L'Evangile 2015

Stunning aromas of blackberries, black olives, brown sugar and dried flowers. Tar. Full-bodied, dense and layered. Superfine tannins, yet this is muscular and long. An amazing wine reminiscent of the great L’Evangiles of the 1950s. Straight track. Goes on and on. Truly great wine. Try in 2024. Just a baby.

In the running for the most opulent, sensationally textured, massive wine in the vintage is the 2015 L'Evangile and if tasting this beauty doesn’t make your heart rate increase, I don’t know what will. Made from 84% Merlot and 16% Cabernet Franc brought up in plenty of new oak, its ruby/plum color is followed by an awesome bouquet of blackberry jam, smoked meats, licorice, truffle, and hints of chocolate. Thick, opulent, super ripe, and decadent, with a full-bodied mouthfeel that needs to be tasted to be believed, it still stays balanced and fresh on the palate and is already impossible to resist. It’s going to keep for 3+ decades. This is one of those wines I wish every reader could taste! 2018 - 2048

The 2015 L'Evangile has a fragrant bouquet with blackberry, raspberry coulis, cedar, truffle, and lovely Pomerol traits coming through. The palate is well balanced with succulent red berry fruit, smooth in texture with sweet vanilla-y new oak toward the finish that will require a couple of years to fully subsume. This is a fine Pomerol but it does not match my note from 12 months previously. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.

L’Evangile in 2015 is a blend of 16% Cabernet Franc and 84% Merlot, aged in 80% new oak. It was a hot vintage and difficult to manage the potential shriveling of the berries but the Cabernet Franc, which this year is one of the highest percentages ever, helped to give freshness. It has a deep garnet color and skips out of the glass with energetic notes of fruitcake, blackberry preserves, star anise, and potpourri, plus wafts of cedar, wood smoke, and incense. Full-bodied, the palate is packed with rich, perfumed black fruit preserves, with soft acidity and framed by chewy oak tannins, finishing long and earthy.

Tasted blind. Dark, blackish crimson. Heady and complete on the nose – lots of pleasure! Very sweet start – almost too much. And there’s no shortage of alcohol. But it certainly delivers. Very intense.
Drink 2023-2036

Consistently one of the finest and most seductive wines of Pomerol, made by the winemaking team of Chateau Lafite. 20% of the fruit is relegated to the second label Blason de l'Evangile. The 2015 is 84% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc. Inky colour, with a dense nose of charred oak, graphite and black cherry fruit. A smoky overlay of opulent vanilla and cream gives way to succulent cherry fruit. This is structured in tannin but sweet and toasty with French oak too. Controlled power gives superb balance of freshness with all the ripe cherry fruit. A stunning Evangile!

Rich, powerful and densely constructed, this is a super-charged Pomerol with plush,
voluptuous fruit flavours, lots of toasty new oak, good concentration and a hint of figgy overripeness.
The Cabernet Franc adds some much-needed freshness here. Drink: 2022-32

Incredible aromatics greet the nose, expanding and enveloping the senses. This is a fabulously sexy scent, pungent and overwhelming. The amazing seduction continues on the palate with a billowing, smooth, creamy texture. This is a stunningly fruit-driven wine and with smaller berries harvested this year there is great concentration, too. This is a truly great vintage for Evangile and even though the fruit is so lush the tannins are incredibly long and fine. Red-fruit-themed and beautifully precise, this is a stunner. Along with 2001, 2009, 2010 and this wine this is a classic Evangile and it is on the richer side of the curve.