Château l 'Evangile Pomerol 1990

Château l’Évangile Pomerol 1990: A great Pomerol on the cusp of perfection

The Château l’Évangile Pomerol 1990 is a wine of exceptional depth and complexity, embodying the understated grandeur of a great Pomerol vintage. The estate, founded in 1741 by the Léglise family, is situated in the east of the Pomerol appellation, directly on the border with Château Cheval Blanc, and looks back on an eventful history. After being owned by the Ducasse family for generations, it was acquired in 1990 – the year of the vintage described here – by the Domaines Barons de Rothschild group, the owners of Château Lafite Rothschild. This change of ownership marked the beginning of a new era for the estate, which, under the guidance of Michel Rolland, rose to become one of Pomerol’s finest wines in the decades that followed.

The 1990 vintage was a very good year in Pomerol, though it proved more challenging to manage than the legendary 1989. Flowering was irregular, and as thinning of the grapes was not yet as widespread then as it is today, there were certain ripening problems. Nevertheless, wines of remarkable richness and structure emerged – and the 1990 l’Évangile ranks among the greatest wines of this appellation from that decade.

The grape variety composition of l’Évangile is 78 per cent Merlot and 22 per cent Cabernet Franc, rooted in deep gravelly soils with sandy and clayey inclusions. Winemaking follows the estate’s traditions: after a long maceration period, the wine matures for 16 to 20 months in oak barriques, around 40 per cent of which are new. Production is deliberately limited to around 5,000 cases per year.

Robert Parker, who has tasted the wine ten times since it was bottled, awarded it 96 pointsand described it as potentially one of the finest l’Évangiles of the post-war era – on a par with the great vintages of 1947, 1950, 1975, 1982 and 1985. He highlighted the exceptional richness, full body and almost port-like texture, which almost conceal the massive tannins. John Gilman awarded 94 points and described a wine that continues to age ‘like clockwork’, with a pure, complex nose of black cherries, plums, tobacco leaves and truffles, as well as a silky, melting tannin structure and decades of great drinking pleasure ahead. Wine Spectator awarded it 95 points, describing it as “grand and mature” with a dark ruby-garnet colour, very ripe berry, chocolate and plum aromas, full-bodied and chewy, with plenty of tannins and a very ripe fruit finish. Jane Anson awarded 94 points and noted that the sharp edges of its youth had now softened, with cassis-rich fruit and notes of black truffle after five minutes in the glass.

The CellarTracker community, which ratesthe wine at an average of 94 points based on over 200 tasting notes, describes it as a “textbook example of a properly matured Right Bank Bordeaux” with finely integrated tannins, full body and an elegant character. Other tasters highlight aromas of eucalyptus, game, mint, leather and ripe black cherry, as well as roses. The wine is expected to reach its peak drinking window between 2024 and 2035, although it is already fully developed and does not require decanting.

For lovers of great Bordeaux wines, the Château l’Évangile 1990 offers a rare opportunity to experience a Pomerol from a great vintage, bearing the hallmark of one of France’s most distinguished winemaking families and having retained remarkable vitality and elegance after more than three decades of bottle ageing.