Château La Clotte: Tasting & Drinking
Château La Clotte is not one of the most famous domaines in St Emilion, although with only 3.5 hectares to its name, and until recently a lack of motivated and dynamic leadership, this is perhaps hardly surprising. It is safe to say now, the domaine having been taken over by Alain and Pauline Vauthier, that this is a domaine on the up. Certainly tasting the young wine at the primeurs, alongside the rest of the Vauthier portfolio, it has impressed.
The 2016 and 2015 vintages are noteworthy, both vintages having been particularly favourable for the appellations of the right bank. This fact, combined with the new efforts put in place by the Vauthier family, and of course that remarkable limestone terroir, seem to have paid dividends. The 2014 was also pretty smart, albeit in the fresher style which characterises that vintage. It was in more benevolent vintages, namely 2015, 2016 and 2018, that the results of the efforts made by the Vauthier family really began to shine through, with some exceptional results in these years. For some reason this was not the case in 2017, despite the vines having escaped that year’s damaging frost, although this is still a good wine, and superior to the rather lighter 2021, which hails from a difficult vintage.
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