If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. This adage has been mostly ignored in Bordeaux over the last thirty-five years as many producers have abandoned their individuality in exchange for critical acclaim and prestige. Bucking this unfortunate trend, Château Gombaude-Guillot faithfully expresses its unique Pomerol terroir in an authentic way vintage after vintage. “The Bordelais dream of having a Mediterranean climate,” says Claire Laval, whose family has owned Gombaude-Guillot for generations. “They want over-the-top concentration, whereas our real potential in Bordeaux are wines with balance, freshness, complexity—characteristics we owe to our cooler, oceanic climate.” 
    Situated in the heart of the Pomerol plateau, Gombaude-Guillot is ideally suited to carry on the tradition of classic Bordeaux. Its vineyards are planted on deep, gravelly clay soils and have been farmed organically since the early 1990s. The château achieved organic certification in 1999—the first in Pomerol to do so—and biodynamic practices are now employed, too. The winemaking is straightforward, with little in the way of modern tomfoolery or intervention. At Gombaude-Guillot, the grapes are allowed to speak for themselves.
     Their Pom ‘N’ Roll is a cuvée for early drinking, vinified in stainless steel and aged in amphora to highlight the vibrancy of the château’s organic fruit. The flagship Pomerol ferments in a mix of stainless steel tank and cement vat, followed by aging in about 50% new oak. The 2019 is developing beautifully in bottle. The vintage was warm, yielding perfectly ripe fruit, but with counterbalancing acidity and tannins that set the wine up wonderfully for the long haul. Cellaring is recommended, but while you’re waiting for it to come into its own, you can pull the cork on the ready-to-drink 2014. From a cooler vintage, it is the perfect example of the “balance, freshness, and complexity” prized at Gombaude-Guillot.