1995 La Gomerie
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
The first vintage for this garage operation, the 1995 comes from a tiny parcel of 100% Merlot that saw malolactic fermentation in barrel and 18 months in new French oak prior to bottling. It's one of the original garagiste wines, and now at age 26, it's fully mature, revealing a healthy ruby hue as well as sumptuous black cherry and currant fruits supported by complex notes of truffle, white flowers, chocolate, and loamy earth. These carry to a medium to full-bodied wine with a rich, layered mouthfeel, the classic freshness and acidity that's imparted by these limestone soils, sweet tannins, and a beautiful finish. A wine that started out angular and acidic, it gained beautiful richness and depth with a little over an hour in the decanter. It’s unquestionably fully mature, yet I have no doubt that well-stored bottles will still be drinking brilliantly in another 10, 15, possibly 20 years.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
The debut vintage for La Gomerie, the 1995 Le Pin-look-alike is showing fabulously well after bottling. The color is dense ruby/purple, and the nose offers up exotic aromas of Asian spices, soy, coffee, and ripe berry/cherry fruit. This full-bodied, thick, unctuously-textured wine is marvelously concentrated, with plenty of sweet, well-integrated tannin. The acidity is low, which only adds to the voluptuous personality of this strikingly rich, head-turning effort. Anticipated maturity: Now-2012. Wow! The first two vintages of this wine have turned out to be spectacular. Both of these wines performed even better in late November than they did earlier in the year. About 750 cases of this unfiltered wine are made from a 6.2 acre parcel planted with 100% Merlot. The average age of the vines is 35 years. This is one of the new breed, handcrafted reds that are particularly in vogue in St.-Emilion where the malolactic takes place in oak, the wines are aged in 100% new oak for 15-18 months, and are bottled without filtration, and probably without fining if the tannins are sweet.
The debut vintage for La Gomerie, the 1995 Le Pin-look-alike is showing fabulously well after bottling. The color is dense ruby/purple, and the nose offers up exotic aromas of Asian spices, soy, coffee, and ripe berry/cherry fruit. This full-bodied, thick, unctuously-textured wine is marvelously concentrated, with plenty of sweet, well-integrated tannin. The acidity is low, which only adds to the voluptuous personality of this strikingly rich, head-turning effort. Anticipated maturity: Now-2012. Feb 1998, www.robertparker.com