Chateau Nenin Pomerol Bordeaux, Complete Guide

Learn everything about Chateau Nenin Pomerol with wine tasting notes and wine with food pairing tips. Learn the best vintages, a history of the property, information on the vineyards, and winemaking. If you want to read about other important, Bordeaux Chateaux: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles

Chateau Nenin History, Overview

Chateau Nenin had been the property of the Despujol family starting in 1840. It’s quite possible that the Despujol family actually founded the estate and planted the initial vines for the vineyard. That family’s ownership of the chateau changed in 1997, just before the harvest when they sold it to the Delon family in 1997.

The new owners were experienced in managing a Bordeaux chateau as they already owned Chateau Leoville Las Cases located in the St. Julien appellation and Chateau Potensac situated in the Haut Medoc. It was natural that the Delon family would purchase the property, due to their relationship with the Despujol family, as they were cousins through marriage.

Chateau Nenin has the distinction of having one of the few grand chateaus in the appellation with its large, 19th-century stone design. In fact, the chateau would be equally at home in the Left Bank with its regal splendor.

Chateau Nenin expanded its already sizable holdings in 1999 with the purchase of 4 additional hectares of vines from Chateau Certan Giraud. In that transaction, Christian Moueix purchased the remaining hectares and created Chateau Hosanna and Chateau Certan Marzelle.

This was followed by a renovation of Chateau Nenin in 2004. It took a while until the Delon family began the march to quality for Chateau Nenin.

Starting with the 2015 vintage, everything changed. Yields were reduced, the selection became much more stringent with less wine being placed into the Grand Vin, grapes were allowed to gain better maturity and the wines quickly began to show for the better, as evidenced by my tasting notes for the vintage. Genevieve d’Alton has continued making a more active role in managing Chateau Nenin these days.

Chateau Nenin Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking

The large 32-hectare vineyard of Chateau Nenin is planted with 78% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a marked change for Chateau Nenin as the estate at one time was planted with 20% Cabernet Sauvignon.

The change to more Merlot in the vineyard has added a lot of depth and softness to the wine. The terroir is a mix of gravel, clay, and sand with some iron in the soil. Their best parcels are the 14 hectares of vines on the plateau, which has more clay that are planted on a nice slope reaching up to 33 meters at its peak. This parcel stretches from the classic chateau almost to the vines of Chateau Trotanoy. Though they have some very good parcels quite close to the chateau.

In total. the vineyard is divided into 40 separate parcels of various sizes and terroirs. The vines are on average close to 30 years of age. However, there are old vines, some of which are more than 50 years of age. The vineyard is planted to a vine density that ranges from 6,300 vines per hectare to 7,100 vines per hectare. The higher levels of vine density are found in the newer plantings.

Winemaking at Chateau Nenin in Pomerol is traditional. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel, temperature-controlled vats that range in size from 70 hectoliters up to 160 hectoliters. On average, Chateau Nenin is aged in 30% new oak, or less, for an average of 18 months, depending on the vintage.

While Michel Rolland is used as their consultant I do not see his touch at Chateau Nenin as the wines of Chateau Nenin are masculine and quite structured by nature and do not display the typical, lush, velvety qualities found in most Pomerol wines.

Perhaps this has to do with a large amount of press wine added to the blend. In some vintages, as much as 20% press wine has been added to the blend. That is until the 2015 vintage when the wines began showing marked improvement. Chateau Nenin produces a second wine, Fugue de Nenin.

The best vintages of Chateau Nenin are: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2005 and 2000.The wine of Chateau Nenin clearly ages well. A recently tasted bottle of 1961 Chateau Nenin was quite a treat. It should be noted that starting with the 2015 vintage, the wines here are significantly better with the 2020 being the best vintage ever produced at the estate!

When to Drink Chateau Nenin, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau Nenin can be enjoyed on the young side with 1-2 hours of decanting. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume.

Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment. The wine is better with 6-10 years of bottle age. Of course that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage character. In the best years, Chateau Nenin will be at its best between 10-25 years of age after the vintage.

Serving Chateau Nenin with Wine, Food, Pairing Tips

Chateau Nenin is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.

Chateau Nenin is best paired with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised and grilled dishes. Chateau Nenin is also good when matched with Asian dishes, hearty fish courses like tuna, mushrooms, pasta and a wide assortment of hard and soft cheeses.

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