2021, Château L'Eglise Clinet, POMEROL

Bordeaux Blend: Merlot, Cabernet Franc.

A dark, serious brooding nose full of black fruits, truffle, rose, violet and dark chocolate. The palate is different however giving succulent and lively red fruits - sweet/sour strawberries and red cherries, so fresh and sincere, so perfectly presented with the bitter touches balanced against sweetness, racy acidity and fine tannins. An easy-to-like wine, with personality and style and just a feeling of pure joy about it! Not rich, heavy or opulent but taking the most joyous elements from the vintage and putting them the glass, still with structure and depth. Great winemaking on show by Noëmie Durantou Reilhac. Ageing in 70% new oak.

The 2021 L'Eglise-Clinet is stellar. Dark, dense and also a touch somber, the 2021 is laced with generous black fruit, gravel, spice, new leather, liquorice and incense. Readers will have to give this time to come together. I especially admire its substance, textural resonance and overall balance. Readers lucky enough to own the 2021 can look forward to years of exceptional drinking once the tannins soften a bit. 96 Antonio Galloni, Vinous (2023).

The 2021 L'Eglise-Clinet is a wine that I gave five to ten minutes to open in the glass. It is worth being patient, as it responds with gorgeous black cherries, blueberry and violet scents, hints of crushed stone and a subtle marine element emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied with blackberry, boysenberry, oyster shell and blood orange. Very harmonious and almost Lafleur-like in style (no surprise given their proximity, though less Cabernet Franc in the blend here) with a persistent finish, this is a contender for Right Bank of the vintage, perhaps even the best Bordeaux from both Banks. 95 Neal Martin, Vinous (2023).

The 2021 L'Eglise Clinet is one of the more muscular, powerful wines of the vintage, unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, incense, liquorice, spices and toasty new oak. Medium to full-bodied, with a broad attack that segues into a mid-palate framed by ripe, powdery, richly extracted tannins, it's a dense, youthfully introverted Pomerol that's defined more by its terroir and winemaking than it is by the vintage. 94 William Kelley, Wine Advocate (2024).

A dark, serious brooding nose full of black fruits, truffle, rose, violet and dark chocolate. The palate is different however giving succulent and lively red fruits - sweet/sour strawberries and red cherries, so fresh and sincere, so perfectly presented with the bitter touches balanced against sweetness, racy acidity and fine tannins. An easy-to-like wine, with personality and style and just a feeling of pure joy about it! Not rich, heavy or opulent but taking the most joyous elements from the vintage and putting them the glass, still with structure and depth. Great winemaking on show by Noëmie Durantou Reilhac. Ageing in 70% new oak. 96 Georgina Hindle, Decanter (2022).

Drinking Window: 2029 - 2060