Appellations

Clerc Milon 2020

Pauillac, Fifth Growth

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Tasting Notes

The 2020 Clerc Milon is a total knock-out. The 2020 has come together impressively with élevage. It offers up a heady mix of blueberry jam, crème de cassis, chocolate, new leather, spice and crushed rocks, with a ton of Cabernet Sauvignon character driving the overall feel.

Score: 94 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2035 Date: 23 February 2023

The 2020 Clerc Milon is soft, fruity and supple. Inky red fruit, plum, lavender, rose petal and spice all meld together in the glass. The 2020 is not terribly complex, but it is open-knit, radiant, and incredibly appealing, even in the early going. I suspect it will offer quite a bit of pleasure right out of the gate. The proportion of Merlot is a bit higher in this year's blend, which no doubt contributes to the wine's appeal. Tasted two times.

Score: 90 - 92 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025 - 2040 Date: 03 June 2021

The 2020 Clerc Milon is soft, fruity and supple. Inky red fruit, plum, lavender, rose petal and spice all meld together in the glass. The 2020 is not terribly complex, but it is open-knit, radiant, and incredibly appealing, even in the early going. I suspect it will offer quite a bit of pleasure right out of the gate. The proportion of Merlot is a bit higher in this year's blend, which no doubt contributes to the wine's appeal. Tasted two times.

Score: 90 - 92 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2040 Date: 01 June 2021

The label of the 2020 Clerc Milon contains a discrete celebration of its half-century ownership by Baron Philippe de Rothschild. The nose is quite strict at the moment, leaning more towards the red fruit side of the spectrum, touches of gravel and tobacco, gaining more black fruit as it opens in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy blackberry and bilberry fruit, gentle grip, maybe not quite as delineated as the 2020 d'Armailhac, yet with a subtle pencil lead note enhancing the finish. Very fine.

Score: 92 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2027-2045 Date: 08 February 2023

The 2020 Clerc Milon has a crisp, well-defined bouquet that you might suspect derives from a cooler growing season. Mainly black fruit here, along with cedar and light sea spray/estuarine scents, unfolding nicely in the glass but always keeping something back. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins. An elegant rather than powerful Clerc Milon, with a slightly ferrous, well-structured but never grippy finish and a saline aftertaste. Give this 4–5 years in bottle. Classic Pauillac through and through.

Score: 91 - 93 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2027 - 2045 Date: 27 May 2021

The 2020 Clerc Milon has a crisp, well-defined bouquet that you might suspect derives from a cooler growing season. Mainly black fruit here, along with cedar and light sea spray/estuarine scents, unfolding nicely in the glass but always keeping something back. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins. An elegant rather than powerful Clerc Milon, with a slightly ferrous, well-structured but never grippy finish and a saline aftertaste. Give this 4–5 years in bottle. Classic Pauillac through and through.

Score: 91 - 93 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2027-2045 Date: 01 May 2021

The top wine 2020 Château Clerc Milon checks in as 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and the balance Petit Verdot and Carmenère, and it's another beauty, offering both richness and elegance. Ripe currants, cassis, damp earth, graphite, and crushed stone-like minerality define the bouquet, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a more focused, pure texture, plenty of expansive richness on the mid-palate, and ripe, building tannins. This beautifully layered, pure wine shows the style of the vintage nicely.

Score: 93 - 95 Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com Date: 25 May 2021

The 2020 Clerc Milon - a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot with just a splash of Carmenere - has a deep garnet-purple color, opening with notes of tar, unsmoked cigars, bouquet garni and graphite, giving way to a core of ripe black and red currants, boysenberries and tree bark, plus a touch of black olives. The medium-bodied palate delivers fantastic tension and impressively ripe, fine-grained tannins to support the crunchy, energetic black fruit flavors, finishing with a lively herbal lift.

Score: 92 - 94 Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2025 - 2040 Date: 20 May 2021

53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. First vintage for Caroline Artaud (ex Fourcas-Hosten). Cask sample. Dense and profound with layers of fruit and tannin. Subdued nose with a floral note. Tannins powdery but very finely layered. Exudes power but is harmonious at the same time. (JL)

Score: 17+ Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com Date: 08 May 2021

This is very full and layered with lots of blackcurrant and walnut and hints of spice. It’s full-bodied and chewy, yet the tannins are polished and energetic.

Score: 94 - 95 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com Date: 16 April 2021