One of the monumental wines in the vintage is the 2016 Château Eglise Clinet from proprietor Denis Durantou. Based on 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, this utterly perfect wine boasts a saturated purple color as well as an essence of Pomerol bouquet of ripe black cherries, blackcurrant liqueur, smoked tobacco, camphor, and graphite. Deep, full-bodied, incredibly powerful, and layered, yet always with class and balance, it offers a remarkable marriage of power and finesse. It’s already sexy and seductive yet also a baby, and needs 7-8 years of cellaring. It should keep for 3-4 decades (probably longer), but why wait?
The 2016 L'Eglise Clinet has a medium to deep garnet-purple color with aromas of warm black cherries, mulberries and Black Forest cake slipping seductively from the glass plus nuances of rose hip tea, baking spices, fragrant soil and fallen leaves. Medium to full-bodied, it's wonderfully elegant in the mouth with fantastically plush tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long and very perfumed. Beautiful!
The depth and beauty in the aromas really draw you in with black truffles, blackberries, crushed stones, violets and other flowers. Black olives, too. Full-bodied, super refined and structured with perfectly manicured tannins and a very, very long finish. It’s full of soul and precision. Take a look after 2024.
We are now levitating somewhere above the rest of Denis Durantou's excellent range. Typical of the incredibly deft and precise way of working that is his signature, this wine brings cinammon and clove then hugely deep, rich dark fruits. Utterly elegant, it completes a circuit around your mouth. This is a physical reaction to a wine that you only get in certain vintages and in very few wines. A great European wine. 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc aged in 80% new oak. 43hl/ha yield from 4.2ha. Drinking Window 2027 - 2050.
TWI
98pts
The Wine Independent
The 2016 L'Eglise Clinet blend is 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc and has a deep garnet color. It strolls out with confident, classic Pomerol notes of baked black plums, juicy blackberries, tar, and crushed rocks, leading to hints of anise, smoked meats, and cast iron pan. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is wonderfully velvety and generously fruited, featuring vibrant black fruits and loads of earthy nuances, finishing with fantastic length and tension. This wine has such wonderful brightness and energy for this power-led vintage!
This pulls it all together, with a gorgeous core of creamed plum, blackberry and boysenberry confiture notes, laced with singed anise and incense accents and backed by long echoes of anise and black tea. Delivers ample flesh from start to finish, and should easily finish soaking up its toast with some time in the cellar. Best from 2023 through 2038.
The 2016 L'Eglise-Clinet is more high-toned on the nose, with inky black and blueberry fruit, more floral and less developed compared to others in this blind flight. The palate is medium-bodied with velvety tannins, perhaps a little lower in acidity than its peers, with impressive weight and density, although not the most complex. It needs just a bit more personality to come through. There are much better bottles than this one, hence the question mark. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting.