2019 La Clotte
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Tasting notes
The 2019 La Clotte has a perfumed and more floral nose than its peers, very well integrated oak, though it feels a bit corked. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, very pure black fruit laced with cedar, but maybe a touch of TCA denudes it freshness on the finish. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
James Lawther MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
From a small, four-hectare vineyard that the Vauthier family acquired in 2014, the 2019 La Clotte offers up inviting aromas of wild blueberries, licorice, coniferous forest floor and sweet spices. Medium to full-bodied, bright and concentrated, it's tightly wound, with lively acids and chalky tannins. This is a promising effort from an estate in the ascendant.
The 2019 La Clotte was picked from September 27 to October 7. It has a complex bouquet of detailed red berry fruit, wild hedgerow, crushed stone and wilted rose petal aromas, engaging and (for the vintage) understated. The palate is medium-bodied, ripe and beautifully poised, with pliant tannins and a judicious touch of spice. This builds wonderfully in the mouth and feels elegant and refined, almost Burgundian on the finish. Wonderful.
The 2019 La Clotte opens with strong Cabernet notes of mocha, dried herbs, menthol, licorice and crushed leaves. Savory and potent, with terrific depth, La Clotte is shaping up to be a jewel of a wine. It doesn’t quite offer the immediacy of some recent vintages, but this is the sort of wine that blossoms only with a number of years in the cellar.
About the producer
Ch. la Clotte is one of the Vauthier estates – along with Ch. Ausone. Classified as a Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, the estate comprises four hectares of 50-year-old vines on terraced vineyards on the famous limestone plateau.