Chateau Haut-Chaigneau 2000 Lalande de Pomerol

Chateau Haut-Chaigneau  2000  Lalande de Pomerol, made by Andre Chatonnet, mis en bouteille au chateau.  As this is a 2000, I am pretty sure this was one of the massive Cave buys I did from my Canadian buddy Sebastian back in 2002.  It's a A Jean Pierre Chambras Selection ($23.99 as the label on the picture shows).  I had it with a Double Check Ranch Sirloin grilled to a juicy rare, and it was delicious, high quality Bordeaux wine.  2000 was a very good year, all across Bordeaux.

I've always considered Lalande de Pomerol to be the 'oft ignored younger cousin' of Pomerol, to which it is immediately adjacent geographically, and since the wind blows and the bees pollinate...  not too far off genetically too.  Where Pomerol commands the higher pricing generally, Lalande de Pomerol makes good wine just a fraction of a kilometer to the North.

If you want to try a Pomerol, but can't afford the gold required to purchase one, try a less expensive Lalande de Pomerol, and it gets you "in the neighborhood".  Most wine stores will even try and label it as just "Pomerol" and make you think you're getting a Huge bargain, but a close reading of the label tells the purchaser otherwise.  It's not bad, mind you.  It is very good.  It's just often falls a little short of a true Pomerol.