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L'Evangile 2017

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

This Chateau is situated in a prime position on the Pomerol plateau between Petrus, La Conseillante and Cheval Blanc. The wines here are always smooth and seductive and are made by the team from Chateau Lafite. 20% of the production goes into a second label - Blason de l'Evangile.

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château L'Évangile

Label

Tasting Notes

The generosity in this wine is essence-like with black cherries, black truffles and wet earth. Full-bodied and deep with rich, creamy tannins and a long, intense finish. It goes on for minutes. Silky and fantastic. Extremely well done. Drink after 2023.

95
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, January 2020

L’Evangile 2017 is 100% Merlot as the Cabernet Franc was lost to the frost. It has a deep garnet color and strolls out with open-knit notes of warm plums, black raspberries, and kirsch, plus suggestions of roses and charcoal, with a waft of cedar. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is soft and juicy with plenty of expressive black fruit flavors in the mid-palate, finishing with a red berry lift.

94
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, December 2022

This has a lovely silkiness to it, one of the real successes in the appellation in terms of the texture and the quality of the tannins. It's a fairly powerful 100% Merlot with 100% new oak - an unusual combination because the old vine Cabernet Franc was lost to frost in 2017. This is one of the few wines that gets close to the quality of 2016, even if it's not quite there in terms of its completeness. 30 days maceration at reasonable temperatures has brought out the heart of plump blackberry fruit, while delivering subtle tobacco and slate elegance. I like this a lot. 100% organic in the vineyard (2016 was 95% organic) but not certified. 60% grand vin this year, from 40hl/ha.
Drinking Window 2026 - 2038

95
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, April 2018

Very dark crimson. Dark, savoury and a touch meaty – beefy. A hint of oak char. Very ripe and spicy fruit flavours, even a hint of dried fruit. Structured and muscular. Compact tannins – smooth but a touch chewy. Savoury, rather than fruity, and firmly dry on the finish.
Drink 2025-2035

16.5
Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2018

With 50% frost damage, this estate was very severely wounded by the conditions including all of the top Cabernet Franc and so Evangile is 100% Merlot for the first time ever. The plateau was not damaged but sections near Bon Pasteur, Gazin, Beauregard and Cheval Blanc were badly hit. They picked during the whole of September! With a much richer and more powerful feel to this wine it is refreshing but also flamboyant and there is a luxurious feel which other wines don’t have. The tannins are spicy and bright and there is no astringency whatsoever. The summer was dry and not rainy so this is responsible for the ripeness and also the maturity of the tannins. This will be a very forward-drinking vintage, but not because it is light or juicy, but because the balance is spot on.

18.5
Matthew Jukes, Matthew Jukes' Blog, April 2018
Read more tasting notes...

All of the Cabernet Franc was frosted in 2017, so L'Evangile is composed of 100% Merlot for the first time. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 L'Evangile is a little closed to begin, offering glimpses at blueberry preserves, baked plums and black raspberries scents before revealing nuances of spice cake, cinnamon stick, dusty soil and garrigue plus a waft of incense. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a lot of richness and depth, with firm, ripe, rounded tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and spicy. Drink 2022-2050.

95
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (March 2020), March 2020

Very fine and velvety tannins in the mouth with juicy fruit that gives dark-berry, chocolate and spice character. Medium to full body. Bright acidity. Harmonious and very pretty. Pure merlot. Reminds me of the 2012, but shows a little more ripeness and suppleness.

94/95
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2018

The 2017 L'Evangile is deep garnet-purple in color, featuring a profoundly scented nose of plum preserves, smoked meats, chargrill and cigar box with touches of licorice, tapenade, tar and truffles plus an earthy waft of underbrush. The palate is medium to full-bodied with a lovely purity of black and blue fruits, accented with baking spice notions and framed by plush tannins that offer just the right amount of provocative grip, finishing long and earthy.

Sadly, the old vine Cabernet Franc at L’Evangile was completely frosted this year. Unsurprisingly, it was the plots on the plateau that were relatively unscathed, but those near Cheval Blanc and Bon Pasteur were frosted. Thus, for the very first time this year, the wine is made with 100% Merlot. “We had to paint vines with different colors according to the amount of frost damage they received,” operations manager Jean Pascal Vazart informed me. “Overall yields were down to 20 hl/ha this year, which is a little misleading because the unscathed plots gave 40 hl/ha and some affected plots gave 3 hl/ha.”

A long harvest ensued, beginning September 4th and ending at the beginning of October. In the end, the alcohol came out at 14.6% with an IPT of 76, which are pretty hefty numbers when you consider the purity and grace of this wine

93/95
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (236), April 2018
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.