Appellation
Pomerol
Identity card
VillageAOPRed
Bordeaux › Libournais · Recognised on 8 December 1936
- Village
- Regional
Key points
- Red only: Pomerol and the north of Libourne.
- At most 49 hl/ha; at least 5,500 vines per hectare.
- Merlot has dominated since the phylloxera crisis.
Grape varieties
Red wine only
Allowed varieties
MerlotCabernet FrancCabernet SauvignonCotPetit Verdot
Merlot is by far the main variety, though no share is required
Production rules
49
hl/ha
Maximum yield
11
% ABV
Minimum natural alcohol
5,500
vines/ha
Minimum planting density
Minimum ageing: At least until 1 November of the year after the harvest
- Maximum yield
- How much wine a hectare may produce under the appellation (a higher, exceptional ceiling often exists). The lower it is, the less can be made: one of the levers on how concentrated the grapes are. For reference: 35 hl/ha to 80 hl/ha across 67 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum natural alcohol
- The alcohol the grapes' own sugar must be able to give, without enrichment: a ripeness threshold at harvest. For reference: 9 % ABV to 12.5 % ABV across 63 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum planting density
- The fewest vines allowed per hectare. For the same yield, more vines means fewer grapes on each. For reference: 4,000 vines/ha to 9,000 vines/ha across 75 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum ageing
- A minimum ageing period the specification requires before the wine may be sold to consumers.
Terroir
- Soils: Terraces of sand, gravel and pebbles over clay
- Lie of the land: A near-flat plateau, 20 to 40 m, tilting towards the Isle
- Climate: Oceanic with continental touches: warm summer and autumn
Wine style
- deep colour
- black fruit, violet
- broad, never hard
- long finish
- ages long in bottle
Boundaries: INAO, AOC vineyard plot delimitation (September 2026 edition) · Open Licence
Specification
12 October 2021
Arrêté du 12 octobre 2021 homologuant le cahier des charges de l'AOC « Pomerol » (JORF n°0245 du 20 octobre 2021, texte n°42), publié au BO du ministère de l'agriculture du 21 octobre 2021. Appellation initialement reconnue par le décret du 8 décembre 1936.
Nearby appellations
Sources
- Official sourceCahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Pomerol »— Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO)
- Reference bookThe Oxford Companion to Wine— Oxford University Press
A Right Bank appellation recognised in 1936, Pomerol covers the commune of that name and the north of Libourne, between Saint-Émilion to the south-east and Lalande-de-Pomerol, from which the Barbanne stream divides it. On an almost flat plateau of gravel and sand terraces laid down by the Isle over clay, it makes only reds, with Merlot by far the majority grape: deeply coloured, broad and long wines with black-fruit aromas, sometimes violet and truffle. Pomerol has no official classification of its estates.
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Pomerol
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