By and large, Pomerol doesn't come cheap. Production levels are low and demand is invariably strong. We rarely have more than a few wines from the appellation available at less than £300 per dozen, whereas we frequently list them at more than £3,000. Good, inexpensive Pomerol is therefore a rare discovery and when we were offered a small parcel of 2019 Clos René late last year we bought the lot on the spot and the wine sold out in a matter of days. 

The good news is that we have sourced some more, bottled under a slightly different label: Château Moulinet-Lasserre. What’s in the bottle is exactly the same (as is, more or less, the label).

The property covers 12 hectares in the west of the appellation and produces roughly 6,000 cases per year. Neal Martin describes it as a “poised Pomerol wine, that plays to its strengths, emphasising finesse rather than power”. It has always offered excellent value, even more so in recent years as the quality has been gently ticking up notch by notch.

He scores the wine 94 points - this is the same as his score for 2019 Le Pin (a wine we last sold for more than £22,000 per dozen) and three points up on 2019 Evangile, which he scores 91 points (and a case of which will set you back a slightly less extreme £1,100).

The labelling difference is down to ownership: Clos René is owned by two families: the Garde and Lasserre families (Pierre Lasserre ran Eglise Clinet prior to Denis Durantou taking over in 1983), and the Lasserre family sell some of the production under their own name: Moulinet-Lasserre.

At £125 per six in bond, this looks like a very attractive deal and to us: highly-rated Pomerol from a brilliant vintage, already drinking well, at less than £30 per bottle including taxes. 

This wine has sold exceptionally well - our UK stocks have sold through but we have more en route from Bordeaux which will be available for delivery toward the end of the month.