La Chenade, Lalande de Pomerol, 2025
The Durantous' 'entry level' wines, that is to say, the wines not produced at their flagship Pomerol estate Chateau L'Eglise Clinet, always rank amongst our 'best value' buys. Saintayme, Chenade, Cruzelles and Montlandrie offer exceptional value for money. Noémie Durantou describes the 2025s as "wines like harmonics, of exceptional purity and intensity". La Chenade, produced from 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, has a darker profile than Saintayme with plenty of toasty new oak, black cherry, huckleberry and bramble fruit mixed with hints of cacao nib and tilled earth. Quite brooding and a touch austere. Hopefully this will flesh out a bit during élevage.
critic reviews
The 2025 La Chenade was picked on September 3 and 12 for the Merlot and Cabernet Franc respectively and is aged in 40% new oak. This has more intensity and fruit concentration compared with its stablemate, Saintayme, blackcurrant and raspberry, a touch of iodine coming through with time. Fine delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins, impressive depth for a Lalande-de-Pomerol, though elegant and harmonious. Just a dash of black pepper towards the finish, a classy offering of a wine that consistently ranks among the best values in Bordeaux.
Before tasting, I wondered if this particular wine would take on the dry character of the vintage more than the others in the Durantou range, and for sure you have a little more dried fruit character here, with fig and touches of prune, but it is beautifully balanced and lifted by nectarine pit and fennel. Good quality, no need to wait. 40% new oak. Noémie Durantou winemaker.