This was an enlightening head to head of two Pomerol heavyweights. All wines tasted single blind, not decanted. The main take aways were as follows:
- La Conseillante (LC) is the winner with 7 vs 5 wins, a higher average score (92.1 pts vs 90.8 pts) and a much better consistency over the years.
- The LC showed more harmonious and inviting, less extracted and with a good ripeness as well as a seductive creaminess.
- L’Eglise-Clinet (EC) only started to get good to great in the past 10 to 15 years. Most older wines showed too ripe, too extracted and often with a drying finish.
- Not surprisingly, the best vintages got the highest scores (2015, 2010, 2009) with the highest scores awarded to the EC 2010 and 2015 (96 pts), LC 2015 (95 pts) as well as a quite strong LC 2003 (95 pts).
- The race for the better Pomerol is open! Since 2015, L’EC got higher critic scores than LC as well as more perfect scores (11 vs 5; 17 critics/6 vintages) but I’m not yet sure if I like the riper and slightly bolder style of the EC (and LC is not really famous for its lightness or restraint either). But I got the feeling (or hope?) that the more recent vintages of EC will at least age much better than their older counterparts.
Tasting Notes
L’Eglise-Clinet
Chateau L’Eglise Clinet winery
1993 Château L’Eglise-Clinet, 92 Points
A good performance in a crappy vintage. Nice coffee notes on the nose and palate with additional aromas of chocolate and dark forest berries on the palate. Not very complex but nicely precise. Nice creaminess, molten tannins and a good freshness. Sadly, with more air and swirling the wine lost its balance and got more astringent. I have rather a high tolerance for acidity, others found it astringent right out of the gate. I started with a 94+ pts rating which steadily decreased. Nevertheless, quite fun to drink which is a surprise given the weak vintage.
Decanting: Not decanted, which seems right as it got weaker with more air.
Duel: Beats La Conseillante rated 88 pts.
1995 Château L’Eglise-Clinet, 93 Points
Of all the pre-2009 Eglise Clinets, this was the best one. Based on the experience in this vertical, the style of the wine changed shortly after this vintage and there was an era of too much ripeness, too much oak and too much extraction. On the nose, this had a dark fruit profile along typical animal notes you get from aged Pomerols. Not fully open and expressive but still inviting enough. Better on the palate with dark fruits, meaty notes, soft minerality and herbs. Quite precise and nice. The attack and mid palate show soft tannins and a beautiful creaminess and good lift. Towards the finish the tannins become a bit coarse and dominant. Nevertheless, quite a good wine with enough elegance and a good balance.
Decanting: Not decanted, a short decant should be sufficient.
Duel: Beats La Conseillante rated 90 pts.
2000 Château L’Eglise-Clinet, 89 Points
This is from the dark era of Eglise-Clinet at the beginning of the millennium. All 5 vintages before 2009 we tasted (00/01/02/03/05) showed similar characteristics: dense, dark, too ripe, often with detectable alcohol and drying finishes. They took it too far in this period. This 2000 was no exception. While it quite complex on the nose and palate, the structure is not perfect and as mentioned above, the finish is drying and there is some detectable alcohol on the nose. Overall, this is quite a mediocre wine as the complex nose and attack/mid-palate are not enough to bring it home. I’ve had this a few months back (rated 92 pts) and it showed similar but less extreme with less extraction and ripeness.
Decanting: Not decanted, I would try to give it some air, without it, it didn’t work but not sure if it will help.
Duel: Win for La Conseillante rated 92 pts.
2001 Château L’Eglise-Clinet, 84 Points
This is from the dark era of Eglise-Clinet at the beginning of the millennium. All 5 vintages before 2009 we tasted (00/01/02/03/05) showed similar characteristics: dense, dark, too ripe, often with detectable alcohol and drying finishes. They took it too far in this period. This was the weakest wine of the tasting, off-putting nose and totaly drying finish. Too much extraction and ripeness gone wrong. 84 is generous.
Decanting: Not decanted, nothing would have helped here.
Duel: Win for La Conseillante rated 94 pts.
