L'Eglise Clinet 2021 (750ML)

99 JS / 96 DE / 96 AG / 96 WCI / 95 VM / 95 JA / 95 WI / 17.5 JR

#80 James Suckling Top 100 2024

Extremely complex and subtle with blackberries, wild forest fruits, orange peel, bark and mushroom on the nose. Perfumed. Full-bodied with ultra-fine tannins that are polished and extremely long, going on for minutes. Structured and layered yet compressed on the finish. Some terra-cotta and stoney undertones. This shows old-vine character and the essence of 85% merlot and 15% cabernet franc. Give this three or four years in bottle, but it’s surprisingly attractive now. - James Suckling

A dark, serious brooding nose full of black fruits, truffle, rose, violet and dark chocolate. The palate is different however giving succulent and lively red fruits - sweet/sour strawberries and red cherries, so fresh and sincere, so perfectly presented with the bitter touches balanced against sweetness, racy acidity and fine tannins. An easy-to-like wine, with personality and style and just a feeling of pure joy about it! Not rich, heavy or opulent but taking the most joyous elements from the vintage and putting them the glass, still with structure and depth. Great winemaking on show by Noëmie Durantou Reilhac. Ageing in 70% new oak. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter

The 2021 L’Eglise-Clinet is stellar. Dark, dense and also a touch somber, the 2021 is laced with generous black fruit, gravel, spice, new leather, licorice and incense. Readers will have to give this time to come together. I especially admire its substance, textural resonance and overall balance. Readers lucky enough to own the 2021 can look forward to years of exceptional drinking once the tannins soften a bit. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

Elegance, freshness, refinement, and concentrated, layers of plums, black cherries, chocolate, flowers, wet earth, along with a hint of espresso come together in the nose, and on the palate. There is ample depth, vibrancy, freshness, and complexity with a chalky edge to the finish that wraps everything up perfectly. The wine blends 85% Merlot, and 15% Cabernet Franc. It is great to see continuing strong wines from the Durantou family. This gem is one of the wines of the vintage, and not much was produced. If this is your thing, grab it now! Drink from 2026-2055.-Jeff Leve, Wine Cellar Insider

The 2021 L'Eglise-Clinet is a wine that I gave five to ten minutes to open in the glass. It is worth being patient, as it responds with gorgeous black cherries, blueberry and violet scents, hints of crushed stone and a subtle marine element emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied with blackberry, boysenberry, oyster shell and blood orange. Very harmonious and almost Lafleur-like in style (no surprise given their proximity, though less Cabernet Franc in the blend here) with a persistent finish, this is a contender for Right Bank of the vintage, perhaps even the best Bordeaux from both Banks. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

Rich and precise on the nose, and here you see why austerity in tannic structure can be a rather beautiful attribute - carved, careful, precise, coming through as energy and potential rather than forbidding. Not as dense as the 2018 or 2019, think instead of the intellectual 2017 but with more depth to the tannins. Blueberry, bilberry, loganberry, violet flowers, slate, earth, mandarin zest and incense. Harvest September 27 to 29, no chaptilisation, 75% new oak. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

A blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, L’Eglise-Clinet 2021 was aged in 75% new oak. It has a deep garnet-purple color and strides confidently out of the glass with bold notes of juicy black plums, Morello cherries, and wild blueberries, plus suggestions of licorice, violets, and wet slate. The medium-bodied palate has a plush texture and bags of freshness framing the bright, expressive black and red berry flavors, finishing long with a spicy lift. Beautiful! - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent

The flagship 2021 Château L'Eglise Clinet brings another level of concentration and depth, with ripe red and black plum fruits intermixed with notions of damp earth, tobacco leaf, graphite, and violets. Medium to full-bodied, with rock-solid mid-palate density, sweet tannins, and the vintage's fresher, focused, elegant style, it brings plenty of fruit and I'd wager is clearly better than the vast majority of vintages from the 1980s and 1990s, and even many of the 2000s. I was able to follow this bottle for multiple days, and it only got better with air. This will be absolutely loved by the traditionalists out there and plays with the crème de la crème of the vintage. The blend of the 2021 is 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc (Noëmie commented that the Cabernet Franc was the standout in the vintage) that was raised in 75% new French oak, which is perfectly integrated. Give bottles just 2-4 years if you can (it already offers pleasure) and enjoy over the following two decades. - Jeb Dunnuck

The 2021 L'Eglise Clinet is one of the more muscular, powerful wines of the vintage, unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, incense, licorice, spices and toasty new oak. Medium to full-bodied, with a broad attack that segues into a mid-palate framed by ripe, powdery, richly extracted tannins, it's a dense, youthfully introverted Pomerol that's defined more by its terroir and winemaking than it is by the vintage. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate