Le Plus de la Fleur de Bouard, Lalande de Pomerol 2009

Take that quality and add additional layers of concentration, power, extract and wood, and you have the 2009 La Plus de La Fleur de Bouard. Only about 500 cases of this 100% Merlot are made. With notes of blueberry and blackberry liqueur intermixed with graphite and spring flowers, this wine is absolutely massive and not for everybody, but it is an example of what a conscientious and driven producer pushing the envelope can do in a satellite appellation such as Lalande de Pomerol. Moreover, I suspect it will last for at least two decades.

This has a great nose of dark chocolate, blueberries, and blackberries. Full and chewy, with powerful tannins and a long finish. The palate has flavors of fresh herbs, blackberries, and mulberries galore. Stay tuned. Barrel sample.

(I tasted a barrel sample in June; the wine was scheduled to be bottled in July): Deep, saturated ruby. Aromas of blackberry, licorice and minerals, with an exotic note of charred oak. Superconcentrated, plush and sweet but not heavy, with graphite minerality lifting the black raspberry and blackberry flavors. The very long, rising black fruit finish features chewy tannins and plenty of exotic oak tones. Truly amazing for its appellation.

(100% merlot) Ruby-purple. Peppery aromas of black fruits, licorice and tobacco. Suave on entry, then sweet but gripping in the middle, with sound acidity lifting the ripe blackberry, coffee, graphite and dry herb flavors. Finishes with building, palate-staining tannins that currently detract from the wine's pleasure factor. Should the fruit outlive the tannins, my score may end up looking conservative.