CHÂTEAU CLERC MILON
2017 5ème Cru Classé Pauillac
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot, 1% Carménère. Lovely dark fruit nose with a mineral background. There is weight on the palate and an energetic acidity that keeps the wine spritely. This has a lovely traditional Pauillac feel to it - medium bodied with flavours of cassis, pencil lead and cedar. The finish is complex and thought provoking. Rating: 91-93 L&S (Apr 2018)
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A real sleeper in this vintage, the 2017 Clerc Milon packs a serious punch. Inky dark fruit, new leather, mint and lavender infuse the 2017 with striking layers of dimension. In 2017, Clerc Milon is shockingly intense, the result of a year with quite a bid of dehydration on the vine. There is no shortage of depth or structure, at least in the early going. I can't wait to see how the 2017 ages. Drinking range: 2025 - 2037 Rating: 92 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Mar 2020)
The 2017 Clerc Milon, which contains a tiny lot of Carmenère, has a delightful bouquet that offers blackberry, briary flecks of cocoa nibs and freshly rolled tobacco. It is tightly wound at the moment and simply requires bottle age. The palate is medium-bodied with a fresh, vibrant entry. It is a strict and quite linear Clerc Milon, "correct" to the point of being straight-laced with a well defined, classically styled off-dry finish. Fine, classy, if medium rather than long-term. What you might call a "cool" customer. Drinking range: 2021 - 2035 Rating: 92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2020)
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot, 1% Carmenère. Lovely fragrance of small dark berries. A light herbaceous note lifting it out of the glass. Smooth, polished though not particularly deep or long. Fresh and singing from the glass in a lighter and delicious style. Drinking range: 2024 - 2037 Rating: 16.5 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2018)
A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Carménère, the 2017 Clerc Milon is deep garnet-purple in color and scented of crushed red and black currants, wild blueberries and black pepper with touches of cigar box, violets, underbrush and menthol. Medium-bodied and with a very firm structure of wonderfully ripe, pixelated tannins and exhilarating freshness, it finishes long with notes of pebbles and floral perfume. Rating: 93-95 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2018)
It's immediately obvious from both colour and first nose that this has a wonderful richness to it, offering powerful cherry pit, graphite and dark chocolate notes but without being overly sweet. A serious wine that is delivering on its potential, vintage after vintage. The Cab Franc vines are on limestone and clay here, and reached perfect ripeness. Overall there is a higher percentage of both Cabernets than usual in the blend. 9% press wine. 50% new oak. Drinking range: 2025 - 2038 Rating: 94 Jane Anson, Decanter (Apr 2018)
The 2017 Clerc Milon checks in as a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot (the estate has Merlot planted on clay soils), 14% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot and Carmenère. It offers a beautiful yet tight, promising style as well as classic cassis and black cherry fruits, plenty of graphite and lead pencil, a solid, rich mid-palate, and ripe, present tannin. It should be accessible in its youth, yet better with short-term cellaring. Rating: 91-93 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (Apr 2018)
Tight and compacted with chewy tannins and showing hot-stone, blackberry and blueberry character. Full body and a driven finish. Rating: 92-93 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2018)
Crunchy plum and black currant notes are fresh and focused, while chalk, iron and savory details line the finish. Shows nice purity and minerally drive. Rating: 90-93 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2018)
The Clerc-Milon vineyard is very parcellated, but many of these parcels sit on the Mousset crest, overlooking the Gironde, which has of course been very protective in this vintage. The fruit was picked later than that of Château d'Armailhac, beginning with the Merlot on September 13th, finishing with the Petit Verdot and Carmenère on September 29th. The wine was blended in December, the final assemblage being 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Carmenère. This has a more intense and concentrated nose than that of Château d'Armailhac, with crushed cherry fruit dusted with violets and red rose petals, smoky and toasted, and with little bitter notes of cherry stone. The palate has a very restrained, sinewy and composed presence, with a firm underbelly of ripe and firm tannins, showing substantial and fresh, with a lightly peppery energy. It has a dark cherry and crushed red plum intensity throughout, but always with that minerally, grippy tannic quality. Good potential. Rating: 91-93 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2018)
Château Clerc Milon
Pauillac Cinquième cru 1855 The tiny village of Milon is in the far north of the Pauillac commune and lends its name to Château Duhart-Milon. Château Clerc Milon is a kilometre away to the east, the other side of Château Lafite-Rothschild in the village of Mousset but, for some reason, also adopted the name of Milon. The Clerc comes from Jean-Baptiste Clerc who owned the château at the time of the 1855 classification when it was accorded 5th Growth status - a status that the Rothschilds (of Mouton, who bought the run-down estate in 1970) have striven hard to exceed. As far as neighbours go, they don't come more impressive than Clerc Milon's - the vineyards adjoin both those of Château Lafite-Rothschild and Château Mouton Rothschild. That's quite a lot to compete with! The vineyards are planted to around 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, a proportion that has slowly been reduced over the years in favour of Merlot (40%). There is just over 10% Cabernet Franc, a little Petit Verdot and, very unusually for Bordeaux these days, a small amount of Carmenere. The label shows an ornate pair of jewelled dancing clowns that are part of the art collection at Mouton Rothschild.