Wine Advisor
Clinet 1995
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at Bordeaux Index’s Clinet vertical. With a wide tawny rim, this has a light but well defined nose with touches of beef stock, sage and juniper berry. It is quite elegant and retaining moderate vigour. With further aeration there is a touch of orange rind emerging and the aromatics gain cohesion. The palate is medium-bodied with a coarse, black pepper tinged entry, hard tannins and a rather forced, dry, pinched finish that detracts from the overall effect. Tasted February 2011.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Since 1987, this estate has consistently produced one of the most concentrated and complex wines in Bordeaux. The decision by Jean-Michel Arcaute and oenologist Michel Rolland to (1) limit yields, (2) harvest physiologically ripe grapes with an element of sur-maturitie, and (3) bottle the wine without fining or filtration has resulted in a bevy of splendid wines where the terroir and varietal composition are fully expressed. This wine may rival the perfect 1989 Clinet. The color is an opaque blue/black/purple. The wine displays fabulously sweet, pure aromas of licorice, cassis, framboise, vanilla, and Asian spices. Massively extracted (remarkably, even thicker and richer than the 1994), the unctuous 1995 displays less of the late harvest character possessed by the 1994, but phenomenal richness, layers of concentration, and a finish that lasts for nearly 45 seconds. This should turn out to be a profoundly great, awesomely endowed Pomerol for drinking between 2003-2028.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Readers will have a hard time choosing between the 1994 and 1995 vintages of Clinet. Both are great wines, with Clinet's tell-tale opaque black/purple color, gorgeous purity, sweet jammy black-raspberry, blueberry, and cherry scents and flavors with an underlying hint of violets, and layers of velvety texture. The profound 1995 possesses knock-out jammy aromas of black fruits and vanilla-tinged, toasty new oak. Fabulously rich and dense, with superior ripeness and lower acidity, this lush, fat wine will reach full maturity earlier than the 1994, and last for 20+ years. Anyone looking for a decadently rich, impeccably made Pomerol should have these limited production gems in their cellar. Under the guidance of Jean-Michel Arcaute, Clinet has been making one of the finest wines of Bordeaux for nearly a decade (since the 1987 vintage). This is one of the few Pomerol wines that goes into the bottle with no fining or filtering. It is one of the showpiece wines that the famed Pomerol/St.-Emilion oenologist, Michel Rolland, can claim as a client. All of the wines in this segment were tasted between March 19 and March 28 in Bordeaux. Most of the important wines from both the 1994 and 1995 vintages were tasted three separate times during my ten-day stay in Bordeaux.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Another extraordinary wine made in a backward vin de garde style, the 1995 Clinet represents the essence of Pomerol. The blackberry, cassis liqueur-like fruit of this wine is awesome. The color is saturated black/purple, and the wine extremely full-bodied and powerful with layers of glycerin-imbued fruit, massive richness, plenty of licorice, blackberry, and cassis flavors, full body, and a thick, unctuous texture. This is a dense, impressive offering from administrator Jean-Michel Arcaute. This wine should continue to improve for another 10-25 years. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2025.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Very good deep red-ruby. Rather dumb nose exudes a faint shoe polish aroma. Dense, velvety, soft and mouthcoating; fills those hard-to-reach spots on your palate. Really an outsized wine, with thick, chocolatey fruit and major dusty tannins. But currently monolithic. In France they'd call this "Monsieur Plus.”
1989(2)
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