In Bond Fine Wine. 2021 Château Eglise Clinet, Pomerol, Bordeaux, France. Red Bordeaux in 6x75cl. Top critic score: 96/100 (AG). Drinking window: 2028–2060. Sold in bond by Albany Vintners, independent fine wine merchants.
Eglise Clinet is consistently one of the most profound wines of Pomerol, small in production (around 1000 cases per annum) but towering in reputation. Superbly located on the famous plateau of Pomerol, Eglise Clinet’s deep blue clay & gravel on iron-rich subsoils give its old-vine Merlot and Cabernet Franc remarkable depth and character. Denis Durantou made thrilling wines here and his daughters carry on this legacy at Eglise Clinet, making wines of richness, minerality & soul. La Petite Eglise is the second label of Eglise Clinet, made from a separate plot. The Durantou stable of Right Bank wines (Les Cruzelles, La Chenade, Montlandrie & Saintayme) impresses year in, year out. These are some of the finest value wines of Bordeaux at accessible prices.
William Kelley (WK) — 93–96/100 · Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com, 29/04/2022
A deep, serious wine, the 2021 L'Eglise Clinet unwinds in the glass with notions of wild berries and plums mingled with dark chocolate, sweet loamy soil, warm spices, violets and black truffle. Full-bodied, concentrated and muscular, it's rich and layered, with a concentrated core of fruit, lively acids and plenty of ripe, powdery tannin that nods to its origins in a sector of Pomerol capable of…
Antonio Galloni (AG) — 96/100 · Vinous, 27/02/2024 · Drink 2031-2061
The 2021 L'Eglise-Clinet is stellar. Dark, dense and also a touch somber, the 2021 is laced with generous black fruit, gravel, spice, new leather, licorice and incense. Readers will have to give this time to come together. I especially admire its substance, textural resonance and overall balance. Readers lucky enough to own the 2021 can look forward to years of exceptional drinking once the tanni…
Jane Anson (JA) — 96/100 · Inside Bordeaux, 26/03/2024 · Drink 2028-2044
Carved, precise and energetic, I described this as intellectual during En Primeur, and I stand by that assessment now. Waves of cloves and liqourice root, fine tannins, blueberry, redcurrant, tobacco, red rose petals, blackberry, mandarin zest, slate minerality. This can be approached earlier than many L'Eglise Clinet, maybe 7 or 8 years after harvest, but it will still be revealing new facets af…