So attractive on the nose with blackberry, black olive and a hint of brown sugar. It’s full-bodied with layers of ripe tannins that flow across the palate. Rich, intense and flavorful finish with flavors similar to the aromas. Fleshy and toned at the end. From organically grown grapes. Try after 2025.

Made in the more lively, elegant style that seems to be favored these days, the 2018 Château L'Evangile is based on 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, with the Cabernet Franc playing a much more lead role than normal. Beautiful blue fruits, green tobacco, violets, white truffle, camphor, and damp earth notes all flow to a gorgeously layered, full-bodied Pomerol with sweet, silky tannins, flawless balance, and a great finish. While I prefer the more opulent renditions of this cuvée, this is nevertheless a brilliant wine that has wonderful concentration, beautiful purity of fruit, and the class to evolve for 25-30 years in cold cellars.

You feel the density and power straight off the nose here - this is really silky, sexy and smoky wine with a ton of complex flavours combining berry fruits with spices swirling through, and finishing up with liquorice bean and coffee grounds on the finish. There’s less lift perhaps than the 2016, but you feel the concentration, the depth to the flavour, and the balance. It has a beautiful texture and feels very classically Pomerol but with elegance and persistency. A small production in 2018 but a very beautiful one. 75% new oak used. - www.decanter.com, Jane Anson, March 2019

The 2018 L'Evangile is composed of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, it comes barreling out of the glass with explosive scents of boysenberries, stewed plums and baked blackberries with hints of lilacs, candied violets, Indian spices and garrigue, plus a touch of black truffles. Full-bodied, rich and powerful in the mouth, this blockbuster coats the palate with layers of black fruit preserves and exotic spices, framed by plush tannins and wonderful energy, finishing long and savory. Decadently approachable now, give it 4-5 years in bottle for maximum impact and drink it over the next 20+ years.

The 2018 L'Évangile is flamboyant, spectacularly beautiful. Mildew in June took out fully 50% of the potential crop, resulting in a dense, opulent wine that is going to need many years to shed some of that baby fat. The 20% Cabernet Franc is the highest on record. The 2018 is an epic, modern-day Évangile. Raspberry jam, mocha, licorice, spice and chocolate come together as the 2018 blossoms with time in the glass. Made with 80% new oak. Both hedonistic and intellectual, the 2018 is a total pleasure bomb. Don't miss it. A real wow wine - huge!

The 2018 L’Evangile is the vintage when Cabernet Franc (20%) returned to the blend after mildew reduced the percentage of Merlot. It has an almost identical bouquet to the one that I encountered from barrel, that attractive mélange of black fruit, briar and a lovely marine/oyster shell scent now accentuated in bottle. As I mentioned in my previous note, the Cabernet Franc shapes the aromatics. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, the 70% new oak still quite vocal and, to my mind, dictating the finish, rather than L’Evangile’s exceptional terroir. There is a slight concluding bitterness that nags away on the very briny aftertaste. With aging I am certain this Pomerol will improve, but it just misses the charm of other vintages at the moment.

Inky core, deep crimson rim. Perfumed with black fruit and violets. Dense but not tough, many fine layers giving density but it's smooth and plush nevertheless with some dark chocolate on the finish. Fruit character is dark enough to be savoury, black olive and then becoming just slightly more floral with air. Changes a lot in the glass. It's a wine all in the future even though the tannins are smooth now. It's quite closed in on itself but should have a long life.Julia Harding, jancisrobinson.com, April 2019