Château L’Église-Clinet: Tasting & Drinking
The ultimate quality of the wines of Château L’Église-Clinet is exceptional, a statement I make based on tasting several vintages in their youth, and a good number of vintages in maturity. Recent primeur assessments of 2016 and 2015, both vintages which were kind to the left bank, show that quality here is as high as ever. The 2014 is a smart wine, an excellent result in what was a somewhat over-rated vintage, while the 2013 was for me always one of the better wines in this otherwise horrendous vintage. Perhaps my first encounter with the 2012 vintage was my most memorable tasting here though. This was a year that favoured right-bank appellations, nevertheless during the primeur tastings I seem to recall I was feeling a little underwhelmed. And then I came to the 2012 Château L’Église-Clinet, streets ahead of anything else I had tasted all week, and clearly the wine of the vintage. To pull such unparalleled success out of the hat, in such conditions, is the mark of true talent.
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