2023 Pastourelle de Clerc Milon

The 2023 Pastourelle de Clerc Milon is an absolute delight. Soft contours wrap around a core of plum, black cherry, new leather, licorice, lavender, spice, incense and gravel. The purity of the flavors is just remarkable. This fruity, supple Merlot-driven Pauillac is alluring. It's a gorgeous second wine that does everything a wine in its peer group should do, namely: provide tons of immediacy and pure drinking pleasure. I loved it.

The 2023 Pastorelle de Clerc Milon has quite a potent pencil box and blackberry-scented bouquet. It just misses a bit of finesse. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, fine acidity, clean black fruit, with a little more depth on the finish than I originally envisaged from barrel. Give this a year in bottle.

Softened and opened over ageing, still delivering high spice, damson, and black cherry that comes from that relatively high Merlot, gives a generous character, with a ton of cocoa bean and espresso. Retains Pauillac tannins and grip but an earlier-drinking slice of the appellation. No new barrels for ageing, harvest September 7 to 29, a touch of Carmanère in the blend both in this and the main estate wine.