2021 Château l'Evangile, Pomerol, Bordeaux

The move towards more elegance and finesse confirmed. Floral violet notes. Crunchy fruit and tannins that provide length and persistence. Lovely texture with freshness as well. Harmonious.

Drink 2028 - 2040

The Grand Vin 2021 Château L'Evangile includes more Cabernet Franc and is 69% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, brought up in 50% new French oak, with 15% amphora. Beautiful blue fruits, violets, chocolate, and some gravelly earth define the bouquet and while it's a medium-bodied, more mid-weight L'Evangile, it has a wonderful purity of fruit, ripe, present, silky tannins, outstanding balance, and a great finish. It's another vibrant, elegant, seamless Pomerol that will drink nicely with just short-term cellaring yet have 20 years of prime drinking.

Drink 2026 - 2045

The 2021 L'Évangile is a heady, sensual wine. Silky and pliant, with fabulous balance, L'Évangile is a stand-out. The blend includes 30% Cabernet Franc, high for the château, but what really stands out is the wine's balance. Red/purplish fruit, blood orange, rose petal and spice are all wrapped together by silky, pliant tannins. Franc aromatics and saline underpinnings extend the finish. Élevage is 50% new oak, 35% one-year-old barrels and 15% amphora. Readers will find a super-classic Évangile that has tons of potential. I loved it.

"We experienced pretty strong frost in early April. At first, we did not know if it we were dealing with white or black frost," Technical Director Olivier Trégoat explained. Flowering in early June was uneventful. “We then saw 140mm in rain later in the month, double what is normal. Disease pressure was at its highest for ten days in July and higher than 2018. In biodynamics, obviously, we have certain parameters we have to respect. We did 23 treatments instead of 12-15 which are more typical. The water deficit arrived later than we would have liked. Yields were about 20 hectoliters per hectare for the Merlot and 40 for the Franc.”

Drink 2031 - 2061

The 2021 L'Évangile was picked from September 21 to October 4 and matured in 50% new oak and 15% in clay amphora. It registers 14.0% alcohol and a pH of 3.65. This is very different and, unsurprisingly, far superior on the nose of black cherries, black truffle, crushed stone and a touch of orange peel; very focused and very Pomerol. The palate is medium-bodied, cohesive and elegant with supple tannins and fine acidity, yet there is real depth and a sense of nascent energy toward the finish. The young Cabernet Franc on gravel soils from the Chantecaille lieu-dit absolutely defines this 2021. A great success for this reenergized estate.

Drink 2030 - 2070

Bottled in May 2023.

Unfurling in the glass with aromas of dark cherries and berries mingled with notions of licorice, black truffle, rose petal and iris, the 2021 L'Evangile is medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with a broad and textural attack that segues into a charming, succulent mid-palate framed by sweet, powdery tannins. This saw only two rackings, and some 15% matured in amphora, with the rest in barriques that are less toasty than in the past; the result of these and other initiatives is a much more timeless expression of this property.

Drink 2027 - 2045

69% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon.

A pure, creamy and well-structured yet very fine Evangile. Long and caressing. Very fine tannins. Lots of fresh dark fruit and savory, mineral character. Understated and classy.

A yield of 20hl/ha with all the Cabernet Sauvignon going into the grand vin. Juliette Couderc technical director. First-year certified organic.

Smells concentrated and quite bold, with more of a heady nose, dark fruits and gorgeous perfumed Cabernet aspects. Succulent and juicy, a really appealing and charming palate, juiciness but density too, you get plump fruit here rather than a piercing focus giving more of a mouthful than some others but still with a detail to the fine tannins, the ripe fruit, cherry and blackcurrant and plum with a long finish. 

Sustained on the palate, this doesn't let up, slowly building from start to finish giving a cool, delicate, refined palate but still with grippy maintaining attention. You can tell they got full ripeness here, but there's also this lovely cooling, slate aspect - the soft chalkiness that comes in on the finish. I like this - the initial intensity, directness of black fruit and then the chalk texture. Feels nicely complete and is one of the larger, more dense wines this vintage.

Drink 2026 - 2045

A good example of how skilful winemaking adapts to conditions - all the Cabernet Sauvignon has gone into the 1st wine this year because it achieved plenty of natural concentration, while recently it has been put into Blason because it took away from the elegance of the 1st wine. Savoury, supple black and blue fruits, austere but with sapidity and juice, and a gorgeous wash of campfire smoke, salted caramel, liquorice, cloves and saffron spices.

20hl/h yield after mildew. This is their first organic-certified vinified, and first year with Juliette Couderc as technical director from beginning to end of the growing season. Harvest September 21 to October 4. No chaptilisation. 50% new oak, 15% amphora, 3.6ph.

Drink 2028 - 2042