Château l’Évangile is one of Pomerol’s most celebrated and historically significant estates, owned by the Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) since 1990 and farming its 14.6 hectares of Merlot-dominant vineyard on the finest clay and gravel soils of the Pomerol plateau adjacent to Pétrus. The estate’s combination of Merlot (81%) and Cabernet Franc (19%) produces wines of great structure and aromatic complexity whose ageing potential and capacity for development over decades has made l’Évangile one of the most avidly collected and consistently praised wines of the entire Pomerol appellation. The 2021 vintage, while challenging across the broader Bordeaux appellation, produced wines of exceptional precision and classical structure from Pomerol’s finest clay-dominant terroir, where the soil’s natural water retention capacity moderates the vintage’s cool conditions and provides a buffer against both drought and excess moisture that clay-dominant estates uniquely possess. The wine-searcher aggregate of 94/100 across all approved publications confirms a well-received but not exceptional vintage for this estate.

l’Évangile’s position in the Pomerol quality hierarchy, consistently grouped alongside La Fleur-Pétrus, Vieux Château Certan and La Conseillante as the appellation’s finest estates after Pétrus, Le Pin and Lafleur, gives the 2021 a quality context that a challenging vintage cannot undermine: the combination of Lafite Rothschild’s winemaking resources, the estate’s exceptional terroir position and the Cabernet Franc’s natural structural contribution ensures a wine of genuine quality and ageing potential regardless of vintage conditions. The 2021’s cool freshness and classical tannin structure should provide the ideal conditions for medium to long-term development in the cellar.

Château l’Évangile in the 2021 vintage provides collectors with access to one of Pomerol’s finest estate wines in a format that prioritises classical precision and structural elegance over the more opulent, richer style of the warmer 2019 and 2020 vintages. For those who seek genuine Pomerol clay-terroir precision in a more restrained and intellectually stimulating format, the 2021 is an excellent choice.

Garnet with a refined and mineral nose of black cherry, dried violet, iron mineral, tobacco, cedar and the distinctive clay-mineral depth of the Pomerol plateau at its most classical and precise. Full-bodied with silky, structured tannins, excellent natural acidity from the cool 2021 vintage and a long, pure, mineral finish of genuine Pomerol character. Best from 2027 through 2048.