Château Clinet

Château Clinet is a respected name in Pomerol, often compared to Pétrus and Lafleur in terms of quality. Its 11 hectares of vineyards, sitting on a high point of the prestigious Pomerol plateau, can be dated back to 1595, however its success is owed to more recent changes. In 1979, Jean-Michel Arcaute took over the vineyard and began a major reinvigoration of the estate. He changed the proportion of the grapes planted to favour Merlot, which is far more suited to the gravel and clay soils of Pomerol, introduced hand-harvesting, controlled yields and began to delay the harvest to ensure perfectly ripe fruit. From 1985 he employed the consultancy of Michel Rolland. Today the estate is run by Ronan Laborde, who took over in 2003 when he was just 23. He has pushed the quality of the estate to even greater heights and is making some of Pomerol’s most sought after wines.