A reliable wine, but not a great one. A Pomerol - from the Bordeaux appellation with the most expensive wines - which simply cannot move up to the really great ones, even though in the past few years, investments were made in the wine estate, in the cultivation of the vines, in the cellar, in the vinification. The Moreau family - which also owned the Château Clos l'église until 1997 - has invested a lot in the large wine estate - with about 9 hectares, it is one of the largest in Pomerol. The fact that the wine did not reach 90 (and more) Parker points in any - not even in the last vintages - is actually astonishing. Parker says that the site (the soil) did not allow it, that the potential was exhausted. It borders on sacrilege to contradict Parker. I'll do it anyway: The vineyard is located in the south of the appellation, not far from Libourne, and has rather sandy soil. This is (they say) not the terroir where the great wines are made. Petrus and Co. are located far more north-east, much closer to Saint-Emilion. Is this the reason for the rather modest recognition of Plince's wines, because it can't be for lack of effort (and skill) to make a top wine here too?
The 1989 - a good, mostly underestimated vintage - still belongs to the "old" era of the winery, before the big renewals in the vineyard and cellar came. But it is also the time of change in Bordeaux; in the 90s, one started (almost everywhere in the Bordelais) consequently with decisive measures to increase quality: yield reduction, technical aids in the cellar (like for example: concentrator, computer-controlled regulation of the temperature etc.), consequent planting in the vineyards, careful harvest etc.. In this sense, the '89 still belongs to the "real", traditional Bordeaux vintages, above all in those châteaux that do not (yet) belong to the top (also not in terms of price), in which one began with the renewal only later.
That's why, for me, this Plince is an interesting wine that has an incredible amount to say about its origins. It is quite personal and powerful and also - after almost 25 years - still fruity. You can still feel the rough edges of the wine. It was probably never the most elegant - but it has preserved itself well, as a Bordeaux from that time, which is not designed for longevity - just can preserve itself: namely good, very good even, but obviously not according to today's standards, not of that concentration, refinement and elegance that one expects today. Perhaps a simple wine - maybe - but still with fullness and presence into the seductive finish. Actually a surprise and proof that it can't be the terroir, rather probably the idea of what a Bordeaux from Pomerol must be like.