Right Bank Bordeaux

The Right Bank is the part of Bordeaux to the north and right of the Gironde, more specifically the area north of the Dordogne. Its key appellations include Pomerol and St-Émilion, the latter with four satellite appellations (Montagne-, Lussac-, Puisseguin- and St-Georges St-Émilion), and the Right Bank also encompasses the Côtes de Blaye, Côtes de Bourg, Fronsac, Canon-Fronsac, Lalande-de-Pomerol, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux and Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux. Pomerol lies on the outskirts of the riverside entrepôt of Libourne. The Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, Fronsac area is a patchwork of limestone plateaus, molasses and clay soils, with landscapes overlooking the Dordogne, while the Left Bank is known for gravelly soils.

• Pomerol's plateau shelves down towards the River Isle and is bounded by the Barbanne stream to the north, Saint-Émilion to the east and Libourne to the southwest
• Pomerol's high Günz terrace, between 30 and 40 metres of altitude, is made up of sands, gravels and reddened pebbles resting on Tertiary clay formations rich in smectites; the plateau's subsoil is rich in iron oxide, known locally as crasse de fer
• Saint-Émilion's village sits on a plateau of asteriated limestone, which gives way to a terrace of silt-clay gravel stretching towards Libourne, clay-limestone hills and valleys, and the sandy-gravel plain of the Dordogne Valley
• A sandy sheet of Quaternary alluvium covers the northwest of the Saint-Émilion zone, and near Pomerol, on the Figeac terrace, lies a series of gravelly rises; Pomerol itself has no limestone, its soils being much more like the Left Bank's alluvial gravels and sand, but with much more clay mixed in

Pomerol's climate is temperate oceanic, like the rest of the Gironde, with moderate temperature ranges; the confluence of the Isle and the Dordogne helps regulate temperatures, and the zone's position in the north-east of the Gironde brings continental nuances, with higher temperatures in summer and autumn that favour ripening. Saint-Émilion has the temperate oceanic climate of the Bordelais, made more continental by its position in the east of the department, with rainy autumn depressions in some years and hot, very sunny late seasons in others.

• A vintage is sometimes spoken of as a Right Bank or Left Bank vintage, depending on whether conditions favoured later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, which tends to ripen earlier, though the situation is often more complex
• Pomerol's Tertiary clay substrate is a cool horizon that brings slow ripening of the grapes and a closely regulated water supply to the vine
• In Saint-Émilion, Merlot favours the cool, damp character of clay-textured soils, where it ripens well; Cabernet Franc is preferred on limestone or warmer sand and gravel; and Cabernet Sauvignon, a late variety, suits warm, dry soils
• The holm oaks on the Saint-Émilion corniche, which peaks at 100 metres, are evidence of higher temperatures with Mediterranean nuances

Pomerol counts 813 hectares and 138 winegrowers and is one of the smallest appellations in Bordeaux, at 0.7% of the total. In 2009 its 140 holdings averaged six hectares on 800 hectares, with average production of 35,000 hectolitres a year. The zone covers the commune of Pomerol and the northern part of Libourne. A Gironde court judgment of 29 December 1928 fixed the limits for use of the Pomerol name, and that area was taken up when the appellation was recognised by decree in 1936. After the phylloxera crisis, replanting made Merlot predominant, because grafting regularised its production and it proved particularly suited to Pomerol's soils. Production remains mostly family-scale, alongside a few larger estates, as in all the appellations of the Libournais.

• Pomerol has never attempted an official classification; its hierarchy can be inferred from the reputation and price of the appellation's leading wines
• In Pomerol, Merlot occupies 80% of the vineyards, Cabernet Franc 15% of the area under vine and Cabernet Sauvignon 5% of plots; the permitted varieties are Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cot (Malbec), Merlot and Petit Verdot
• JancisRobinson.com says Petrus, the most famous Pomerol, comprises hardly 12 hectares of a very special clay, and that the extremely limited size of properties such as Ch Lafleur and Le Pin helps to bolster their prices
• JancisRobinson.com lists La Conseillante, L'Église Clinet, L'Évangile, Lafleur, Petrus, Le Pin and Vieux Château Certan among its favourite Pomerol producers

