2016 Château l'Eglise-Clinet, Pomerol, Bordeaux

90% Merlot picked 21 September to 4 October (earlier than most), 10% Cabernet Franc picked 6 October. 43 hl/ha. 80% new oak. Deep sultry crimson. Heady. Savoury nose. Meaty flavours and fantastic structure with enough flesh in the middle. Not the sweetest and not as fat as usual but there is drama and depth here. Very long. I think this will come round.

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 jane_anson_mw, Decanter. 3rd April 2017.

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!Lisa Perrotti-Brown - 30/11/2018

This has so much violet and black-olive character to it. It’s full-bodied and powerful with incredible power and depth of old-vine tannins. It just rolls on and on. What a finish. james_suckling - April 2017