CHÂTEAU CLINET
2013 Pomerol
Very velvet. Quite oaky and intense, but the drying, which can sometimes be like having your mouth towelled out at this property, is very gentle this year, and on the whole it is attractive and feels as though it should hold its balance. Rating: 90 L&S (Apr 2014)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
Sweet fruity nose, with cherry and plum fruit. Supple and rounded, this is forward but sleek, with good concentration and acidity, delivering a wine that's stylish and balanced, with ripe tannins on the long finish. Drinking range: 2017 - 2025 Rating: 91 Stephen Brook, Decanter.com (Oct 2016)
A terrific success and star in this vintage, this blend of 90% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Cabernet Franc came from a mere 25 acres of vineyard and averaged 33 hectoliters per hectare, with close to 13% natural alcohol. The entire harvest took place September 30-October 12. The wine is impressive in this vintage, its beautiful, dense, blue/black color is followed by a striking nose of creme de cassis, blackberry fruit, charcoal and a hint of camphor. The wine is rich and medium to full-bodied, displaying surprising texture, depth and breadth. This is a rich wine with good acidity and ripe tannin. It is a relatively big boy for the vintage and should drink well in 2-3 years and last up to 15 or more. It is so good, it is clearly a sleeper of the vintage, even though Clinet has been doing fabulous work for a number of years. 2016-2031 Rating: 91-93 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, www.RobertParker.com (Aug 2014)
Dark ruby. Initially very leafy, almost medicinal nose became fruitier with air. Then pungently aromatic on the palate, with strong notes of underbrush and pine cone dominating the delicate small dark berry flavors. With its rather extreme tannins, this seems over-extracted to me and I wonder if it will ever come into balance. But it does have above-average density and texture for the vintage, so I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and see what develops over the next two years. Rating: 86-88 Ian d'Agata - Stephen Tanzer website (May 2014)
The black fruited mix on the nose is fresh the start of the palate quite lean but it opens up in the middle with fleshy black plum rich and ripe fruited at the back. The finish feels lighter slightly tight. 2018-28. Rating: 87-91 Derek Smedley MW, www.dereksmedleymw.co.uk (May 2014)
Rating: 91 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (May 2014)
(90 Merlot, 9 Cabernet Sauvignon, 1 Cabernet Franc). 13.2% alcohol. Ronan Laborde explained that they undertook some really serious work in the vineyard and this resulted in yields of 33hl/ha – so not too catastrophic. This is a very intense wine which shows surprisingly tender fruit. With a hefty 85 IPT this is one of the inkier-hued wines of the vintage but it is exotic and hedonistic. They suffered no hail at all here and only lost Merlot thanks to the poor flowering. The very warm period in July is to thank for the exotic fruit notes. I find this sort of wine very enticing and exciting given its sexy frame and lissom alcohol and this makes it one of the rare 2013s which I scored higher than their 2012. Rating: 18 Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Apr 2014)
Pure and Burgundian in profile. Lighter weight and frame. Attractive but a little pinched on the finish. Drink: 2017-2025. Rating: 16.75 James Lawther MW, decanter.com (Apr 2014)
Offers a fresh, racy feel, with raspberry and bitter cherry notes followed by a blood orange accent. Modest spice accents show on the finish. Rating: 87–90 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2014)
A blend of 90% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 1% Cabernet Franc (the highest percentage of Merlot ever) the Clinet 2013 was picked between 30 September until 12 October, finishing with the two Cabernets. Ronan Laborde told me that it was the most compact harvest he had undertaken: 4½ days within 13 days, the fruit selected through an optical sorting machine. The level of new oak is 60%, up from 2012, because Jean-Michel thought the fruit was good enough, with an IPT of 85 compared to 75. The nose takes some time to unfurl, broody and reticent at first, revealing redcurrant and cranberry scents mixed with dried flowers with time. The palate is well balanced with quite linear tannins, the oak nicely integrated and lending this Clinet good depth. It is a more masculine Clinet without the length of a great Château Clinet, but clean and pure. It will need 5 or 6 years to unwind after bottling. Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2014)
A 2013 with attractive mineral, salt and iron character, plus a creamy acidity. Medium body solid core of fruit and a fresh finish. Very good concentration for the vintage. Rating: 90-91 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2014)
Château Clinet
Château Clinet lies at the heart of Pomerol on a bed of Günz gravel. Now owned by Jean-Louis Laborde who, in 2003, appointed his 23 year old son as Estate Managing Director. Improvements implemented by the previous owners, the Audy family, have been strengthened by the Labordes and they continue to employ the services of Michel Rolland. Only 9ha of vineyard, planted with 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc, with vines at 40 years old. Grapes are hand-harvested, and the wines aged in 60% new wood barriques, with the balanced being just one year old.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.