LE BON PASTEUR [POMEROL] 2018 750ML

Blackberry, raspberry, violet and cedar on the nose. It’s full-bodied with vivid acidity. Savory and fleshy. Well structured with firm tannins. Aging will bring harmony. Blend of 80% merlot and 20% cabernet franc. Try after 2024.

Showing even better from bottle than barrel, the 2018 Château Le Bon Pasteur is a sexy, opulent beauty that just begs to be drunk. Gorgeous black and blue fruits, white truffle, green tobacco, flowery incense, and damp earth give way to a full-bodied, textured, luscious Pomerol with ripe, velvety tannins, beautiful overall balance, and a great finish. Reminding me of the 2012,as well as a little of the 2009, this is a knockout 2018 to drink over the coming 20+ years.

The 2018 Bon Pasteur is absolutely gorgeous. Silky, nuanced and beautifully perfumed, 2018 is pure seduction. Sweet dark cherry, rose petal, lavender, mint, spice and a touch of new French oak are all laced together in a mid-weighty, silky Pomerol that is immensely charming right from the start. This bottle is shockingly different from the bottle I encountered just a few weeks ago, and far more satisfying.

Rich with smoky flavors and tastes of wood aging, this wine is just starting out. The fruit is certainly there, lush black-plum flavors supported by a core of dense tannins. With its richness and potential, the wine needs time.

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Bon Pasteur offers up expressive notions of baked red and black cherries, mulberries and warm blueberries with hints of licorice, chocolate box and menthol. The full-bodied palate has great freshness with firm, ripe, rounded tannins and bags of juicy fruit, finishing long with a minty kick.

Blueberry, liquorice and smoke, all layered together and seductively open. There is an evident oak influence, but the tannins are silky and this has a ton of Pomerol appeal.

Tasty, with a nice wave of crushed loganberry, plum and cassis notes that keep the upper hand while light savory, red licorice and sweet spice details fill in on the soft-edged (for the vintage) finish. Merlot and Cabernet Franc.