For most of the twentieth century this vineyard was farmed by Jean-Pierre Moueix, the Libourne house behind Petrus and Trotanoy, under a long lease from the Chasseuil family. The lease ended in 2000, the family took the estate back, and the wine has been made in a very different and far more ambitious style since. A 1985 is therefore a Moueix wine in everything but ownership, which is the single most useful thing to know about it.
The vineyard is a genuinely good one: roughly six hectares on the Pomerol plateau, gravel over clay, with Latour à Pomerol, Clinet and Trotanoy for neighbours. Merlot dominates, as it does across the plateau, with a little Cabernet Franc.
1985 was among the friendlier vintages of the 1980s on the right bank, with a dry warm run into harvest and wines that were ripe and open from the start. Forty years is a long time for a Pomerol at this level, and the wine will be at the delicate end of mature.
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Producer: Château Feytit-Clinet
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Vintage: 1985
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Appellation: Pomerol AOC
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Format: 75cl
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Region: Bordeaux, France
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Style: Red
Where it is likely to be now. Pre-2000 Feytit-Clinet was a good wine but not a built-to-last one, so at forty years expect something delicate and savoury that should be opened and poured without ceremony.
Who it suits. A forty-first birthday gift for someone who knows their Pomerol and will enjoy finding the Moueix connection behind an unfamiliar label.
Condition. A good, legible label and a fill at very top shoulder, which is a normal and perfectly acceptable level for a bottle from 1985.
Provenance. Bought to order from a professional European merchant. We check fill, label and capsule when the bottle reaches us and photograph it before it ships.
Delivered in 7 to 10 working days, tracked. Transit cover can be added at checkout.
Sold as a collectible item, as seen. No guarantee is given on drinkability.
