2020 Château Clerc Milon En Primeur
2020 Château Clerc Milon is described as "another beauty" by Jeb Dunnuck (95 points) with long term potential noted by Anson and Suckling (95-96 points). Neal Martin describes it as "Classic Pauillac through and through".
Like its sibling Mouton-Rothschild, this is a wine with a large following in the Far East, making it a strong candidate for investment buyers.
Caroline Artaud of Clerc Milon introduces the 2020 vintage:
Bordeaux En Primeur, landing in spring 2023
Limited availability. To order, e-mail us at sales@richardkihl.ltd.uk
Producer Profile
Château Clerc Milon, Cru Classé Pauillac
Château Clerc Milon is a Cinquièmes Cru Classé in Pauillac, named (like neighbour Duhart-Milon) after the village of Milon in Pauillac and its owner at the time of the 1855 Classification, Jean-Baptiste Clerc. The estate was purchased in 1970 by Baron Philippe de Rothschild and benefits from the winemaking expertise of the team at Mouton-Rothschild. Clerc Milon is usually a clear step up from sibling property d'Armaihac and seems to us to capture more of the nuances and complexity of the First Growth.
A new winery was built in 2011 (the estate does not possess a Château). The 41 hectares of vineyards are planted to Cabernet Sauvignon (50%), Merlot (37%), Cabernet Franc (10%), Petit Verdot (2%) and Carmenere (1%). The average age of the vines is 53 years. Mostly planted before the development of clonal selection, the vines may lack the precise properties of more modern plantings, but they are rich in genetic material. The vine density ranges between 8,500 and 10,000 vines per hectare, very similar to Mouton.
| RED | 2020 | 1 case | Château Clerc Milon | 75cl | £640 per case of 12 | Château Clerc Milon 2020 / 1 case / 75cl £640 per case of 12 |
IB | ||||
Tasting Notes“53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. First vintage for Caroline Artaud (ex Fourcas-Hosten). Cask sample. Dense and profound with layers of fruit and tannin. Subdued nose with a floral note. Tannins powdery but very finely layered. Exudes power but is harmonious at the same time. 13.3%. Drink 2027 – 2045. 17.5 points.” (JL), Jancisrobinson.com------"The 2020 Clerc Milon has a crisp, well-defined bouquet that you might suspect derives from a cooler growing season. Mainly black fruit here, along with cedar and light sea spray/estuarine scents, unfolding nicely in the glass but always keeping something back. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins. An elegant rather than powerful Clerc Milon, with a slightly ferrous, well-structured but never grippy finish and a saline aftertaste. Give this 4–5 years in bottle. Classic Pauillac through and through. 91-93 points" Neal Martin, Vinous.com------"The 2020 Clerc Milon - a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot with just a splash of Carmenere - has a deep garnet-purple color, opening with notes of tar, unsmoked cigars, bouquet garni and graphite, giving way to a core of ripe black and red currants, boysenberries and tree bark, plus a touch of black olives. The medium-bodied palate delivers fantastic tension and impressively ripe, fine-grained tannins to support the crunchy, energetic black fruit flavors, finishing with a lively herbal lift. Drink 2025-2040. 92-94 points" Lisa Perotti-Brown, RobertParker.com------"Powerful, a little austere with tight black fruits that will benefit from adding flesh over ageing, as the tannins are a little angular right now. The freshly crushed mint leaf finish is beautiful, and this is is ripped with powerful nuanced fruit, tobacco and earthy flavours, followed by waves of violet flowers. Good quality, not as exuberant as some years of Clerc Milon. First year of Caroline Artaud to oversee the entire vintage, as Jean-Philippe Danjoy has headed over to Mouton. 2% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 50% new oak. There is also 0.6% of Carmanère in the blend. Drinking Window 2028 - 2044. 94 points" Jane Anson, Decanter Magazine------"The top wine 2020 Château Clerc Milon checks in as 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and the balance Petit Verdot and Carmenère, and it's another beauty, offering both richness and elegance. Ripe currants, cassis, damp earth, graphite, and crushed stone-like minerality define the bouquet, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a more focused, pure texture, plenty of expansive richness on the mid-palate, and ripe, building tannins. This beautifully layered, pure wine shows the style of the vintage nicely. 93-95 points" Jebdunnuck.com------"Very pure character to this wine with crushed fruit and round tannins. It’s really transparent and delicate, yet bold at the same time. Super tannins. Vivid. Very primary and berry-like. May well turn out to be even better than this in bottle. 95-96 points" jamessuckling.com |
|||||||||||
