Château les Cruzelles

Les Cruzelles is the flagship of the Durantou family's Lalande-de-Pomerol holdings — the estate Denis Durantou of L'Eglise-Clinet chose when he went looking for serious terroir outside Pomerol proper, and the one he farmed to prove the point. The vineyard sits on the appellation's best clay-gravel, planted to Merlot with Cabernet Franc, and it receives exactly the regime of the great estate: hard selection, precise picking, restrained élevage. The result reads like junior Pomerol — dark plum, iron, a firmer frame than La Chenade — and ages well past the decade mark. With Denis's daughters Constance and Noëmie now running the family estates, quality has not moved an inch. The trade's favorite Lalande, for good reason.