2020 Ch\u00e2teau Balestard La Tonnelle Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 89-92<\/strong><\/p>\nGood medium saturated bright ruby.\u00a0Aromas of blackcurrant, blueberry, licorice, coffee and violet complemented by sexy, sweet vanillin oak.\u00a0Plush and sweet, with flavours similar to the aromas, with firm acidity providing shape to the fine-grained dark fruit. Very rich and big but finishes a little short, with youthfully tough tannins that harmonized nicely with air. Drinking window: 2027-2038.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Beauregard<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Beauregard Pomerol\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 91-94<\/strong><\/p>\nGood medium red. Knockout nose combines black fruits, fresh flowers (violet, peony, iris), and a strong note of coffee. Juicy, pure and delineated, with bright minerality giving cut and penetration to the dark cherry and intense, but not over the top, coffee flavours. Closes very long, with fine-grained tannins and truly noteworthy density. So well balanced this is absolutely delicious today, but it would be a shame to pull the cork on it too soon. \u00a0Drinking window: 2027-2038.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Canon-La-Gaffeli\u00e8re<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Canon-La-Gaffeli\u00e8re Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 89-93<\/strong><\/p>\nMedium ruby. Open-knit, forward aromas of dark cherry, flowers, dried flowers and coffee; there’s something vaguely Pinot Noir-like about this. Clean and silky in the mouth, this very nicely textured, politely-styled midweight offers savoury, if slightly simple presently, dark fruit and spice flavours. Finishes medium-long with a dusting of noble tannins and an obvious saline edge. Drinking window: 2026-2037.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Cap de Mourlin<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Cap de Mourlin Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 89-92<\/strong><\/p>\nGood full ruby. Earthy nuances colour the aromas of cherry liqueur, sage and oak. Juicy and fine-grained, with sweet blackberry and herb flavours framed by a firm spine of tannins. Nicely persistent on the finish that features repeating earthy notes and only average complexity. Drinking window: 2026-2036<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Clinet<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Clinet Pomerol \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 94-97\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\nGood deep, saturated ruby. Cassis, cedar, graphite, licorice, espresso and minerals on the powerful nose and in the mouth. Then compellingly sweet, not to mention amazingly pure, with captivating minerality and floral character giving focus and life to the very rich, ripe, practically opulent middle palate. This 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon blend closes explosively and extremely long, with very suave tannins and just a touch of alcohol-derived heat. An atypical Clinet in that it is showing remarkably well already at this very young age, when normally it is usually quite shut down in its youth. Drinking window: 2027-2040<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Dassault<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Dassault Saint-\u00c9milion \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 91-94<\/strong><\/p>\nGood full ruby.\u00a0Cassis, black cherry, violet and herbs on the concentrated nose, along with coffee and cocoa notes.\u00a0Plush and concentrated, but with excellent cut thanks to bright acidity intensifying the dark fruit, herb and floral flavours.\u00a0A very smooth wine that communicates a strong impression of extract but not much nuance for now. Looks like this will be a keeper, but it needs to develop more layers to turn into something really special. Time will tell, but I\u2019d say the future looks bright for this baby. Drinking window: 2027-2038.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau De Sales<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau De Sales Pomerol\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 91-94<\/strong><\/p>\nThe 2020 de Sales is one of the best on recent memory, silky smooth, brightly floral, and spectacularly juicy and pure. It lingers long on the taste buds thanks to well-integrated acidity that carries its dark and red berry and delicately spicy flavours nicely on the long aftertaste. This property is located in one of the sandier sections of Pomerol and therefore has always made wines that are light-bodied and refined, rather than muscular and mouth-coating. For this reason, its wines have seldom been understood and properly evaluated by many a pundit weaned on chocolaty Cabernet-Merlot monsters that simply cannot be produced in this part of Pomerol. Therefore, the wine needs to be judged on its being true-to-type (to its terroir, in other words) and not punished for a supposed dilution or thinness. Drink- 2027-2035<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Franc Mayne<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Franc Mayne Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 89-92<\/strong><\/p>\nBright good ruby.\u00a0Clean, breezy nose combines blackberry, gunflint, and clove, with a bright violet topnote for added lift.\u00a0 At once fresh and suave, with mellow dark plum and cedar flavours complemented by flinty minerality.\u00a0Neither exotic nor overly sweet, and not especially long, but very pleasant, even charming in fact. The finish offers a repeating note of violet. Drinking window: 2026-2037<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Gazin<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Gazin Pomerol\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 92-94<\/strong><\/p>\nModerately saturated medium ruby. Scented nose of dark berry fruit cocktail, mint and violet. Very fresh and nicely delineated in Gazin\u2019s typically refined style, with harmonious acidity nicely focusing the remarkably pure flavours of blue fruits, flowers, graphite and spices. A very attractive, brisk and youthful Pomerol, with fine-grained tannins and lingering floral and mineral lift. Drinking window: 2027-2040<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Grand Mayne<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Grand Mayne Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 88-91<\/strong><\/p>\nVery deep inky-ruby. Pungent aromas of dark fruit, cloves and herbs on the showy nose. Then aggressively oaky on entry, improving with aeration such that the blue and black fruit flavours mellow somewhat on the persistent aftertaste. This will need time so that the tannins smoothen and don\u2019t cut off the fruit as they do now, though I wonder if they will ever smoothen out completely. Drinking window: 2028-2038<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau La Cabanne<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau La Cabanne Pomerol \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 92-94<\/strong><\/p>\nBright, deep ruby-red.