Chateau L´Eglise Clinet 2000

JAMES SUCKLING: "Incredible concentration and richness in this wine. This is good stuff, loads of complexity with notes of flowers, vanilla, and ripe fruit. Still drinking like a baby, this is full, soft, and long. Opulent and gorgeous right now but give this five years and you’ll be better off. Pull the cork in 2015. So much fruit for a Bordeaux. 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The Château l'Eglise-Clinet 2000 was the only vintage that Denis Durantou did not fine before bottling. It is blessed with a brilliant nose that possesses the intensity of the 1998, but I find this more focused and delineated. It has a level of purity that one can only describe as profound, scents of black cherry, cassis, cedar and black truffle unfolding with each passing moment in the glass. The palate has exquisite balance with salinity that gets the saliva flowing. There is a seam of spiciness, black pepper and rosemary that coat the mouth, but the overall style at the moment is linear and focused. The precision on the finish is enthralling, completing a fabulous l'Eglise-Clinet that rivets your feet to the spot (and maybe your palate, too?). Tasted March 2015."

WEINWISSER: "Violett-Purpur mit schwarzen Reflexen. Gewaltiges Bouquet, Cassis, Brombeeren, Mahagonitouch, Dörrbananen, viel Lakritze und eine rauch-parfümierte Merlot-Note, geröstete Himbeerkerne. Opulenter, cremiger Gaumen, viel Schmelz in den fetten Tanninen, sattes, cremiges Extrakt, extreme Konzentration, ein wahnsinniger Kraftakt, von einer gesunden, reifen Säure unterstützt, die intensiven Aromen katapultartig in die Länge ziehend. Entwickelt sich prächtig und gehört zu den allerbesten Jahrgängen der letzten zehn Jahre, sehr nahe der Jahrhundertwein-Marke von 20 Punkten."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "The first of the great wines produced under the direction of Denis Durantou, picture a boatload of chocolate covered cherries, truffle, plum liqueur and Asian spices in the complex aromatics. On the palate, the wine is full bodied, dense, rich, plush and exotic. The wine is youthful, exuberant, sensuous and rich. You can drink this now. But I’m waiting for 3 to 5 years before popping my corks. This is the last vintage aged in 100% new, French oak. The wine reached 13.5% ABV, with no touch of heat."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "Denis Durantou's obsessive search for perfection paid off handsomely with this stunning 2000. Despite the richness of the fruit, there is still a sense of lightness to the wine which makes it surprisingly easy to comprehend at this stage. The Cabernet Franc perfumes couterpoint the rich Merlot, while the wood underpins everything."

WINE SPECTATOR: "This has everything. Super class and elegance, yet ripe and exciting. Fantastic aromas of blackberries, cherries, violets and minerals. Full-bodied, with incredible raspberry, cherry, mineral and silky tannins. Very long. Winemaker Denis Durantou is a purist, and it shows."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Dark crimson. Spicy and exciting. Luscious and rich. A little thick and brutal but there is richness and spiciness. Just a bit chewy but there are great raw ingredients in here. Chunky and dramatic rather than refined."