2008 Ch Clinet Pomerol

Producer: Château Clinet

Region: Bordeaux > Pomerol

Vintage: 2008

Type: Red

Grape varieties: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc

Drinking dates: 2015 - 2035

Pricing

Case size: 6x75cl Equiv. price per bottle incl. VAT £80.28

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Tasting Notes

Goedhuis, May 2009, Score: 92-94: Aromatic, curvaceous and plump with layers of wild bramble fruit and lightly toasted spice. Despite its velvety texture, it offers exceptional precision and focus which sets the 2008 apart from other recent vintages. Despite its approachable personality, its notable concentration and depth makes this worthy of long cellaring.
Robert Parker, April 2009, Score: 94-97: This is the greatest Clinet since the incredible duo made by the late Jean-Michel Arcaute in 1989 and 1990. The dense purple-colored 2008 offers up beautiful floral, blackberry, and pen ink-like notes, exceptional intensity, that multilayered texture that seems to be commonplace in the top 2008 Pomerols, silky but elevated tannins, good freshness, precision, and nuance, a substantial size, and an extremely long finish with not a hard edge to be found. It should evolve for 30+ years.
Robert Parker, May 2011, Score: 94+: Another resounding success for the vintage, the opaque purple-colored 2008 Clinet (14.4% alcohol) is composed of 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Yields of 38 hectoliters per hectare, while higher than in 2010, were still modest. Another powerful, big, large-scaled effort, the 2008 exhibits an inky/purple color as well as sweet creme de cassis, blackberry, plum, Asian spice, licorice and incense notes. Layered and full-bodied with stunning purity and a 40+ second finish, this beauty needs 3-5 years of bottle age and should keep for 25-30 years. Drink: 2011 - 2041
Wine Spectator, April 2009, Score: 89-92: Dark in color and concentrated on the nose, with crushed blackberry and tar. Full-bodied, with soft, silky tannins and a long finish. Beautifully crafted.

Pomerol

The small sub-region of Pomerol is situated northeast of the industrious city of Libourne. Its soils are predominately iron-rich clay with a smattering of gravel that produce wines with extraordinary power and depth. As a result of this clay-dominance, it has the highest percentage of Merlot planted in all of Bordeaux. Certain châteaux are produced exclusively from this grape, but most incorporate smaller quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc as well. Despite its hefty (if not exclusive) proportion of Merlot, many people think of wines from this region as separate entities. As one wine aficionado stated recently, "It's not Merlot. It's Pomerol." Despite the region's small size, it contains some of the world's most sought after (and expensive) wines including Pétrus, Le Pin, Lafleur, l'Evangile and Vieux Château Certan. Unlike other Bordelais subregions, there is no system of classification. The châteaux are traded on reputation alone.

Château Clinet

Ch Clinet was relatively unknown until the late 1980s when its 1989 and 1990 were awarded 100 points and 96 points, respectively by Robert Parker. Known for its modern-styled wine, crystal clean cellar and its consulting oenologist, Michel Rolland, it is easy to see why many admire its results.

Merlot / Cabernet Sauvignon / Cabernet Franc

Merlot holds centre stage here with the two Cabernets in supporting roles. Another opportunity to appreciate the blender's skill as the soft fruit and rich structure of the Merlot is balanced by the characteristic currant fruit and firm tannins of Cabernet. This combination is used throughout Bordeaux, notably in St Emilion, Pessac Leognan and the Haut Medoc.