2023 Château l'Evangile, Pomerol, Bordeaux
Critics reviews
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.
Drink 2029 - 2048
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com (April 2024)
The 2023 L'Évangile was picked from September 4 to 28 at 42hL/ha, which is the highest for many years. Matured in 50% new oak (including 15 foudres) and 8% in amphoras (my sample only from used barrels), this has a very floral and precise bouquet with dark red fruit, blueberry, hints of blood orange and light sous-bois scents. It's very L'Evangile. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannins. Crisp and precise, there’s fine tension toward the finish with a lingering black pepper note. This is a lovely L'Évangile that deserves five or six years in bottle. It will be worth the wait.
Drinkk 2029 - 2055
Neal Martin, Vinous.com (April 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.
Drink 2030 - 2048
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (April 2024)
A blend of 78% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2023 L’Evangile has a pH of 3.7. It is deep garnet-purple in color and on the nose oaky overtones soon give way to a core of baked plums, stewed black cherries, and mulberries, leading to suggestions of dried herbs, mossy tree bark, and pencil lead. The medium-bodied palate is lightly chewy, with soft acidity and savory accents to the black berry flavors, finishing with an herbal lift. The alcohol is 13.5%.
Drink 2028 - 2042
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent (April 2024)
78% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. Cask sample.
Round, svelte and poised with tannins that give drive and length. Oak still needs to be absorbed but there’s a gentle quality to the wine.
Drink 2030 - 2040
James Lawther MW, JancisRobinson.com (April 2024)
Wafting from the glass with deep aromas of dark berries, spices, licorice and petals, framed by a sweet patina of new oak, the 2023 L'Evangile is medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with a textural attack that segues into a supple, integrated core that's framed by sweet, powdery tannins.
It's a blend of 78% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, checking in at 13.5% alcohol, that was harvested between September 4 and 28.
William Kelley, Wine Advocate (April 2024)
78% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon.
A fine line of tannins runs through this medium- to full-bodied wine. Chocolate, walnut and lead pencil on very fine tannins. Classy and focused, providing elegance with strength. Tight at the end.
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (April 2024)
Fragrant redcurrant and cranberry. Milk chocolate, vanilla, creamy, fruity and fresh with cherry and plum fruit. Cool and crisp, so much freshness straight away and so sleek, the weight is there in the density of the ripe fruit but this keeps a very slick frame. Lovely movement and energy, softly vibrant but also quite rich - a spectrum of cranberry and blackcurrant and plum fruit gives lots of different expressions with liquorice and tobacco on the finish. Chalky and stony, a lovely mineral grip too. Feels sophisticated, with balance, nothing sticks out, suave and elegant.
I love it’s gentle expression though, doesn’t shout but this will be so great to drink and enjoy. I love it. Everything seems to be balanced delicately on a tightrope, with tenderness, density and tension. Really great and more finessed than some Pomerols.
3.8pH. Ageing 8% amphora, 50% new oak, 15% foudre, the rest used barrels. 42hl/ha yield. Green harvests were performed to drop 15-20% of the potential yield, given the team 'had never seen so many grapes on the vines'.
Drink 2034 - 2048
Georgina Hindle, Decanter (April 2024)
Coming on board in 2020, winemaker and technical director Juliette Couderc continues to fine-tune this estate, and the style is unquestionably more refined and precise today compared to releases just 10-15 years ago, all without losing the inherent seamless, elegant, yet textured L'Evangile style. Based on 78% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc, and the final 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2023 Château L'Evangile comes from healthy yields of 42 hectoliters per hectare and is resting in roughly 50% new French oak, with a portion in foudre and amphora.
Gorgeous black cherries, blackberries, spicy oak, graphite, and hints of tobacco all define the aromatics, and it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a layered, seamless mouthfeel, and velvety tannins. This is a classy, aristocratic, yet ripe and textured l’Evangile that should benefit from just 4-6 years of bottle age.
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (May 2024)
About this WINE
Chateau l'Evangile
Château L'Evangile is one of the prestigious estates in Pomerol and produces some of the most sought-after wines in the appellation. It is located in the far east of the Pomerol appellation and its vineyards border those of Château La Conseillante, Château Gazin and Château Cheval Blanc. Its 14.1 hectares of vineyards (Merlot 78%; Cabernet Franc 22%) lie on deep gravel beds pitted with sand and clay.
The wine is vinified traditionally, undergoing a lengthy cuvaison followed by maturation in oak barriques (40% new) for 16-20 months. L`Evangile has always been a top-class estate but quality has been pushed noticeably higher since Domaines Baron de Rothschild of Château Lafite acquired a majority shareholding in 1990.
With Michel Rolland as consultant winemaker, the wines of L'Evangile are now challenging Pétrus and Lafleur in terms of their sheer class and quality.
Pomerol
Pomerol is the smallest of Bordeaux's major appellations, with about 150 producers and approximately 740 hectares of vineyards. It is home to many bijou domaines, many of which produce little more than 1,000 cases per annum.
Both the topography and architecture of the region is unremarkable, but the style of the wines is most individual. The finest vineyards are planted on a seam of rich clay which extends across the gently-elevated plateau of Pomerol, which runs from the north-eastern boundary of St Emilion. On the sides of the plateau, the soil becomes sandier and the wines lighter.
There is one satellite region to the immediate north, Lalande-de-Pomerol whose wines are stylistically very similar, if sometimes lacking the finesse of its neighbour. There has never been a classification of Pomerol wines.
Recommended Châteaux : Ch. Pétrus, Vieux Ch. Certan, Le Pin, Ch. L’Eglise-Clinet, Ch. La Conseillante, Ch. L’Evangile, Ch. Lafleur, Trotanoy, Ch. Nenin, Ch. Beauregard, Ch. Feytit-Clinet, Le Gay.
Merlot
The most widely planted grape in Bordeaux and a grape that has been on a relentless expansion drive throughout the world in the last decade. Merlot is adaptable to most soils and is relatively simple to cultivate. It is a vigorous naturally high yielding grape that requires savage pruning - over-cropped Merlot-based wines are dilute and bland. It is also vital to pick at optimum ripeness as Merlot can quickly lose its varietal characteristics if harvested overripe.
In St.Emilion and Pomerol it withstands the moist clay rich soils far better than Cabernet grapes, and at it best produces opulently rich, plummy clarets with succulent fruitcake-like nuances. Le Pin, Pétrus and Clinet are examples of hedonistically rich Merlot wines at their very best. It also plays a key supporting role in filling out the middle palate of the Cabernet-dominated wines of the Médoc and Graves.
Merlot is now grown in virtually all wine growing countries and is particularly successful in California, Chile and Northern Italy.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
78% Merlot; 21% Cabernet Franc; 1% Cabernet Sauvignon.
This is a beautifully succulent and poised expression, laced with some piquant floral notes before the richness transmutes into a finish of pepper and five spice. Juliette Couderc, the irrepressible technical director here, explained that if the season’s challenges were surmounted (as they were here), then 2023 was a textbook vintage. The long harvest here accentuated the difference between plots, and their complexity. The success of the Cabernet Franc is shown by a little more in the blend, and greater tension on the palate. This is compelling without being a blockbuster.
Our score: 18/20
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