Chateau l’Eglise-Clinet Pomerol 2022 1.5Ltr

#61 in Top 100 Wines of France, 2025. Wonderful aromas of crushed violets and wisteria as well as black-truffle undertones and blueberries. Medium- to full-bodied, this has a beautiful center palate and an endless finish. It’s so polished and refined with breathtaking length that caresses every inch of the finish. A masterpiece for the vintage. 90% merlot and 10% cabernet franc. Try after 2030 and beyond.

The grand vin from Noëmie Durantou, this is 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, as always. The élevage was in 85% new oak. There is a gloriously confident fragrance to the nose, with polished berry fruits, griottes and red cherry, very pure, but there are also notes of dark chocolate, dried sage, wild hawthorn, floral violets, roses and black pepper. Supple and deceptively straight at the start, hiding its light under a bushel at first, but in the midpalate it broadens out to reveal spiced cherry fruits, dark chocolate, sage, violets and peonies, with that peppery spice hinted at on the nose. The tannins are rather hidden by the wine’s confident and sinewy texture, flanking the middle of the wine but never obtrusive, with a more tightly knit and peppery grip through to the finish. A great L’Église-Clinet here, reflecting the concentration of the vintage, but holding on to a floral and fresh character. A stunner, and perhaps one of the best vintages of Église-Clinet I have tasted, a great wine but also classically Pomerol, on the mineral side, and most importantly undeniable evidence of Noëmie Durantou’s capabilities. This will be a superb addition to any Pomerol lover’s cellar. The alcohol is 14.6% on analysis.

The 2022 L'Eglise-Clinet has a complex bouquet, earthier than its peers, sous-bois-infused red berry fruit, cedar and tobacco, again gaining intensity in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, very supple tannins matched by a silver thread of acidity. It closes in a little towards the finish, though you can already feel the persistency on the aftertaste. Excellent. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.

Wild strawberries, dried herbs, blueberries, pencil lead and fragrant violets - the aromatics are stunning. You can feel the sculpting straight away - fine but firm and slightly grippy tannins set the frame from which the blackcurrant, salty liquorice and dark chocolate emerge as well as continued florality - the violet accents really making their mark. This is a serious wine, dark and almost heady if it weren't so cool and fresh. There’s no hint of overt heat or spice on the palate, instead you get a layering of pure fruit, fleshiness and minerality. Juicy and alive too, this really packs a lot and changes to red berry fruits after a few minutes with tobacco and slate on the finish. Complex and characterful. A dark horse but a thoroughbred. A wine that as soon as you've tasted it you want to taste it again. 3.65pH. Higher than usual new oak at 85% compared to between 75-80% in a normal year.

Lastly, the 2022 Château L'Eglise Clinet is 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc that was harvested from the 3rd to the 9th of September, with its élevage spanning just 12 months in 85% new French oak followed by roughly four months in tank before bottling. It's another riveting 2022 in the vintage that brings remarkable depth and intensity while at the same time staying light on its feet, graceful, and balanced. Ripe black cherries, cassis, graphite, leafy tobacco, and damp earth and floral notes all shine here, and it's full-bodied, has a concentrated, powerful mouthfeel, ripe and perfectly polished tannins, and a great finish. It deserves 7-8 years of bottle age and will have 30-40 years of prime drinking. It will probably merit a perfect rating at maturity, and if this doesn’t put a smile on your face, nothing will.

Ripe, fleshy and dense in feel, with full-throated notes of boysenberry and blackberry preserves wrapped in licorice and bramble. The frankly toasted finish offers more than enough fruit to push through, with a late tug of earth to keep everything grounded. For the hedonist crowd. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2027 through 2042. 850 cases made.