2006 Chateau Le Gay - Pomerol - 3 Bottiglie (0,75 L)

Château le Gay is a leading Bordeaux wine estate in Pomerol, producing Merlot-based wines. Its reputation has risen steadily in the new millennium, and has garnered high ratings from critics, including a score of 99 for the 2010 vintage from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate.

There are 10.5 hectares (26 acres) of vines in one holding, planted on clay and gravel soils in the north of the Pomerol plateau. Some 90 percent of plantings are Merlot, with the remainder Cabernet Franc. Château le Gay counts Lafleur and La Croix de Gay among its neighbors.

The grand vin is made from vines that are at least 40 years old. A second wine, Château Manoir de Gay, is also produced, from younger, higher-yielding vines planted in 2006.

Total production of around 40,000 bottles is split roughly equally between the two labels. Grapes are hand-harvested into small cartons, with bunches passing twice through sorting tables before destemming. Individual berries are then sorted again before vinification.

A programme of cellar reconstruction began in 2002, on the acquisition of the property by Catherine Péré-Vergé, heiress of the Cristalleries d'Arques glassware company. This culminated in a move to micro-vinification of all vineyard plots in new oak barrels after a period of cold maceration. The wine is aged in the same barrels for around 18 months.

Other properties owned by Vignobles Péré-Vergé include La Violette, Montviel and Tristan in Pomerol, plus La Gravière and Moulin La Gravière in Lalande-de-Pomerol, amd Monteviejo in Argentina.