Chateau Clerc-Milon

Pauillac

 

Classification: Fifth-growth in 1855

Owner: Baronne Philippine de Rothschild G.F.A

 

Vineyards (red):

Surface area: 74 acres

Average age of vines: 32 years

Blend: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc

Density of plantation: 8,500 vines per hectare

Average yields (over the last 5 years): 45-50 hectoliters per hectare

Total average annual production: 16,000 cases

 

Grand Vin (red):

Brand name: Chateau Clerc-Milon

Appellation: Pauillac

Mean annual production: 16,000 cases

Upbringing: Fermentation are rather long (3 weeks), and temperatures are kept at around

25 degrees centigrade to ensure good extraction of tannins. Wines are transferred to oak casks in December and aged in oak casks (30% of which are new and 70% of which a 1 year old) for 16-18 months. Wines are fined but there is no information available as to whether the wines are filtered.

 

Evaluation of present classification: Should be upgraded to a fourth-growth as the quality has improved since 1985.

Plateau of maturity: 5-14 years following the vintage

 

"Recent vintages have displayed a lush fruity quality, lavish quantities of tasty new oak, and greater depth and flavor dimension. In comparison with the baroness's other estate-bottled wines, Clerc-Milon is the most forward and easiest to appreciate when young. Given the quality of recent vintages, the wine is currently undervalued."

 

Rated "Good"

Robert M. Parker Jr.

 

Chateau Clerc-Milon

Pauillac

 

 

Wine Spectator Review of 1993 Vintage:

"Clerc-Milon is a sure bet for a very good wine in any vintage. Impressive medium to full body, tobacco, cherry, tar and chestnut character, velvety tannins and medium finish. Needs time, try in 1998."

WS : 89

 

Wine Advocate Review of 1993 Vintage:

"A saturated dary ruby/purple-colored, medium-bodied, well-made wine, Clerc-Milon's 1993 exhibits textbook, blackcurrant and weedy tobacco scents. Although the wine is slightly tannic, it does not reveal any of the vintage's astringency or vegetal characteristics. It should offer attractive, velvety-textured, surprisingly fine drinking for the next 10-12 years."

RP : 88

 

Wine Spectator Review of 1996 Vintage:

"Shows pretty floral and berry aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, with firm tannins and a fruity, mineral aftertaste. A very good Clerc, but rather lean of this fine estate. Best after 2001."

WS : 88

 

Wine Advocate Review of 1996 Vintage:

"A fleshy, atypically succulent, voluptuously-textured Pauillac. A sleeper."

RP : 90