2022 Clos du Clocher

A stunning wine in 2022 showcasing star power in Pomerol and delivering one of the appellation’s clear successes. Beautifully fragrant on the nose, fresh and ripe black fruits, purple flowers, milk chocolate, salty stones and liquorice. Smooth, sumptuous and seductive in terms of texture - tannins are beautifully chalky and so well integrated - almost effortlessly supporting the concentrated fruit and giving the confident structure. Focussed and detailed but not tight or tense, really quite a special effort. Energy and mouthwatering acidity is in the background but it’s the texture that’s most captivating, velvety, chalky, ripe, fleshy and refined all at once. It manages to be understated in a year where it was easy to be anything but. I love it. 3.6pH. A yield of 39hl/ha. Harvest started on 7 September. Soft extraction with natural yeasts for fermentation. Ageing 55-60% oak barrels, 30% one wine barrels, and 7% in small concrete tanks and wine globes. Second year of organic conversion. Next year, 2024, Clos du Clocher will celebrate its 100 year anniversary having been founded by Jean-Baptiste Audy in 1924.

Helped by old vine Cabernet Franc that dates back to 1957, this is full of wonderfully dark damson fruits, shot thorugh with mint leaf cooling complexity. Velvety tannins, crushed rose petals, supple and enticing. This is a brilliant wine, really pulls away from many in the appellation. The tannins are very much present right at the front of the palate, and then they form an arch, that allows the fruit underneath. Natural yeasts, very little oxygen, low sulphur additions, a wine for the ages. Once again Clos du Clocher shows why it deserves to be at the top table in Pomerol. 60% new barrels, 30% one year old barrels, 10% small vats (glass and concrete). Organic conversion. 2024 will be 100 years in the family, so this is 98th anniversary.

Silky cherries, plums, cocoa, and violets in the perfume, the wine is medium/full-bodied, vibrant, opulent, silky, lush, and polished. The finish continues its theme of dark chocolate-covered fruit, espresso, and sensuous textures from the mid-palate through to the silky, long finish. The wine blends 70% Merlot with 30% Cabernet Franc. 14.5% ABV, 3.65 pH.