Château Clinet 2019

The 2019 vintage in Pomerol

Vintage benchmark: 95/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A hot end of summer on rehydrated soils gave a rare balance between freshness and substance.

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

« CLINET 2019 is of an intense, deep garnet color. The nose is a glorious fruity array of wild strawberries, Morello cherries, raspberries, blueberries and crème de cassis. Delicious aromas of sweet pastry and oriental spices intertwine beautifully with the fruit. A creamy, smooth mouthfeel delivers fruity, complex, powerful and enticing flavors, enhanced by a fine-grained texture and splashes of chocolate. Bursting with energy, the finish is intense and resplendent. A rich, powerful wine with great ageing potential. To be ranked among the best of the estate. »

Ronan LABORDE, owner - CEO

The vintage

A plot of Merlot (68 years old) was grubbed up at the end of 2018, which resulted in a cultivated area of less than 10 ha, and an increased proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the vine population at 18%.

A mild winter and a wet spring: the winter of 2018-2019 was one of the ten mildest winters since the beginning of the 20th century, with total rainfall of 130 mm in winter and 230 mm in spring. Dry weather provided good conditions during flowering (from 25 May to 7 June 2019).

Summer was very dry and warm: total rainfall reached 35 mm in July, then 50 mm in August, with a record-breaking 41.3°C at the end of July, but without giving way to a lasting “heat wave”. Thanks to water reserves accumulated at the start of the season, and the unique clayey terroir of the Plateau of Pomerol, which filters yet retains water in successive layers, the vines had access to constant water supply.

The berries reached technological ripeness relatively early in September, but the estate waited a few more days for perfect phenolic maturity; alcohol contents reached levels similar to those of the 2010 or 2018 vintage at CLINET, 14.5% on average. 19 mm of rain fell on 22 September, validating the start of the harvest on 23 September (Merlots, 23 to 27 September); the harvest ended on 3 October (Cabernets), a “10-day harvest window” for 6 days of picking.

A vintage with very favourable weather conditions, marked by a very dry summer and, in the case of our estate, beneficial rain just before the harvest. Large quantities were produced, with a consistent level of quality across both grape varieties and the various plots. The “sanitary” condition of the grapes was “impeccable”, with little or no sorting required before entering the vats, and an average of 27 days in vat.

Blend of the 2019 vintage

Figures from the 2019 sheet

• 14.5 % vol.Alcohol
• 38 hl/haYield
• 49,500 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