Chateau L'Eglise-Clinet, Pomerol 2010

Deep garnet colored, the 2010 L'Eglise Clinet begins unassumingly with gentle notions of fragrant dried flowers and wild sage leading to savory nut and meat characters over an expanding core of preserved plums, blueberry compote and black cherry coulis plus a waft of menthol. Full-bodied, concentrated and wonderfully decadent, the palate is absolutely packed with rich, ripe black fruit preserves and loads of spicy sparks, framed by super ripe, super plush tannins, finishing very long and decadent. I love the interplay of subtly and power here - this is truly a WOW wine!

Sweet berries with hints of incense and spices on the nose with black truffles. Very ripe but not over-the-top. This is full-bodied, with chewy tannins and a smoky wood and mushroom undertone. It's dense and impressive yet very balanced. I like it, slightly better quality than the 2009. Give the wine five or six years of bottle age to soften before opening.

This wine will likely be a major superstar with about 10-15 years of cellaring. It was one of the more closed and difficult wines to penetrate and one of probably only a dozen or so 2010s that I only had one chance to taste from bottle, but it is loaded with fabulous raw materials. The 2010 is a profound effort, but it needs to be forgotten for at least a decade. This opaque purple wine offers up notes of caramelized black currant and black cherry candies intermixed with some very high class, subtle vanillin and toast. Hints of licorice, mocha and perhaps even a touch of chocolate are also present in this full-bodied, super-duper, concentrated, classic wine, which has everything in perfect proportions. But in the finish, its whoppingly big tannins kick in and basically announce that drinking this wine now would be infanticide. Look for this wine to last for at least 50 years. Proprietor Denis Durantou has been on a hot streak, and is one of those perfectionist proprietors who seems tortured by their compulsion to do everything so well. Believe me, as a wine drinker, you want people like Durantou making the wines!
96

Proprietor Denis Durantou has again produced one of Bordeaux’s most profound wines, which seems to be happening routinely at this tiny estate on the Pomerol plateau. Opaque purple to the rim, with a wonderfully sweet nose of mulberry and black fruit, hints of mocha and caramel, and some subtle background oak, the 2010 is very expansive, multi-dimensional, with stunning purity, richness and equilibrium. The finish is very long, with significant tannins, but they are beautifully integrated. This is a massive L’Eglise Clinet that will need 8-10 years of cellaring at the very minimum, and should keep for 40 years.
96-100

(90% merlot with 10% cabernet franc) Deep ruby-purple; much darker than La Petite Eglise. Enticing floral nose offers refined, delicate aromas of cassis, spicy dried herbs, coffee and violet. Dense and round but juicy in the mouth, with bright black fruit and underbrush flavors nicely lifted by lively acidity. This has a captivating seamless quality and lingers impressively on the long, rising, firmly tannic but smooth finish. Less accessible than the 2009 was at the same stage of development, this will greatly improve with bottle age and should be long-lived. One of the wines of the vintage, but don't even think of opening a bottle before 2020.

Good deep red. Wild, superripe nose combines dark raspberry, black olive, smoked meat, mocha and sexy oak. Hugely rich and sweet but structured too, offering outstanding depth to its flavors of berries, dark chocolate, espresso, graphite and underbrush. Finishes with huge but noble tannins and outstanding persistence. As rich and concentrated as this is, it somehow maintains a light touch. A great expression of merlot with the sheer strength of material and structure for a long life in bottle.

The 2010 L’Eglise-Clinet comes across a little introverted and sullen on the nose compared to its peers in this very strong flight. It is attractive in its own way with pretty red berry fruit, briary and rose petals, but declines to reveal its complexity. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, slightly lactic in style, modern in the context of this Pomerol cru, but well balanced on the finish. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.