Château Clerc-Milon: Tasting & Drinking
Château Clerc-Milon is an unusual wine. It does not have a huge, vocal following in the way that Château Lynch-Bages does. It does not have the benefit of recent publicity concerning an obvious improvement in quality, with the Parker points to match, in the way that Château Pontet-Canet has. It does, however, command a healthy but admittedly not exorbitant price. When I first came to taste Château Clerc-Milon from the Rothschild era I expected to find some decent but perhaps not superlative examples of Pauillac. What I actually found was an impressive wine; in several vintages a dark, brooding and masculine libation, punching way above its weight. But with it comes none of the cost-enhancing hype that follows some other Bordeaux châteaux.
Having said that, with the dramatic wind of change that has swept across the Clerc-Milon vineyards and cellars during the past two decades, I am not surprised to see quality has been pushed higher here. With an experienced, revitalised and now dedicated team, reconstituted vineyards, new state-of-the-art cellars and Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy’s expertise feeding down though it all, quality here is at an all-time high. The gap between Clerc-Milon and d’Armailhac, once negligible, is now noteworthy, although I am sue there is much work going on at this latter estate – blessed with new facilities much more recently than Clerc-Milon – to close the gap.
Recent vintages in which the quality shines through most clearly include 2023, 2022, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2016, 2010, 2009 and 2005. The wines are also worth checking out in vintages in which the team here have overperformed, sometimes against the odds. I have been impressed by what has been achieved here in more difficult vintages, especially frosted years, when the estate’s proximity to the Gironde would have been protective. Other less exalted years which should not be ignored include 2017, 2015, 2014, 2011, 2008 and 2006. There are also a number of older vintages I have rated highly, including 2000, 1996 and 1995, but these tasting notes are quite ‘mature’ now, and it would be interesting to revisit these wines. (19/1/05, updated 29/3/07, 9/5/12, 15/3/14, 23/2/26)
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