Wine Advisor
La Clotte 2020
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: William Kelley
From holdings on the outskirts of the town of Saint-Émilion, the Vauthier family's 2020 La Clotte has turned out beautifully, mingling aromas of raspberries and mulberries with hints of petals, incense and vine smoke. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated and vibrant, it's suave and precise, concluding with a penetrating finish. The blend is 85% Merlot with 15% Cabernet Franc.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2020 La Clotte exudes depth and is intensely packed with dark red cherry, plum and blood orange fruit. Today, La Clotte is incredibly primary, with terrific fruit density but less in the way of aromatic complexity. That’s probably a very good thing for its long-term prospects, but readers will have to be patient. It spent 18 months in 100% new French oak, and there is some oak that still needs to integrate.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2020 La Clotte comes from a small 4-hectare estate, rapidly becoming one of the Vauthier family's most coveted crus. This is another in the canon of outstanding recent vintages. It offers a mixture of red and black fruit, pain d'épices and crushed stone, gaining complexity with aeration while remaining very cohesive. The palate is very harmonious with finely-chiseled tannins, a seam of graphite imparted by the 15% Cabernet Franc, beautifully focused and refined towards the finish. This is a very classy Saint-Émilion, one that will require time.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2020 La Clotte was picked 14-30 September and matured in barriques for 18 months. This has a gorgeous and expressive bouquet with beautifully defined red fruit, crushed stone, wilted rose petal and a touch of sea spray. It is extremely focused with seamlessly integrated oak. The palate is medium-bodied and silky smooth. Finely tuned acidity gently builds in the mouth. Very harmonious towards the finish that fans out wonderfully. This is a superb Saint-Émilion, one of the best you will find in 2020.
About the Producer
Located in the Saint-Emilion appellation of Bordeaux, France, Chateau La Clotte sits on one of the oldest vineyards on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. The vineyard covers 4 hectares and is planted to Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, mainly on clay and limestone soils. The vines are old, with an average age of almost 50 years, and planted at a density of 6,500 vines per hectare. During the ripening stage, the winery conducts regular experimental analyses in order to determine the final harvesting time. For the winemaking, the grapes are picked by hand, macerated at low temperatures and fermented in stainless steel tanks equipped with temperature control facilities. During this period, daily drenching, cap pressing and tank decanting and back-mixing are carried out to enhance the contact between the juice and the skins in order to extract more pigments and tannins. After fermentation, the wine is aged in 50% new French oak barrels, depending on the quality of the grapes, usually around 15 months. The wine produced by Château La Clotte is called Chateau La Clotte, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classe, France. The wines are of excellent quality, reasonably priced, rich in minerality, rich and full-bodied, and loved by the elite of the wine industry. Recent vintages of Château Claret have won praise from several wine critics and wine review magazines, including Robert Parker Points, James Suckling and Wine Enthusiast, for their excellent quality, including a 95+ score for the 2015 vintage. with a score of 95+.
