White pepper and dried flowers with blackberries, orange peel and a smoky undertone. Medium to full body. Chili, spice and blue fruit on the palate. Hint of lemon rind. Very long finish. Needs at least three or four years to come around.

The 2017 La Petite Eglise is wonderfully aromatic and dense. Charcoal embers, game, smoke, licorice and raspberry jam all develop in the glass, but it is the wine's structural feel that stands out most. The 2017 is silky, nuanced and exceptionally beautiful. La Petite Eglise is of course the second wine of L'Eglise Clinet, but if it were taken out of that context, it would compete quite favorably with many Grand Vins. - vinous.com, May 2018

A real wine trade favourite, Denis Durantou's La Petite Eglise shares the great terroir and winemaking knowhow of its big brother. Dark, rich, ripe fruit with a touch of mocha. Excellent weight on the juicy palate, which delivers a whack of pretty intense fruit and finishes cool and mineral. Beautiful tannins. - April 2018

100% Merlot, the deep garnet-purple colored 2017 La Petite Eglise comes charging out of the glass with exuberant notes of crushed wild blueberries, vibrant cassis and violets with touches of fertile loam, garrigue and bay leaves. Medium-bodied with a wonderful energy of perfumed black fruits, it has a racy line and firm, fine-grained tannins, finishing long and fragrant. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, erobertparker.com, April 2018

The 2017 La Petite Eglise was picked from 12 to 22 September at 41hl/ha and is matured in 50% new oak. Just one small parcel near the Barbanne tributary was touched by frost but nothing on the plateau. It has a straightforward bouquet with more red fruit than black, hints of freshly tilled soil and pencil shavings. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, a touch more compact than previous vintages but beautifully focused and silky smooth towards the sustained finish. Excellent. - vinous.com, May 2018

Dark purplish crimson with black core. Elderberry fruit. Fragrant. A little wild in aroma, wild fruits. Incredibly silky, juicy and supple. Lovely and already nearly approachable. Mouth-wateirng and moreish. - Julia Harding, jancisrobinson.com, April 2018