2019 Chateau L’Eglise-Clinet, Pomerol 3x75cl

Jane Anson 100

Hard to beat this as an example of the beating heart of Pomerol, with juicy yet slow-delivered fruit, precisely carved and spliced plump cassis and blackberry. The austerity on the first tannins hides depths of generous liquorice, slate, pencil lead, with grated white radish and black pepper spice. Powerful, unyielding, not giving everything away yet, gets better and better, and in the glass as it opens you get a proudly fleshy and generous feel to the fruits. Has years ahead of it before it is ready to drink, but it already makes you smile. 70% new oak. Harvest September 18 to 26. A fittingly exceptional last vintage under Denis Durantou, who passed away in May 2020.

Drinking window: 2026-2026

Review date: 26/01/2022

Antonio Galloni 98

The 2019 L'Eglise-Clinet is a stunning, drop-dead gorgeous beauty. Finesse and power come together in a Pomerol that towers with dazzling intensity. Gravel, dried herbs, flowers, mocha and licorice soar out of the glass. In 2019 L'Eglise-Clinet is a vertical wine, a wine of stature, class and pedigree that will reward those lucky enough to own it with many years of very fine drinking. It's impossible to taste the 2019 and not think about the late Denis Durantou and what he achieved in his last vintage. Daughters Constance and Noémi Durantou seem to really understand the legacy they have been entrusted to honor and then build on themselves.

Drinking window: 2029-2059

Review date: 01/02/2022