Château l'Evangile
The vintage
This year, the frost forced us to carry out extraordinary selection within the plots, meticulously marking the vines affected by frost and those that had been spared, and this continued until the harvest, which required intricate sorting. A classic maceration of 30 days and promising blends in January have confirmed our impressions of a vintage with balance between great aromatic freshness, quality of tannins and length.
Location
The Pomerol appellation stretches on a plateau on the right bank of the Dordogne river, about 40km north east of Bordeaux. In Pomerol, merlot is king. The characteristics of Pomerol’s clay soil give to this varietal an expression like nowhere else in the world.
Terroir
L’Evangile’s vineyard covers 22 hectares at the heart of the Pomerol plateau, sharing the appellation’s best terroirs with two other prestigious properties. Here, through a mystery of geology, the heavy green clay soils are covered by a bed of gravel. These high quality soils are the source of the estate’s great merlot, and the secret of Chateau l’Evangile’s extraordinary power and depth.
Winemaking
Alcoholic fermentation take place in temperature-controlled concrete vats and lasted for about 10 days. Pumping over and maceration times are adjusted for each vat, according to the terroir and the maturity of the tannins. Total maceration times is of 27 days on average for the merlot and 28 days for the cabernet franc. After maceration, the wine is transferred in new oak barrels for the malolactic fermentation, followed by 18 months of ageing. The barrels are made by the Tonnellerie des Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) in Pauillac.
Tasting
Dark crimson-purple colour with hints of garnet. The nose is dense and powerful, initially presenting red fruit then becoming tinged with cedar and mellow notes such as sage.
On the palate, the attack is well balanced between power and liveliness highlighting this vintage’s tremendous freshness. The tannic structure is silky, typically Merlot, the only grape variety used in this vintage, giving the wine plenty of body and elegance. The complex aromatic palette finishes with some empyreumatic notes such as cocoa beans.
Alcohol content
14.5
Grapes
Merlot
: 100 %