L'Eglise Clinet 2014

Fragrant floral the nose has lots of charm the palate a mix of black fruits. Supple and rich in the middle fleshy black plum is backed by firmer black cherry a complex mix of flavours. Although sweet, ripe, fleshy and lush at the back the finish has an elegant charm. 2022-40

Year in year out, Denis Durantou produces one of the best wines in Pomerol: dense, layered, aromatic blends that are always more than the sum of their parts. Rich and expansively oaked, this has impressive structure, plush tannins and a backbone of refreshing acidity. Set for a long life.

The 2014 L’Eglise-Clinet has a gentle, understated bouquet at first that takes time to open, eventually offering black fruit, melted tar, truffle and bay leaf aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin, rather masculine and thickset at the moment, lightly spiced towards the finish. Much like the Vieux-Château-Certan, this is a little awkward in a blind setting however, it clearly meliorates in the glass and I keep on having to up my score. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. Drink 2024-2050.

The 2014 L'Eglise Clinet was tasted from a single bottle but from two glasses, each poured at different times before I arrived for the tasting. They were almost identical on the nose but the one poured later was more compact. It has a very pure bouquet with blackberry, myrtle, a touch of iris and a touch of garrigue (actually reminiscent of fynbos, the wild South African shrubland). The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannin, a silver bead of acidity, wonderful precision and beguiling purity. This is an outstanding Pomerol for the vintage from Denis Durantou, sophisticated and classy, yet the bottom line is quintessentially Pomerol. Bravo Denis. Drink Date 2020-2045

The Château l’Eglise-Clinet 2014 is a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc picked from 26 September to 4 October and 17 to 21 October respectively and matured in 70% new oak. I tasted the wine from two barrels à la Burgundy with Denis Durantou. It has a gorgeous bouquet that boasts exquisite precision. It is not an intense nose but one that unfurls in the glass, revealing red berries, myrtle and more mineralité than probably any other Pomerol ’14 that I tasted from barrel. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannin. This is utterly harmonious, the Cabernet Franc more expressive than the 10% would suggest with a long, sophisticated finish whose cousin might be say, Vieux-Château-Certan. This continues a run of outstanding vintages from Denis Durantou and should offer 20+ years of drinking enjoyment. Drink: 2018 - 2040.

A wonderful wine with dense and intense fruit and chewy tannins. Full body, coffee, chocolate, almond and walnuts. Layered. Magic winemaker of Pomerol.

90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 70% new oak. Picked 26 September to 4 October. 18,000 bottles. Very dark crimson. Very rich and perfumed. Sweet and polished but perhaps with a little less earthiness and fire than usual. Big and bold. And a little drying on the end. 14%Drink 2023-2037