Winemaker Notes
Blend: 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Floral and lifted nose, clean, clear and fragrant. Soft but grippy, chalky and intense, with a push and movement to the textured strawberry and red cherry fruit. Almost fleshy but cool, giving some roundness but no heaviness. This has character and something to get your teeth into. Nice persistence, well presented.
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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.
Barrel Sample: 93-94 -
Vinous
The 2021 Clinet is bold, explosive and dense. A blend of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2021 is a rich and ample wine of tremendous energy and tension. This represents a modern style of Pomerol that will drink well upon release and also age. –Antonio Galloni
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Château Clinet is a blend of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, harvested between the end of September and the 12th of October, that was brought up in 80% new French oak. This deep ruby/plum-hued beauty has a great bouquet of ripe black cherries, blackberries, leafy tobacco, and spring flowers, with some classic damp earth, graphite, and chocolaty Pomerol nuances. It's medium to full-bodied, has beautifully integrated oak, fine tannins, and a gorgeous finish. It already offers pleasure but will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and evolve for 20 years if well stored.
Rating: 93+ -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Clinet opens in the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums and licorice mingled with hints of mint and orange zest, followed by a medium to full-bodied palate with a sweet core of fruit that's framed by a chassis of sweet, powdery tannins that assert themselves on the oak-inflected finish. Out of the gates, this remains quite structured by its élevage.
Rating: 92+ -
Wine Spectator
A frankly toasted style, with bittersweet cocoa notes draped over a core of black cherry and plum fruit. Reveals tobacco, licorice, roasted cedar and a tug of warm earth through the finish. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now through 2034.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
A source of exceptionally sensual and glamorous red wines, Pomerol is actually a rather small appellation in an unassuming countryside. It sits on a plateau immediately northeast of the city of Libourne on the right bank of the Dordogne River. Pomerol and St-Émilion are the stars of what is referred to as Right Bank Bordeaux: Merlot-dominant red blends completed by various amounts of Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Sauvignon. While Pomerol has no official classification system, its best wines are some of the world’s most sought after.
Historically Pomerol attached itself to the larger and more picturesque neighboring region of St-Émilion until the late 1800s when discerning French consumers began to recognize the quality and distinction of Pomerol on its own. Its popularity spread to northern Europe in the early 1900s.
After some notable vintages of the 1940s, the Pomerol producer, Petrus, began to achieve great international attention and brought widespread recognition to the appellation. Its subsequent distribution by the successful Libourne merchant, Jean-Pierre Mouiex, magnified Pomerol's fame after the Second World War.
Perfect for Merlot, the soils of Pomerol—clay on top of well-drained subsoil—help to create wines capable of displaying an unprecedented concentration of color and flavor.
The best Pomerol wines will be intensely hued, with qualities of fresh wild berries, dried fig or concentrated black plum preserves. Aromas may be of forest floor, sifted cocoa powder, anise, exotic spice or toasted sugar and will have a silky, smooth but intense texture.