Freddy R. Troya

9.2

Château Garraud – Lalande de Pomerol / 2018
AOC Lalande de Pomerol – Right Bank, Bordeaux, France 🇫🇷

Overview
From the Esnée family estate, this red Bordeaux blend is composed of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The Garraud vineyards lie just north of Pomerol proper, where gravelly and clay soils echo the region’s reputation for plush yet structured wines.

Aromas & Flavors
Lush black cherry, plum compote, and cassis wrapped in notes of violet, cocoa, and cedar. Subtle graphite and earthy tobacco hints reflect the Cabernet Franc influence.

Mouthfeel
Full-bodied yet polished, with supple tannins and a round mid-palate. Concentrated fruit depth balances with freshness, finishing long and silky with lingering spice.

Food Pairings
Duck breast with cherry glaze, roast lamb, or beef bourguignon. Mushroom risotto, charcuterie, or truffle pasta. Comté, aged Gouda, or Saint-Nectaire.

Verdict
A classic Right Bank profile: generous Merlot fruit framed by Cabernet Franc finesse. Traditional, powerful, and approachable, drinking beautifully now but with the structure to evolve gracefully for another 8–10 years.

Did You Know?
Lalande de Pomerol, though often overshadowed by its famous neighbor Pomerol, offers exceptional value. Many estates here share the same terroir characteristics, producing wines of impressive depth at a fraction of Pomerol’s price tag.

🍷 Personal Pick Highlight: This bottle delivers Right Bank soul without the Pomerol price, rich yet refined, and an excellent “insider’s pick” for Bordeaux lovers. Cheers! — 3 days ago

DAL 9000

9.3

Dusty earthy bouquet of mild plums and dark fruit. Medium middle of plums, vanilla and toast? Finishes with a dry long earthy finish. Typical of old world. pronounced turn oh foy. — 2 months ago

Boris Mathiszik

9.1

Beautiful left bank BDX. ‘19 vintage at a nice stage now, opens up quickly. Classic earthy tones on the nose. Nice structure and layers of fruit. Delicious. Perfect with burgundy Tri tip BBQ for Easter. — 6 months ago

"Odedi"

9.0

Dark ruby in color with a wide reddish rim.

Fruity nose of black fruits with light wood, spices, coffee and chocolates.

Medium plus in body and elegant, with medium acidity.

Dry on the palate with blackberries, black currants, cooked plums, light cedar, earth, herbs, chocolates and black pepper.

Nice finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.

This 5 year old, second wine from this Fifth Growth Bordeaux winery is drinking very nicely now.

Well balanced with nice complexity. Spicy, rich and fruit forward.

Will continue to drink nicely in the next 5 years.

Good by itself or with food.

A blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 14% Cabernet Franc. Aged in (50% new) French oak barrels for 15 months.

13.5% alcohol by volume.

90 points.

$40. — 14 days ago

Alvaro Bustillos

9.0

Juan cortina sulaiman — a month ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Opened just prior to service; enjoyed over the course of a few hours. As far as I know, this was the first commercially released vintage of La Fleur de Boüard but others may be able to confirm or deny that. The 2000 pours a deep garnet color with an opaque core; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of ripe dark fruits: back plums, cassis, pipe tobacco, Flintstones vitamins, purple flowers, dried green herbs organic earth and fine baking spices. “Yabba dabba doo!” On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+. Gosh, this is in a really lovely place right now; very well balanced! Thank Andy! Drink now through 2040. — 5 months ago

Alessandro Dalle Carbonare

9.1

85 M 15 CF
Profumato e rotondo. Bella tensione a palato. Finisce con tocco femminile marchio di casa Durantou.
91-92 — 6 months ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

The 2006 Bordeaux vintage. The vintage while wasn’t Bordeaux’s best, it certainly wasn’t one of its worst. It had the unenviable position of following a grand 2005 vintage. I think better than 2000, maybe 09 & 10? Jury is still out. The Bordelaise also got greedy and raised their prices from 05. That was a mistake when it came to selling the 2006 vintage and it laid another layer of bad taste in consumers minds.

I really enjoy Pichon Lalande’s style/craft. The 06 is good, not great. In fact, I enjoyed this better w/o the lamb.

The fruits are just ripe. Velvety, rounded M+ tannins. Brambly blackberries, dryish black plum, black cherries, black raspberries, strawberries, some raspberry hues, oak barrel shavings, graphite, dry soils, dry tobacco & leather, dry clay, soft but dark spice, some dry herbs, soft baking spices- clove, nutmeg, cinnamon & vanillin, light milk chocolate, caramel hues, black tea, anise, some mid berry cola, dry & withering, dark & red flowers, violets, decent, round acidity, balanced, neatly structured/tensioned with an elegant finish that lasts just over 90 seconds and falls on dry earth and soft, dark spice.

Still acceding and has 15 plus yrs of good drinking ahead. Could make a case for rounding up to 93.

Paired w/ Grilled Rack of Lamb, Served with Rosemary Jus, Fondant Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli.

@EK148 — 6 days ago

Pooneet K

9.2

Drinking very nicely and a surprisingly good value on the list at Polo Bar. The age has been very good to this, it’s still quite primary but the tannins are pretty seamless and the fruit and earth express nicely. Just enough acid on the finish to keep it together - could have used more but this is 2015 Bordeaux after all. Nice wine. — 2 months ago

Alessandro Dalle Carbonare

8.9

85M 15CF
Clay and gravel nxt to Pomerol.
Very perfumed with artisanal freely expression. Little sweaty. Closing serious and slightly harsh. — 6 months ago