The 2, side by side
| Pomerol (opens in a new tab) | Saint-Émilion (opens in a new tab) |
|---|
| Vineyard | About 813 hectares | About 5,400 hectares |
| Growers | 138 | Some 700 |
| Soil | Gravel over clay rich in iron oxide | Limestone plateau, clay-limestone slopes, sand and gravel toward the Dordogne |
| Grapes | Merlot (opens in a new tab), Cabernet Franc (opens in a new tab), Cabernet Sauvignon (opens in a new tab), Malbec (opens in a new tab), Petit Verdot (opens in a new tab); Merlot about 80% of the vines | Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Carmenère (opens in a new tab); Petit Verdot allowed up to 10% |
| Yield | 49 hectoliters a hectare | 53; Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 46 |
| Classification | None, ever | 85 estates on the list of 2022 |
| Colors | Red only | Red only |
For every grower in Pomerol, Saint-Émilion has 5.
Small holdings, and one very large one
Saint-Émilion is 2 appellations on the same land. Saint-Émilion and the stricter Saint-Émilion Grand Cru share 8 communes and part of Libourne, and differ in their rules, not their map. Pomerol is the commune of Pomerol, part of Libourne, and a few specific parcels: 0.7% of the Bordeaux vineyard, worked in holdings of about 6 hectares on average.
The famous names show the scale. Petrus (opens in a new tab) is 11.5 hectares and Le Pin (opens in a new tab) 2.7. Across the line, Cheval Blanc (opens in a new tab) is 42 hectares, and Figeac (opens in a new tab) 54 in a single holding, about 41 of them planted. Ausone (opens in a new tab), at 7 hectares, is closer to the Pomerol scale.
Clay under Pomerol, limestone under Saint-Émilion
Pomerol is a plateau of gravel and sand brought down by the Isle, laid over a clay rich in iron oxide, the crasse de fer. At Petrus the blue clay comes to the surface over most of the vineyard. Clay stays cold and wet, and Merlot, which ripens earlier than Cabernet, can finish on it. About 80% of Pomerol is Merlot, though its cahier des charges, the appellation’s rulebook, admits 5 varieties. Petrus and Le Pin are Merlot.
Saint-Émilion is built on limestone: the plateau around the town, thin limestone and clay-limestone soils on top, silty clay on the flanks, and sand and gravel lower down toward the Dordogne. It counts 5 principal varieties and gives Cabernet Franc real room where the limestone and the warmer sands suit it. Ausone is mostly Cabernet Franc.
Its western corner is the exception. There, against the Pomerol line, Cheval Blanc stands on gravel and clay and is 55% Cabernet Franc. Figeac, on 3 outcrops of gravel over blue clay, is planted in equal thirds of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. Whether one estate gave birth to the other is a Case File of its own.
One has a list, one never has
Pomerol has never had an official classification, and its growers have never sought one. The trade books ranked it informally in the 19th century; the market orders it.
The Saint-Émilion classification (opens in a new tab) belongs to Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, is written into its rules, and is revised roughly every 10 years. The list approved on September 8, 2022, holds 85 estates: 2 Premiers Grands Crus Classés A, Figeac and Pavie, 12 Premiers Grands Crus Classés B, and 71 Grands Crus Classés. Ausone, Cheval Blanc, and Angélus (opens in a new tab) withdrew before it and hold no rank.
Ask where in Saint-Émilion it grew
The soil and the grape set the style more than the name on the label. The Bordeaux wine council describes Pomerol as velvety, with hints of truffle, violet, and red berries. The truffle is an old note: in 1886 Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, authors of the Bordeaux trade’s reference book, wrote of Petrus that “the bouquet of the truffle is developed here to the highest degree.”
For Saint-Émilion the council names wild strawberry, redcurrant, and sweet spice, with a mineral edge, and warns that a patchwork of soils makes a patchwork of wines. A bottle from the plateau and a bottle from the gravel by Figeac share an appellation and little else. Pomerol has one question to ask. Saint-Émilion has 2: which appellation, and which soil.