Floral and lifted nose, clean, clear and fragrant. Soft but grippy, chalky and intense, with a push and movement to the textured strawberry and red cherry fruit. Almost fleshy but cool, giving some roundness but no heaviness. This has character and something to get your teeth into. Nice persistence, well presented.

This is gracefully handled, sculpted black fruits, with blueberry, plum, truffle and cinnamon spice. A touch of bitter black chocolate on the finish, not the exuberant power of most years at Clinet, but a great handling of the vintage, concentrated but not overly extracted. 38hl/h yield. Tasted twice.
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux, May 2022

Skilfully done, well put together, plenty of black chocolate, smoked pepper and truffle, coming in waves alongside cassis fruits and enticing floral aromatics. This feels sculpted and extremely attactive, but does not entirely escape the vintage, unusually austere for Clinet - give it another four or five years in bottle to really soften. Tasted twice.

At 75% Merlot and fully 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2021 Clinet contains the highest proportion of Cabernet in the blend (excepting the 2003) since at least the 1980s. Ronan Laborde harvested late, picking into mid-October, to craft a medium to full-bodied, deep and impressively seamless wine evocative of dark berries, baking chocolate, violets and spices. Concentrated and nicely integrated, it is one of the vintage's notable successes.
William Kelley, April 2022

Quite powerful nose carrying much mineral character, blood orange, rose petal, black cherry and plum. Quite sweetly fruited up front, then following through with citrus and blackcurrant leaf. Firmly structured with quite robust tannins, creamy but still powerful. Very well balanced and one for the future.
April 2022

The 2021 Château Clinet is a blend of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, harvested between the end of September and the 12th of October, that was brought up in 80% new French oak. This deep ruby/plum-hued beauty has a great bouquet of ripe black cherries, blackberries, leafy tobacco, and spring flowers, with some classic damp earth, graphite, and chocolaty Pomerol nuances. It's medium to full-bodied, has beautifully integrated oak, fine tannins, and a gorgeous finish. It already offers pleasure but will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and evolve for 20 years if well stored.

The 2021 Clinet is gorgeous. Soaring Cabernet Sauvignon aromatics lend presence to a deep, beautifully layered Pomerol that gets better and better with time in the glass. I especially admire the vibrancy here. At 25%, the Cabernet Sauvignon is high for Clinet, but it's an approach that works quite well in 2021. This is a fine vintage for Clinet.
Antonio Galloni, Vinous, May 2022

The 2021 Clinet is a blend of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, picked September 27–30 and October 12, respectively, and aged in 80% new oak. It has a well-defined bouquet of blackberry, graphite and light tobacco scents, very Left Bank in style – unsurprisingly, given the contribution of the Cabernet. Medium-bodied and sappy on the midpalate, with pliant tannins and moderate depth, and a lovely touch of black pepper toward the finish. Not a powerful Clinet and certainly far from the style of 15–20 years ago, but there’s a linearity and understatedness about this Pomerol, a freshness that should guarantee it will repay 5–6 years in bottle. This is a very well-crafted Clinet even if I do not rank it as a classic. If it puts on more weight, it may well land at the top of my banded score.
Neal Martin, Vinous, May 2022

The 2021 Clinet opens in the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums and licorice mingled with hints of mint and orange zest, followed by a medium to full-bodied palate with a sweet core of fruit that's framed by a chassis of sweet, powdery tannins that assert themselves on the oak-inflected finish. Out of the gates, this remains quite structured by its élevage.

75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon. Inky core with purple rim. Dark-fruited and slightly charry on the nose. Savoury, dry, refined. Lovely tannins here – firm but polished, holding the fruit in shape. 2021 may have produced some more restrained right-bank wines but this has lovely balance. Best Pomerol of the tasting but don't look for classic Pomerol plushness. (JH)

Crimson-purple hue. Dark and spicy on the nose and palate. Round and gourmand but fresh as well. Firm tannic frame, the tannins present but ripe adding power and length on the finish. There’s potential here. (JL)
Drink 2028 – 2040
Jancisrobinson.com, May 2022