Pomerol: L’Evangile, Pétrus, Lafleur, Clinet, Vieux Château Certan & La Conseillante

Following an extensive promenade of outstanding wines (2001 Comte de Vogüé Musigny, 2012 Aubert, inter alia…see post in Nov 2017) at his clinic opening on 08 Nov 2017 attended even by Iggy himself, Kieron ushered us to Imperial Treasure Peking Super Duck at Paragon to continue the wining and dining, this time on a theme of Pomerol. We ought to have been properly hammered by the time we staggered over but, surprisingly, everyone was still on form. The line-up certainly did not disappoint and every drop was polished off. Pomerol is tight, dense and stern in its youth but offers a truly outstanding experience after more than twenty years in bottle, as one can see below. Thank you very much, Kieron.

2004 Château L’Evangile, courtesy of Pipin. Deep crimson with some brightening at the rim, displaying good depth of dark cherries and redcurrants honed by a high-toned acidity that created lovely tension across the minerally palate, finishing on an austere note, yet to develop true secondary nuances. Excellent.

1999 Château L’Evangile, still showing a deep crimson with some evolution. Highly reticent, not showing much on the nose and palate where the fruit is set rather backward, dominated more by firm acidity and earthy minerals that imparted a stern minty finish.

1998 Château L’Evangile, courtesy of David Tan. Great color, exuding lovely Chinese herbal notes, tea leaves and dried mushrooms with complex earthy tones that leapt out of the glass. Open and fleshy with superb concentration of dark fruits and currants, finishing with ferrous minerals amidst fine acidity and intensity. Excellent, and yet to peak.

1995 Château L’Evangile, courtesy of  Dr Ngoi. Deep red with a lovely bloom of fragrant red fruits and dark cherries. Soft, fleshy and seamless with subtle nuances, showing good delineation but short.

1986 Château Lafleur, courtesy of Vic. Obviously well evolved but still showing a beautiful deep red with an equally beguiling bouquet of lovely floral fragrance, still imbued with a superb presence of deep dark berries and dark cherries, displaying great acidity and fullness amidst complex minerals, very subtly structured, developing an attractive earthy pungency over time but a tad short at the finish. Quite outstanding.

2000 Vieux Château Certan, courtesy of Andre. Dark red, exuding a deep lovely fragrance of dark cherries and currants, soft and open with excellent concentration and acidity, seamlessly integrated with further emerging notes of soy. Developing well, just a tad short. Excellent.

1997 Vieux Château Certan, courtesy of Hiok. Glorious crimson with a lovely nose of red cherries, fleshy with good presence though the fruit is a little recessed with more acidity at the fore.

1989 Château La Conseillante, courtesy of LF. Well evolved with a bouquet of lovely sweet fragrance, displaying excellent depth of ripe dark berries with gentle silky smooth tannins and fine acidity, utterly seamless, showing great focus, turning more minerally over time as the fruit receded. Still holding on well.

1989 Château Clinet, courtesy of David Ong. Drunk rather quickly after a brief aeration, this wine exuded a deep fragrance of predominant red fruits, open with a deep core of understated tangerines and complexity, displaying gorgeous acidity that is seamlessly integrated with silky velvety tannins, tapering towards a cool quiet finish. Excellent.

1995 Château Pétrus, courtesy of Kieron. Displaying a beautiful deep ruby, this wine exuded a great lift of hot stones with a suggestion of great clayey minerality, rounded and open with a distilled presence of dark fruits and blueberries of superb depth and richness, thoroughly seamless between the intensity of fruit and sublime acidity, finishing with excellent linearity. Thoroughly outstanding.

1972 Château Pétrus, courtesy of LF. Tasted blind. Distinctly evolved, this wine exuded quite a lovely fragrance of camphor and gentle red fruits amidst delicate notes of nectarine, almost ethereal upon its gentle entry onto the palate where there is still good concentration of fruit, still remarkably fresh in acidity with tannins that have long melted. Excellent.