Wine Advisor
Clinet 1996
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
This is a backward, muscular, highly-extracted wine with a boatload of tannin, thus the question mark. The saturated plum/purple color is followed by an aggressively oaky nose with scents of roasted coffee, blackberries, and prunes. It is somewhat of a freak for a 1996 Pomerol given its richness, intensity, and overripe style. Medium-bodied and powerful, but extremely closed, and in need of 5-7 years of cellaring, it will be interesting to follow this wine's evolution to determine if the tannin fully integrates itself into the wine's concentrated style. If not, it will have a slight rusticity to its tannin and structure. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2020. I sense this wine will be much more controversial than I had anticipated.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 1996 Clinet, a blend of 80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, was bottled a few days after Ronan Laborde's father took over the château in March 1999, spending 21 months in new oak barrels and five months in stainless steel. There was some funkiness at first, but it seems to gain a degree of clarity: scents of smudged red fruit, undergrowth, fennel and thyme, fully mature yet somehow speaking more of the winery than the terroir. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, a pleasant salinity on the entry, quite structured and not the usual voluptuous Clinet, as you would expect from this vintage. It is linear and perhaps a little broody, a slightly candied finish but rustic compared to other vintages, something that Robert Parker actually suggested might happen in one of his earlier notes. Comparing the two, I actually prefer the 1986 Clinet to the 1996. Tasted September 2016.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at Bordeaux Index’s Clinet vertical. Mature in appearance with a wide tawny rim, the Clinet ‘96 has a very ripe, opulent bouquet with macerated red cherries, orange peel, dried honey, hints of fig and dates emerging with further aeration. Good definition: a ravishing bouquet. The palate is medium-bodied with firm, meaty tannins, very good weight and depth, the acidity maintaining sufficient freshness. It leads to a dry finish dominated by mature Cabernet Franc with touches of cooked meat, oxtail, dried herbs and a touch of marjoram. It is a little clipped on the finish, but this is not bad considering the vintage. Tasted February 2011.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
An intriguing style of Clinet, the 1996 will be interesting to follow over its lifeline of at least 20-25 years. The wine exhibits an opaque black/garnet color. It possesses elements of what the French call sur-maturite (literally translated as "overripeness," but the word has a more positive connotation in French than in English), plenty of toasty, smoky new oak, and high levels of tannin. At the same time, compelling levels of fruit, extract, and glycerin are present. The wine is astringent and structured, with more of a Medoc-like austerity than other top vintages of Clinet, but there are gobs of sweet plum, black cherry, and blackberry fruit. The acidity is low, the tannin high, and the concentration level exhilarating. This wine will not be accessible young, as it will undoubtedly tighten up even more, and need at least 6-8 years of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2025.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The most concentrated wine produced in Pomerol in 1996, Clinet has turned out an inky-colored, highly-extracted, powerful wine with hefty tannin. Yet it has more than enough depth, richness, and extract to pull it through over the next quarter century. One of the most backward Clinets I have tasted, the 1996 offers restrained, sweet scents of blueberries, overripe plums, violets, and black truffles. Medium-bodied, with superb concentration, as well as ferocious tannins, this unevolved, large-scaled vin de garde should turn out to be impressive, provided purchasers have the patience to wait for at least a decade. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2023. Very impressive, but patience will have to be a virtue of this wine's purchasers.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Served from an ex-chateau double magnum, the 1996 Clinet has a mature nose even in this larger format with blackberry and raspberry fruit, perhaps a little more animally than I recall other examples (just a little brettanomyces perchance?) The palate is full-bodied with firm tannins, thickly layered black fruit, mint and sage. I actually prefer the bottle served at the vertical two years ago as this seemed a little frayed and bucolic on the finish. Still, this is a pleasurable wine, albeit no match compared to recent successes. Tasted May 2013.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 1996 Clinet is a vintage I am glad to retaste, made just a few days after Ronan Laborde's father took over the property in March 1999. It spent 21 weeks in new oak plus 5 months in stainless steel. This bottle is similar to the one I tasted in 2016. Hints of smudged red fruit, undergrowth, fennel and garrigue emerge on the fully mature and open nose. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins. It's quite contained for this era with attractive linearity—if little in the way of complexity—toward the finish. This is rustic but not unattractively so. Tasted at the château and taken from the Pomerol book.
1989(2)1995(4)
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