LA PETITE ÉGLISE

Getting the younger vines from l'Eglise Clinet, the 2018 La Petite Eglise is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc brought up in 35% new French oak. Black cherries, tobacco leaf, some earth, and graphite notes all emerge from the glass, and it's elegant and rich at the same time. Nicely balanced, medium to full-bodied, with fine tannins and no hard edges, it's another terrific wine from this estate I’d be happy to drink. Rating: 91-93 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2019)

80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc (young vines); 35% new oak. First year with Cabernet Franc. Barrel sample. Black core with crimson rim. Dark, savoury and chewy. The fruit is dense rather than aromatic. Pretty introvert even with all this power or perhaps because of the power; thick tannins but smoothed on the finish. Drinking range: 2025 - 2032 Rating: 16 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2019)

Produced by Denis Durantou of Château L’Eglise Clinet, the 2018 La Petite Eglise is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, with 35% new oak and 14.5% alcohol. This is the first time Cabernet Franc was used in the blend and the first time younger vines from L'Eglise Clinet were used. Deep purple-black in color, the nose is boldly scented of baked plums, Black Forest cake and kirsch with suggestions of forest floor, cinnamon stick, fertile loam and sautéed herbs with a waft of roses. Full-bodied, the palate is packed with fragrant black fruit preserves, textured by ripe, rounded tannins and finishes long and perfumed. Rating: 91-93 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2019)

This second wine from Denis Durantou is 100% Merlot, as always I think, picked between September 18th and the 28th. It starts with a fine, fresh and slightly peppery nose, with grilled black cherry fruits, sprinkled with notes of chalk dust, all rather fresh and fragrant. The palate shows a very fine, pencil-drawn structure, within which sit the black cherry, black plum and blackcurrant fruit flavours, wrapped up in a chalky substance, and gripped with rich tannin, in a velvety and tight-knit style. A rather fresh character here, with some appealing if rather darkly defined fruits, dusted with liquorice and soot, and a substance which seems appropriate for the structure. Pure, but with a solid grip, this second wine should be destined for your cellar, probably for quite a long time. The élevage will be in 35% new oak. Rating: 91-93 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2019)

This is very tight and long for Petite Église with a very compact and focused palate. Medium-to full-bodied, compressed palate with ripe tannins that are firm and fresh. Rating: 93-94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2019)

This is powerful and tingly with great minerality on show, but a large-framed Petite Eglise - a pretty hedonistic take on 2018, and certainly more than Durantou usually gives in to. There’s more Cabernet Franc in Petite Eglise than usual because new plantings up by the church have come on line, plus most of the usual vines for this wine are currently pulled up ready for replanting meaning it’s pretty much entirely young vines which took, and show, the heat of the summer. 35% new oak was used. Drinking range: 2024 - 2036 Rating: 91 Jane Anson, Decanter (Mar 2019)