For whatever reason, Chateau Clinet was not interested in having their 2015 tasted for this report and I was unable to taste it during my trip through the region. I’ll do my best to review it from bottle once it’s available in the United States. Nevertheless, I purchased a bottle of the 2014 Château Clinet locally and it showed beautifully, revealing a deep purple color, loads of plum, crème de cassis, spice-box, dried flowers, and graphite aromas and flavors, full-bodied richness, and a terrific minerality the developed with time in the glass. This is an elegant, balanced, beautifully pure 2014 that’s very much in the style of the vintage. It will keep for 20+ years.

The 2014 Clinet is striking. Energetic, tense and wiry, the 2014 jumps from the glass with notable intensity. The tannins are quite evident, as is the acidity, but there is a level of harmony here that is impossible to miss. Red currant, sweet red cherry, tobacco, smoke and white pepper add nuance on the pulsating finish. I imagine the 2014 is going to require quite a bit of time, but it is compelling, even at this early stage. The 2014 is 90% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Cabernet Franc that saw 30+ days on the skins in small lot fermenters, with manual punch-downs. Malolactic fermentation took place in barrel. This is a fabulous showing from Clinet and proprietor Ronan Laborde.

The 2014 Clinet was a wine that perplexed when I tasted it from barrel and as a consequence, it was one that I went back and retasted three or four times during that primeur campaign. Now in bottle, the bouquet has improved and developed more fruit concentration, armed with red plum, wild strawberry and blueberry scents. The palate is medium-bodied and quite refined, certainly not as opulent as other vintages from the estate, perhaps just missing a persistence on the angular finish. It is not a bad Clinet by a long stretch, it just feels a little constricted, especially compared to say the 2010 or 2015. I tasted this on three occasions, drawing the same conclusion each time.