 

A bit about Pauillac
Pauillac is on the left bank of the Gironde. St-Julien is to the south. A stream called Ruisseau de Juillac marks part of the boundary between the two communes; other parts are marked by a stone wall and a country lane. To the north, across the Jalle du Breuil, lies St-Estèphe. Pauillac is bounded on the west by the parish of St Sauveur and the Landes forest. All three communes lie within the Haut-Médoc. The town of Pauillac is the largest in the Médoc, with a population of over 5000. Pauillac is somewhat more elevated than the surrounding area, rising to a peak of nearly 30 metres above sea-level in the region of Château Pontet-Canet. The soil is gravelly, as with most of the Haut-Médoc. The forest to the west shelters the vines from the Atlantic winds. Pauillac contains around 1200 hectares of vineyards.

Cabernet Sauvignon is the predominant grape, but it is invariably blended with other grapes. As with all red Bordeaux, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec may also be included in the blend (although wines will not necessarily include all five grapes). Prior to the 19th century, Malbec was predominant.

The style has been described as 'stark'.   The predominant fruit flavor is usually blackcurrant, sometimes veering into plum. Pencil-shavings and cigar-box are also characteristic notes.

Wine from Pauillac may be labelled as Haut-Médoc (usually wine which the château considers inferior to its main offering and wishes to market under a different label).   Similarly, second (or third) wines from the grandes châteaux may be labelled simply as Pauillac.

A bit about Pomerol

The Pomerol vineyards are located on a plateau that rises and falls slightly as it slopes gently down through a series of terraces toward the valley of the Isle River, which flows into the Dordogne River.  The appellation is bordered on the north by the Barbanne, a tributary of the Isle, on the east by Saint Emilion (the Cheval Blanc and Figeac wine estates), and on the south and west by the city of Libourne.  Pomerol is an area only two and a half miles long and two miles wide with exceptionally favorable geology and unique wine-producing potential.  It is one of the smallest of the Bordeaux wine areas and produces a yearly average of about 350,000 cases of wine.  Most of the region's properties, with a few exceptions, are small; the 185 wine estates in Pomerol have an average of eight acres of grapes each.  The area is mainly characterized by a unique set of geological conditions.  The surface soil is gravel, more or less compact or sandy; and its subsoil contains ferrous oxide, locally known as "crasse de fer", which, together with its specific microclimate, gives Pomerol wines their distinctive personality.

It is speculated that wine grapes have been grown there ever since the Romans inhabited Gaul.  The development of the vineyards began in the 12th Century and continued throughout the Middle Ages.  Pomerol was an important stopping place along the road of the pilgrims journeying from all over Europe to the Spanish pilgrimage of Saint Jacques de Compostelle.  The Knights of Malta built a manor and a Roman church - since destroyed - as well as a hospital.  The ancient hospital is the present Château Gazin building; it may be one of the last vestiges of the middle ages in Pomerol.  Unfortunately, the troubles of the Hundred Years' War led to the abandonment of most of the vineyards.  Subsequently restored, they again suffered greatly during the Religious Wars.  Minutes in the archives of Libourne date the beginning of Pomerol's evolution toward its modern form to the middle of the 18th Century.  It began in 1753 when Louis Leonard Fontemoing, a grape-grower in a locality called "Trop Chaud" ("Too Hot"), transformed his vineyard by taking out the white grapes and putting in red grapes.  Besides the Pressac red, bouchet (or cabernet franc) and merlot made their first historically recorded appearance.  They are the dominant varieties in Pomerol today.

Some historians claim that the real ascendancy of Pomerol began in the second half of the 19th Century.  However, modern tasters have reported on many great Pomerol vintages (dating back to the 1920's) from the region's pre-eminent estate, Château Pétrus.  Nevertheless, pre-war vintages of Pomerol were not much in demand; and most winelovers of that era did not seek out Château Pétrus or any other of the notable Pomerol properties.  It was not until the legendary 1947 vintage that Pétrus gained notoriety in wine circles.  Although we have not tasted that particular vintage, those experienced tasters who have had the privilege of sampling the 1947 Pétrus at its zenith (it may still be at that level today) claim that the 1947 Pétrus is one of the greatest wines produced in the 20th Century.  Despite the fame of the 1947 vintage, another generation of winedrinkers generally ignored the wines of Pomerol.  We recall drinking exceptional Pomerols from vintages in the 1960's that commanded prices well below their counterparts in the Médoc (the area of Bordeaux where fabled estates such as Mouton, Lafite, Latour, and Margaux are located).  However, beginning in the 1980's - specifically the 1982 vintage - Pomerol began to command average prices that exceeded those of most other Bordeaux wines.  Today older vintages of Chateau Pétrus sell for up to $10,000 a bottle!