Description
NOTE: Chateau Feytit-Clinet 2018 is due 2021.
The 7 hectare of Feytit-Clinet is to the west of the Pomerol plateau. Their vineyard divides into 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc sitting on gravel, sand and clay soils.
The Chasseuil family own and run Feytit-Clinet. Winemaker and vineyard manager is Jeremy Chasseuil who learned his trade at Chateau La Dominique in St Emilion.
“From one of my favorite estates in Pomerol, situated between Trotanoy and Latour à Pomerol, the 2018 Château Feytit-Clinet is currently sitting at 92% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc being raised in 70% new French oak. Sporting a deep purple/blue color as well as a massive bouquet of blackberries, smoked herbs, liquid violets, and graphite, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a weightless, seamless texture, thrilling purity, and a great, great finish. It’s a powerful wine hitting 14.9% alcohol yet there’s not a trace of heat. Offering beautiful purity and flawless balance, it reminds me of the 2010, only better.” 96-99 points Jeb Dunnuck (5/2019)
Bordeaux
Situated near the Atlantic coast of France. The Gironde, Dordogne and Garonne rivers provide its shape. Cool conditions and frequent rainfall, including during harvest time, make Bordeaux quite a marginal region with vintages frequently ruined by rain or saved from the rain at the last-minute by timely sunshine.
Pomerol
Merlot dominates here ably supported by Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon a distant (and sometimes non-existent) third. There is only 800 hectare of vines and almost 150 producers and Pomerol is the only major appellation of Bordeaux to eschew a ranking system. The quality at the top level is arguably better than any other Bordeaux but it can vary.
Cabernet Franc
Is actually one of the parents of Cabernet Sauvignon… along with Sauvignon Blanc (oh! The name makes sense now!). It is most famous for being the third most important grape in quality Bordeaux. But also excels in the Loire Valley (where it lived before it went to Bordeaux), especially Chinon and Saumur. The wines are bright red in colour, highly aromatic with raspberries, rose petals, violets along with tobacco, cassis and some herbal elements. The best examples can live as long as any great wine.
Merlot
It gets a tough time most of the places it grows. But in Pomerol and Saint-Emilion Merlot not only dominates but makes some of the best wines in the world. Perfume, silky and plush. Cabernets Franc and Sauvignon season the wines with structure and acid but in some places, like Petrus, they are almost not needed.
2018
Quality Red Bordeaux in 2018 will be deeply coloured, aromatically complex, and opulent in the mouth. While it sounds like they will be ready to go from day one, most experts are predicting this is a vintage for long-term cellaring. Think 30 years or more! It wasn’t the best start to the vintage so quality is not uniform. Look for Northern Medoc, Margaux, Pomerol and Saint-Emilion.
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