France

Merlot

Cabernet Franc

Ch. Nenin

Chateau Nenin Pomerol

Bordeaux

Pomerol

You can feel the structure and depth in the wine in this vintage, with Cabernet Franc doing the heavy lifting in terms of character and aromatics. Nuanced campfire and cold ash smoke, alongside concentrated blueberry and cassis, with graphite and peony. Nenin has an advantage in 2022 because it is always a little more serious and late ripening than some in Pomerol, with harvest September 1 to 23. 40% new oak. I was disappointed with this wine En Primeur, and this is an upscore.

Inside Bordeaux

A blend of 64% Merlot and 36% Cabernet Franc, the 2022 Nenin is deep garnet-purple in color. It skips out of the glass with bright, vivacious notes of kirsch, black cherry compote, and juicy plums, plus touches of garrigue, star anise, and Sichuan pepper. The medium to full-bodied palate is plush and soft spoken, with layers of fragrant black fruit and a long spicy finish.

by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

Black cherry and damson fruit, feels like it has reached a good level of maturity, even traces of cocoa bean and espresso. No chaptilisation. Mikaël Georges technical director, 40% new oak. 3.64 pH. 35 hl/ha. 5.3% press wine. Harvest 18 September to 2 October.

The 2023 Nenin is deep garnet-purple in color. Notes of black cherry compote, mulberries, and anise jump from the glass, with underlying hints of Indian spices and menthol. The medium-bodied palate is plush and juicy, with well-knit freshness and bags of youthful black and blue fruits, finishing on a savory note. The blend is 67% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. The alcohol is 13.39%.

A blend of 64% Merlot and 36% Cabernet Franc, the 2021 Nenin has a medium to deep garnet-purple color. It gallops out with expressive scents of kirsch and juicy plums, giving way to nuances of red roses, allspice, and fragrant earth. The medium-bodied palate is soft and refreshing, with perfumed red fruit lingering with appealing purity.

The 2020 Nenin is a blend of 68% Merlot and 32% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color, it rolls effortlessly out of the glass with gregarious notions of baked black cherries, stewed plums, and boysenberry preserves, followed by hints of candied violets, licorice, and crushed rocks. The medium to full-bodied palate has nice, firm, rounded tannins and bright acidity to support the generous fruit, finishing long and perfumed.

The 2019 Nenin is a blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color, it slowly emerges from the glass with notes of warm plums, baked blackberries, and raspberry pie, plus hints of tar and cracked black pepper. The medium to full-bodied palate is lively and energetic, with a slight chew to the tannins and a mineral-laced finish.

The 2018 Nenin is deep garnet purple in color. It gives up scents of warm blackberries, black cherry compote, and pencil lead, with touches of sauteed herbs and damp soil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is elegant, with fine-grained tannins supporting loads of bright fruit, finishing long and lifted. 

Precise and sculpted, rippling with blackberry, redcurrant fruits, with a touch of slate minerality and restrained mint leaf freshness on the finish. You can feel the deft winemaking bringing out the detail on the tannins, and at five years old it is blossoming, and full of pleasure - not as long living as the 2016 or 2018, but excellent quality. 35% new oak. This was a frost year, with the lowest yield on record at 14.5hl/h, meaning less than half of the usual amount of 1st wine, with just 15,000 bottles. 3.75ph, 40% new oak.

Velvet texture to the fruit here, building on the creaminess that you find in the 2010 vintage but with more depth and width. Blackberry, blueberry and damson fruits compete with smoked earth, espresso, black truffle and saffron spice. Of course you can wait, this is very young right now, but it's already pretty irresistable, showcasing why Nenin might be a quiet Pomerol in its early years, but it is not to be underestimated - there is pure delight on display here. 3.56ph, 40% new oak.

You feel the ripeness of the vintage in the generosity of these gorgeous ripe red and black fruits, shot through with a big dash of black truffle, black cherry and damson plums, with grilled espresso, caramel and salted toffee as it opens, placing you directly in Pomerol. Still plenty of tannic hold, you can drink now but there is no rush at all and will benefit from a few hours in a carafe. 40% new oak.

Back to signature Nenin after the lighter 2013 vintage, with graphite and pencil lead, rich back cherry and blackberry fruits, laced with black chocolate and black truffle. This needs more time, you can feel the tannins closing in on the finish suggesting they need a few more years to fully soften up. 35% new oak.

