Château Clos l'Eglise Cotes de Castillon 2002

Don't you hate it when people say women (or men) are like a fine wine, they only get better with age. Sure, it's a nice sentiment but it's also cliched nonsense. Most of the time you want a fresh fruit driven wine in the same way you may want to have a conversation with a 19-year-old about the latest reality TV show that's gripping the nation.

Although, sometimes neither of these are going to stimulate you. You're discussing the enlightening work of Voltaire with an Oxford Don and you're holding your own, you need a wine of equal sophistication. A wine such as Chateau Clos L'Eglise Cotes de Castillon, with such gracious maturity Dame Helen Mirren would envy it. An old wine isn't automatically better, then again there's times a young wine simply can't hold up.

The world’s great winemakers aren’t just a dab hand in the vineyard and winery, they have a certain vision and ability to recognise the finest plots which are sometimes being under-utilised and have the potential to deliver superb wines. Just such an example is Gerard Perse, pioneering owner of Chateau Pavie, who rarely misses an opportunity to add to his vineyard holdings when the right pieces of real estate come up. Back in 2007 he identified one such property in the finest area of the Castillon, about 4 miles east of St Emilion, called Clos L’Eglise.

Clos L’Eglise (not to be confused with the Pomerol estate of the same name) is a superb plot of old vines planted on a mix of clay and limestone soils which had developed a reputation for low yields of fruit with excellent weight and concentration. This gorgeously rich and concentrated wine is at its peak. With 15 years of age there is still ripe fruit aromas of damson and black cherry yet is maturing into notes of prune, cassis and sandalwood. Excellent balance between a full-body and lifting acidity, amazing value for a well-aged claret.