Château L'Evangile, Pomerol, 2025
We tasted with Juliette Couderc, the new(ish) 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). The sense of relief was palpable. After the traumatic growing season for this organic/biodynamic chateau, 2025 was a welcome respite. Alas, the drought resulted in very small yields of 23 hl/ha, much worse on the gravel plots than the clay. Sandalwood and gentle oak spice initially, then inky cassis, minerals, truffle and tilled earth. Deep and brooding. One can sense the 13% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon - they add aromatic lift and provide florality, leafy blackcurrant notes and minerals. Waves of sweet griotte cherry, black fruits, graphite, silky refined fruit, clove, star anise, peony and violet delight the palate. Lifted and impressive. The tannins reveal hints of dark chocolate, black olive, crème de mûre and a salty minerality. A dark and handsome Evangile.
critic reviews
The 2025 L'Évangile has been given new impetus by winemaker Juliette Couderc. It is initially backward, but it really comes forth with a few swirls of the glass: black cherries, mint and juniper berries, just a hint of truffle, quite vibrant and vivacious. Wonderful delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins, a fine bead of acidity, superb minéralité, as if there were a bit of limestone soil, but there is none. Very saline on the aftertaste with impressive length. This is a marvellous L'Évangile given the growing season, and it seems imbued with so much personality.
Damson colour, this has a ton of juicy blue and black fruits, well judged density, energy and lift, clear ageing ability, grilled cumin, peony, iris flowers, slate and crushed rocks, 40% new oak, with large oak casks for almost half of the production. Less Cabernet Franc in this blend simply because of the size of the berries. 3.7ph. Blason no longer sold En Primeur, so not tasted here. Juliette Couderc director. Harvest began on August 26 with young Merlot on gravel. 23hl/h overall yield, fascinating to see how they split across different terroirs in the L'Evangile vineyard - on gravel 15hl/ha, on clay 28hl/ha, on sand, 38hl/h all due to size of berries. In practise this meant a lot of intra-plot harvesting, going through four or five times. The result is impressive.
The 2025 L'Evangile is showing well, bursting with aromas of sweet cherries, dark berries, spices and licorice, framed by nicely integrated oak. On the palate, it's medium- to full-bodied, with a rather rich, powerful profile, built around ripe but youthfully structuring tannins. It's a blend of 87% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc, some 40% of which is being matured in foudre. The vintage conditions, which produced very small berries (as little as 0.6 grams for Cabernet Franc growing on gravel), have delivered an Evangile of unusual density.