A murmur of raspberry and redcurrant fruits, and although the acidity level is high, there is attractive sculpting through the body of the wine, with a twist of gunsmoke on the finish. The fine tannins fine are still in evidence, but drop away through the palate, and I would suggest enjoying now and over the next five years. 35% new oak

Plenty of juicy raspberry, bilberry and blueberry fruits and liqourice root here, with pulses of minerality, showing momentum and character. The often-subdued character of young Nenin is beginning to melt away, and this is a good moment to begin drinking. Enjoyable persistency and the firm, architectural structure that makes Nenin such a standout Pomerol. 3.62ph. 35% new oak.

This is balanced, graceful, white pepper spice, complex and concentrated with pencil lead and grilled oak. Plenty of raspberry leaf and violet flowers, showing precision and grace - less Pomerol signature than the warmer vintages, but it is a delicious wine with plenty of life ahead. 35% new oak.

Clear pencil lead and crayon, set against creamy blackberry and black cherry fruits. This is a delicious wine in a sweet spot for drinking, and the minerality of Nenin is highlighted as it opens in the glass, with pulses of electricity, and waves of sage and fennel spice. This was released En Primeur but they have not yet re-released, and there are still significant stocks at the estate, highlight once again how different the strategy is here from most Pomerol chateaux. With signature Nenin complexity, 2010 was naturally a structured, powerful vintage, making it interesting that they brought down the amount of barrel ageing, to just give a touch more movement through the fruits. 3.59ph. 35% new oak.

Pencil lead and charcoal notes are clear from the opening beats, with the tannins lending architecture and structure to the black fruits. This vintage showcases the serious style that has given Nenin the image of being a Left Bank-style Pomerol, with its mint leaf twist on the finish. As it relaxes into the glass, the tannins widen and soften, giving delicious forward momentum to the cassis and blackberry fruits. The new cellar opened in 2001, and the vines of Certan Giraud had been incorportated into the 1st wine of Nenin, with their excellent terroir on the Pomerol plateau. 35% new oak. Last year (in this vertical) with Michel Depoiziers as technical director

You can immediately see the quality of this vintage, and there remains an intensity and a power to the wine even at 24 years old. Warming clove and turmeric spice notes show the sunshine of the year, along with walnut, tobacco, cold ash. The tannins are melted and silky, and still evident. Blackberry fruits, puree, a soufflé of fruit. Worth noting also that you can still buy this wine from the estate, unusual to be able to source older vintages of Pomerol, but Nenin is an exception. 35% new oak.

Sweet tobacco and raspberry fruits, gentle, fragrant, fresh acidities on the finish, lovely quality but no need to wait - this is ready to enjoy with fine melted tannins that are brushed with silk. This was the first year with Jean-Hubert Delon as owner, buying from his cousins the Despujols at the end of the harvest. He immediately introduced a 2nd wine, Fugue de Nenin, so increasing selection for the first wine, and began immediate improvement works in the vineyard. Michel Depoiziers was technical director before Delon arrived, and stayed through til 2003. 3.53ph. 30% new oak.

Pomerol was one of the more successful appellations in the otherwise challenging 1975 vintage, but even so it is fascinating to see how much more evolved it is than the 1961 - a reminder that during these decades vintages was everything. You'll find earthy, undergrowth and autumnal leaf notes, less precision and clarity than the 1961, tertiary brambled fruits with rosebud, camphor, and woodsmoke. Fades on the finish. Despujols family owners.

Rose edging, tawny around the edges but still with depth and clarity through the core, and with soft waves of soft strawberry and raspberry. The palate is a little softer than the aromatics. Tobacco, cigar smoke, earth, campfire, a caress of white pepper and saffon. Gentle, the fruits are beginning to show the sweetness of age but it holds in the glass, there is good freshness. If you share this with lovers of old wine you will all be extremely happy. Around 20% new oak, but no records of the exact proportions. At this time the Despujols family were the owners, as they had been since 1847, working with no outside consultant, and making 100% 1st wine. I definitely suggest only carafing for sediment, because this is delicate and you will be chasing those aromatics.

Category	Red wine
Vinmonopolet no.
Producer	Ch. Nenin
Vintages	2022
Country	France, Bordeaux, Pomerol
Bottle	75 cl

Alcohol	14 %
Acid	%
Sugar	< 3 g/l

Packaging	Glass
Cork type
Selection	Spesialutvalg
Wholesaler	Hans A. Flaaten AS
Carrier	Skanlog AS