After a few fairly quiet days we have another strong release in the form of Chateau Clinet at GBP 770.
This is over 10% cheaper than the release of the 2016 and therefore represents a very good opportunity. This has now sold out.
Breaking the mould is the Clinet way. Not for the dynamic Ronan and Monique Laborde the Cabernet Franc for which Pomerol is so rightly famed; the depth, spice, freshness and all-round interest here comes from the scion of the Left Bank – Cabernet Sauvignon. The character it delivers therefore is still very Pomerol – it’s over 80% Merlot, let’s not forget – but idiosyncratic. The Cabernet Sauvignon takes it into the darker fruit character spectrum and balances the remarkable Merlot plushness with a sappy, bright sense of energy that sets it quite apart from its peers.
Jeb Dunnuck (96-99pts) calls it ‘an incredibly hedonistic wine’that will ‘knock your socks off over the following two decades or more’ and Decanter’s Bordeaux resident Jane Anson (97pts)says the 2018 Clinet is ‘showing us how it’s done in 2018… roaring back to form’.
Other releases today include: