1989 Clinet

At a going away dinner given by dear friends Bob and Laurie, with Wib and Charlotte in attendance. Drinking 3 extraordinary wines with Clinet the highlight of the three. Very pretty red brick rim with ruby highlights to the dark red/purple core. Still quite dense in color, no transparency. Nose of tar, black cherry, pine woods, mint and spice. A bit of tobacco/St Julien aroma too. Touch of plum comes out with more air and there must be fairly high alcohol since it’s apparent with sniffing, but not unappealing. On palate the woodsy cherry is most apparent, delightfully so. The finish is truly the longest I can recall tasting! It seems to go on pretty much indefinitely, and I’m not exaggerating. Acid and fruit are in perfect balance and there remains enough tannin for me to think this one could last another 8-10 years. This is as good a Pomerol as I’ve ever enjoyed. I’d be happy to drink this wine every night for the rest of my life, though in actuality this is the last time I’ll drink it as it’s rare and prohibitively expensive since Parker gave it 100 points. I think I agree. Recalling it and other great Pomerols I’ve drunk previously—I believe this is the 4th Clinet ’89 I’ve had—Pomerol remains my favorite of the 7 bordeaux regions, though I love all of them.

Parker: One of the great modern-day Bordeaux, the 1989 Clinet still has a saturated purple color and a sweet nose of creme de cassis intermixed with incense, licorice, smoke, and mineral. As the wine sits in the glass, more blueberry and blackberry notes emerge, intermixed with some toasty oak, earth, and spice. This spectacularly concentrated, full-bodied, multi-dimensional wine is the stuff of dreams. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2025. Last tasted, 10/02.