Château L'Eglise-Clinet

Noëmie and Constance Durantou


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History and Terroir

The vineyard of Château L’Eglise Clinet has been owned by the Durantou family, a farming family of the Gironde region, since the 18th century, when in 1803, Jean Rouchut purchased some vines near a small cemetery. In 1882, the family purchased vineyard lands from their neighboring property, Domaine de Clinet. At that point in time, two families agreed to join together and form a partnership, and from that point forward, until the 1950s, their wine was sold under the name Clos L’Eglise-Clinet. The vineyard is, indeed, not much bigger than a Clos, with its somehow 5ha of land. At that time, the Roman church of Pomerol – that you can see on La Petite Eglise’s label- was standing by the house and the winery of the property. It was only in 1955 that the first label “Château L’Eglise Clinet” appeared. The 80s will remain the turning point of Château L’Eglise Clinet’s history, with the arrival of the young Denis Durantou as an apprentice at the family property. He quickly became the first man in the family to manage the vineyard without tenants, and in 1983, he was already ruling the property on his own. Bright, sharp, day-and-night dedicated to the vineyard, he soon developed his own winemaking style, the one that still makes L’Eglise Clinet so unique today. In 2000 Denis Durantou purchased and redesigned le Château Les Cruzelles in Lalande-de- Pomerol. This is the year that Olivier Gautrat was hired; becoming Denis Durantou’s right- hand man. Olivier is still master cellar of the properties these days. In 2009 Denis acquired le Château Montlandrie in Castillon-la-Bataille, and landscaped the whole hill. These two properties became new gardens for the family, where Denis Durantou pursued his vision and passion to produce fabulous wines. In 2017, Noëmie Durantou decided to work alongside her Dad at the family’s properties. She had been working with her father Denis Durantou in the vineyard until his passing at the age of 62 in May of 2020. After which, she fully took over his position, and with an enology degree from the Bordeaux University, she became head of the management of the vineyards and the winemaking. Constance Durantou, Denis’s third daughter, lived in London for four years before returning home, where she is now working to help communicate about the vineyards and wines. Additionally, Marie Reilhac Durantou, artist and wife of Denis, still takes part in the administration of the properties. The whole team is dedicated in pursuing Denis’s dream and values: craftmanship, precision, curiosity, so as to share the purest expression of the fruit of our terroirs.

Farming and Winemaking

The terroir of Pomerol is the result of the total destruction of carbonate rocks from the tertiary era, following erosion caused by the L'Isle River, whose course is now farther west. In the Quaternary, various alluvial layers were deposited. The deposits from the central massif formed parallel north-south terraces composed of sand, gravel and pebbles, resting at varying depths on clay formations. L'Eglise Clinet, situated on the Pomerol plateau, lies on an incredibly rich blue clay terroir and its famous ferruginous sandstone. Merlot reaches its most gorgeous expression here, but the Cabernet Francs, dearly loved and selected by Denis Durantou himself, give even more subtlety and elegance to the blend. The oldest vines at L’Eglise Clinet were planted in 1905, and they still are a treasure of complexity. Most of the vines at L’Eglise Clinet have been replanted from the massale selection of those very old vines, making sure that we preserve the unique identity of this precious wine, crafted from this beautiful family garden.

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“Wine takes you places – it reaches all of our senses”

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Noëmie Durantou
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