Château L'Eglise Clinet 2009

Deep, dark, lush and opulent from start to finish, the wine explodes with truffle-covered black plum, dark chocolate and roses. The wine is incredibly concentrated, with layer after layer of perfectly ripe, silky, velvet-drenched fruit. The wine is powerful, sensuous, long and even though it is still young, there is no doubt about its future legendary status.

Delicate dried fruit notes, fresh berries, fine herbal savouriness, fresh red fruits, delicate hints of oranges. Powerful, appears somewhat sweet, the fruitiness hides the tannins, blueberry confit, good length, roasted aromas and caramel, great length.

85% Merlot. 15% Cabernet Franc, 80% new barriques. Dark ruby with a dense core. Concentrated black-berry bouquet with Darjeeling notes and dark malt. On the second nose, dried wild strawberries and vanilla bean. On the palate, massive, with a tight-knit muscle and noticeable astringency. Long-lasting finish, currently somewhat closed, but with brilliant drive and untamed power. Currently behind the 2010.

85%, 15% Merlot. 19,000 bottles. Deep purple-garnet, dense at the core, lilac shimmer on the rim. Intense blackcurrant and blueberry bouquet, a hint of grenadine on the sweetness scale and lavish amounts of red cherries, delicate vanilla in the background, much affinity with a powerful Richebourg, traces of lemon zest signal freshness. Intense on the palate, again lots of small, ripe red fruits, well-supporting tannins that shape into massive astringency. Undoubtedly a great Pomerol, but still quite hard to place at this stage. (19/20). 20: Deep, very dark purple with minimal maturity tones on the outer edge. Powerful, heady bouquet with clear notes of very ripe to overripe grapes, raisins, prunes and cherry liqueur. The second impression turns alcoholic and shows aromas more akin to a Nero d’Avola, an Amarone and at the same time a Port wine. Now the glass smells of Worcestershire sauce and shiitake mushrooms. And somehow I’m gripped by the creeping feeling of an underlying oxidation. The tannins seem emaciated. Is it going through a difficult phase? Will it manage to shake off all these heat blemishes? In any case, this wine, currently difficult to assess, calls for an experienced taster. After ten years it has (still?) not managed to set a course toward harmony and comes across like an unreasonable monster. The potential seems huge. For the moment I’m very critical of this wine. Next-day score: 17/20. In the afternoon it had somewhat recovered and taken shape. Harmony still wasn’t there. Somehow one had a better feeling about the future. How many wounds does time heal? (18/20).

Concentrated, complex, velvety, creamy, Burgundian bouquet with fine notes of cassis, blackberry, strawberry jelly, currants, tobacco, and mint. A concentrated, multi-layered, creamy palate with powerful, fresh fruit, plenty of fine tannins, a creamy structure, a varied, intense, sweet aromatics profile, and a long, full, fruity finish. Has further potential. 19/20 2022 - 2040

Excellent now, it will be dazzling in ten years, with a satiny dream-like texture, great sap, and a finish that is both rising and airy—this is close to perfection.

Dense, compact, serious, straight, built for very long ageing, impressively concentrated.

Logo on the cork: CB Dark colour, with normal intensity and slightly evolved. Intense nose with ripe fruit, evoking both the Graves region and Pomerol. Soft on the attack, silky mid-palate, flavourful and dense, the wine finishes long, deep, subtle, noble and complex, with great purity of flavour.

What stands out here is the freshness in a sunny vintage. In fact, its pH (3.65) is one of the lowest in Pomerol. A very fine tannic structure, with power that feels more suggested than imposed (85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc).