2018 Château l'Église-Clinet

An unmissable wine from the late Denis Durantou, the kind of wine that reminds you why it is still sometimes worth buying En Primeur to be sure you get your allocation. This is always a serious Pomerol that rewards patience, and here wraps up its hedonistic chocolate-dipped blueberry and blacberry fruits in poised, carefully chiselled tannins. Olives, tar, liquorice and campfire smoke curl out of the glass after a few moments. 70% new oak, harvest September 18 to 28. Low and slow fermentation at around 22C, ensuring that even once the grapes were off the vines they were still unhurried. 45hl/ha yield.

One of the blockbusters in the vintage is Denis Durantou's 2018 Château L'Eglise Clinet, which is a normal blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc brought up in 70% new French oak. This deep purple-hued beauty boasts an awesome, full-bodied, opulent personality as well as classic Pomerol notes of blackcurrants, black cherries, damp earth, chocolate, tobacco, and flowers. Rich, concentrated, and sexy, yet not over the top in any way, it expands on the palate, has sweet tannins, background oak, and a great, great finish. It already offers pleasure yet won't hit prime time for another 7-8 years and is going to evolve for 25-30 years or more, and probably have a gradual decline after that.

The 2018 L’Eglise-Clinet was picked from September 18 to 26 for the Merlot and September 28 for the the Cabernet Franc, and matured in 70% new oak. I gave the bottle a precautionary four-hour decant, which was vital in appreciating this magnificent Pomerol. The aromatics are precocious, pure and finely chiseled, featuring copious black plum and blueberry plus heart-melting violet petal scents. The palate closely approximates the barrel sample with its stunning precision and symmetry. Velvety-smooth from start to finish, this will turn into a fabulous wine from the late Denis Durantou, though be warned: I suspect it might close down for a period after bottling.