page_title: Pomerol AOC
section_title: Winemaking
hierarchical_section_title: Pomerol AOC / Winemaking
caption_attribution_description: Custom concrete fermentation tanks used by the Pomerol winery Château l'Evangile located on the right bank in the French wine region of Bordeaux.
context_page_description: Pomerol is a French wine-growing commune and Appellation d'origine contrôlée within the Libournais in Bordeaux. The wine produced here is predominately from Merlot with Cabernet Franc playing a supporting role. Unlike most other Bordeaux communes, there is no real village of Pomerol, although there is a church. The houses are set among the vineyards.
  The region was recognized as a distinct wine region apart from Saint-Émilion and the greater Libournais region by the French government in 1923 and was granted AOC status in 1936 as part of the first wave of AOC establishments by the Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité. While it is now one of the most prestigious of the Bordeaux AOCs, this situation is relatively recent, dating to the second half of the twentieth century, which is often given as one of the reasons why Pomerol is not included in any of the Bordeaux classifications.
  Pomerol is the smallest of the major fine wine regions in Bordeaux, covering an area that is roughly three kilometers wide by 4 kilometers long.
context_section_description: For most of the 20th century, the winemaking styles of Pomerol were influenced by University of Bordeaux oenologist Émile Peynaud and his work on the Cabernet Sauvignon grape in the Médoc. While Peynaud's techniques were largely successful in the Médoc, they did not always translate well to Pomerol. Not only was this region working with a different grape, but also with different soil conditions that were cooler (despite the overall warmer climate). In this climate Cabernet Sauvignon didn't ripen well but Merlot grapes being harvested at the same sugar levels as Cabernet Sauvignon on the Left Bank would produce under-ripe flavors and "hard wine". It wasn't until the 1980s when more Pomerol producers began developing "Right Bank" techniques, including extended hanging time to ripen the Merlot grapes more fully, that the style associated with Pomerol wines today evolved.
  As with most wine regions, the style of winemaking varies by winemaker and by vintage. In general, many Pomerol winemakers practice 15 to 21 days maceration and press when the wine has reached full dryness. The wine almost always goes through malolactic fermentation. The wine will receive 18 to 20 months of aging in barriques prior to bottling and release.
  Tradition in Pomerol has been to separate the free-run wine and blend back in a proportion of the vin de presse as needed depending on the vintage. The rest of the press wine would often be used in the estate's second wine or sold to négociants. The timing of the blending (such as during or after fermentation) will vary by estate with some houses such as Château Pétrus adding the vin de presse during fermentation in order to allow the wine components to mature together and, theoretically, reduce the harshness of the typically more tannic and phenolic press wine.
  As with many Bordeaux estates, the basket press has come back into vogue but with modern elements such as pneumatic controls. Jean-Claude Berrouet, one of the head winemakers for the Moueix estates helped designed a vertical basket press aimed at more gently handling the pomace and this has been adopted by several estates.
caption: Concrete fermentors used at Château l'Evangile
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