\u00a0Enticing cassis, violet and pepper aromas are nicely framed by singing minerality.\u00a0Then silky and soil-driven, with extremely pure and lively dark berry flavours complicated by floral and saline nuances.\u00a0 The 2020 Ch\u00e2teau La Cabanne Pomerol is dense, long, fresh and clean: quite frankly, it strikes me as being one of the best young La Cabanne\u2019s in some time but it is only fair to admit that this estate has been on a real roll since at least the 2015 vintage. Well done. Drinking window: 2027-2038<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau La Couspaude<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau La Couspaude Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 88-91<\/strong><\/p>\nMedium-deep ruby. Clean but slightly simple aromas of dark cherry, blackcurrant and tobacco. Enters sweet and round, but turns a little weedy in the middle with not much ripe fruit to buffer the tannins. In a distinctly herbal style, finishing clean and lively but a little abruptly. Drinking window: 2027-2038<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau La Croix de Gay<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau La Croix de Gay Pomerol\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 92-94<\/strong><\/p>\nBright deep ruby.\u00a0Sexy, in your face aromas of blackberry, cassis, chocolate and violet, plus a hint of caramel oak.\u00a0Dense, creamy and concentrated, in a sweet and very showy style redolent of chocolaty dark plum flavours. This may not be the last word in refinement, but its harmonious acidity provides balance and nicely extends the flavours on the back end that features more than just a hint of torrefaction. It will be remarkably accessible already at a very young age so I\u2019d drink this up over the first twelve years of its life or so for maximum hedonistic pleasure. Drinking window: 2027-2035<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau La Dominique<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau La Dominique Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 93-96<\/strong><\/p>\nDeep ruby with purple tinges. Superripe aromas of raspberry, blackberry, smoky cocoa and coffee; began in a manner reminiscent of Port but grew fresher in the glass with aeration. Dense and suave on entry, then crammed with ripe fruit, with strong acidity providing shape and energy. A very smoky, sweet, rich Pomerol that finishes with broad, noble tannins and a palate-coating presence but that manages the neat trick of being at once fat and refined. Well done. Drinking window: 2028-2040<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau La Gaffeli\u00e8re<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau La Gaffeli\u00e8re Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 93-96\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\nDeep ruby. Clean and very mineral on the nose where small black fruits and herbs showcase beautiful perfumed lift. Then similar flavours to the aromas, with a mid-weight, politely styled air about it. Finishes long and balanced, this beautiful, refined brings to mind the grace of a ballerina. Drinking window: 2027-2040<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau La Tour Figeac<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau La Tour Figeac Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 86-89<\/strong><\/p>\nGood full ruby. Pungent, almost Graves-like aromas of blackcurrant, plum, tobacco, and smoky minerals. Slightly dry-edged but juicy, the 2020 Ch\u00e2teau La Tour Figeac Saint-\u00c9milion strikes me as being much like a tightly coiled spring currently, with little depth of flavour or fleshiness to speak of. The finish is broad and dusty but not very long. Perhaps I tasted either a bad sample (but I tasted two different bottles) or maybe I caught this in an awkward stage. At the very least it\u2019s a very firmly structured wine that will evolve slowly, and hopefully the fruit will hold out. Drinking window: 2030-2037<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Larcis Ducasse<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Larcis Ducasse Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 92-95<\/strong><\/p>\nFully saturated ruby. Ripe but lively aromas of blackcurrant, spice cake, mocha and violet, with hints of traditional balsamic vinegar and herbs. Supple, dense and sweet in the mouth, with bright acidity lifting the cassis and mocha flavours on the gently tannic, nicely lingering finish. This strikes me as a bigger Larcis-Ducasse than usual, but the wine remains faithful to the estate\u2019s signature sense of style and balance. Drinking window: 2027-2038<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Larmande<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Larmande Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 91-94<\/strong><\/p>\nGood full red-ruby. Lively aromas of small dark berries, graphite, cedar and violet. Supple and sweet, but with brisk acidity framing the still youthfully imploded dark fruit and cedar flavours. Boasts impressive texture and breadth, not to mention sneaky concentration. Finishes with very good balance and lift, but not much complexity, yet (but it will develop in time). Drinking window: 2028-2040<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Le Bon Pasteur<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Le Bon Pasteur Pomerol\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 92-94<\/strong><\/p>\nVivid ruby. Scented nose offers black- and redcurrant aromas complemented by hints of truffle, mint, and candied violet. Juicy and silky, with nuanced if simple flavours of blueberry, herbs