Like the 2015, the 2014 La Violette is made at the Le Gay estate in Pomerol and is 100% Merlot, from very fine, gravely soils, that’s fermented and aged all in new French oak. It’s a much more finesse driven wine compared to its Le Gay counterpart and offers an ethereal, silky, full-bodied, incredibly elegant style. With a deep purple color, fine tannin, no hard edges and a terrific perfume of black cherries, blueberries, violets, and spring flowers, it’s a sensational 2014 that needs 3-4 years of bottle age and will keep for two decades.

The 2014 La Violette has a powerful bouquet that is slightly gamey like its sibling Le Gay: plenty of red and black fruit infused with clove, crushed violets and singed leather. Maybe this is less glossy than previous vintages of La Violette that tends to be extremely polished. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins. There is a fine bead of acidity and the texture is unashamedly silky smooth; plush with cassis, blueberry and raspberry coulis flourishing on the typically sumptuous finish. This is very seductive: a Pomerol with panache. It should drink well for 15-20 years. This is gorgeous. - Neal Martin

The 2014 La Violette has a typical nose for this estate, very polished with almost identical scents to four years ago: blackberry and raspberry, touches of bay and cloves. It doesn't appear to have matured greatly in the interim. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, harmonious and refined. La Violette is not often equated with elegance, but this does have precisely that on the finish, even if it doesn't fully possess the complexity I originally envisaged. Hence, I am inclined to shorten my drinking window here, yet it remains a delicious Pomerol to enjoy over the next 20 years. -- Neal Martin

Delightfully pure, with gorgeous raspberry and boysenberry confiture notes streaming through, inlaid with subtle black tea and melted licorice snap accents. Shows spine for balance, but this is polished, creamy and inviting now. A hedonist's delight. Drink now through 2030. 292 cases made.–JM

Floral iris and peony notes on the first nose, quickly opening to a focus on spice, both white and black pepper, along with salted cracker, tobacco, truffle, saffran. At a good moment to drink, with a fresh acidity on the finish that suggests this may evolve fairly quickly from this point. 65% new oak. Pere Verge owner.