2002 Château L’Eglise-Clinet, 89 Points
This is from the dark era of Eglise-Clinet at the beginning of the millennium. All 5 vintages before 2009 we tasted (00/01/02/03/05) showed similar characteristics: dense, dark, too ripe, often with detectable alcohol and drying finishes. They took it too far in this period. This has quite an expressive nose with smokey notes and dark red fruit. Same on the palate with mainly some ripe fruit but not much more shining trough. Fine tannin structure and a bit too high acidity. Overall quite pleasant but without exceptionalism. It misses better harmony, more creaminess and more complexity.
Decanting: Not decanted, an hour in the decanter should be sufficient.
Duel: Win for La Conseillante rated 91 pts.
2003 Château L’Eglise-Clinet, 90 Points
This is from the dark era of Eglise-Clinet at the beginning of the millennium. All 5 vintages before 2009 we tasted (00/01/02/03/05) showed similar characteristics: dense, dark, too ripe, often with detectable alcohol and drying finishes. They took it too far in this period. This vintage showed less overripe than the previous vintages and had some fresh forest berries beside ripe red fruit as well as a lot of minerality and herbs. The tannins are not perfect and I think the finish is a bit drying but maybe the wine would have just needed more air. It misses a bit of creaminess too but overall a solid effort but still not grandezza here and not a wine to chase. But no comparison to the great Conseillante 2003.
Decanting: Not decanted, I would give it at least an hour in the decanter.
Duel: Win for La Conseillante rated 95 pts.
2005 Château L’Eglise-Clinet, 90 Points
This is from the dark era of Eglise-Clinet at the beginning of the millennium. All 5 vintages before 2009 we tasted (00/01/02/03/05) showed similar characteristics: dense, dark, too ripe, often with detectable alcohol and drying finishes. They took it too far in this period. This 2005 showed that too, over the top and so much oak on the nose and palate. Underneath there is quite a ripe dark fruit and blue fruit potpourri, a nice freshness and creaminess but again here a slightly drying finish. The complexity is a plus, the creaminess is nice but really not a wine to chase and it won’t be a long-lasting wine. The 89/90 pts are probably a bit too generous. Given the high scores here on CT, I suspect that this was rather a weak and probably not representative bottle.
Decanting: Not decanted, not sure if a lot of air would have helped here.
Duel: Win for La Conseillante rated 93 pts.
2009 Château L’Eglise-Clinet, 94 Points
I’ve had this two years ago and it showed fantastic (96 pts): superbly fresh and light with an amazing purity of fruit. This bottle today showed the same amazing pure and fresh fruit with additional notes of minerality, smoke, and herbs. Nicely fresh and open on the palate but rather muted on the nose. Very soft a nice tannins, high freshness, slightly creamy texture, good length. Quite balanced and harmonious. A clear step-up over everything Eglise Clinet did in the 20 years before and a drastic change in style away from the too extracted, too ripe wines. Only 94 pts today as it was not as open and singing as the last bottle.
Decanting: Not decanted, at least two hours are needed for this.
Duel: Beats La Conseillante rated 93 pts.
2010 Château L’Eglise-Clinet, 96 Points
Medium expressive, slightly muted nose with luxurious dark fruit, minerality and herbs. Much more exciting on the palate with a potpourri of sweet forest fruit which is to die for. Additional layers of minerality, spices and some tobacco peaking trough. There is a wall of very fine tannins and a high acidity, the wine feels light and pure. It misses a touch of creaminess which will certainly develop with a few more years of cellaring. This is a great wine and will age for many decades and could be one of the better 2010 right banks out there. Quite consistent with a bottle back in 2020 (rated 97 pts).
Decanting: Not decanted, no extensive decanting needed (probably an hour could be sufficient).
Duel: Beats La Conseillante rated 94 pts.
2011 Château L’Eglise-Clinet, 85 Points
This was not good. Rather astringent and even slightly green with a nice but very ripe fruit core underneath. There are great 2011s out there (think Cheval Blanc) but this Eglise Clinet is not one of them.
Decanting: Not decanted, maybe more air would have helped.
Duel: Win for La Conseillante rated 88 pts.
2014 Château L’Eglise-Clinet, 91 Points
Rather unspectacular, especially when compared to the VCC 2014 which is drinking so well these days. Medium expressive nose and palate with quite ripe fruit, some herbs and spices but not showing a lot of complexity currently. A bit rough around the edges with some velvety but slightly coarse tannins, a high freshness and not yet a creamy enough texture and balance. This can certainly improve with more cellaring but will never be a star.
Decanting: Not decanted, maybe two hours in the decanter are in place at this point.
