Chateau L'Eglise-Clinet

The name Eglise refers to an ancient chapel, dated perhaps to the 12^th century, which are still associated with the vineyards of Clos L’Eglise and L’Eglise-Clinet. The vineyards were located around the church which is no longer in existence. The two estates were once a common 18-ha property under the Rouchut family, and was then divided to the two modern-day estates around 1882, under Mauleon Rouchut.

Chateau L’Eglise-Clinet was passed to Mauleon’s daughter, who wedded Paul Rabier and then the estate was passed to his daughter Rene. Rene solicited the assistance of Pierre Lasserre, responsible for managing the vineyard and making the wines, in return for half of the proceeds.

Rene’s son Jacques Durantou inherited the estate but was not interested in taking up the rein, and subsequently his son Denis inherited the business. Pierre Lasserre had worked in very old-fashioned manner, with the fruit fermented without temperature control, liberal addition of stalks to the mix, and little or no use of new oak. However, the wines still received a good press.

Denis Durantou went on to study oenology in Bordeaux and took over from Lasserre later, reducing yields through green harvesting, which was novel at the time in Pomerol. Denis also favored the destemming and introduced new equipment in the chai, replacing the old wood with new barrels. He also used stainless steel vats for fermentation, with temperature control.

There are a total of 6 hectares of vines, with 4.5 ha adjacent to the nearby church, with typical soil of gravel over clay. The remaining 1.5 ha is further away with sandy-gravelly soil, which mainly is used for the second wine La Petite Eglise, which was introduced in 1986. Annual production of the grand vin is 15000 bottles and the second wine 20000 bottles.

85% Merlot, with the remaining under Cabernet Franc, many of the vines dated back to 1935. The vines were not replanted after the 1956 killing freeze and thus the age is old, with a few exceeding 100 years. On the vinification, about 80% new oak is used now in recent vintages, and will be rested for 18 months with regular racking before fining with egg-white and bottled.

Today Denis managed a portfolio of vineyards on the right bank, many offering good values.

I have recently tasted the 2003 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Very good quality Pomerol with deep ruby color, a fairly intense nose showing fair complexity, developing characters of black cherry and blackberry, plum, toast, cedar and tobacco, juniper and liquorice. Good acidity but having a slightly gripping tannin, if given more time for the tannin to soften it would be even better. Fairly full-bodied, the flavors are reasonably intense and complex, with black cherry and blueberry, toast, liquorice, plum and cream. The wine has a reasonable finish, and is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 5-7 years.