Chateau Clerc Milon

There is a party on the label of Clerc Milon and the property`s history over the last forty years certainly justifies a celebration. Rescued by Baron Philippe de Rothschold in 1970, the estate has been renovated in both vineyards and cellars, but the average age of the vines is still just over forty years. Because of a mixture of soils, the proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon here is less than might be typical in Pauillac with good dollops of Cabernet Franc and even the now rare in Bordeaux Carmenere. Typically for a Mouton-Rothschild property there is no second wine, but despite that the grand vin is extremely impressive and since I have been tasting it from the mid eighties has often outshone Mouton itself. Arguably very good value, the constant vigilance at the property shows in small but continual improvements in quality with the 2009 perhaps the best ever! (CW 07/06/10)