L'Eglise Clinet 2016

The 2016 L’Eglise-Clinet was matured in 80% new oak and bottled in mid-April 2018. Crystal clear in color, it has an equally crystal clear bouquet that is utterly seductive, featuring red cherries, wild strawberry, peony and iris flowers and a hint of bay leaf. You could sit and nose this all day. The balanced palate is medium-bodied and grippy in the mouth, displaying supple tannin and a perfect line of acidity. Again, there is a symmetry about this Pomerol that is utterly beguiling, and the persistence is up there with the very best. Simply put, this is one of the best L’Eglise-Clinet wines I have tasted in recent years. Stunning. Drink 2026-2066.

We are now levitating somewhere above the rest of Denis Durantou's excellent range. Typical of the incredibly deft and precise way of working that is his signature, this wine brings cinammon and clove then hugely deep, rich dark fruits. Utterly elegant, it completes a circuit around your mouth. This is a physical reaction to a wine that you only get in certain vintages and in very few wines. A great European wine. 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc aged in 80% new oak. 43hl/ha yield from 4.2ha.

Drinking Window 2027 - 2050

The depth and beauty in the aromas really draw you in with black truffles, blackberries, crushed stones, violets and other flowers. Black olives, too. Full-bodied, super refined and structured with perfectly manicured tannins and a very, very long finish. It’s full of soul and precision. Take a look after 2024.

The 2016 L'Eglise Clinet blend is 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc and has a deep garnet color. It strolls out with confident, classic Pomerol notes of baked black plums, juicy blackberries, tar, and crushed rocks, leading to hints of anise, smoked meats, and cast iron pan. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is wonderfully velvety and generously fruited, featuring vibrant black fruits and loads of earthy nuances, finishing with fantastic length and tension. This wine has such wonderful brightness and energy for this power-led vintage!

Deep sultry crimson. Heady. Savoury nose. Meaty flavours and fantastic structure with enough flesh in the middle. Not the sweetest and not as fat as usual but there is drama and depth here. Very long. I think this will come round. 14.3%
Drink 2028-2045

Denis Durantou is making stunning age-worthy wines that, since 1985, have invariably matched or beaten all the top names of Pomerol in blind tastings at Southwold and elsewhere. Produced from 40 year old vines over 4.2 hectares, picked when ripe but never late. No fancy tricks here, just old vines, great terroir and inspired, yet traditional, wine-making. As our blind tastings have proved over and over again, this is one of the top wines of the Pomerol appellation. 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc in 2016 with 80% new oak. Deep colour and quite viscous in texture, the nose is creamy, exotic and peprfumed with dense bramble fruits, wood smoke, violets and star anise. The palate is rich and round with hugely impressive intensity for the vintage. High levels of ripe, yet chewy tannins provide a perfect frame for dense, ripe fruits at the core. Building through black cherry and blackberry fruit, wood smoke, black chocolate, herbal sage and thyme, with a hint of roasted coffee bean, this is without doubt one of the most complex wines of the vintage. Flourishing through ripe fruits on the long finish, this manages great density yet ethereal balance, and is without doubt one of the wines of the vintage. Another knockout from the Chateau.

Fragrant the nose has violets and bramble freshness the palate is rich with ripe black plum fleshy and supple. The tannins are fine, ripe, discreet the mid and back palate are opulent with rich fruit the finish though lighter fresh with elegance and length. 2028-43

You’d better not be in a hurry to drink this, because it’s a dense, thick, sinewy wine that will reward long cellaring. Serious and concentrated, it has notes of damson, black fig and roasted herbs and a foundation of layered tannins. 2029-35

This is an imposing wine with huge, grainy, blackberry and violet-soaked flavours all backed up with otherworldly tannins and an immense finish. It is so spicy and so dramatic and the freshness on the finish is equal to the exuberance of the fruit and tannin. There is balsamic power here coupled with earthiness, but it is all set against a backdrop of lush fruit. Amazing. 19++