2023 Chateau Rouget Pomerol

Rouget's vineyards sit next to Pétrus. That fact alone should cost more than this wine does.

Château Rouget is one of Pomerol's oldest estates, first mentioned in the 1700s and long counted among the appellation's jewels. The turn came in 1992, when the Labruyère family took over. They replanted the vineyards, rebuilt the cellars, and in 1997 brought in Michel Rolland to consult. The estate has been climbing ever since, and the 2015 vintage forward is where serious collectors started paying attention again.

The family is the interesting part. Edouard Labruyère runs Rouget. He also directs Jacques Prieur in Burgundy, a Grand Cru Pinot Noir house, and Domaine JM Labruyère in Champagne. That makes Rouget the only Bordeaux property owned by a Burgundian family. You feel that sensibility in the wine: finesse over force, perfume over power.

The 2023 is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, off 17 hectares of gravel, sand, and iron-rich clay. It's aged in 30% new oak. It's also the estate's first certified-organic vintage. 2023 gave the Right Bank bright, fresh, classically built wines. Rouget came out soft and enveloping: generous black cherry fruit, a little cedar, a dense but lifted core. One critic put it closer to La Conseillante than to Église-Clinet this year. Good company for a wine at this price.

For a Pomerol neighbor of Pétrus, from a family that also makes Grand Cru Burgundy, this is a genuine value. I'd buy it and forget the pedigree until someone reads the back label.

Decant it an hour, or lay it down five years. It rewards either.