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Goedhuis, May 2021, Score: 95-97
Denis Durantou would be hugely proud of this lovely wine from daughter Noëmie’s first vintage in charge. Tasting together via Zoom she was particularly excited by the softness of tannins in the Merlot and the great quality of the Cabernet Franc. Rewarding and generous, scented with sloes, damsons and boysenberries. Brimming with succulent ripeness, the tannins are creamy in texture and the lift of freshness at the end completes a wine which is both confident and complex. Beautiful.
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Neal Martin, January 2024, Score: 98
The 2020 L'Eglise-Clinet has a very intense bouquet with multi-layered red and black fruit, cedar and iron scents—complex and engaging, though there is a touch of oak still to be assimilated. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe, saturated tannins. Satin-textured, seamless and very precise with an irresistible, youthful, sensual finish, this is a brilliant wine that needs a few years in bottle (if you can resist). Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.
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Neal Martin, December 2022, Score: 98
The 2020 L'Eglise-Clinet takes time to open up in the glass, so I afford it 15-20 minutes to aerate. It's definitely worth a bit of patience. It delivers exquisite, ineffably pure aromas of black fruit, pressed violet, hints of marmalade and truffle. Amazing focus and precision. The palate is medium-bodied with finely-chiseled tannins, crisp and taut, just a very slight creaminess in terms of texture towards the second half with a long, peppery tail on the aftertaste. This is a quite fabulous Pomerol that will give 20+ years of drinking pleasure. Noemie Durantou feels this has more depth than the 2019 and she may well be right… Drink 2029-2055
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Neal Martin, May 2021, Score: 96-98
The 2020 l’Eglise-Clinet is very deep in color. It has an intense nose featuring blackberry, wild strawberry, touches of Japanese nori and light basalt aromas, gaining in intensity and clarity over the 60 minutes I spent analyzing the sample. The palate has exquisite balance and a silver bead of acidity that slices through the pure black fruit with effortless ease. This is a very harmonious and focused L’Eglise-Clinet, and as always, it is not an immediately crowd-pleasing Pomerol. You have to sit with it and examine its facets, including those that require unlocking with aeration. There is wonderful salinity on the finish, and awe-inspiring persistence. A magnificent testament to a great winemaker. Drink 2029 - 2055
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Antonio Galloni, December 2022, Score: 98
The 2020 L'Eglise-Clinet is a wine of pure and total sophistication. Dark and racy, with remarkable depth, the 2020 is so exceptionally polished. The 2020 is not a huge Eglise-Clinet, but rather a wine that speaks in a soft, gentle voice. I love its elegance and refinement. All the 2020 needs is time in bottle to be fully expressive, as it is quite embryonic today. Look for this to be a brilliant Pomerol in another handful of years. Drink 2030-2060
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Antonio Galloni, June 2021, Score: 96-98
The 2020 L'Eglise-Clinet is a towering wine. I am not sure what else to say. After having tasted hundreds of 2020s, L'Eglise-Clinet very clearly claims a stake for itself among the wines of the vintage. L'Eglise-Clinet can be a brute in its youth, but the 2020 is all finesse. Sweet red/purplish fruit, rose petal, blood orange and pomegranate are some of the nuances that emerge over time. Perhaps keeping the temperatures a bit cooler in fermentation explains the extraordinary finesse here. The 2020 simply can't be denied. Drink 2035 - 2060
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Wine Advocate, May 2021, Score: 97-99
The 2020 L'Eglise Clinet is a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. The Merlot was picked between the 11th and the 14th of September, and the Cabernet Franc was picked on the 16th of September. It has an alcohol of 14.4% and is aging in French oak barrels, 80% new. Displaying and opaque purple-black color, it needs a bit of swirling to reveal a fascinating array of earthy notes—black truffles, charcoal, mossy tree bark and fallen leaves—over a profound core of preserved plums, blackberry preserves and violets, with a waft of tapenade. The medium to full-bodied palate has exquisitely ripe tannins and bold freshness supporting the seductively ripe, black fruit layers, finishing on a lingering fragrant earth note. Drink 2028-2068
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James Suckling, April 2021, Score: 98-99
Wonderfully bright, floral aromas with so much violet character. Such purity and focus. Ethereal on the nose already. Full-bodied, but very polished and deep with finesse and beauty. Incredible structure that fills the mouth.
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Decanter, May 2021, Score: 96
Noémie Durantou has taken over from her late father Denis with this vintage, and has produced a L'Eglise Clinet that is dark ruby in colour, and needs time in the glass as it is built and muscular. You need a little patience for the cassis, bilberry and raspberry fruits to arrange, enjoy instead the silky, velvety texture that stops the tannins being too restrictive and allows the palate to slowly expand. Not as expressive as in some vintages, but still exudes quiet confidence. A yield of 42hl/ha. Harvest from September 8. Drink 2029-2050
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Matthew Jukes, May 2021, Score: 18.5
Gosh, this is a gentlemanly creation. This wine can often be very densely packed and powerful on the nose and palate, but in 2020 it is the height of civility and elegance. The perfume is sensational with effortless beauty, wild flowers, hedgerow notes and exotic musk. The palate is honed and pure with beautiful length and there is not one molecule out of place. This is a terrific L’Eglise Clinet and it is one of the most approachable and melodic vintages in recent times.
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Jancis Robinson, May 2021, Score: 17.5+
Dense and profound, the fruit savoury and pure. Profuse on attack, the fruit bursting on the palate with layered, fine-grain tannins in support. Purity and precision, the detail spot-on, the tannins of the finest weave. Great potential. (JL) 14.4% Drink 2028 – 2045
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Jeb Dunnuck, May 2021, Score: 96-98
Always up with the crème de la crème of the vintage, the 2020 Château L'Eglise Clinet is no exception. It boasts a rich, powerful, opulent style that packs loads of ripe black cherries as well as notes of chocolate, earth, tobacco, and graphite. Possessing the pure, elegant, more focused style of the vintage, it still has plenty of mid-palate depth, gorgeous tannins, and one heck of a great finish. This beauty is a thrill a minute and will not hit maturity for another 7-8 years, but it will be a 20-year wine.
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Wine Cellar Insider, May 2021, Score: 98-100
Everything you would expect from L'Eglise Clinet is here in spades. The nose shoots from the glass with its truffle, spicy plum, wet earth, herb, smoke, tobacco, cocoa and cherry liqueur scents. Full-bodied, concentrated, focused and fresh, the wine perches on the border between opulence and classic. From a blend that mirrors the vineyard at 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, the wine packs layers of dark chocolate covered ripe plums that coat your palate, linger and expand. This will age gracefully for 3 decades easily. It is great to see so much continuity here from the Durantou family.
