Château CLINET 2016

Description

Lisa Perrotti-Brown 97 points www.robertparker.comThe 2016 Clinet is composed of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. It was aged using the Oxoline system, in 70% new and 30% one-year-old barrels for 16 months. It has a deep garnet-purple color with cedar and smoked meats on the nose giving way to black and red plums and earthy notions with wafts of cassis and pencil shavings. The palate is medium to full-bodied, elegant, polished and vivacious with loads of red and black fruit layers and an earthy finish. Around 4,416 cases produced.

Neal Martin 96+ points www.robertparker.com
The 2016 Clinet, a blend of 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, was cropped at 49hl/ha and matured in 70% new oak. It has a quintessential Pomerol bouquet of vibrant floral aromas, black cherries and hints of Christmas cake and truffle. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin and very harmonious and refined. The sample at the château showed a touch more backbone than the one at the London UGC tastings, offering plenty of blackberry and black olive notes and then turning saline toward the dense, muscular finish. A classy, sophisticated Clinet that will reward those with the nous to cellar it for several years. Outstanding. (2020-2045)

Jean-Marc Quarin 94 points www.quarin.com
Le meilleur jamais fait. Couleur sombre, intense et pourpre. Nez intense, fruité, crémeux, épicé. Notes de violette. Très « Clinet ». Bouche luxuriante de fruits, au toucher raffiné, qui fond au palais, gracieuse, savoureuse et longue avec du goût et des tanins fins. C’est très bon. Degré d’alcool : 14º (moyenne plus), pH : 3.71 (moyenne plus), IPT : 94 (un record). Rendement : 49 hl/ha. Sélection : 75 % de premier vin.

Jane Anson 97 points  www.decanter.com (at Château La Croix de Gay, 08 Jan 2019)
This is a wine that makes you want to slow down, take your time and let those flavours envelop you. It’s a little subdued right now, but the texture pulls you in and holds on tight. There is Cabernet in the DNA here and you feel it: a touch of austerity in the first breath, then an intense punch of dark, tight cassis fruits with a liquorice and dark chocolate finish. It’s taken on more flesh on the bones during ageing, with the aromatics blossoming through the glass and revealing floral, violet-stained edging and a silky smooth tannic frame. Drinking Window 2024 – 2040

Antonio Galloni 92-95 points www.vinous.com
A backward, brooding wine, the 2016 Clinet presents a distinctly dark expression of the appellation and vintage. Black fruit, smoke, licorice and heavy toast notes are front and center. Powerful, structured and dense in the glass, the 2016 is a Pomerol that makes its case with sheer intensity rather than finesse. There is not much subtlety here. If the 2016 comes together, and it may, it will merit an even more positive note.