2023 Ch L'Evangile Pomerol - 6x75cl
- Colour Red
- Producer Château l'Evangile
- Region Pomerol
- Grape Merlot / Cabernet Franc
- Drinking 2029 - 2050
- Case size 6x75cl
- Available En Primeur
2023 - Ch L'Evangile Pomerol - 6x75cl
- Colour Red
- Producer Château l'Evangile
- Region Pomerol
- Grape Merlot / Cabernet Franc
- Drinking 2029 - 2050
- Case size 6x75cl
- Available En Primeur
Please note: These wines are lying abroad until shipping and can only be purchased In Bond. If you are an existing Private Reserves customer, the wine will be automatically transferred on arrival. Otherwise, you will be contacted on arrival in the UK to arrange delivery, In Bond storage in Private Reserves or another bonded warehouse.
Need help? Call +44 (0)20 7793 7900 or email wine@goedhuiswaddesdon.com.
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Neal Martin, April 2024, Score: 94-96
The 2023 L'Évangile was picked from September 4 to 28 at 42hL/ha, which is the highest for many years. Matured in 50% new oak (including 15 foudres) and 8% in amphoras (my sample only from used barrels), this has a very floral and precise bouquet with dark red fruit, blueberry, hints of blood orange and light sous-bois scents. It's very L'Evangile. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannins. Crisp and precise, there’s fine tension toward the finish with a lingering black pepper note. This is a lovely L'Évangile that deserves five or six years in bottle. It will be worth the wait. Drink 2029-2055.
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Neal Martin, April 2024, Score: 94-96
The 2023 L'Évangile was picked from September 4 to 28 at 42hL/ha, which is the highest for many years. Matured in 50% new oak (including 15 foudres) and 8% in amphoras (my sample only from used barrels), this has a very floral and precise bouquet with dark red fruit, blueberry, hints of blood orange and light sous-bois scents. It's very L'Evangile. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannins. Crisp and precise, there’s fine tension toward the finish with a lingering black pepper note. This is a lovely L'Évangile that deserves five or six years in bottle. It will be worth the wait. Drink 2029-2055.
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Antonio Galloni, April 2024, Score: 94-96
The 2023 L’Évangile is sensual and plush in the glass. Silky, refined tannins wrap around a core of dark-toned fruit, spice, mocha, leather and dried flowers. This opens nicely, leading to an explosive, deep finish that is quite compelling. Élevage is 50% new oak, 27% once-used barrels, 15% 26hL cask and 8% amphora. It's another fine effort from the team led by Technical Director Juliette Couderc. Drink 2030-2048.
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Wine Advocate, April 2024, Score: 93-95
Wafting from the glass with deep aromas of dark berries, spices, licorice and petals, framed by a sweet patina of new oak, the 2023 L'Evangile is medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with a textural attack that segues into a supple, integrated core that's framed by sweet, powdery tannins. It's a blend of 78% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, checking in at 13.5% alcohol, that was harvested between September 4 and 28.
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James Suckling, April 2024, Score: 96-97
A fine line of tannins runs through this medium- to full-bodied wine. Chocolate, walnut and lead pencil on very fine tannins. Classy and focused, providing elegance with strength. Tight at the end. 78% merlot, 21% cabernet franc and 1% cabernet sauvignon.
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Matthew Jukes, April 2024, Score: 19+
I was fortunate to taste at L’Evangile with Saskia de Rothschild and winemaker Juliette Couderc. It has been a running theme in my tasting notes that the glorious wines of the 2023 vintage could never have been so successful without repeated human intervention. I abhor the lines, ‘wine is made in the vineyard’ and ‘we did nothing, the wine just made itself’! Grapes are grown in the vineyard, and wine is made in a winery, but without seriously talented, dedicated, hard-working and experienced people, we would never have the sensational wines found hither and thither in the 2023 vintage. This is because multiple decisions had to be made with accuracy and conviction throughout the year, and the speed taken to deploy one’s actions determined the very best wines. At the top of our list of discussion points at L’Evangile were the pivotal decisions made during the growing season. Firstly, there were perfect flowering conditions, and they needed to control the vigour. In the end, three green harvests took place, which brought a possible gigantic yield of 60-70 hl/ha to a much more realistic but still remarkably generous 42 hl/ha. Mildew pressure was immense, too, but again, they brought it under control with extreme discipline and speed (on one occasion, spraying four times in one week). The gravel sectors in the vineyard came in first, with the younger vine Merlots starting on 4 September, and the blue clay plots waited until mid-September. Terroir dictated the sequence of harvesting, with the Cabernets coming last in perfect condition. At every step, humans threw the dice, knowing that they would win – and they did. The fruit and power explode on the nose here in a fanfare of Cabernet Franc lifted high onto the shoulders of the rock-steady Merlot. My mind raced back to the awe-inspiring 2022 vintage, and while that wine was calm and complete, this 2023 is active, challenging and shapeshifting, making you work to shadow it around the glass. Usually, Juliette and her team build this wine from a blue clay Merlot base, moulding Cabernet Franc around this central structure to create a final wine, but this year, Franc was so impressive that they started assembling the wine with twin pillars of Merlot and Cabernet Franc and the results are astounding. The tannins and the sense of place and earthiness are profound, giving this place a precise GPS flavour that makes it irresistible. With both varieties granted the same respect and importance, the result is a wine with an astonishing perfume, epic tension, and tremendous build quality. Like I say – made by humans, and in this instance, made by humans with elite skills.
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Goedhuis Waddesdon, April 2024, Score: 96
This is Juliette Couderc’s third vintage at this great Pomerol estate nestled between La Conseillante, Cheval Blanc and Petrus and her influence is very apparent in this superb rendition. The most noticeable influence is the developing respect for Cabernet Franc from its gravel “Cheval soils”, making up 21% of the final cuvée and providing an additional degree of tension in support to Merlot’s flamboyance. A deep opaque colour, with dark summer and autumn fruits. The plush makeup of Merlot makes its presence felt on the attack and then terroir tension from the Cabernet follows through, giving bite and freshness ahead of delicious, sweet dark black fruits, Lovely.
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Jane Anson, April 2024, Score: 96
A fascinating exercise in terroir, as this shows the same alcohol as the Blason, but the density, fruit character and even the IPT (tannin) count are very different. You see the impact of clay soils in the building of the powerful architecture and the plush damson and black cherry fruits. There is density but tenderness to the tannins, with grilled caramel that gives a beautiful Pomerol signature. Violet floral edging arrives towards the finish, as things open up, and this is an impressive L'Evangile that can age with ease.
Region
Pomerol
The small sub-region of Pomerol is situated north-east of the industrious city of Libourne. Pomerol's soils are predominately iron-rich clay with a smattering of gravel that produce wines with extraordinary power and depth. As a result of this clay-dominance, it has the highest percentage of Merlot planted in all of Bordeaux. Certain châteaux are produced exclusively from this grape, but most incorporate smaller quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc as well. Despite its hefty (if not exclusive) proportion of Merlot, many people think of wines from this region as separate entities. As one wine aficionado stated recently, "It's not Merlot. It's Pomerol." Despite the region's small size, Pomerol contains some of the world's most sought after (and expensive) wines including Pétrus, Le Pin, Lafleur, l'Evangile and Vieux Château Certan. Unlike other Bordelais subregions, there is no system of classification. The châteaux are traded on reputation alone.
