Chateau Clerc Milon 2020

Château Clerc Milon, 5ème Cru Classé Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2020 

Grapes: 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36.5% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot and 0.5% Carmenere, 41ha vineyard of sandy clay over clay/limestone soil, hand picked, aged 16 to 18 months in 40 percent new oak barrels

The estate is owned by Baron Philippe de Rothschild and is located between Pauillac First Growths, Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Lafite Rothchild. 

Chateau Tasting Note:

The wine is a deep cherry red with garnet highlights. The nose reveals an intense and complex array of aromas on which macerated black fruit mingles with liquorice and cedarwood. On the attack, the creamy, silky mouthfeel combines depth, density and supreme elegance, leading into a rich and smooth mid-palate on blackcurrant and bilberry flavours illuminated by attractive freshness over a rounded, refined tannic structure. The harmonious finish is distinguished by lingering fruit flavours and mineral notes.

Critics' Tasting Notes: 

"Aromas of dark berries, cigar wrapper, exotic spices and burning embers introduce the 2020 Clerc Milon, a medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered wine that's seamless, concentrated and refined, with lively acids and a long, saline, violet-inflected finish. A blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and the balance Petit Verdot, it's a terrific effort from this clay-limestone terroir that has benefited from so much investment in recent years."

94+/100 points, William Kelley, WINE ADVOCATE

"The nose opens with a display of flowers, cherry pipe tobacco, spices, and currants. Medium-bodied, elegant, fresh, crisp, and clean, there is a nice sense of purity to the array of red fruits along with a touch of spice, and vibrancy in the refined, soft, mildly, dusty finish. This is going to be gorgeous to enjoy in its youth, although it clearly has the ability to age and improve for 2-3 decades with ease. Drink from 2025-2050."

94/100 points, Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider, March 2023