Château Clerc Milon Rothschild, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2017
D'Armailhac may have closed the gap on Clerc Milon this year, but Clerc still has the edge. The Mouton team has done a great job with this wine over the last decade. The introduction of the second wine, Pastourelle has meant greater selection and the final wine feels more polished and refined. There's good density and plenty of glycerin. Perfumed dark cherries, menthol infused cassis, a nice mineral touch, garrigue and a hint of cocoa nibs. This has a wonderful texture with swathes of sweet black fruit interspersed with graphite notes. It finishes with luxurious tannins coated in briar fruit and minerals. Another very accomplished Clerc Milon! 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Carmenère.
critic reviews
The 2017 Clerc Milon is medium to deep garnet-purple colored and offers up a gorgeous nose of potpourri, cinnamon stick, candied violets and kirsch over a core of warm cassis, plum preserves and boysenberries with a waft of garrigue. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers loads of muscular fruit with a firm, fine-grained texture and tons of freshness, finishing long and perfumed.
The 2017 Clerc Milon, which contains a tiny lot of Carmenère, has a delightful bouquet that offers blackberry, briary flecks of cocoa nibs and freshly rolled tobacco. It is tightly wound at the moment and simply requires bottle age. The palate is medium-bodied with a fresh, vibrant entry. It is a strict and quite linear Clerc Milon, "correct" to the point of being straight-laced with a well defined, classically styled off-dry finish. Fine, classy, if medium rather than long-term. What you might call a "cool" customer.