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  • Country ranking ?

    894
  • Producer ranking ?

    3
  • Decanting time

    4h
  • When to drink

    2020-2035
  • Food Pairing

    Beef

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The Story

Located in the northern part of the Pauillac appellation, Clerc-Milon is one of eighteen Cinquièmes Crus (Fifth Growths) and faces Château Lafite Rothschild across the Route des Châteaux. 

Having become increasingly fragmented through sell-offs, it was acquired in 1970 by Baron Philippe de Rothschild, of Mouton Rothschild fame, as a doup with great potential, and he immediately set about renovating the estate, constructing a new vat house and weaving his well documented magic on the château’s imagery. 

The vat house is the first in Bordeaux to claim High Environmental Quality certification. The 45-hectare vineyard is planted in 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% of Carménère, the latter consisting of vines that were planted back in 1947. 

Clerc-Milon is now making the best wines in its history, beguiling, classically-styled expressions of currant, blackberry and spice, and can boast an outstanding run of recent vintages.

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Vintage 2018

Report and recommendations for the 2018 Bordeaux vintage

by Andrew Caillard MW

2018 is an exceptional year. Bordeaux whites and Sauternes are very good, but from an Australian perspective, the excitement is all in the red wines. All sub-regions produced examples of very good wines, but some performed better than others. Generally, the largest estates have made exemplary wines illustrating that the human factor and wealth can have a major impact on the terroir! Over the past few weeks I have tasted around 350-400 wines, sometimes in large format forums like UCG tastings or at various châteaux. These days it is difficult to taste wines blind, but color density, aromatic freshness, tannin density and overall balance are obvious indicators. In some cases, I tasted wines a few times, which allowed me to cross references.

 

The weather until a few days ago was clear with bright sunshine, warm days and a cool breeze. Temperatures have dropped now with more cloud cover and intermittent rain. Driving from Sauternes to St Emilion we passed through some light hail but not enough to cause too many problems. In two weeks, we saw dormant vines and trees come to life. The growing season starts a little early and, of course, people worry about the chance of frost. After the devastating frost episodes of 2017 and the challenges created by hail and mildew in 2018, there is a feeling that climate change could well have an unpredictable impact on future Bordeaux vintages.

 

We have tasted a good amount of primeur wines now. As usual the vintage will be exaggerated. The growing season was almost calamitous, but long hours of hot sunshine over the summer cleaned everything up and allowed the grapes to ripen very, very well. The colors, flavors, density and acidities are truly impressive and as a result the vintage is generally quite exceptional. It's difficult to truly understand overall crop losses, as growers are naturally quite cagey. But they vary from almost nothing to less than a third. At Ch Climens in Sauternes Barsac, I estimate that the harvest is around 20% of the average. When we know that this area lost its entire harvest in 2017 due to frost, the shock must be keenly felt. Mother Nature has been particularly cruel lately. The growing season story will inevitably create a negative impression, but few people will remember the details in years to come. They will only remember the wine. For some people with long memories, they believe the vintage is like 1947 or 1961. If so, it's not just an exceptional vintage, it's something beyond the norm. An immortal year. The concentration, weight and vitality of the wines are impressive. Despite the incredible density of tannins, saturated colors and flavors, the wines are actually quite easy to taste, indicating remarkable balance and life.

 

In my opinion, the strongest sub-regions are Pauillac and St Julien – both of which have produced wines of great consistency and classicism. They are powerfully expressive with pronounced ripe tannins and pure fruit flavors. The combination of better microclimatic conditions, wealth and physical resources contributed to the result. Ch Pontet Canet is an exception because of its approach to biodynamic viticulture. It suffered terribly from downy mildew and only produced a third of the harvest. The wine is distinctly different from wines like Ch Latour or Ch Pichon Lalande, but its overall buoyancy and fruit richness are convincing. It also represents something worthwhile and important.

 

I still think Pauilac is the benchmark for Bordeaux. Typically, the wines are extremely expressive with aromas of pure cedar and fine grainy tannins. This year, the wines are particularly dense and inky with abundant graphite tannins. They are not at all tense or soft and so when the tannins settle in, the wines will be exceptional.

There are many exceptional wines from Pauillac, including Ch Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Ch Pichon Longueville Baron, Ch Lynch Bages, Ch Batailley, Ch d’Armailhac and Ch Grand Puy Lacoste. The premier crus Ch Latour, Ch Mouton Rothschild and Ch Lafite Rothschild are very impressive. Their second wines Les Forts de Latour, Petit Mouton and Carruades are also of very high quality.

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

Clerc Milon CC - 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot and 1% Carmenere. When tasted in April 2019 during primeur, property's manager,  Philippe Dhalluin, told me that in his opinion, it's the best wine for the property since 1986. He also commented on two grape varieties in this wine, Petit Verdot and Carmenere - "Petit Verdot is a difficult grape to take care of and needs a lot of attention during the growing season. But Carmenere is even more difficult and needs a double amount of care and attention!  Both varieties fully deserve their nickname "enfant terrible"! I haven't tasted many vintages from this property before 2000. Still, this 2018 is opulent and subtle, creamy, seductive and elegant with the fruit and tannin's silkiness, fine complexity, and lovely, long-lasting finish. Highly entertaining wine. 93p (93p).

  • 93p

Ruby. Cassis, anise, blueberries, some spices, liquorice nose. Slightly exotic. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, anise, blueberries, spices, some liquorice, detailed, long finish. 93-95

  • 94p

Deep colour. Fresh aromatic wine with red plum red currant cassis aromas with toasty oak notes. Supple wine with red currant black currant fruits, plentiful grainy tannins and underlying espresso notes. Finishes firm and tight.

  • 94p

Dark purple red colour with violet hue and black core. Aromatic nose reminiscent of blackcurrants, blackberry, mild spices and hints of roasting aroma in the background. On the palate complex and well structured with sweet tannins and excellent length. A rich wine with elegance.

  • 95p
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Origin

Pauillac, Bordeaux
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