Château L'Evangile, Pomerol, 2005
88% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc. This exceptional terroir (between Cheval Blanc and Petrus) is owned and managed by Domaines Barons de Rothschild. Their investment and expertise is beginning to produce really profound wines of exceptional quality. The 2005 was a tour de force, but the 2008 comes surprisingly close. Wonderfully expressive deep nose of liquorice and perfumed black fruits. Beautiful sweet blackcurrant attack. Fresh and pure, with wonderful texture, a very smart, concentrated, seamless wine with excellent length. The tannins are very lacy and refined. One is left with a sense of freshness, balance and complexity. A real thoroughbred.
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.