Château L’Église-Clinet
Ranking: Not applicable
Appellation: Pomerol
Owner: The Durantou Family
Ten-second primer: A leading estate, punching at the same weight as the most famous names in the appellation, this success the result of decades of work by the late Denis Durantou. Since his passing the property remains with his family, with Constance Durantou now the most actively involved. Wines made by Olivier Gautrat.
This profile includes: Four pages of history and detail (links above), and tasting notes back to 1964.
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 a tasting at one property to another tasting at the next, I broaden by just a little 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, to be blunt, a very modest property. Indeed, this is true of many estates in this appellation; on the left bank it is impossible to overlook the likes of Château Pichon Baron, Château Pichon Comtesse or Château Margaux, or indeed many other typically grand châteaux, but here on the right bank there is often little to distinguish one low-slung, terracotta-tiled farmhouse-come-chai from the next. But looks can be deceiving; in Pomerol the grandeur of the wine made at any one property can often far exceed the status that is suggested by the appearance of its château.
This is certainly true of Château Lafleur, and also Château Le Pin (it is perhaps noteworthy that since I first published this profile both properties mentioned have been blessed with new cellars – yet both still manage to remain understated in their outward appearances). Château L’Église-Clinet is just one more example of Pomerol’s deceptively simple facade. The château is decidedly low-key, an attractive farmhouse built in 1850 which does its best to hide behind a row of tightly-pollarded plane trees. Indeed, the entire estate is nothing to look at, but the wines made here are magnificent, and I would rank them right at the top of the appellation.
This profile examines the workings of this leading Pomerol domaine, with a focus on the man who was for many years the driving force here, the late Denis Durantou (1957 – 2020), although following his passing in 2020 control of the estate passed to his two daughters Noëmie and Constance, of whom only one remains actively involved today. But that is the estate now; before we come to the property here today, I begin as usual with a little history, and with the Rouchut family.
