Château L’Eglise Clinet 2012

L’Eglise Clinet is considered by many to be one of the truly great offerings from Pomerol.  The name of this producer is often brought up in conjunction with icons of the Right Bank like Château Pétrus and Château La Fleur.  Yet despite the greatness of this estate, the wine is still among the less exorbitantly priced Pomerol producers out there today.  Robert Parker Jr himself once referred to this estate as a, “sleeper château of the century.”

The history of this estate dates to 1803, when a gentleman named Jean Rouchut purchased some vines near a small cemetery.  In 1882, the family purchased some plots from a neighboring vineyard, Domaine de Clinet. They decided to partner, and thus L’Eglise Clinet was born.  The property’s rise to stardom began when it was inherited by one of the legends in the wine industry, Denis Durantou. 

The Durantou family was a family of farmers, and most of their income did not come from winemaking.  Denis Durantou took over operations in 1983 and he certainly had his work cut out for him. There were no cellar floors, only dirt.  The vats were old and unclean, and they were not temperature controlled.  He made sweeping changes to the vat room and relined cement tanks with epoxy and replanted much of the 5.5-hectare vineyard. It took him only two years before he began to see the fruits of his labor.  There’s a mixture of opulence, concentration, and body in each bottle of L’Eglise Clinet and these traits began to evolve and shine during his tenure.  During the 1990s, each vintage received mounting critical acclaim and today, this opulent and lush wine is now considered one of the true stars of Pomerol. 

Denis Durantou was known as, “a winemaker’s winemaker.” He valued precision when approaching his wines and was a master at handling the Merlot grape.  Durantou’s authenticity was refreshing, and he was the epitome of a humble vigneron who did most of his winemaking in the vineyard.  He was described by some as, “a man of the soil,” whose purposes and motivation for crafting wine was simple: bringing integrity to terroir.  There was no pretense or ego that came through in his winemaking.  This is especially rare in a region where exorbitant prices continue to inflate, and a great wine is more and more difficult to purchase.  Denis Durantou’s contributions were important ones because he devoted a significant portion of his time to creating value oriented Pomerol that leveled the playing field.  In an interview with Jane Anson, he said he wanted to translate terroir, “as honestly as possible.”  Unfortunately, he passed away in 2020 after a long illness.  It was truly a great loss for the wine industry in all of Bordeaux.

Denis Durantou’s legacy lives on in those thirty-seven vintages he produced.  One can still always experience his technique, his precision, and his unique style in these wines.  His daughters are now in charge of the property with the winemaking team headed by Olivier Gautrat who worked for Durantou family for the past 20 years.

"Along with Petrus, the 2012 l’Eglise Clinet is the potential wine of the vintage. An amazing tour de force in winemaking, the wine’s inky/purple color is accompanied by copious notes of spring flowers, creme de cassis, kirsch liqueur, truffles, caramels and graphite. Full-bodied with enormous concentration, the purity, exquisite balance and sheer gravitas and palate presence of this massive yet phenomenally compelling Pomerol are something to behold. Kudos to l’Eglise Clinet. This wine will be approachable in 4-5 years, and last for three decades or more. An amazing performance from proprietor Denis Durantou, this blend of 85% Merlot (harvested between September 21 and October 4) and 15% Cabernet Franc (harvested October 6) hits all the sweet spots in the olfactory senses as well as on the more crude palate." - Robert Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate, (04/24/2013, Issue 206), Ratings: 96-100, Drink: 2017-2047

"The carefully-crafted precision of the fruits is clear right from the first nose. A serious, subdued L'Eglise Clinet at 10 years old, putting a marker down in terms of carefully-crafted fruits and fine-boned tannins. Enjoyable, tertiary notes of truffles and earth are just beginning to surface. 80% new oak." - Jane Anson, (03/03/2022), Ratings: 96, Drink: 2022-2038

"The 2012 L'Eglise Clinet is a real head-turner. Explosive and rich in the glass, the 2012 boasts superb depth throughout. Sweet floral and spiced notes develop first, followed by intense red and blue-fleshed fruit. Violets, mint, sage and sweet spices add nuance as the 2012 opens up, but it is really the wine's vertical structure that stands out above all else. I very much like the pure energy that is so central to the wine's personality. This is a superb showing, and one of the clear highlights of the year. Readers should cellar the 2012 for at least a few years." - Antonio Galloni, Vinous, (01/31/2016), Ratings: 95