- Colour Red
- Producer Château l'Eglise-Clinet
- Region Pomerol
- Grape Merlot / Cabernet Franc
- Drinking 2029 - 2052
- Case size 6x75cl
- Available En Primeur
2022 - Ch L'Eglise-Clinet Pomerol - 6x75cl
- Colour Red
- Producer Château l'Eglise-Clinet
- Region Pomerol
- Grape Merlot / Cabernet Franc
- Drinking 2029 - 2052
- Case size 6x75cl
- Available En Primeur
Need help? Call +44 (0)20 7793 7900 or email wine@goedhuis.com.
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Neal Martin, April 2023, Score: 98-100
The 2022 L'Eglise-Clinet was picked from 3 to 9 September for the Merlot and the Cabernet Franc on 5 and 9 September, matured in 85% new oak. It has an exquisitely-defined bouquet with succinct floral, pressed iris and clay notes percolating through the black fruit. With breathtaking focus, these scents seem to cast a spell over you. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chalky tannins that frame the mineral-laden, peppery black fruit. There's not a hair out of place, exuding the essence of this Pomerol estate with an exceptionally long, intense and paradoxically tender finish. It's a wine that may leave you spellbound...just like this barrel sample. Drink 2032-2075
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Wine Advocate, April 2023, Score: 96-98
Offering up deep aromas of mulberries and cassis mingled with incense, licorice, rose petals, spices and hints of new oak, the 2022 L'Eglise Clinet is full-bodied, deep and layered, with an elegantly muscular core of ripe but vibrant fruit that's framed by sweet, powdery tannins. Concentrated and multidimensional, it concludes with a long, resonant finish. A blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, harvested between September 3 and 9, this compelling Pomerol checks in at a largely concealed 14.6% alcohol.
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Antonio Galloni, April 2023, Score: 96-98
The 2022 L'Eglise-Clinet is fabulous. Rich, deep and layered, with tremendous purity, the 2022 is already exceptionally well balanced. Dark fruit, gravel, licorice, dried herbs and lavender emerge, but only with great reluctance. Even so, there is something incredibly complete about the 2022 that is a bit hard to describe with words, but it is most definitely there! L'Eglise-Clinet is shaping up to be one of the wines of the vintage on the Right Bank. Drink 2030-2052.
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Goedhuis, April 2023, Score: 97-98
2022 was winemaker, Operations Director and co-owner Noëmie Durantou’s third vintage at the helm of Ch L’Eglise Client, and she has proven once again that she has her father’s magic touch with this great terroir. Concentrated aromas of bright red fruit, pomegranate, wild raspberry and bramble are all elevated with a delicate impression of new oak, that, despite being as high as 85%, you barely notice. Effortless on the palate, this is difficult to resist even now. The finely laced tannins carry the flavours beautifully, whilst the acidity lifts the palate to a lovely toasted popcorn finish.
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James Suckling, April 2023, Score: 97-98
A L’Eglise Clinet with tension and class, with dark berries and chalk, salt and spice. There’s hazelnut and ripe seeds with coffee bean undertones. Full and wonderfully long and fresh.
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Jancis Robinson, April 2023, Score: 18
Wonderful expression of fruit, the aroma an explosion of floral-violet notes. Huge density on the palate, the tannins silky and very long. Lingers on the finish. Fresh, harmonious and definitely for the long haul. (James Lawther MW) 14.6% Drink 2032 – 2050
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Jane Anson, April 2023, Score: 98
Turns the intensity and exoticism of the vintage on its head, unpacking it carefully, and layering up depth and character. Grilled cedar, fleshy damson and casis fruits, this is all about carefully-considered and delivered juice and flavour. Intense, with balance and carefully-extracted juice, and the precision that you want at L'Eglise Clinet, even in such an overwhelming vintage. 85% new oak, harvest September 3 to 9. Noemie Durantou and Olivier Gautrat.
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Jeb Dunnuck, April 2023, Score: 96-98+
Straight-up gorgeous, I'd put the 2022 Château L'Eglise-Clinet up with the top tier Pomerol in the vintage, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it surpass the 2020 as well. Ripe black cherries, violets, spring flowers, graphite, and tobacco all emerge on the nose, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a layered, elegant mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and a great finish. Compared to the 2005 by owner Noëmie Durantou (who has done an incredible job taking over the estate after the loss of her father), this rich, concentrated, incredibly impressive Pomerol is going to need 7-8 years of bottle age but will evolve for 30 years in cold cellars.
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Matthew Jukes, April 2023, Score: 20+
Overall this is the earliest harvest that they have ever known at this Domaine While the second wine (La Petit-Église q.v.) stole my heart with its precocity, elegance and sheer class, this Grand Vin is a very different proposition altogether. It has every single one of the attributes I seek out in a legendary wine. It is very possible that this might be one of the wines of the vintage (I am writing this note on the morning of day three of seven days of tasting)! Where do I start? It is hard to process this wine emotionally as it summons up memories of many of the greatest expressions of this noble estate and other monumental red Bordeaux of my life. While it employs a model Pomerol recipe, a darkness and intensity, presumably from the tiny berries in this vintage, have increased the power of the skin-derived components here. This is a life-altering wine with a stunning nose and a devastatingly delicious palate. The amplitude of flavour and length are both incredible, but they are controlled, marshalled, regimented and epically refreshing. Dynamic, vital, vibrant and enchanting, this is my idea of a perfect wine. I felt so moved when I left this tasting, knowing that I had been privileged to taste one of the very first samples of what will one day, I imagine, be regarded as a monumental wine. I am pretty sure that the Durantou Reilhac family sense the greatness in this wine, too, but they are far too modest to presume, and this decency underpins the integrity of this hallowed estate.
Producer
Château l'Eglise-Clinet
The most famous of the Pomerol "Clinets", L'Eglise Clinet has been run by the Durantou family for 5 generations. It was the wonderful Denis Durantou who catapulted this château skywards when he took over in 1983. He very sadly died in 2020, but he leaves behind him an incredible legacy. This tiny flagship estate, now considered one of the superstars of Pomerol, is just over 4 hectares in size and is in the very capable hand...Read more
The most famous of the Pomerol "Clinets", L'Eglise Clinet has been run by the Durantou family for 5 generations. It was the wonderful Denis Durantou who catapulted this château skywards when he took over in 1983. He very sadly died in 2020, but he leaves behind him an incredible legacy. This tiny flagship estate, now considered one of the superstars of Pomerol, is just over 4 hectares in size and is in the very capable hands of two of Denis' daughters, Noémie and Constance, who continue to manage the property and build on their father's brilliant winemaking.Read less

Region
Pomerol
The small sub-region of Pomerol is situated north-east of the industrious city of Libourne. Pomerol's 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, Pomerol 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.