Prieure l'Église, Lalande de Pomerol 2019

This is a dry, structured and generous, Merlot-driven right-bank Bordeaux that seriously over-delivers at the price.

From a very famous appellation that offers many of the thrills of its neighbouring Pomerol and St-Émilion, it is very, very good value for a very good wine.

Full of flavours of dark fruit, berry and subtle spices, it has a plush, round and soft texture that makes it hugely versatile for food matching and very easy on its own.

Lalande de Pomerol is a small region to the north of Saint-Émilion and the east of Pomerol and has come under the gaze of keen wine-lovers in recent decades because of its similarity to the famed neighbours while offering seriously good value for money.

Like its neighbours, it uses mostly Merlot with a good chunk of Cabernet Franc, in this vintage it's an 80-20 split.

This wine is made by the Pradel de Lavaux family, who own numerous properties in this cluster of appellations in the right bank of Bordeaux. They essentially make this wine from a selection of younger vines in their famed Clos des Galevesses property, but don't want to confuse the name, so named it after the prior of the local church (the 12th-century Église Saint-Baptiste) that looks out over their gravel-based vineyards right in the heart of the Lalande de Pomerol commune. They are specialists in Merlot and Cabernet Franc and, in fact, only grow these two varieties in any of their estates.

Dedication to quality and a continuous family history dating back to 1740, mark out the success of this wine-making family. They manage business on several fronts, with vineyard management, wine-making and production in one area, with a brokerage wholesale and trading section on the other hand. This spreading of interests means that they stay very much in with the business of business as well as just being really good producers who happen to have a collection of seriously hot Châteaux. The negociant business is very useful for us in dealing with them as they can often have hidden gems that they may have bought from other wineries and not sold through - a bit like me! 

The history is only a feature however, as families can come and go; the dedication and constant nourishment of a singular vision is what is most impressive and has to have been established with some strength in order to have survived numerous wars, revolution, changes in fashion, climate change and still remain in tact, which it has done since the family began... twelve years before Mozart was born.