2019 La Violette
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Tasting notes
The 2019 La Violette has a well-defined nose with black fruit, pencil box, truffle and incense aromas, tight at first but blossoming with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with plusher tannins than the Le Gay. Well defined with a keen thread of acidity, this is concentrated on the finish with a long black pepper infused aftertaste. Backward in style, but it will reward patience. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
Tasted blind. Very sweet indeed – flattering and exotic. Dry finish but lots of drama! (JR)
One of my favorite wines (although it's hard to find), La Violette makes a rich, sexy, yet always elegant and seamless style of Pomerol. Their 2019 Château La Violette is deep purple-hued and offers an incredible perfume of blue fruits, iron, tobacco, spice box, flowers, and loamy earth. Full-bodied on the palate, it shows the pure, elegant style of the vintage, has beautiful tannins, perfect balance, and a great, great finish. There's lots of creamy background oak that needs time to integrate, but this is another remarkable release from this team. Give it a few years and enjoy over the following 20-25.
From a site with soils richer in clay that's planted with more Merlot, the 2019 La Violette is even more powerful than its stablemate Le Gay. Offering up aromas of plum preserve, strawberry liqueur, loamy soil, burning embers, spices and dark chocolate, it's full-bodied, thick and textural, with a rich, muscular profile and a broad, heady finish. This is a ripe, powerful wine that privileges impact over finesse, but it will give plenty of pleasure for admirers of the style.