Château Gazin Pomerol 2010

Planted to 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc, Château Gazin's vines have an average age of 40+ years. The estate is ideally situated behind the illustrious Château Petrus, and also has a second label Pomerol, l'Hospitalet de Gazin, which utilizes younger vines and maintains the integrity of the first label here. The grapes are picked at optimal ripeness and the wine is aged in casks (60% new) for about eighteen months, during which it gains in clarity and finesse, and is racked every three months and fined with egg whites.
The Château Gazin vineyards were actually once part of the famous Knights of Saint-John of Jerusalem property, giving the estate lots of history. Concerning the origin of the name Gazin, it has been said that it could have been derived from "casa", meaning house. This hypothesis, "casa" (house or inn - cf. the Monte Cassino monastery in Italy) supports the idea that Gazin could be the remains of the "Poumeyrols Hospital" built by the Knights in 1288.