2010 l'Eglise Clinet, Pomerol
SKU #1144848
98 points
James Suckling
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.
(2/2013)
95-98 points
Vinous
(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. (ID)
(5/2011)
96 points
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
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...Look for this wine to last for at least 50+ years. 96+ (RP)
(2/2013)
96 points
Wine Spectator
Rich but delightfully pure, with a stunningly gorgeous, pure beam of unadulterated raspberry preserves driving through the middle, showing hints of plum, anise and blueberry hanging in the background. The long finish drips with fruit, but maintains the racy acidity needed for balance and elegance, while a fine minerality slides in underneath. Drink now through 2030. (JM)
(3/2013)
95 points
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar
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. (ST) 95+
(8/2013)
Jancis Robinson
Dark purplish crimson. Introvert and unevolved on the nose. Very firm and ambitious. Not nearly as sweet as most Pomerols but with excellent structure. Chewy and for the long term. Fragrant and Cab Francy. (18/20 points)
(1/2014)
K&L Notes
"Proprietor Denis Durantou has been on a hot streak," notes Robert Parker, "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!" (2/2013)
