2012-CHÂTEAU-L'ÉVANGILE-Pomerol-Château-L'Évangile

CHÂTEAU L'ÉVANGILE

2023 Pomerol

Grapes Merlot
Colour Red
Origin France, Bordeaux
Sub-district Pomerol & Lalande de Pomerol
Village Pomerol
ABV 14.5%

A fascinating exercise in terroir, as this shows the same alcohol as the Blason, but the density, fruit character and even the IPT (tannin) count are very different. You see the impact of clay soils in the building of the powerful architecture and the plush damson and black cherry fruits. There is density but tenderness to the tannins, with grilled caramel that gives a beautiful Pomerol signature. Violet floral edging arrives towards the finish, as things open up, and this is an impressive L'Evangile that can age with ease. 42hl/h yield, a record in recent years here. Certified organic since 2021. Great stuff from technical director Juliette Couderc. Drinking range: 2029 - 2048 Rating: 96-100 Jane Anson, www.janeanson.com (May 2024)


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78 Merlot, 21 Cabernet Franc, 1 Cabernet Sauvignon 13.5% alc 45 hl/ha 3.7 pH Harvest was 4 - 28 September I was fortunate to taste at L’Evangile with Saskia de Rothschild and winemaker Juliette Couderc. It has been a running theme in my tasting notes that the glorious wines of the 2023 vintage could never have been so successful without repeated human intervention. I abhor the lines, ‘wine is made in the vineyard’ and ‘we did nothing, the wine just made itself’! Grapes are grown in the vineyard, and wine is made in a winery, and without seriously talented, dedicated, hard-working and experienced people, we would never have the sensational wines found hither and thither in the 2023 vintage. This is because multiple decisions had to be made throughout the year with accuracy and conviction, and the speed taken to deploy one’s actions determined the very best wines. At the top of our list of discussion points at Evangile were the pivotal decisions made during the growing season. Firstly, there were perfect flowering conditions, and they needed to control the vigour. In the end, three green harvests took place, which brought a possible gigantic yield of 60-70 hl/ha to a much more realistic but still remarkably generous 42 hl/ha. Mildew pressure was immense, too, but again, they brought it under control with extreme discipline and speed (on one occasion, spraying four times in one week). The gravel sectors in the vineyard came in first, with the younger vine Merlots starting on 4 September, and the blue clay plots waited until mid-September. Terroir dictated the sequence of harvesting, with the Cabernets coming last in perfect condition. At every step, humans threw the dice, knowing that they would win – and they did. The fruit and power explode on the nose here in a fanfare of Cabernet Franc lifted high onto the shoulders of the rock-steady Merlot. My mind raced back to the awe-inspiring 2022 vintage, and while that wine was calm and complete, this 2023 is active, challenging and shapeshifting, making you work to shadow it around the glass. Usually, Juliette and her team build this wine from a blue clay Merlot base, moulding Cabernet Franc around this central structure to create a final wine, but this year, Franc was so impressive that they started assembling the wine with twin pillars of Merlot and Cabernet Franc and the results are astounding. The tannins and the sense of place and earthiness are profound, giving this place a precise GPS flavour that makes it irresistible. With both varieties granted the same respect and importance, the result is a wine with an astonishing perfume, epic tension, and tremendous build quality. Like I say – made by humans, and in this instance, made by humans with elite skills. Rating: 19+ Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (May 2024)

The 2023 L’Évangile is sensual and plush in the glass. Silky, refined tannins wrap around a core of dark-toned fruit, spice, mocha, leather and dried flowers. This opens nicely, leading to an explosive, deep finish that is quite compelling. Élevage is 50% new oak, 27% once-used barrels, 15% 26hL cask and 8% amphora. It's another fine effort from the team led by Technical Director Juliette Couderc. Drinking range: 2030 - 2048 Rating: 94-96 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2024)

The blend of the grand vin is 21% Cabernet Franc and 79% Merlot. A beautiful nose, blackberry, currant and dark chocolate, with a bright, pure and linear definition to the fruit. The palate is very convincing, with a deliciously poised texture, velvety but with a sinewy frame, carrying dark and pure fruits, blackcurrant and even a touch of blueberry, sweet and polished, with savoury edges of tobacco, tar and liquorice, underpinned by a fine-grained substance, the tannins fresh and correct, helped by the reinforcing acidity. Very easy and comfortable in its own skin, but with pure fruit and delineated structure, this is a deceptive L’Évangile, harmoniously composed now but with a long grip of ripe tannins that says this will go for years. And then more years. Superb. The alcohol is 14.6% on analysis. Rating: 95-97 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2024)

Château L'Évangile

Sandwiched between Château Petrus to the north and Château Cheval Blanc to the south are the vineyards of Château l’Evangile. In the latter part of the 19th Century l’Evangile’s wines were rated as second only to Petrus, reflecting the glory of its illustrious neighbours.

Château l’Evangile’s origins lay in an estate called Domaine de Mautretat that was broken up in the early years of the 18th Century with a Mme Conseillan taking one part (that went on to be next-door neighbours Château Conseillante) with a reverend gentleman called M. Léglise purchasing the other, to be called Château Fazilleau until renamed l’Evangile – the Gospel – in the late 19th Century, presumably in keeping with having St Peter (Petrus) next door.

Today Château l’Evangile is owned by Domaines Baron de Rothschild (Lafite), they having purchased the estate in 1990 from the Ducasse family one of whose forebears, Paul Chaperon, had built the château in 1874. DBR have injected a whole new level of investment and improvement to once again raise l’Evangile to the very top echelon of Pomerol. The 22ha of vineyard and planted for the most part on an usual gravel band that runs through the more usual clay soil. They are planted with 79% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines are aged in barrel for between 12 and 24 months, although in more recent vintages they, like many producers in France, have also used larger oak foudres, amphorae and concrete vats alongside the traditional barriques bordelaises of 225 l.

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