CHÂTEAU CLINET
2014 Pomerol
At the outset, this is big and powerful, but there is enticing soft fruit at the core. Good acidity and a nice gentle crunch of tannin lift things. Good if not completely breath-taking. 90% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc. Rating: 90 L&S (Mar 2015)
* 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.
First year in new cellar, and this is a gorgeous wine that feels sculpted, concentrated but balanced, with a luscious black cherry and damson character to the fruit, plenty of chalky tannins, with waves of sappy orange peel and pomegrate. Appealing texture, you can just about begin to drink this now because there is so much freshness, but it will keep improving as the architecture relaxes further to show that Pomerol generosity. 60% new oak, Ronan Laborde owner. Drinking range: 2024 - 2040 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2023)
The 2014 Clinet is a wine that left me "perplexed" when I tasted it multiple times both from barrel and in bottle. The litmus test is how it shows blind... Here it has a lifted bouquet with truffle and smoke-infused red fruit, a subtle hickory note coming through with aeration. One or two attendees at the tasting suggested brettanomyces. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chewy tannin, spicy in the mouth with a dash of white pepper towards the firm, quite masculine and angular finish. Two bottles tasted with consistent notes. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. Drinking range: 2020 - 2034 Rating: 90 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2018)
The 2014 Clinet is powerful, deep and enveloping. Black cherry, smoke, graphite, chocolate and French oak give the wine its intensity and gravitas. Hints of lavender and violet develop in the glass, adding lovely aromatic nuance, but the 2014 remains a big, imposing wine in need of cellaring. This is impressive juice. Drinking range: 2022 - 2039 Rating: 94+ Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2017)
The Château Clinet 2014 is a blend of 90% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Cabernet Franc picked from 23 to 30 September, 3 October for the old Merlot vines and 8 October with respect Cabernets. It was cropped at 40 hectoliters per hectare and matured in 60% new barrels and 40% second fill. It has a well-defined bouquet, quite stony compared to more fruit-driven Pomerol 14's, scents of gravel percolating through the light blackberry and boysenberry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with quite firm, slightly abrasive tannin at the moment that will hopefully be abraded during its barrel age. It feels a little attenuated on the finish and you feel taken aback by the lack of its usual concentration and flamboyance on the finish. Interestingly a second sample (at the UGC) showed more cohesion and weight on the finish vis to the sample at the château. Ronan Laborde has produced some truly wonderful wines at Clinet in recent years, but I need convincing that the 2014 will join their ranks. I will hopefully re-taste this later during its barrel maturation and report back. Drinking range: 2018 - 2032 Rating: 89-91 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2015)
The 2014 Clinet is striking. Energetic, tense and wiry, the 2014 jumps from the glass with notable intensity. The tannins are quite evident, as is the acidity, but there is a level of harmony here that is impossible to miss. Red currant, sweet red cherry, tobacco, smoke and white pepper add nuance on the pulsating finish. I imagine the 2014 is going to require quite a bit of time, but it is compelling, even at this early stage. The 2014 is 90% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Cabernet Franc that saw 30+ days on the skins in small lot fermenters, with manual punch-downs. Malolactic fermentation took place in barrel. This is a fabulous showing from Clinet and proprietor Ronan Laborde. Rating: 92-95 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2015)
Overripe notes on the nose. A little dull on the palate. Very stolid and without any real pace and direction. Drinking range: 2022 - 2032Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2015)
The fruit is ripe and sweet the nose has depth and the palate fleshy suppleness. Black plum and cassis a mix of fruits the fleshiness underpinned by freshness a lovely balance. It fills out on the back palate the finish lush packed with ripe fruit. Drinking range: 2020 - 2030 Rating: 89-93 Derek Smedley MW, www.dereksmedleymw.co.uk (Apr 2015)
High in Cabernet Sauvignon by the standards of Pomerol, Clinet makes wines that have structure as well as freshness. This is a very modern style, with prominent but well handled oak, silky tannins, bright acidity and notes of red berries and blackberry. The palate length is impressive here. Drinking range: 2022 - 2032 Rating: 93 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2015)
This is layered and intense with mineral, chalk, berry and olive character. Full, very fine and refined. Tight. Let’s see. Rating: 91-92 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Mar 2015)
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.