90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc

Food pairings: Beef tenderloin, steak and other red meats, roast lamb, duck breast, braised short ribs and stews, game, wild mushrooms, truffle dishes and truffle risotto, and mature cheeses such as aged Gouda.

Winemaking: After the harvest, the 2016 was fermented in stainless-steel tanks, then aged for 12 months in barrels, half new and half once-used.

Vineyards and terroir: Château Fayat brings together a mosaic of Pomerol parcels on deep gravels and brown soils of sand, silt and clay, with sandy gravels over a clay subsoil. The vines average about 50 years old, and the 2016 blend includes Merlot from vines more than a century old, planted on gravel. In 2016 the family also carried out a detailed study of the estate's soils to match grape variety and rootstock to each plot.

Family and history: Clément Fayat, who started out as a mason on the Dordogne dam sites and built one of France's largest construction groups, has owned Château La Dominique, a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé, since 1969. He turned to Pomerol in 1984 with Château Prieurs de la Commanderie, then added La Commanderie de Mazeyres in 2000 and Vieux Château Bourgneuf in 2006. In 2009 the three were merged into a single estate under the family name, Château Fayat. His son Jean-Claude Fayat has run the family vineyards since 2012.

In the pictures: Vineyards in front of the village of Pomerol and its church spire (photo: Pascal3012, 2012, CC BY-SA 3.0), and an early-1900s postcard of Pomerol's great vineyards (Henry Guillier, public domain).