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L'Eglise Clinet 2000

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > Pomerol
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyMerlot/Cabernet Franc

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château L'Église-Clinet

Label

Tasting Notes

The 2000 l’Eglise-Clinet was picked from 18 September and matured in 80% new oak. This has a magnificent bouquet with black fruit infused with bay leaf, smoke, freshly rolled tobacco and a touch of spice. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, quite firm in the mouth with blackberry, clove, allspice and white pepper. This has always been a very complex millennial Pomerol with a very grippy, quite masculine finish and therefore decanting is advised. Denis Durantou informed that this was the only vintage neither fined nor filtered. Tasted at the l’Eglise-Clinet vertical at the château in April 2018.

97
Neal Martin, vinous.com, July 2019

A stunning wine with extraordinary concentration, but still somewhat backward, this 2000 needs much more time than I projected seven years ago. It boasts an inky/dark purple color along with an intense nose of kirsch, blackberries, licorice, caramel, and flowers. Full-bodied with abundant tannin as well as a multidimensional, thick texture, this unevolved Pomerol has not changed much since its 2003 release. Gorgeous purity and a natural mouthfeel make for a dazzling wine that will benefit from another 5-10 years of cellaring, and last for three decades thereafter. It is a legendary effort!

97+
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (189), June 2010

Incredible concentration and richness in this wine. This is good stuff, loads of complexity with notes of flowers, vanilla, and ripe fruit. Still drinking like a baby, this is full, soft, and long. Opulent and gorgeous right now but give this five years and you’ll be better off. Pull the cork in 2015. So much fruit for a Bordeaux. 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc.

99
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2012
96-
Farr Vintners, April 2001
Read more tasting notes...

The saturated ruby/purple color offers up pure fruit notes of mulberries, figs, and cassis intermixed with hints of licorice and toasty oak. Revealing great palate presence, tremendous texture, sweet tannin, relatively low acidity, and a finish that exceeds 60 seconds, I assume this wine will close down, not to reopen for nearly a decade. This is a profound example from a proprietor who has never subscribed to the new, progressive/razzle-dazzle techniques being employed by some of the cutting edge producers. Here it is low yields, ripe fruit, and non-interventionalistic winemaking at its purest. Truly spectacular, this could be another of the great classics proprietor Durantou has produced over recent years. For now, it is hard to believe it could rival or eclipse the fabulous 1998 or, for that matter, the 1995, but the 2000 has gone from strength to strength in its evolution. From bottle, it is dazzling. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2035+.

96
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (146), April 2003

The Château l'Eglise-Clinet 2000 was the only vintage that Denis Durantou did not fine before bottling. It is blessed with a brilliant nose that possesses the intensity of the 1998, but I find this more focused and delineated. It has a level of purity that one can only describe as profound, scents of black cherry, cassis, cedar and black truffle unfolding with each passing moment in the glass. The palate has exquisite balance with salinity that gets the saliva flowing. There is a seam of spiciness, black pepper and rosemary that coat the mouth, but the overall style at the moment is linear and focused. The precision on the finish is enthralling, completing a fabulous l'Eglise-Clinet that rivets your feet to the spot (and maybe your palate, too?). Drink: 2019 - 2045.

97
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (225), July 2016
97
James Suckling, Wine Spectator Weekly (16 Jan 03), January 2003
95/100
James Suckling, WineSpectator.com, January 2003
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.