Château Clinet 2021

James Suckling

Firm, lightly chewy yet creamy tannins. Savory bark and herb notes. Cloves and licorice, too. Medium body with a polished, lengthy and firm finish. Compact.

Jeb Dunnuck

Coming from a mix of clay and gravelly soils spread across a 10-hectare vineyard and 40-year-old vines, the 2021 Château Clinet is another brilliant success by Ronan Laborde, who continues to make one of the greatest Pomerols out there. A blend of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon (which is a high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon for Pomerol), it sports a deep purple hue to go with brilliant notes of blueberries, blackberries, violets, and minty herbs. More medium to full-bodied on the palate, it shows the fresher, elegant style of the vintage yet still brings plenty of mid-palate depth, ripe, velvety tannins, no hard edges, and a great finish. It's a stunning success in the vintage that will drink nicely on release yet evolve for 20 years or more.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

At 75% Merlot and fully 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2021 Clinet contains the highest proportion of Cabernet in the blend (excepting the 2003) since at least the 1980s. Ronan Laborde harvested late, picking into mid-October, to craft a medium to full-bodied, deep and impressively seamless wine evocative of dark berries, baking chocolate, violets and spices. Concentrated and nicely integrated, it is one of the vintage's notable successes.

Ronan Laborde is producing the best wines of his career at this Pomerol reference point. Some eight hectares produce Clinet, much of the vineyards being located around the château in the lieu-dit that lends it its name, complemented by a parcel by the church and another not far from the headquarters of the syndicat viticole. Today, these holdings are planted with some 80% Merlot, but before phylloxera, Cabernet Sauvignon was widely planted in this sector, and today, Laborde is replacing Merlot with Cabernet Sauvignon (he retains a parcel of old-vine Cabernet Sauvignon dating back to 1950). Vines are hedged at 1.5 meters, and cover crops help to manage water in the iron-rich clays near the château, allowing access by tractor even after recent rainfall. In the winery, Laborde now employs small stainless steel tanks that permit parcel-by-parcel vinification, and a vertical press has been the order of the day since as long ago as 2001. What's really evolved in recent years is the barrel program: oak is long-seasoned (four to five years), and some large formats have joined the classic 225-liter barriques; but above all, lighter, less impactful toasts are now chosen, meaning Clinet's 80% new oak is much more discreet in its aromatic and textural contribution than was the case a decade ago.

JEFF LEVE, THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER

Deeply colored, on the nose you initially find chocolate, flowers, mint, black plums, licorice, espresso, black raspberries, nutmeg and black cherries. Medium-bodied, soft, polished, fresh and silky, with a vibrancy to the ripe, deep, dark red fruits on the mid-palate. There is ample ripe, plums, blueberries and cherries in the refined, chalky finish along with length and vibrancy. The wine is a blend of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% AVB. The harvest took place September 27 - October 12. Drink from 2025-2044.

JANE ANSON - INSIDE BORDEAUX