and fresh flowers. Not hugely dense but wonderfully expressive today, with noble tannins that provide backbone. A pretty wine that finishes fragrant, easygoing and very accessible even at this young age. Drinking window: 2027-2037<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Pavie Macquin<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Pavie Macquin Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 91-94<\/strong><\/p>\nGood deep red. Almost decadent aromas of cassis, raspberry liqueur, chocolate and cocoa. Rather thick and lush on entry, then gripping in the middle palate, with just enough acidity to provide necessary lift to the cocoa, cherry cola and minty flavours. A very concentrated wine that stains and coats the palate on the long finish, but I would have liked a little more nuance and a little less power. A case of different strokes for different folks, I guess. Drinking window: 2028-2040<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Petit-Village<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Petit-Village Pomerol \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 93-96<\/strong><\/p>\nThe 2020 Ch\u00e2teau Petit-Village Pomerol is a beauty. Bright full ruby in colour, it boasts perfumed aromas of blackcurrant, blueberry, camphor, violet and cedar. Silky-sweet, precise and intense, boasting superb lift to its blue fruit, mineral and spice flavours. Wonderfully refined and youthfully imploded, the finish features very fine-grained tannins and terrific length. Drinking window: 2027-2038<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Rouget<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Rouget Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 88-91<\/strong><\/p>\nDeep inky-ruby. Aromas of dark berries, cassis leaf, coffee and charred oak. Enters with fairly concentrated dark berry, toasty oak and herbal flavours but turns astringent in the middle and on the medium-long finish. Currently tough going now, perhaps cellaring will help it come around at least some, but as it is now, there\u2019s simply too much tannin and not enough fruit. Drinking window: 2029-2040<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Soutard<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Soutard Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 92-94<\/strong><\/p>\nGood red-ruby.\u00a0Highly floral aromas of black cherry, cassis, plum, and just the slightest hint of chocolaty oak.\u00a0Then nicely dense and suave, with nicely delineated flavours similar to the aromas and a restrained sweetness that lingers long on the long, lovely fruity and strongly floral-accented finish. What I like best about the 2020 Ch\u00e2teau Soutard Saint-\u00c9milion is that it saturates the palate without leaving any impression of undue weight. Drinking window: 2027-2038<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Trotte Vieille<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Trotte Vieille Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 93-95<\/strong><\/p>\nBright ruby with inky tinges.\u00a0Bitter chocolate and coffee complicate cassis, tobacco and herbs on the nose; the presence of coffee and oak is not at all shy here but avoids being so dominant that the wine becomes caricatural.\u00a0Then at once densely packed and penetrating in the mouth, with a surprisingly light touch and noteworthy clarity and cut to the blackcurrant and tobacco leaf flavours.\u00a0Finishes briskly and long, this strikes me as one of the best Trotte Vielles of the last ten years (clearly, at a similar stage of youthful development). Well done. Drinking window: 2027-2038<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e2teau Valandraud<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Ch\u00e2teau Valandraud Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 86-89<\/strong><\/p>\nOuch. That\u2019s all about there is to say about the 2020 Ch\u00e2teau Valandraud Saint-\u00c9milion tasted at the Primeurs. Impenetrably inky in colour, with unfortunately caricatural aromas and flavours of oak, oak and more oak, and little fruit in the background. On the palate, this 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon blend offers a skeletal texture leaving an impression of mouth-clenching astringency. The finish shows a green streak and very little fruit to speak of. I really like Jean-Luc Thunevin and find him to be a very talented winemaker; over the years he has made many fine wines (and not just at his own estate but at many of the estates where he consults) but this 2020 Valandraud harkens back to an age that is (very happily, I will add) long gone, in which many big fat black tannic wines were all the rage, always being scored crazy-high despite their total absence of grace and nuance, not to mention the possibility of pairing them with food. I hold out hope that my sample was not typical of the 2020 Valandraud. Clearly, as I don\u2019t drink labels but evaluate the wines based on what is in the bottle and in my glass, I give you here my impressions of the 2020 sample I was given to taste. But have no worries, many other wine writers, despite drinking exactly what I have, won\u2019t let that get in their way and award this wine its usual high 90\u2019s score.<\/p>\n
Clos Fourtet<\/u><\/p>\n
2020 Clos Fourtet Saint-\u00c9milion\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 93-96<\/strong><\/p>\nBright ruby. Aromas of raspberry, blueberry and floral oils are complicated by a note of cocoa and bright violet lift.\u00a0Deep and very dense, with a suave, silky texture to its flavours of blackberry, cedar and graphite.\u00a0Most impressive today on the long, rising finish, which features highly polished tannins. The 2020 Clos Fourtet Saint-\u00c9milion has as an amazing future in front of it. Drinking window: 2027-2040<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In this part of the report, readers can get Ian’s scores and tasting notes with professional advice on 2020 en primeurs of Saint-\u00c9milion and Pomerol.
\nby Ian D’Agata<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-region-report","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3980"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3997,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3980\/revisions\/3997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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