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Château L'Église-Clinet

Can there be any more complex interweaving of vinous families and names than in Pomerol, with all its Lafleurs, Églises, Clinets and Gazins? It is a system that seems designed to befuddle, although a visit to the region can do much to clear the fog of confusion; every time I walk across the vineyards of Pomerol, or drive from one property to the next, I broaden by just a little bit my understanding of the panoply of Pomerol estates, how they have evolved, and how they are related to one another. Château L'Église-Clinet is a prime example of one of these 'blended' names, and like many properties in Pomerol it is, quite simply, nothing to look at. That is true of the vast majority of estates in this appellation; it is impossible to confuse Pichon-Baron with Pontet-Canet, or Latour with Lafite, or any number of combinations of the many distinctive left bank châteaux, but here on the right bank one château - or should I say villa, because with their low-slung appearance and terracotta-tiled roofs that is the word that springs to mind - looks pretty much like any other. I have lost count of the number of times I have snapped away at a roadside property, only to subsequently find - using online satellite mapping - that it was some exalted estate, such as Lafleur-Gazin or indeed Lafleur itself.

Whilst L'Église-Clinet might not be 'roadside', it still maintains a certain anonymity that can add a frisson of excitement when trying to locate it, especially when you are already late for your primeur tasting appointment, as was the case when I visited early in 2011. But enough of this for now; first, a little history, beginning with the Rouchut family.

La Famille Rouchut

The name L'Église-Clinet clearly suggests an ecclesiastical origin, plus some relationship with the nearby Château Clinet, perhaps a common owner? Right next to the Durantou residence (below, left) and winery buildings is a cemetery (below, right), and sitting just across the vineyard is the gigantic church that towers above the surprisingly small number of rooftops that constitutes the village of Pomerol. And just a short walk down the road is the aforementioned Château Clinet. Case solved, you might think. Not quite. The story of L'Église-Clinet is without doubt a little more complicated than that.

The ecclesiastical église component of the name of this property reflects the presence not of the modern-day church, but of a more ancient chapel, one that dated to perhaps the 12th century. Although the buildings fell into ruin, and were eventually razed to the ground in the late 19th century, the existence of this église has translated through into the names of numerous vineyards that surrounded the church, including Clos L'Église and L'Église-Clinet. These two estates have a common origin, and can be traced back to an 18-hectare estate in the ownership of the Rouchut family at around the time the ancient church was being demolished. Writing in Grands Vins (University of California Press, 1995) Clive Coates asserts that in 1882 a certain Mauleon Rouchut, the son of the owner of this estate, married a daughter of the Constant family, owners of nearby Clinet. At about that time the Rouchut estate was divided, giving rise to two modern-day estates, Clos L'Église and what was known at first as Clos L'Église-Clinet. This was the name by which our estate was known, until the 1950s when it was rechristened Château L'Église-Clinet.

La Famille Durantou

Both of these estates remained with the Rouchut family, Clos L'Église eventually coming to their Moreau descendents, remaining with them until it was purchased by Sylvaine Garcin-Cathiard in 1997. L'Église-Clinet, meanwhile, was passed to Mauleon Rouchut's daughter, who was wedded to a gentleman named Paul Rabier. He passed the estate to his own daughter, René, a farmer's wife who for many years ran the estate with the assistance of Pierre Lasserre. This was a fermage agreement, struck in 1942; Pierre tended the vines and made the wine in exchange for half the proceeds. This system continued on when control passed to René Rabier's son, Jacques Durantou, who was a civil servant with no interest in wine. He lived in nearby Périgeux, to the east of Libourne, but travelled extensively with his work. He fathered five children, of which one was the current proprietor of L'Église-Clinet, Denis Durantou. He did not take up the reins of the estate until 1983, enforcing what was perhaps a sore-and-sorry goodbye for Lasserre who perhaps imagined he may inherit the vineyard from the disinterested Durantous. But it was not to be, and Denis Durantou stepped into the shoes of the departing Lasserre.

