Château Clinet 2018

The 2018 vintage in Pomerol

Vintage benchmark: 96/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: After the mildew, the heat concentrated a small harvest: rich, ripe and very dense wines.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Pomerol. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

« Château Clinet 2018 is wrapped in folds of deepest ruby. Fruits of the forest, blackberry and fresh fig mingle with the scent of smoked wood and the complex, spicy freshness of Kampot black pepper. A delicately creamy attack gives way to an intricate matrix of wild raspberry, blueberry and plum laced with sweet spice, cinnamon and Bourbon vanilla. Voluptuous layers of velvet provide intense mouthfeel. This is Clinet at its finest, yet the “ardour”, the endless finish and the very soul of this vintage, are quite spellbinding and unique. »

Ronan LABORDE, owner - CEO

The vintage

A vintage with very favourable weather conditions, marked by heavy rainfall at the start of the growing season, and a dry summer.

Decent yields, resulting from good flower induction (in 2017), good flowering, and a growing season divided into two extreme phases. The quality of our terroir and a team able to respond quickly and effectively were paramount to keeping the situation under control.

A consistent level of quality across both grape varieties, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, and the various plots that make up the terroir of Château CLINET. The “sanitary” condition of the grapes was “impeccable”, with little or no sorting required before entering the vats. An average of 27 days in vat; delicate extraction of the phenolic components (punching down and pumping over).

A vintage ranked among the very best. Following in the steps of the flamboyant 2015 and the powerful 2016, the 2018 vintage is a very lush, concentrated and well-balanced wine. Château CLINET 2018 remains true to the unique style of Clinet, where the Cabernet Sauvignon, slightly more present in the blend than usual, helps to shape a fresh, structured, classy wine.

Harvest dates: Merlots on 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, 27 September and 2 October; Cabernets on 5 October.

Blend of the 2018 vintage

Figures from the 2018 sheet

• 14.5 % vol.Alcohol
• 38 hl/haYield
• 49,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

Manual sorting. Light crushing. Stainless steel vats, perfectly designed to house the different plots of CLINET. Vats equipped with an alveolar, double-walled, adjustable thermoregulation system. No use of dry ice. Manual punching down

Ageing

75% new barrels, 25% second-fill barrels. Use of the OXOLINE system, to limit stirring. Expected ageing time: +16 months

Terroir

Autrefois rattaché aux vins de Saint-Emilion, Pomerol a su gagner seule ses lettres de noblesse depuis 1936, date à laquelle elle obtint son statut d'AOC. (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée). D'une superficie inférieure à 800 ha, c'est la plus petite des grandes régions viticoles du Bordelais. Pomerol est aussi la seule des grandes appellations de la région à n'avoir jamais connu de classement hiérarchique. Campée sur la Rive Droite de la Dordogne, le climat y est plus chaud que dans le Médoc (Rive Gauche) et le sol plus frais et humide.

Content available in French