Château Rouget Pomerol 2015 (750ml)

 

Rated 94 Points by James Suckling

 

Beautiful aromas of plums and filtered coffee follow through to a full body.  Firm and silky tannins and a flavorful finish.  Bright acidity and spice character.  Tight and focused.  Needs two or three years to open.  (2/2018)

 

Rated 93 Points by Vinous

 

The 2015 Rouget is a fabulous wine done in a forward, voluptuous style that is sure to find many admirers.  Super-ripe dark fruit, chocolate, new leather, spice and mocha fill out the wine's ample, soft-textured frame effortlessly.  Silky contours add to an impression of flamboyant elegance.  I would give the 2015 at least a few more years in bottle to allow some of the elements to fuse together a bit more fully.  Time in the glass brings out very pretty red-toned fruit and floral overtones.  There is certainly plenty to admire on this inviting, impeccably balanced Pomerol.  Michel Rolland consults.  (AG)  (2/2018)

 

Rated 92 Points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

 

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Chateau Rouget leaps from the glass with preserved plums, spice cake and cassis notes plus touches of underbrush, game and smoked meats and a waft of Provence herbs.  Full-bodied, powerful and densely packed with taut, muscular fruit, it's something of a bruiser and yet with an alluring contrast of a plush, velvety backbone and seamless freshness, finishing long and earthy.  (LPB)  92+  (2/2018)

 

Rated 91 Points by Jeb Dunnuck

 

Another gem from the Michel Rolland team is the 2015 Rouget.  Offering a hedonistic, fruit-loaded, full-bodied style as well as lots of darker fruits, espresso roast, chocolate and damp earth, it’s a textbook Pomerol that’s going to benefit from a year or three of bottle age and keep for a decade.  (11/2017)

 

Jancis Robinson

 

Dark crimson.  Sweet and not thick but lively and transparent.  Racy and sinewy.  Lots of appeal in this wine.  *Good Value*  (4/2016)

 

Chateau Rouget Pomerol 2015

 

Composition:  85% Merlot - 15% Cabernet Franc

 

Appellation:  Pomerol

 

Owner:  The Labruyère Family

 

Vineyard Size:  8 hectares

 

Consultant:  Michel Rolland

 

Average Vine Age:  40 Years

 

Soil Management:  Vineyards are farmed sustainably, using practices such as cover crops and ploughing.

 

Vineyard

 

The Pomerol plateau is located near Libourne, North East of Bordeaux.  It slopes down across various terraces towards the Isle valley, a tributary of the Dordogne River.  Thanks to the quality of its terroirs and wines, Pomerol is one of the most sought after appellations in the world.  In Pomerol, Merlot is king.  Clayey soils allow this grape to express itself like nowhere else worldwide.  Located near Eglise-Clinet, Petrus and Le Gay, Château Rouget, which encompasses 42 acres today, stretches across the gentle slopes of the Pomerol plateau near the village and the old church.  Two thirds of vines are located around the Estate but Château Rouget also includes beautiful plots facing Petit Village, Le Pin and Trotanoy.  Vineyards are planted with the most suited grape varietals: Merlot represents 85% and is combined with Cabernet Franc finding in Rouget the ideal ripening conditions.  Soils can be either composed of clay and gravel or clay and silica.  Subsoils consist of iron-rich sandstone.  Vines are around 40 years old.  The vast replanting program started in 1992 combined with the purchase of 5 high-quality acres from the prestigious neighbouring estates on the high plateau in 1999 have considerably reinforced the position of the cru.

 

Winemaking

 

In 2001, the cellar has been entirely restored by the Labruyère Family with the idea of implementing a vineyard designated approach.  Old vats have been replaced by truncated oak vats of 50 and 60 hl.  They combine ancestral handicraft with state-of-the-art technology.  A few stainless steel tanks have also been incorporated.  The whole installation is thermo-regulated.

 

Maturity is a key issue at Chateau Rouget.  Thus, the harvest date is carefully chosen in order to pick up the most balanced fruits.  Harvest occurs in several passages in order to ensure an optimal maturity level.

Grapes are picked by hand and transported in small crates in order to prevent berries from being crushed.

With the same concern for quality, bunches are sorted a first time as soon as they reach the cellar.  Then, once grapes are fully destemmed, they go through another double sorting table.  Only the best grapes are kept for Chateau Rouget's wines.
 

Grapes are vinified batch by batch in order to render the best expression of each parcel.

 

The wine is fined traditionally, using fresh egg white.  This vintage was bottled on a fruit day according to the lunar calendar, to allow the wine to express itself fully.

 

Barrel Fermentation

 

Benefits of putting wine into barrels as early as possible are widely known.  For the past few years, Château Rouget has vinified part of its wine according to that idea: whole destemmed berries are directly poured in barrels after being sorted.  Thanks to this method, both fermentation and ageing process will take place in the barrel.

 

This technique - very respectful of grapes - enables gentle extraction and, eventually, softer tannins.

 

 

Chateau Rouget

 

Pomerol

 

Château Rouget history began several centuries ago.  Already identified at the end of the Roman Empire, Château Rouget's terroirs were at that time merged with St Emilion's ones.

 

Château Rouget appears in archives and land register from 1700 and is considered as one of the first official Pomerol Crus.  This period corresponds to the building date of the splendid house symbolizing the estate, belonging then to the Bayonne Family.  The last family member involved in the estate, Pierre Bayonne, was also mayor of Pomerol during the First Empire.  As a talented winemaker, he used Chateau Rouget as a perfect display for his skills.

 

At the end of the 19th century, a classification of Pomerol wines placed Rouget among the top five estates of the appellation.  This recognition stems from the remarkable constancy showed by consecutive owners of the estate, who all worked hard to produce iconic wines.

 

The Labruyère Family, who has owned Rouget since 1992, follows the same target.  For more than 20 years, they try hard to place Rouget among Right Bank leaders.

 

The estate is now considered by critics and amateurs as the winery which has made the most consistent progress across the appellation, vintage after vintage.

 

Team

 

The Labruyère Family comes from Beaujolais region, where they own a winery in Moulin-à-Vent appellation since 1850.

Over the years, they chose to become established in other French major wine regions, using terroir quality criterion.  This is how they selected Château Rouget in 1992.

As head of the family, Jean-Pierre Labruyère had the ambition to restore the former glory of this property which had been recognized from 1868 as one of the best producers in Pomerol.
 

In 2008 he has left the direction to his son, Edouard who, with the help of Antoine Ribeiro, estate manager, and his team, carries on this hard work with the same ardor and passion.