Château Clerc Milon Rothschild, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2016
Clerc Milon is a big step up in quality from the pretty d'Armailhac. There is much more composure and class here. The bouquet is an intoxicating array of gorgeous, perfumed hedgerow fruit, minerals, spice, wild flowers, eucalyptus, liqueur chocolates and cool cassis. This is instantly engaging and provocative. On the palate there is a mass of suave concentrated dark fruit infused with minerals and gravel. We were impressed by the density and refinement and the brooding tannic structure. A classy Clerc. 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Carmenère.
critic reviews
Great quality, showing flesh and succulence among plentiful black fruits, brambled hedgerow, salted cracker, oyster shell, pomegranate, cassis. Fresh acidities also, definitely plenty of life ahead, austere on the finish still. Intense and concentrated. Tasted at the estate recently also. Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy director. 55% new oak for ageing. Harvest September 26 to October 15.
The 2016 Clerc-Milon has a crisp, graphite-infused bouquet of well-defined black fruit, hints of peony and iris petals showing underneath. The classic palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins, well-judged acidity and just the right amount of austerity toward a finish that has a bitter edge. Excellent (and less "aloof" than I found 12 months earlier). Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting.
The Cabernet Franc was fantastic this year, so it was all used in the grand vin. The final blend is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Carmenere. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Clerc Milon leaps from the glass with beautiful scents of chocolate-covered cherries, plum preserves and crushed blackcurrants with suggestions of lilacs, cardamom, underbrush and unsmoked cigars. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a firm frame of finely grained tannins and seamless freshness lifting the perfumed fruit to a nice long finish.