Area under vines: 3,25 hectares
Soils: Clay, gravel and iron dross
Average age of the vines: 40 years
Production: 18 000 bottles a year
Ageing: for 24 months
Grape varieties:
Learn more about Chateau La Violette here
The 2014 La Violette has a typical nose for this estate, very polished with almost identical scents to four years ago: blackberry and raspberry, touches of bay and cloves. It doesn’t appear to have matured greatly in the interim. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, harmonious and refined. La Violette is not often equated with elegance, but this does have precisely that on the finish, even if it doesn’t fully possess the complexity I originally envisaged. Hence, I am inclined to shorten my drinking window here, yet it remains a delicious Pomerol to enjoy over the next 20 years. A second bottle tasting blind was much more Bretty and was marked down, hence the question mark against my score.
Anticipated maturity: 2024-2044
The 2014 La Violette has a powerful bouquet that is slightly gamey like its sibling Le Gay: plenty of red and black fruit infused with clove, crushed violets and singed leather. Maybe this is less glossy than previous vintages of La Violette that tends to be extremely polished. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins. There is a fine bead of acidity and the texture is unashamedly silky smooth; plush with cassis, blueberry and raspberry coulis flourishing on the typically sumptuous finish. This is very seductive: a Pomerol with panache. It should drink well for 15-20 years. This is gorgeous.
Anticipated maturity: 2019-2035
