Lalande-de-Pomerol

The appellation Lalande-de-Pomerol is reserved for wines produced in the communes of Lalande-de-Pomerol and Néac. These two communes are located to the north of the communes of Libourne, Pomerol and Saint-Émilion, from which they are separated only by a river: the Barbanne. To the east and north, they border on the commune of Montagne.

This region is located on one of the routes that led to Santiago de Compostela. The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights of the Order of Malta, built refuges, hospices and commanderies here. One of the best preserved buildings is the church of Lalande-de-Pomerol, dating from the 12th century. It was restored in the 14th and 19th centuries, but, unique in the Libourne region, it remains the only church of the Hospitallers still standing in the region. As such, it received, in 1968, the visit of the Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta, accompanied by the highest authorities of the order. Restoration work has been carried out thanks to the efforts of the Association of Friends for the Restoration of the Church of Lalande-de-Pomerol. Begun in 1978, the work was completed in 1991. Its inauguration took place on June 21, 1992 by Archbishop Pierre Eyt of Bordeaux, in the presence of the Sovereign Order of Malta and under the honorary presidency of the Bailiff, Prince Guy de Polignac.

Numerous carved stones from the Neolithic period have also been found in these communes. This region, in which, as in Pomerol, the vine is cultivated since the tenth or eleventh century, extends towards the west that of Saint-Emilion, but the relief is less and less tormented as one approaches the valley of the Isle. The landscapes are consequently softer.

In the past, the wines produced in these communes benefited from the Pomerol appellation in the case of Lalande-de-Pomerol, and Néac-Pomerol in the case of Néac. A 1922 ruling, confirmed by a 1926 ruling, withdrew the benefit of the word "Pomerol" from wines produced in the commune of Néac. Similarly, it was by a 1922 judgment, confirmed by a 1925 ruling, that the owners of the commune of Lalande-de-Pomerol were entitled to use the appellation Lalande-de-Pomerol to designate the wines produced in the commune.

In 1954, the government decided to authorize the wines produced in the commune of Néac to benefit from the AOC Lalande-de-Pomerol. The AOC Néac, whose production conditions were identical to those of the AOC Lalande-de-Pomerol, has disappeared since it is no longer used in the 2000s.

The soil is clay and clay-gravel in the east, gravel in the north and northeast, and becomes increasingly sandy as one moves westward. The subsoil is composed of hard and reddish earth, sandy-clayey and even clayey towards Néac; it is gravelly and sandy in Lalande-de-Pomerol.

Close to the confluence of the Dordogne and Isle rivers, Lalande-de-Pomerol benefits, like the neighboring AOCs (Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, Fronsac) from a sunny, hot and humid climate, perfectly suited to the vine.