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L'Eglise Clinet 2003

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

Label

Tasting Notes

One of Pomerol’s topnotch estates, l’Eglise Clinet is run with impeccable attention to detail, both in the vineyard and cellar, by proprietor Denis Durantou. It is typically a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc from a 40-year-old vineyard on the Pomerol plateau. During the torrid heat and drought of 2003, much of Pomerol was scorched, and producers whose vineyards were planted in gravel/sandy soils were forced to harvest prematurely. L’Eglise-Clinet, which had the earliest harvest in its history, has produced a light, but elegant, charming 2003 displaying plenty of sweet cherry fruit, and hints of raspberries, licorice, and new oak. While it possesses little depth, it is a medium-bodied, charmingly superficial effort to drink over the next 7-10 years.

88
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (164), April 2006

Lovely wine

92/94
James Suckling, Wine Spectator (April 04), April 2004

Extremely deep crimson. Licorice and other spices on the nose. Wonderfully exotic without being over the top. Great life here with a nice little undertow of quite severe oak to keep it from flab. Exciting, lively but not too sweet. Just in balance. Tar and licorice. Interesting and really lively!

18.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com (April 04), April 2004
91
Farr Vintners, Southwold Bordeaux Tasting, January 2007
16.5/17
Michael Schuster, The World of Fine Wine (1), April 2004
Read more tasting notes...
86/88
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (158), April 2005

Tasted on three separate occasions, l’Eglise-Clinet’s 2003 was disappointing at each tasting. It reveals an impressive deep ruby/purple-tinged color, but hard, astringent, tough-textured flavors that display a lack of flesh, charm, and depth. There is a big hole in the middle of this effort, and I am not sure it is going to fill in. Obviously, this sector of Pomerol was badly impacted by the summer’s extreme heat and drought, which ended too late to help many of these estates. This is a very traditional vinification, and I do not want to sound too severe, but this is one of the more disappointing efforts from the talented Denis Durantou over the last two decades. I hope I am wrong on this one.

84/86
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (152), April 2004
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.