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L'Eglise Clinet 1998

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > Pomerol
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyMerlot/Cabernet Franc

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château L'Église-Clinet

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Tasting Notes

I was lucky to track this down at the very last minute before it was needed for a tasting (from a wine shop in St Emilion) because bottles of this vintage are now like gold dust. It is in the perfect drinking window, and is just a wonderful example of a year that was particularly kind to the best Pomerol estates. Full-on black truffles and smoked earth, fragrant cigar box and turmeric spices, atumnal brambled fruits and melted tannins that are finely-honed yet still muscular, showcasing the tightrope that L'Eglise Clinet so often manages to walk. Winemaker Denis Durantou in full brilliant flow.

98
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com, March 2021

This effort should turn out to be one of the longest-lived Pomerols of the vintage. It is backward and has closed down since bottling, but make no mistake about it. . . this is a dazzling, serious vin de garde. An opaque purple color is followed by a restrained but promising bouquet of sweet black raspberries intermixed with vanilla, caramel, and minerals. The wine is full-bodied, powerfully tannic, beautifully textured, and crammed with extract (an assortment of black fruits). While it is bursting at the seams, purchasers will need to wait a minimum of 3-4 years. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2035. Last tasted, 3/02.

94+
Robert Parker, Bordeaux Book (4), December 2003

Smells of heat and vegetation. Meat extract and power but very youthful. Not comfortable. Drying inky tannins on the finish. Very sweet. Glossy.

16
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, March 2006
Read more tasting notes...

The Château l'Eglise-Clinet 1998 has developed an absolutely stunning bouquet: precocious, glycerin-rich red cherries, cassis, violets and minerals all beautifully defined and so intense. The palate is full-bodied with ripe tannin, layers of sweet blackberry and wild strawberry fruit intermingling with white pepper, cumin, black truffle and tar. There is a crescendo towards the finish that just fans out across the mouth. After 17 years (which makes me feel old, as I remember tasting it from barrel), it is a Pomerol that will take on all comers in the appellation with the exception of the 1998 Petrus. It will give 40-50 years worth of drinking pleasure. Tasted March 2015. Drink: 2015 - 2030.

96
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (Interim), July 2016
94+
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (134), April 2001
94/96
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (128), April 2000
92/95
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (122), April 1999

Tasted single blind at FINE magazine's vertical in Dusseldorf. This has a very ripe, Merlot-dominated bouquet, opulent compared to other vintages with touches of dried honey intermingling with precocious dark berry fruits and hints of truffle. The palate is medium-bodied with a tannic entry, grainy in texture with a savoury, smoke-tinged finish. Moderate length. Although it is now 12-years old, its remains very compact and endowed with a long-term future. Tasted February 2011.

97
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, February 2011

Tasted at the Pomerol off-line at The Ledbury. This is a stunning L'Eglise-Clinet with stunning delineation on the vivacious bouquet: dark cherries, raspberry, blueberry, violet…still primal and nowhere near ready. It is just so full of energy and tension. The palate does not disappoint with a sense of ebullience and joie-de-vivre it did not have in its youth. This wine is beginning to attain harmony and focus with those ripe dark berried fruits strafed through with an engaging mineralite, the finish still tightly wound but very long and very focused. Brilliant. Drink 2014-2030+ Tasted September 2010.

97
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, September 2010
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.