Prior to Durantou taking control, Pierre Lasserre had worked in a very old-fashioned manner. The fruit was fermented without temperature control and with the liberal addition of stalks to the mix, and there was little or no use of new wood, both the fermentation and élevage being performed in aged barrels often way past their tenth vintage. Despite this the wines often received a very positive press. Nevertheless there was certainly room for improvement, and it is Denis Durantou who should be credited with pushing up the quality at L'Église-Clinet. Despite already having a degree in political science and economics under his belt, he went onto study oenology at Bordeaux University, before he took over from Lasserre. In the vineyard he reduced yields, from a typical Lasserre figure of 60 hl/ha to something around 40 hl/ha, a feat in part achieved by green harvesting, a novel technique for Pomerol at the time. He also favoured destemming the freshly harvested fruit. He introduced new equipment to the small chai which adjoins the simple, rectangular 19th-century farmhouse overlooking the vines, including a new pressing machine, and he also began systematically replacing the old wood, so by the mid-1990s he was using 50% new barrels (he has gone higher since). For the fermentation he acquired some stainless steel tanks and he relined the pre-existing concrete vessels, as well as purchasing temperature-control coils in order to regulate the fermentation temperatures. It was also he who introduced the aforementioned second wine in 1986. As you might imagine, the quality of the wines began to rise.

Today he manages not only L'Église-Clinet, a leading Pomerol estate with a fine reputation cemented solely by Durantou, but also a small portfolio of vineyards in a variety of right bank appellations, including La Chenade and Les Cruzelles (both estates in Lalande de Pomerol), Saintayme (in St Emilion) and Montlandrie (in Castillon). Any visit to the property will see you tasting all of these wines; and they should not be overlooked, for there is good value to be found here.

The L'Église-Clinet Vineyards

There are 6 hectares of vines, the bulk of which - 4.5 hectares in fact - lie adjacent to the nearby church (both vines and church are shown, right) on typical soils of gravel over clay. The remaining 1.5 hectares lie some distance away, and the produce of these vines, which are planted on more sandy-gravelly soil than those adjacent to the house, contribute greatly to the second wine, La Petite Église. The vines are predominantly Merlot, with 85% of the vineyard planted to this variety, the remainder Cabernet Franc, some of which dates to 1935, these venerable vines having seen out the otherwise devastating frost of 1956. Interestingly, in Grands Vins Clive Coates states that 10% of the vines were Malbec, and that 5% were of "uncertain botanical origin". A programme of replanting instigated by Denis Durantou has no doubt rid the vineyard of these unwanted vines, and since his taking control approximately 2.5 hectares, close to one half of the vineyard, has been replanted. The density of planting varies, but 8000 vines per hectare is the figure chosen for the newest plantings. As for practises in the vineyard, artificial fertilisation was the norm here under Lasserre, but Durantou put an end to this in 1989. Today there is systematic deleafing and, as already mentioned, green harvesting is routinely practised. Come harvest time much of the quality control happens in the vineyard, but there are also two sorting tables in the cellar in order to inspect and clean up the harvested fruit.

The Wines

As is already clear, there are two principal wines produced here, the grand vin L'Église-Clinet and the good-value second wine, sourced largely from the distant roadside vineyard, La Petite Église. Durantou's work has pushed not just the former but indeed both of these wines skywards in terms of quality. The wines are fermented in the aforementioned stainless steel, including some small vats added in 2000. Thereafter the wine goes into oak, which has been up to 80% new in some very recent vintages including 2000 and 2005. They rest here for 18 months with regular racking, before an egg-white fining and subsequent bottling.

The ultimate quality is exceptional, a statement I make based on tasting several vintages in their youth, and all-too-few vintages in maturity. Recent primeur assessment of the 2010 and 2009 vintages showed the grand vin to be superb in both vintages, with very fine showings by La Petite Église also - this is not a second wine to be sneezed at. In fact, it has the honour of being the only Bordeaux second wine that I have added to my own cellar in recent years (now that the days of buying Les Forts de Latour and Carruades de Lafite with the thought of actually drinking them seem to have passed, anyway). Durantou's other wines, from Castillon and St Emilion, can also be of very high quality. As for more mature vintages, curiously the only notes I can dredge up are for the 1983 and 1978 vintages. The former was the first vintage in which Durantou had a hand, and tasted at seventeen years of age it was, sadly, already tiring. The latter showed a little better, I am happy to say, even though it had already seen out its 30th birthday, but in truth neither wine possessed anything like the stunning confidence of the modern wines. These more recent vintages are much more convincing, and as a result L'Église-Clinet is today, to my mind, one of Pomerol's leading estates. (28/7/11)

