2015 Château l'Église-Clinet
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Tasting notes
Tasted blind. Glowing dark ruby. Fragrant. Complete, non flashy but very well constituted. Serious concentration but no over-extraction Admirable. Long. (JR)
Critic scores
James Suckling
Wine Spectator
More reviews and scores
The 2015 L'Eglise-Clinet has a compelling nose, with plush red fruit, malty, light white pepper and cumin scents emerging with time. Perhaps this is not as sophisticated as the best Right Bank wines this vintage, but it just needs time. The palate is medium-bodied, fleshy and smooth, with gentle grip and a hint of clove toward the finish. I am intrigued to see how this will evolve in bottle. Tasted blind at the 2015 Bordeaux Ten-Year-On tasting at Farr Vintners.
The 2015 L'Eglise-Clinet has a classy pencil-shaving-tinged bouquet that combines beautifully with the black fruit, truffle and smoke developing with time in the glass. There is some top notch Cabernet Franc here. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, smooth and generous with a very pure finish that has a more velvety and plush texture than I observed 12 months earlier. I have encountered better showings but it will still turn around to develop into a formidable Pomerol. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.
Tasted blind. Muted but well-behaved nose. Black-cherry flavours but not overripe. Slightly charred but well intentioned. (JR)
About the producer
Ch. l'Eglise-Clinet is one of the most unassuming wine estates in Bordeaux. You'd probably drive past it if you didn't have prior knowledge of its vinous output. There's no ostentatious gateway nor sweeping gravel drive.