Clinet 2017

A fresh and fruity Clinet with tangy acidity highlighting the plum and cherry character. Reserved style. Medium body, creamy tannins and a delicious finish. Linear and focused in general. Needs a year or two to calm down. Better after 2022.

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Clinet opens slowly to reveal vibrant red and black fruits: red currants, black cherries, plums and cassis with touches of roses, yeast extract, wood smoke and crushed rocks. Medium-bodied with firm, grainy tannins and a taut, muscular palate of tightly wound fruits and compelling mineral accents, it finishes long with wonderful purity and fragrant earth accents.

High colour extraction with grilled damson on the nose, but the intensity through the palate is a few notches below the brilliant levels they have been achieving at Clinet over the past few vintages. They suffered around 15% frost to their vines, although did not use any second generation fruit in the first wine. Appreciate their extremely careful extraction, and lovely soft black fruits.
Drinking Window 2025 - 2036

Black core. Lovely dense aroma of black fruit and graphite, really savoury/mineral, with graphite dominant at the moment. Much more juicy than I expected on the palate. Plenty of dark fruit but only just fresh enough.
Drink 2024-2032

The nose is firm with fresh black fruits the start of the palate quite light. Ripe plum gives more depth sweetness in the middle and although fresher at the back there is sweet fruit on the finish. 2025-35

The nose signals a superbly pretty, fruit-driven wine with lovely freshness and drive. The oak is present but it sits within the fruit as opposed to on top and this is a wine which has already found harmony. The palate is rich and creamy and it is not heavy or strong but smooth and slippery. The tannins sit right at the back of the wine and they are crisp and talcy as opposed to being dry. Exotic and rather showy and bit of a crowd-pleaser in every respect, this is a thoroughly delicious wine.