Contact details:
Address: Château L'Église-Clinet, 33500 Pomerol
Telephone: +33 (0) 5 57 25 96 59
Fax: +33 (0) 5 57 25 21 96
Internet: www.eglise-clinet.com
GPS: 44.934307, -0.202338

Château L'Église-Clinet - Tasting Notes

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Château L'Église-Clinet (Pomerol) 2010: The harvest was September 20th to September 27th (Merlot) and then October 1st (Cabernet Franc). The blend is 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. A very dark damson fruit here, polished and substantial, smoky, elegant, with a deeply-fruited quality. A lovely creamy depth, carrying an impressive, plush, svelte composition. There is a lovely polish to the fruit and then a fine grip of ripe, velvety yet grippy tannins coming in. This is really very well composed in a very structured, tannic style but with all the other elements in a high-end balance. Good acidity, appropriate rather than prominent, and a huge, balanced, tannic finish. This is very impressive. A second sample, drawn later in the day, showed a slightly more composed character, with flattering fruit coulis and vanilla ice cream nuances. It was served at a slightly cooler temperature. All the same, all the elegance and finesse deserved another half-point. This is very fine. From my Bordeaux 2010 primeurs assessment. 18-19/20 (April 2011)

La Petite Église (Pomerol) 2010: The second wine of L'Église-Clinet. The harvest was September 27th to September 30th, the assemblage 100% Merlot. Rather fresh and perfumed fruit here on the nose, a very primary plum character, concentrated and deep but not dried or raisined which I like - I found this character in a number of Durantou's 'lesser' cuvées. Fresh, showing good acidity beneath the layered fruit here. A lovely quality, opens out very nicely, showing plum and cherry fruit, but all really beautifully integrated. Appropriate tannins for this level of wine, lightly sooty and dark, but still very composed. Firm, grainy, but of high quality. An impressive second wine. From my Bordeaux 2010 primeurs assessment. 17-18/20 (April 2011)

Château L'Église-Clinet (Pomerol) 2009: Merlot 90%, Cabernet Franc 10%, picked September 14th to 28th. A very dark layer of spice here, well honed, direct, compact, ripe but well polished. Gently honeyed oak. So elegant on the palate, a beautifully directed seam of fruit, framed by a straight and savoury application of tannins. Great harmony and structure here. Wonderful honeyed substance. Fine plum skin and damson elements to it too. There is a depth and spice to the fruit, but most of all a beautifully composed palate. Great quality here, wonderful, such a fine expression of the vintage. Fresh and balanced, this is an excellent demonstration of what the appellation is capable of even in this hot and alcoholic year. From my 2009 Bordeaux primeur assessment. 18-19+/20 (March 2010)

La Petite Église (Pomerol) 2009: This is the second wine of L'Église-Clinet, and is 100% Merlot. Picked September 28th. A lovely nose, very classic in style. Honeyed and rather complex fruit, roasted plum skins, overall it seems quite delicious. Lots of peppery substance on the palate, fresh and bright, although there is quite a deep style of fruit, slightly plump, with ripe and appropriate - if a touch chewy - tannins. Should make good drinking, and may well offer good value too looking at previous vintages. From my 2009 Bordeaux primeur assessment. 17-18+/20 (March 2010)

Château L'Église-Clinet (Pomerol) 1983: A smoky, meaty, bacony nose, with a hint of mint. Another somewhat dried out palate, with still obvious tannins. Slightly bitter finish - I think down to those tannins that have never quite softened out. Another drying out wine - drink up if you have any. From a tasting of mature Pomerol. 15.5/20 (June 2000)

Château L'Église Clinet (Pomerol) 1978: This wine predates the Durantou era. A much more mature, dusty, fading, leafy-autumnal hue, hardly surprising considering we have moved back a decade here. The nose is very evolved as well, showing a sweet, meaty and slightly baked-fruit character. Notes of black beans too, and later showing a more concerted perfume, opening out more and more as it sits in the glass. Good flesh on entry, sitting in a very dry frame though. There is a little grittiness to the texture, good spice, fresh acidity, and although quite broad and a little flat through the midpalate in particular this is still holding up very well, even if the perfume of the nose doesn't come through in the quality of the wine. From a Pomerol Tasting with Roberson Wine. 16.5/20 (November 2010)