Pomerol By Clinet

When Ronan Laborde took stewardship of Clinet in 2004, he made a deliberate choice that runs against the grain of modern Pomerol: rather than replant the estate's Cabernet Sauvignon toward the appellation's dominant Merlot monoculture, he retained it — 12–20% depending on vintage — as the structural and mineral spine of the Grand Vin. That decision is rooted in the terroir itself. Clinet sits at the highest point of the Pomerol plateau (35 metres), where Günz gravel over deep clay with iron-rich crasse de fer subsoil delivers drainage, heat retention, and a graphite-mineral precision that purely clay-bound neighbours cannot replicate.

Vinification proceeds plot by plot across 21 parcels, with maceration of approximately 28–30 days for slow, thorough extraction. Malolactic fermentation is completed in French oak barrel, and the wine ages 16–22 months in approximately 75–80% new French oak. Press wine is kept separate and incorporated at final blending only if additional structure is warranted. The wine is bottled neither fined nor filtered, preserving the iron-mineral imprint of the crasse de fer in the glass. The 2013 vintage — a cooler, structurally precise year on the Right Bank — produced a leaner, more graphite-driven expression of Clinet than the opulent 2009 or 2018, with the Cabernet Sauvignon component lending particular definition. Approachable now with decanting; best drinking window extends through the late 2020s.