Clerc Milon (Ex Chateau)

2014

Wine Advocate 92: The 2014 Clerc Milon is more backward on the nose compared to the d'Armailhac: quite sumptuous in style with black fruit, dark plum, vanilla and a pungent violet scent. The palate is wonderful: a fabulous line of acidity, tensile and focused, mineral and intense with blackberry, citrus fruit, bilberry and cedar towards the elegant, yet intense finish. There is something almost Lafite-like about this Clerc-Milon and in my book, there is nothing wrong with that.

James Suckling 94: Extremely floral and fresh with currants, light chocolate and orange peel. Red clay, too. Full-bodied, firm, silky and long with a flavorful finish. Salty undertone. Stones. Really serious. Better in 2021.

Wine Enthusiast 94: This property continues its upward trend. It is a solid wine, packed with great ripe fruit. Old vines give extra concentration and depth of flavor. The wine has great potential, with both its tannins and rich fruit playing strongly. Drink from 2023.

2016

Wine Advocate 94+: The Cabernet Franc was fantastic this year, so it was all used in the grand vin. The final blend is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Carménère. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Clerc Milon leaps from the glass with beautiful scents of chocolate-covered cherries, plum preserves and crushed blackcurrants with suggestions of lilacs, cardamom, underbrush and unsmoked cigars. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a firm frame of finely grained tannins and seamless freshness lifting the perfumed fruit to a nice long finish.

James Suckling 96: Hot crushed stones and dark berries jump out of the glass. Full body, very dense fruit and powerful tannins, yet it remains agile and bright with beauty and energy. So muscular and toned. Truly outstanding Clerc for the future. Unwavering nature to this.

2019

Wine Advocate 95: The 2019 Clerc Milon is a real success. At more than 70%, this blend contains one of the highest proportions of Cabernet Sauvignon in the property's recent history, and the result is a wine of real nobility. Offering up aromas of violets, wild berries, licorice, loamy soil and cigar wrapper, it's full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, with notable depth at the core, lively acids and ripe, powdery tannins that assert themselves on the finish. From clay-limestone soils rather than the sandy gravels that characterize d'Armailhac, this is by some margin the more structured and serious of Mouton-Rothschild's two Pauillac stablemates.

James Suckling 96: Aromas of crushed stone, blackcurrants and blackberries. Full-bodied with extremely well-crafted tannins that are chewy and layered, yet polished and fantastic. Love the finish. 72% cabernet sauvignon, 25% petit verdot, 22% merlot and 4% cabernet franc. Drink after 2026.

2020

Wine Advocate 94+: Aromas of dark berries, cigar wrapper, exotic spices and burning embers introduce the 2020 Clerc Milon, a medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered wine that's seamless, concentrated and refined, with lively acids and a long, saline, violet-inflected finish. A blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and the balance Petit Verdot, it's a terrific effort from this clay-limestone terroir that has benefited from so much investment in recent years.

James Suckling 97: Blackcurrants, black licorice, violets and lavender. Aromatic and perfumed. Full- to medium-bodied with tension and focus, and very fine, linear tannins that run the length of the wine. Starting to close now. Serious Clerc. Better after 2029.

2023

Wine Advocate 92-94: Revealing aromas of red berries, cherries and blackcurrants mingled with hints of pencil shavings and new oak, the 2023 Clerc Milon is medium to full-bodied, deep and fleshy, with a layered core of fruit, sweet velvety tannins and a seamless, succulent profile. It's a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 6.5% Cabernet Franc and the balance Carmenère and Petit Verdot.

James Suckling 95-96: This has a great finish, with blackcurrant, chocolate, hazelnut and salt undertones that run the length of the wine. Full-bodied and dense, and then it lifts off at the end. Chalky undertone, coming from the limestone terroir here. 72% cabernet sauvignon, 19% merlot, 6.5% cabernet franc, 1.5% carmenere and 1% petit verdot.