Château Clerc Milon Rothschild, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2021
What a wonderful Clerc Milon. Charles Fournier explained that this is the second vintage made in the new winery. There are double the number of vats, which allows the team to work on a parcel-by-parcel basis. Full of exuberance, with hedgerow fruits, bilberry and layers of spice, graphite, cracked earth and mocha. Long, sleek and well defined, there's a lovely generous core of bright, fragrant fruit; clear, precise and fluid, culminating in well-defined tannins and integrated oak. We really fell for the style here. There's something juicy and enjoyable, however, upon closer inspection, there's lots of gravitas and quite a serious structure. A beautifully constructed Clerc. 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 1% Carmenère.
critic reviews
A blend of 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 1.5% Petit Verdot, and 1.5% Carmenere, the 2021 Clerc Milon is deep garnet-purple in color. It needs a swirl or two to release notes of black plums, blackberries, and charcoal, plus hints of wild thyme, aniseed, and tree bark. The light to medium-bodied palate has loads of minerally sparks complementing the fresh black berry flavors, framed by refreshing acidity and grainy tannins, and finishing earthy.
This is one of the few that has really grown into itself in bottle, taken the next step that not many have achieved over ageing. Bitter chocolate, cocoa bean, liqourice, pencil lead, crayon, then with a whisper of cassis and violet, this is channeling a very strong Pauillac character, leaning into the appellation, defintely one to look out for. Maybe wait for 5 years to drink this instead of 10 for usual, but this has a good 15 to 20 years in it, and there is a ton of potential. An upscore. Caroline Artaud technical director as of this vintage. 55% new oak for ageing.
The 2021 Clerc Milon was bottled in mid-June. As reported from barrel, there is a slightly savory note on the nose, hints of brown spices infusing nicely with the black fruit. There is a little more "airiness" compared directly with the d'Armailhac. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, a little fresher and more tensile that its aforementioned stablemate, with ample depth and a peppery finish. This has kicked on in barrel and has its nose out in front.
The 2021 Clerc Milon has turned out very well indeed, offering up aromas of dark berries and minty cassis mingled with hints of violets and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and concentrated, it's impressively deep and layered, with an ample core of fruit, lively acids and sweet, chalky tannins.