Duel: Win for La Conseillante rated 92 pts.
2015 Château L’Eglise-Clinet, 96 Points
This wine needed a bit of air and swirling to show its potential. At first a bit simple and slightly muted it opened up with every minute. Medium+ expressive, luxurious nose with a fine dark fruit core with some red nuances and a nice minerality. More expressive, complex and with higher precision on the palate with this ripe but not too ripe, pure black, blue and dark red fruit core, minerality, chocolate, herbs and some spices. Super high drinkability thanks to an inviting structural frame with very fine tannins, a good and well-integrated acidity and a wonderful creamy texture without being cloying or too heavy. Very good, sweet and long finish. Great balance and lots of hedonistic fun to drink but complex enough to be intellectually appealing. 96 pts today with some upside once tertiary complexity will kick in.
Decanting: Not decanted, no extensive decanting needed. A double decant one or the other hour prior to consumption is sufficient for most 2015s at this point.
Duel: Beats La Conseillante rated 95 pts.
La Conseillante
Chateau La Conseillante winery
1993 Château La Conseillante, 88 Points
This had a beautiful pure fruit core, some seductive coffee notes and a nice minerality on the palate but other than that, there was not much more to really enjoy. Fairly well delineated aromas. The wine is rather light, the acidity is not perfectly integrated and the finish is slightly dry. All in all, this is a fairly mediocre wine and I guess my 88 pts are rather generous.
Decanting: Not decanted, not sure if a bit more air would have helped. I doubt it.
Duel: Win for L’Eglise-Clinet rated 92 pts
1995 Château La Conseillante, 90 Points
Quite expressive nose with ripe cherries, Kirsch, herbs and minerality as well as some hints of meaty notes. Quit exciting and well delineated and balanced. On the palate, however, the wine is a bit weak with a bit of substance missing. The tannins have nicely melted but the acidity is not perfectly integrated and towards the end there are some green tannins noticeable. All in all, no winner but not bad either.
Decanting: Not decanted, a short decant should do the job.
Duel: Win for L’Eglise-Clinet rated 93 pts
2000 Château La Conseillante, 92 Points
A bit muted on the nose with a dark fruit core and some herbs. Not overly exciting but very balanced. Better on the palate with more expression and fresh, pure dark red and blue fruit, herbs, minerality. Luxurious structure with fine velvety tannins, a good freshness and a nice creaminess. No hard edges and a very long finish which is probably just a tiny bit astringent. This wine is not yet ready and will need more time to develop. It will certainly not be among the very best Conseillante vintages but can be a very good wine. It needs a bit more complexity and harmony and a bit more creaminess. A bottle a few months earlier showed weaker.
Decanting: Not decanted, I would give it at least two hours in the decanter.
Duel: Beats L’Eglise-Clinet rated 89 pts
2001 Château La Conseillante, 94 Points
Harmonious but slightly shy nose. More expressive on the palate with the typical Conseillante seductiveness with a creamy structure, fine tannins a good freshness, a fine fresh forest berry core, chocolate aromas, herbs, minerality. Not highly complex but promising for the vintage and with upside as soon as tertiary aromas kick in. Good precision and good length. This is a great showing which should have the structure and fruit to gracefully age. This should easily become a 95 to 97 pts wine.
Decanting: Not decanted, no extensive decanting necessary. I think an hour in the decanter should be sufficient.
Duel: Beats L’Eglise-Clinet rated 84 pts
2002 Château La Conseillante, 91 Points
Seductiveness is the main trait of the Conseillantes but this vintage is not really in that camp. Lots of minerality and freshness on the nose and palate. Good fruit core but overall missing a bit of sweetness. The structure is fairly good with round tannins, and a slightly too high acidity and a light but not creamy enought texture. Medium length. Overall solid but nothing to chase. 2002 really isn‘t a good vintage in Bordeaux.
Decanting: Not decanted, maybe two hours in the decanter would have helped.
Duel: Beats L’Eglise-Clinet rated 89 pts
2003 Château La Conseillante, 95 Points
Conseillante did really manage well to keep everything in check in this really hot year. Expressive and complex nose displaying precise meaty notes, bacon fat, dark fruit and minerality. Surprisingly fresh on the palate with fresh, ripe but not too ripe dark and dark red fruit, chocolate notes, minerality and some herbs and again the bacon notes. Velvety tannin structure, high but well-integrated acidity and a nicely creamy texture as well as a long finish. Quite a complete wine but you can see that this vintage will peak much earlier than other vintages as can be seen by the tertiary Pomerol meatiness which already is there.
