Château Gombaude Guillot - Pomerol

What the RVF says in its 2018 Guide: "Antoine-Marie Arena produced his first wines in 2014. Antoine Arena's youngest son has been working and making wine at the family estate for years. He now signs his own cuvées, taking charge of Hauts de Carco in white and Carco in red, and made his entry in the 2017 edition. The reading of the wines and the sensitivity of the new blended wines confirm the talent of this young winemaker. The coherence and depth of his wines are beyond doubt: we award him a well-deserved second star. The wines: they give a lot of emotion, show both precision and accuracy. Hauts de Carco has great purity, a powerful yet firm mouthfeel. Bianco Gentile is a model, with the maturity of this grape variety, without its drawbacks: full-bodied, it is well managed by bitters that reframe it. Bianchi, a blend of vermentino, biancu gentile and muscat, is subtle. It exhales notes of rose and cumin, and delights us with its harmonious mouthfeel, its quality length; for a lemon chicken. Carco, not very extracted and infused, is distinguished by its right substance and finesse. Memoria is chubbier and fuller, but retains the precision of the fruit and the quality of the tannins. Finally, San Giovanni, still very young, offers spicy nuances and a quality substance. It seduces by its dimension"

"Très bien situé et doté d'un important patrimoine de vieilles vignes, Gombaude Guillot est un cru atypique, qui à première vue détonne dans l'ambiance feutrée pomerolaise, mais qui, surtout, montre des voies nouvelles du plus haut intérêt.

 

Claire Laval, qui le conduit depuis 1983, y applique avec conviction une agriculture biologique prolongée par une approche très “naturelle” de la vinification. Son fils Olivier Techer vinifie depuis 2010, allant encore plus loin dans la voie initiée par ses parents, notamment en baissant radicalement les doses de soufre ajoutées aux vins (depuis 2014 autour de 25 mg à la mise seulement).

 

Doté d’une grande franchise d’expression, ainsi que d'un profond sens du lieu, Gombaude Guillot vieillit en outre très bien, comme l'a prouvé une récente dégustation verticale. Les derniers millésimes du cru nous semblent particulièrement intéressants." 1* RVF Guide