Clos du Clocher Pomerol 1976

A leap in colour from the two earliest wines, concentrated ruby rose. Soft through the mid palate, iron filings, white pepper, plenty of volume through the mid palate, crushed raspberry and oyster shell salinity on the finish. Jean Audy in charge at this point, overseeing a warm vintage (the country imposed a drought tax to help farmers), meaning this was almost certainly a low yield. No frost, rapid and even flowering, but storms in September and heavy rain on small grapes meant risk of swelling and splitting, with rot that spread quickly. Here the size of Pomerol estates helps – they could harvest quickly to get everything safely in the cellars.