The 2019 Château Clinet is a full-bodied Pomerol with intense aromas of dark fruits, plums, cherries, violets, and subtle spices. It has a sensual, velvety texture with lively acidity, ripe tannins, and a long, resonant finish. This wine showcases remarkable precision and concentration, with balance between richness and freshness. It has a promising future, with the potential to age beautifully until 2055.

Jamessuckling.com | JS 98
Published: Dec 5, 2022

A full-bodied Pomerol with dark-fruit, coconut, chocolate and hazelnut character on both the nose and palate. Fine-tannined with an intensely tight and chewy texture. Spice at the end. Very flavorful and muscular, yet it'sbalanced and precise with well-toned form. Needs five or six years to resolve. Try after 2027. 

The Wine Advocate | RP 97
Published: Apr 7, 2022
Drink: 2025-2055

The 2019 Clinet is showing beautifully in bottle, wafting from the glass with aromas of plums, cherries and berries mingled with hints of violets, licorice, subtle spices and smoke. Full-bodied, sensual and velvety, it'sseamless and vibrant, with lively acids, ripe tannins and a long, resonant finish. This precise, concentrated wine is the finest young Clinet I've ever tasted, and it exemplifies the tremendous progress that Ronan Laborde has made at this estate over the last decade. 

Ronan Laborde is producing the best wines of his career at this Pomerol reference point. Some eight hectares produce Clinet, much of the vineyards being located around the château in the lieu-dit that lends it its name, complemented by a parcel by the church and another not far from the headquarters of the syndicat viticole. Today, these holdings are planted with some 80% Merlot, but before phylloxera, Cabernet Sauvignon was widely planted in this sector, and today, Laborde is replacing Merlot with Cabernet Sauvignon (he retains a parcel of old-vine Cabernet Sauvignon dating back to 1950). Vines are hedged at 1.5 meters, and cover crops help to manage water in the iron-rich clays near the château, allowing access by tractor even after recent rainfall. In the winery, Laborde now employs small stainless steel tanks that permit parcel-by-parcel vinification, and a vertical press has been the order of the day since as long ago as 2001. What's really evolved in recent years is the barrel program: oak is long-seasoned (4-5 years), and some large formats have joined the classic 225-liter barriques; but above all, lighter, less impactful toasts are now chosen, meaning Clinet's 80% new oak is much more discreet in its aromatic and textural contribution than was the case a decade ago. Laborde's 2018 turned out brilliantly in that warm, dry vintage, and the 2019 looks to be even better.

Decanter | D 94
Published: Oct 31, 2023
Drink: 2025-2042

A very fine Pomerol with dark, intense, inky black fruit on the palate. Purity and precision evident here with acidity and a mineral thread providing freshness to balance the plush, ripe-fruit textures. Clinet continues to be a Right Bank wine which manages the fine line between weight, ripeness, concentration and elegance. Relatively early-drinking in the context of 2019.

Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 14.50%
Body: Full
Oak: Oaked
Grapes: 20% Cabernet Sauvignon 80% Merlot

Jancisrobinson.com | JR 16.5
Published: Jan 31, 2023
Drink: 2027-2040

Tasted blind. Just a little earthbound and lacking vitality after wine number 8 (Ch Hosanna). Solid and not flawed but needs a bit of zip.

Chateauclinet.com

Modest but sure of its presence, Clinet lies at one of the highest points upon the renowned plateau at the heart of Pomerol - instantly recognisable by its red shutters and beautiful roses. It is home to one of the oldest vineyards in the appellation, but also one of the most famed for offering wine with such incomparable character and quality. A treasury from Pomerol, located on the soils of the best Merlots in the world. Château Clinet is an elegant, intense wine with fine and complex aromas of red fruit, blackberries and spices.