Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Clos L'Eglise is a rock star wine that has everything: thrilling amounts of cassis and blackberry fruits, notes of lead pencil, tobacco, and damp earth, full-bodied richness and depth, sweet tannins, and a fabulous finish that leaves you looking for another sip. It shows the purity and classic style of the vintage to a T and is a brilliant, layered, opulent wine to drink over the coming two decades. This wine is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, aged in new oak, and comes from the talents of Hélène Garcin & Patrice Lévêque. I’d be thrilled to have bottles of this in the cellar.
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James Suckling
Lots of smoke, black olives and brown sugar to the ripe fruit on the nose. Full body, rich and chewy tannins and a spice, toffee, smoke and coffee finish. Not overdone. Needs at least five years to come together. Try after 2024.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2016 Clos ‘’Eglise (a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc) rolls seductively out of the glass with notions of chocolate covered cherries, preserved plums and blueberry compote with hints of sautéed herbs, yeast extract, pain grillé, peppered salami and tilled soil. Full-bodied, concentrated and totally sensuous in the mouth, it has a wonderfully plush texture and just enough freshness supporting generous fruit layers, going to a long, savory sparked finish. Rating: 94+
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Wine Spectator
This has a juicy core of damson plum, raspberry and cherry coulis flavors, offset by light black tea and floral notes. Offers a rounded feel through the finish while retaining a sense of freshness. Hard to resist the fruit here. Drink now through 2030.
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.