Decanting: Not decanted, no extensive decanting needed.
Duel: Beats L’Eglise-Clinet rated 90 pts
2005 Château La Conseillante, 93 Points
I’ve had once and advanced bottle (which might have had a bad cork) which showed fantastic (rated 96 pts), fully tertiary and peakish. However, this bottle, same as two other bottles I’ve had of this in the past three years, was not ready, slightly closed and years away from its peak. The nose is muted and closed but the palate shows promising with pure fresh forest berries, ripe but not jammy, coffee, chocolate and minerality. Everything is there but slightly muted. A wall of fine, velvety tannins which need to become smoother, an acidity the provides a lot of freshness but needs more fruit sweetness and creaminess to be balanced out which is not yet the case. 92/93 pts today (it could have been more if the wine would have been properly decanted) but this can go all the way up to 97+ pts once it is mature.
Decanting: Not decanted. If you open a bottle today, give it 3-4+ hours in the decanter. But better wait another 10 years.
Duel: Beats L’Eglise-Clinet rated 90 pts
2009 Château La Conseillante, 93 Points
At first it the wine showed a bit disjointed on the nose, rather dry and ripe with lots of alcohol. On the palate it showed similar with a slightly drying end. When revealed I was surprised to see the 2009 as I’ve had this much better before (rated 96 and 94 pts). I gave the wine more time (and a lot of swirling) and luckily, it got better and more harmonious by the minute (and the drying finish disappeared). The best traits are the creaminess paired with a super freshness and play of ripe but pure black, blue and red forest fruit with the strong minerality. I’m sure that with a lot of air and more time, this would have climbed even higher. 92/93 pts max today for the last sip.
Decanting: Not decanted. My guess is, this needs a solid 3-4 hours in the decanter to shine.
Duel: Win for L’Eglise-Clinet rated 94 pts
2010 Château La Conseillante, 94 Points
Rather muted on the nose. The palate shows dense and powerful with a beautiful creaminess and lots of fresh dark fruit, coffee, herbs and minerality. Lots of substance here but without a proper decant, it never really fully revealed itself. It certainly needs a lot more time to reach its peak. There is a wall of fine tannins and a high, not yet perfectly integrated acidity. All in all, this is not yet super harmonious but is very promising.
Decanting: Not decanted, at least 2-3 hours in the decanter seem necessary
Duel: Win for L’Eglise-Clinet rated 96 pts
2011 Château La Conseillante, 88 Points
This had a nice creaminess to it and overall quite a good balance but it misses the substance and precision on the nose and palate and the fruit is a bit too ripe. Better than the Eglise Clinet but not a wine to chase.
Decanting: Not decanted, an hour or two might be necessary here.
Duel: Beats L’Eglise-Clinet rated 85 pts
2014 Château La Conseillante, 92 Points
Quite intriguing nose with ripe, sweet dark and dark red fruit. On the palate the fruit is fresher and purer with dark, blue and dark red berries, some chocolate, earthy notes and herbs. Fine tannins but a not perfectly integrated acidity, a creamy texture but overall a bit short. This should improve with age but won’t be a star wine.
Decanting: Not decanted, a short 1h+ decant should be sufficient.
Duel: Beats L’Eglise-Clinet rated 91 pts
2015 Château La Conseillante, 95 Points
Like other 2015s, this wine is slowly sliding into a more muted phase. With a bit of swirling the wine open-up slightly and revealed its luxurious and elegant but slightly slutty self with intense, ripe but not overripe dark fruits, some more red fruit, a beautiful sweetness which is probably too sweet for some palates but still ok for me, earthy notes and some minerality to keep it all in check. Very velvety tannins and a creamy texture with enough freshness to keep the wine balanced. This is quite promising but will need to flash out and add tertiary notes. Needs 10-15 more years in the cellar. Consistent with a bottle 18 months ago (rated 95 pts) but not as alluring as right after arrival back in 2018.
Decanting: Not decanted, an hour or two would be good at this point.
Duel: Win for L’Eglise-Clinet rated 96 pts
Author: Andy Schnyder
September 2021