2017 La Cabanne

Dark cherry colour. Smells sweet-fruited and creamy with notes of vanilla and toast. On the palate, there's lots of sweet fruit, too. Flavourful rather than complex or elegant. Gung-ho sort of wine. (JH)

The 2017 La Cabanne is a Pomerol cru that flies just under the radar. This latest release continues to prove that François Estager owns some serious terroir, located right next to Trotanoy in fact. It has a nicely detailed bouquet with scents of blackberry, pencil lead and undergrowth aromas. It is not as complex as the 2015 or 2016 but there is palpable focus and good vigor. The palate is medium-bodied with well-defined red berry fruit laced with brown spice and a discrete, almost cola-like tincture. This feels nimble, poised and for want of a better word, joyful. It might not be the most profound Pomerol that François Estager has ever made but I can see this drinking beautifully over the next decade.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2017 La Cabanne gives up black cherries and black plums on the nose with wafts of anise, chocolate box and tilled earth. Medium-bodied, plushly textured and with plenty of density, it finishes pleasantly fruity. Apr 2018, www.robertparker.com