CHÂTEAU L'ÉGLISE CLINET

Incredible purity of fruit here with blackberry, black olive, concrete, stone and violet in the nose. It’s full-bodied with a powerful palate of fruit that shows a wet-earth and black-truffle undertone. The tannins are intense and chewy, yet wonderfully polished and poised. Superb length in the finish. One built for long cellaring. Try after 2027.James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2021)

Incredible purity of fruit here with blackberry, black olive, concrete, stone and violet in the nose. It’s full-bodied with a powerful palate of fruit that shows a wet-earth and black-truffle undertone. The tannins are intense and chewy, yet wonderfully polished and poised. Superb length in the finish. One built for long cellaring. Drinking range: 2027 - Rating: 99 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Jan 2021)

One of the true “wow” wines in the vintage, the 2018 Château l'Eglise-Clinet is a blockbuster offering stunning notes of black currants, roasted herbs, truffle, earth, and graphite. It's a ripe, voluptuous, and incredibly opulent wine that has full-bodied richness, no hard edges, silky tannins, and gorgeous length. The blend is 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, all harvest in September, and raised in 70% new oak. It has remarkable purity, as well as balance, and will benefit from 5-6 years of bottle age and evolve for two decades or more. Rating: 96-98 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2019)

0% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc; 70% new oak. Barrel sample. Black core with purple rim. Pure cassis fruit on the nose and a touch of vanilla but quite introverted still though it opens up in the glass. There's more finesse here than in the Petite Église but there's so much sweet charry oak on the palate it is a bit overwhelming. Thick and chewy on the finish. Very rich but could be more elegant. Second sample from the same barrique taken the same day: still dense but with a little more freshness and the tannins are finer, the oak less intrusive. Not sure how it will age and have given perhaps optimistic drink dates. (JH) Drinking range: 2024 - 2033 Rating: 16.5 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2019)

Maintaining freshness in the wine was a priority for Denis Durantou at L’Eglise Clinet. “The pH developed quite quickly,” he said. “We had to test it every day; we had made a conscious decision to pick before it got too high. At a maximum of 3.7 pH, we pick. As soon as we have an evolution—a flavor change—we decide to pick.” Merlot was picked September 18-26 and Cabernet Franc on September 28. The resulting wine has a 3.63 pH and 14.5% alcohol and will be aged in 70% new barriques. A blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 L'Eglise Clinet is deep purple-black in color and opens with beguiling truffles, forest floor, mossy bark and black tea scents, slowly unfurling to reveal a core of Black Forest cake, plum preserves, licorice and candied violets plus wafts of tar and cast iron pan. Full-bodied, concentrated and jam-packed with muscular fruit, the velvety-textured palate delivers layer upon layer of savory and earthy accents, finishing with a lingering mineral lift. Rating: 96-98 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2019)

This is incredibly powerful with fantastic depth and length. It goes on for minutes. Full-bodied yet so tight and intense. Blackberries and hints of spice. It has such energy and persistence. It is a wine that makes you really reflect. Bravo. Tiny production. Rating: 99-100 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2019)

The assemblage in this vintage is 90% Merlot, picked September 18th to the 26th, and 10% Cabernet Franc, picked September 28th. It presents a very elegant nose, with toasted black cherry fruits, tightly defined, with a fresh and fragrant edge, along with a chalky lift which immediately suggests freshness and poise. The palate is pure, cool, brightly defined, with a lovely layer of spiced black plums, wild cherries, cinnamon and toast, underpinned by a bed of ripe, svelte and tightly knit tannins. There are swirls of vanilla flower on the palate, dressed with cocoa bean and toast, and it has a rather elegant and understated texture for the vintage. The tannins certainly feel typical of 2018 though, being rich, ripe, polished and velvety. A restrained and nicely judged style, with some fine potential. The élevage will be in 70% new oak. Rating: 96-98 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2019)

This is rich, with layers upon layers of black chocolate, ripe fleshy blackberries and raspberries tempered by acidity and tannins that support, pushing the entire palate slowly onwards and upwards. It has all the generosity of the vintage but tempered with Durantou's amazing ability to sculpt freshness out of the fruit his vineyards deliver. It’s immensely seductive and powerful with more evident flesh than the 2016 – a wine that’s going to run and run. Drinking range: 2028 - 2040 Rating: 97 Jane Anson, Decanter (Mar 2019)