Château Franc Maillet L'Esquive Pomerol 2018

Pomerol is full of little-known gems that, at their best, easily rival the wines of its most prestigious châteaux. Just a stone’s throw from L’Évangile, the Maillet sector slopes gently toward the little Barbane stream that separates Pomerol from Néac, home to a few charming small artisanal estates such as Franc-Maillet. The Arpin family practices sound, traditional viticultural methods there and, quite rightly, focuses on a very old Merlot vineyard on fairly clay-rich soil. Its wine holds its own in great vintages alongside those of Petrus or Trotanoy, and Jean-Luc Thunevin is certainly on the right track by offering it in his Saint-Émilion boutiques.

Upon his return from World War I, Jean-Baptiste Arpin purchased 1 hectare in Pomerol, in the Maillet area. Today, his grandsons and great-grandsons, Gérard and Gaël, cultivate 38 hectares in Pomerol, Saint-Émilion, Montagne, and Lalande, and consistently produce excellent wines.

Located in the Maillet district—which gave its name to the Château Franc-Maillet estate—Franc-Maillet has been owned by the Arpin family for nearly a century. Over the past half-decade, the estate’s wines have shown steady improvement, particularly its prestige cuvée, Jean-Baptiste, which displays beautiful fullness and undeniable elegance. The wines: In both of Château Franc-Maillet’s cuvées, the most recent vintages show steady and very promising progress. The 2000s are deep, full-bodied, and robust wines with very ripe tannins that are not at all dry. The Jean-Baptiste cuvée is of remarkable intensity. Vieux Château Gachet, the Lalande-de-Pomerol, is also flavorful and refined in the 2000 vintage.