Chateau La Clotte 2018
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
Wine - Decanter
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Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
From an estate purchased by Ausone in 2014, the 2018 Château La Clotte looks to be a sensational wine in the making, and I think it’s probably going to surpass both the 2015 and 2016. A blend of 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Cabernet Franc, this deeply colored Saint-Émilion offers a smoky, blackcurrant, black cherry, and graphite-driven bouquet. This carries to a medium to full-bodied red that has a stacked mid-palate, tons of ripe, sexy fruit, building tannins, and a great finish. It’s a brilliant Saint-Émilion that’s going to need short-term cellaring but will cruise in cool cellars for two decades or more.
Barrel Sample: 94-96+ -
Wine Enthusiast
This estate is continuing its rise under the tutelage of the Vauthier family of Chateau Ausone. With firm tannins, dark black fruits, smoky flavors and touches of spice, the wine will need time. Drink from 2026. Cellar Selection
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Decanter
Even in the short time that the Vauthiers have been making La Clotte, you can see the depth and precision increasing. This is a little more serious perhaps than the Moulin Saint-Georges in the same range. Pretty austere at this point, but packed with dark fruits and with promise. Cabernet Sauvignon uprooted after the 2019 vintage. Drinking Window 2026 - 2044
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 La Clotte is a blend of 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc. Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, it slips seductively out of the glass with spicy scents of powdered cinnamon, cloves and Sichuan pepper over a core of stewed plums, boysenberries and kirsch, plus a waft of menthol. The medium-bodied palate possesses impressive energy, featuring bags of ripe black and red berries flavors with a lively backbone and fine-grained texture, finishing on a lingering mineral note.
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James Suckling
Aromas of dried flowers, blackberries and cherries with hints of spices. Currants, too. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, juicy tannins and a flavorful finish. Fine tannins at the end. Drink after 2023.
Other Vintages
2021-
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
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Dunnuck
Jeb
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert
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Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine - Decanter
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Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James
Since 1992, Régis has continued to develop the vineyard. He has bought additional plots of land, he has developed sales, he has further modernized the winery and he has built a team up around him. He aims to develop the reputation of his estate via the internet and social media and also through the numerous competitions he enters, which have seen him and his wines win a great many medals and other prizes.
The estate covers 20 ha of the Entredeux-Mers, straddling the villages of St. Laurent du Bois, St. Martial and St. Pierre de Bat. The soil is made of chalk and clay.