Saint-Émilion and Saint-Émilion Grand Cru share a 5,400-hectare terroir across 9 communes, worked by 700 winegrowers; in 2010 the Saint-Émilion vineyard covered 5,500 hectares worked by about 650 growers, producing an average of 230,000 hectolitres of red wine. Vines probably arrived during the Roman occupation, and the AOC defined by decree in 1936 rests on the historic limits of the Jurade de Saint-Émilion. The landscape was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list as a cultural landscape in 1999. Unlike the 1855 classifications, the Saint-Émilion classification, first introduced in 1955, is reviewed every 10 years. The 2022 edition followed a decade of disputes: Angélus, Ausone and Cheval Blanc withdrew, leaving only Pavie in the top tier, and Château La Gaffelière also left.

• The editions ran 1955 (75 châteaux: 63 Grands Crus Classés and 12 Premiers Grands Crus Classés), 1969 (84), 1986 (74), 1996 (68), 2006 (72), 2012 (82) and 2022 (85)
• The 2022 edition, the 7th, names 71 Grands Crus Classés, 12 Premiers Grands Crus Classés and 2 Premiers Grands Crus Classés A, with Château Figeac joining Château Pavie at the A rank
• Saint-Émilion Grand Cru is a separate appellation with stricter rules: lower yields (46 against 53 hl/ha), at least 10 months of ageing and compulsory inspection of every batch
• Merlot is the very large majority variety in Saint-Émilion, alongside Cabernet Franc (locally called bouchet) and Cabernet Sauvignon; Carmenère and Cot (Malbec) may be added, and Petit Verdot is an accessory variety capped at 10%

Right Bank wines tend to be rich in fruit and softer in mouthfeel, with less tannin and acid than wines from the Left Bank, though generalisations rarely hold. In Saint-Émilion, Merlot brings intense red colour, alcoholic richness, red and black fruit aromas, suppleness, roundness and silky tannins, while Cabernet Franc adds slightly spicy aromatic finesse, freshness and a more marked tannic structure.

• Pomerol wines are intensely coloured, with black-fruit aromas and sometimes violet and truffle, ample and long without hardness, and able to withstand long ageing in bottle
• The Pomerol bouquet can blend truffle, violet petals and red berries, and 12 to 18 months of ageing in oak barrels helps accentuate its aromatic complexity
• Saint-Émilion aromas generally include wild strawberry, redcurrant, sweet spices and vanilla, with the occasional leathery or smoky note, and the wines tend to share a round texture backed by freshness
• JancisRobinson.com calls Pomerols velvety, rich, Merlot-based wines which can smell almost meaty

JancisRobinson.com notes that vintages much more successful for Merlot than Cabernet, citing 2006, 2001, 1998, 1994 and 1993, often leave Pomerol relatively underpriced, because the Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated left bank tends to make the reputation of each Bordeaux vintage. Decanter adds that the very best estates are increasingly able to transcend especially hot or wet vintage conditions, and that critics now advise treating each château individually.

• JancisRobinson.com sums up Pomerol as "Very small production, very high prices."
• Decanter reported in September 2022, citing Liv-ex data, that Cheval Blanc, Angélus, Pavie and Ausone had been the most traded Saint-Émilion wines on Liv-ex so far that year, with Figeac and Canon next
• The same Decanter report said Château Figeac's average market price had risen by 47% over the previous three years, according to Liv-ex

Primary sources (INAO and the CIVB): https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/4-CDC-Pomerol-PNO.pdf, https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/CDCSaint-Emilion-PNO2023.pdf, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/designations/saint-emilion-pomerol-fronsac/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/designations/saint-emilion-pomerol-fronsac/pomerol/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/designations/saint-emilion-pomerol-fronsac/saint-emilion/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/classifications/saint-emilion/. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/learn/left-right-bank-bordeaux-difference-436548/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/st-emilion-2022-classification-promotes-chateau-figeac-to-premier-grand-cru-classe-a-487144/, https://www.jancisrobinson.com/learn/wine-regions/france/bordeaux/pomerol. Last verified 2026-10-05