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Clos l'Église

There is not much to Pomerol the village, as opposed to Pomerol the appellation. Libourne is the nearest conurbation of any note, Pomerol itself a tiny collection of low-slung viticultural properties dotted amongst a great expanse of vineyards. If there is a focal point at all it is the impressive church, its tall spire towering above the landscape, its size strangely out of sorts with the diminutive hamlet to which it lies adjacent, rather than within. This is to our advantage, however, as the building, which is dedicated to St John, makes for a useful landmark when you are floating adrift, directionless and disorientated - as can occasionally happen - on Pomerol's gently undulating sea of vines.

On the Rue de l'Église, which runs roughly westwards out of Pomerol itself (and encircling the church), there lie a number of viticultural estates and a number of them declare this situation in their name; we have not only the famed Église-Clinet, but also Domaine de l'Église and of course Clos de l'Église. Of this trio it is the latter - Clos l'Église - that interests us here.

It has been written by more than one commentator on the appellation that the closer the vineyard to the church, the better the terroir and thus the wine, and so it should perhaps come as no surprise that these estates make plain their position in this way. In fact these estates are not expressing their allegiance to Pomerol's voluminous modern-day church but to a much older structure, an ancient building which lay a few hundred metres to the north, on the Chemin de l'Ancienne Église, but I am sure today most associate them with the minster dedicated to St John.

The Origins of Clos l'Église

The ancient history of many Pomerol domaines is sadly rather hazy, and Clos l'Église is no exception, although with all the Église estates we at least have some idea. We begin here in the 18th century with a large 14-hectare estate in the hands of the Rouchut family, which following marriage and subsequent inheritances was divided, creating the properties today know as Église-Clinet and Clos l'Église. Clive Coates, writing in Grand Vins (University of California Press, 1995) suggests that the union between a Rouchut with a member of the Constant family, owners of Chateau Clinet at the time, explains the appending of Clinet to one of the properties. Whether this is true or not both these estates remained with Rouchut-descendents, in the case of Clos l'Église the Moreau family, who ran the property until the late 20th century. The vineyard was augmented, and there were some developments in the chai such as the installation of new stainless steel fermentation vats in 1983, but in terms of the final product Clos l'Église kept a very low profile.

Details on the modern-day proprietors are a little easier to come by, partly because they hail from a family already described on these pages. The property was acquired in January 1997 by Sylvaine Garcin-Cathiard, a sibling of Daniel Cathiard who owns Smith-Haut-Lafitte in Pessac-Léognan. Although newcomers to wine, this half of the family set about acquiring Bordeaux estates with gusto, purchasing not only Clos l'Église but also prior to that the Pessac estates Haut-Bergey in 1991 and Branon in 1996, and subsequently the St Emilion property Barde-Haut in 2000. More recently they have even branched out in foreign lands, with the Argentinean operation Poesia. Although Sylvaine has been the driving force behind this mini-empire, today Clos l'Église and a number of these other concerns are run by daughter Hélène Garcin-Lévêque with her husband Patrice. There has been investment and revitalisation, so it is fair to say we should be looking for good quality here, especially considering the illustrious terroir.

The Vineyards and Wines

Today there are 6 hectares committed to vines at Clos l'Église, a little less than half of the original Église estate. The soils have the usual Pomerol combination of clay and gravel, with the deeper iron-rich seam, and the vines 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc, with an average age of 35 years, planted at a density of 7150 vines/ha. The land between the rows is ploughed rather than grassed-over, and vineyard management follows a policy of lutte raisonnée and includes some use of biological pest control.

Come harvest time the fruit is brought in by hand, with a sorting either in the vineyard or on the sorting table following transport in from the fields in small crates. The fruit is destemmed and pressed, then transported by gravity feed into the temperature-controlled 60-hectolitre oak fermentation vats which have replaced the stainless steel pieces installed in the 1980s. The cap is submerged using a manual pigeage, punching the mass of skins and pips down several times each day. Once finished fermenting the wines are left to macerate before eventual transfer into barrel and malolactic fermentation, and then bottling 16-18 months later. It all sounds very Burgundian and clearly indicates a dedicated commitment to quality and style in the final wines. Having said that, the Clos l'Église oenological consultants are nothing to do with Burgundy; from the outset Michel Rolland has advised here, and in more recent vintages Alain Raynaud has also been credited.

What this process creates is 1250 cases per annum of the grand vin, Clos l'Église, and about 850 cases of the second wine Espirit de L'Église. Although the wines were once marketed by the Moueix family this is no longer the case, and indeed Hélène Garcin-Lévêque has eschewed the traditional route for selling Bordeaux, through the place and négociants, in favour of direct sales. The quantities in question are small, and with good scores from influential critics such as Parker - ever since the 1997 takeover - this is perhaps a more viable undertaking than it would be for many larger estates. (9/12/09)

Contact details:
Address: 33500 Pomerol
Telephone: +33 (0) 5 57 64 05 22
Fax: +33 (0) 5 57 64 06 98
Internet: www.vignoblesgarcin.com

Clos l'Église - Tasting Notes

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Clos l'Église (Pomerol) 2008: Nice, fairly perfumed fruit on the nose, intense and plummy, with a violet edge. The palate starts attractively, creamy and rounded, rather svelte in texture, with raspberry and cream character. Very flattering, with nice midpalate acidity. Later on it shows a more brawny, cakey character to the fruit. A good grip at the finish, and some length too. From my 2008 Bordeaux primeur assessment. 16.5-17.5+/20 (April 2009)