Château La Clotte really produced the goods in the great 2009 Bordeaux vintage - full-bodied yet elegant with stunning concentration and complexity. A must buy boutique Saint-Émilion.

La Clotte is a tiny (four hectare) Saint-Émilion Grand Cru château run by three charming ladies: winemaker Nelly Mouliérac, Dominique Tord (business manager) and owner Odile Plantade.

This wonderfully homespun affair is graced with some of the most exceptional soils in Saint-Émilion, and it is an absolute joy to visit this rustic Bordeaux farmhouse embedded in a spectacular limestone hillside overlooking Saint-Émilion. It highlights the contrast between Bordeaux’s palatial châteaux and petite producers whose souls are reflected in their wines. But with only around 1200 cases produced each year, this vertical tasting case is a very rare chance to taste the true soul of Saint-Émilion.

"A seductive style of wine, as usual, La Clotte’s blend of generally 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc (I do believe a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon is also present) displays spicy, fruity black currant and black cherry notes intermixed with loamy soil undertones, a hint of sagebrush, and herbs. It is a meaty, fleshy, rich wine with moderate tannins and decent acid levels. There is a sense of elegance and purity, …. Full-bodied, beautifully round and generous, it is already showing secondary nuances." eRobertParker.com

"One of my favorite St.-Emilion boutique vineyards, La Clotte’s 10 acres of vines average 40-years of age. The 2009 (80% Merlot and the rest mostly Cabernet Franc) offers a beautifully sweet, ripe, opulent texture (typical for this estate) in addition to a dense purple color, and abundant notes of licorice, smoked herbs, meat, and black fruits. Full-bodied and viscous with great precision and fresh acids (the paradoxical characteristic of this vintage), it combines enormous fruit and extraction with off the chart tannins as well as remarkable finesse and elegance. This 2009 should drink well for two decades or more." eRobertParker.com