2021 Château Clerc Milon, Pauillac, Bordeaux

59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 1.5% Petit Verdot, 1.5% Carmenère. Cask sample.

More restrained aromatically than some this year. Dark fruit and savoury nuance. Palate solid and firm with plenty of freshness. Tannins present but well rounded, tightening on the finish to give some persistence. Pleasantly dry finish. Pauillac muscle but in a low-key form.

Drink 2028 - 2040

The 2021 Clerc Milon, aged in 55% new oak, contains a little more Cabernet Franc than usual. It has a slightly savory nose displaying moderate vigor and black fruit infused with touches of brown spice. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, and quite broad and fleshy. The plush finish makes me think this will drink well in its youth. Fine, though I lean toward the d'Armailhac this year. 13% alcohol

Drink 2027 - 2039

The 2021 Château Clerc Milon is based on 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Carmenère and Petit Verdot. It has more pure cassis and graphite as well as medium-bodied richness, ripe, polished tannins, remarkable purity of fruit, and a great finish.

Drink 2026 - 2045

The 2021 Clerc Milon is gorgeous. Beams of tannin lend energy and direction to an alluring Clerc Milon that marries fruit density with a classic sense of structure that is quite appealing.

Drink 2029 - 2041.

55% new oak. 57IPT. 3.73ph. Caroline Artaud technical director as of this vintage. Strong candidate for upscore in bottle.

Sappy, concentrated, powerful, this is a wine that has a lot of power naturally and in a vintage like 2021 and with higher Cabernet Franc and higher Carmanère than the past few years), it runs the risk of being austere. Certainly you feel a sterner character than over the past few years, but there is flexibility in the tannins, and well-worked blackcurrant and blackberry fruit. Will benefit from fattening up through the mid palate over ageing, because all the elements are here.

Drink 2025 - 2040

Polished and well-structured red with a medium body and firm but creamy and broad tannins. Perfumed already, with sandalwood, blackberry and currant character. Crushed stones. Tea leaves, too. Firm and solid to the end. Very solid for the vintage. 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 1.5% Carmenere and 1.5% Petit Verdot.

1.5% Camenère and 1.5 Petit Verdot complete the blend. 3.73pH.

Bramble and hedgerow notes, some smoke, tobacco, chocolate, liquorice-laced black fruits and graphite on the nose. Seriously captivating with the complexity continuing on the palate, comprising coffee, cedar, clove and cinnamon alongside plump and plush layers of succulent and concentrated blackcurrant and black cherry fruit and racy acidity. 

The 59% Cabernet Sauvignon influence is in sharp focus, right to the fore, wanting all the attention, but at the same time this has a beautiful and generous fragrance to it from 10% Cabernet Franc. Refined and elegant, I love the presentation and the structure, giving such length and freshness on the long finish. An excellent Clerc this year which really stands out. 

Drink 2025 - 2045

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.

Drink 2027 - 2045