Château L'Evangile, Pomerol, 2005
We tasted with Juliette Couderc, the new winemaker at Evangile, who arrived at the chateau in 2020 following a stint at Domaine de Long Dai (the Rothschild's estate in Shandong Province). She is full of enthusiasm, is clearly very gifted and has had an immediate impact on the wines. This is one of the most cohesive and impressive Evangiles we've tasted for a while. There's a real sense of control and harmony. Nothing is disjointed or out of place. Much more complex than the Blason, with a real florality to the bouquet. Ripe griotte and damsons mingle with hints of pot pourri and cedar. The palate is bright and pure with a sense of tension and verve. Texturally suave, the mid-palate possesses a fine concentration with suggestions of dark hedgerow fruits and blueberries, framed by well-judged tannins and a bright engaging vein of acidity. Bravo.
critic reviews
The 2005 L'Evangile is a wine that I could not get my head around. The nose is a bit disjointed with touches of dried blood and scorched earth, and it does not meld together like the 2008 L'Eglise-Clinet served before. The palate has good density and is a little savoury in style, revealing hints of curry leaf with time. This broad-shouldered Pomerol just lacks a bit of finesse, partly due to the style of the vintage, partly due to what might be a little excessive oak. Tasted at the Pomerol dinner at Club Bâtard, Hong Kong.
The 2005 L'Evangile is a blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-brick in color, it delivers a powerful nose of juicy black and blue fruits - blueberry pie and plum preserves - with nuances of licorice, mocha, and tapenade, plus a hint of black truffles. This is a rich, medium to full-bodied fruit behemoth, with super-firm, super-ripe, rounded tannins and tons of freshness, finishing with epic length. Enjoy it now and over the next 20 years+. Owned by Lafite, L'Evangile's vines are located on the border of Saint-Emilion, just across from Cheval Blanc.
My notes while drinking this say 'almost impossible not to gulp down', which is surely a positive quality for a wine of the year. Packed with intense, sun-ripened black cherry and damson fruit, all edged with smoked caramel and saffron. A great vintage to be trying in Pomerol right now, as many Pauillacs remain fairly closed even at 16 years old, but the Merlots of Pomerol are more willing to show off. Owned by the Rothschild family since 1990 in partership, and as sole owners since 1998, Jean-Pascal Vazart technical director. Located on gravel soils over heavy clay on the border with St Emilion, aged in 70% new oak.