I got to taste around 76 individual wines and the quality of this vintage is high. Looking through my notes, a consistent theme is "focus" and "purity of fruit". So many are already drinking beautifully with nice tension, but without the astringency quite often associated with young wines from this area. Quite many of the 2020s will be pleasant to drink upon release and within a few years without a need to wait. That said, I believe they have the structure to age nicely and to drink well beyond a decade or more.
I will list these in order I visited the AOC sections, so not quite in order of light-to-heavy or even Right Bank to Left Bank. It may give some context to the notes I took.
The first reds ventured to after the Pessac/Graves whites, were Pauillac and St. Estephe.
Chateau Batailley- This is already showing elegance and a nice softness on the palate, offering great fruit.
Chateau Clerc Milon- A floral and red fruit dominant wine showcasing loads of prettiness and elegance.
It's familial "sister" Chateau d'Armailhac was a bit more stemmy and green. Equally focused on higher toned red fruit, but less integrated in my opinion. Perhaps it was more affected by the weather when Cabernet was being picked surrounding the rains.
From the other branch of the Rothschild family, I found Chateau Duhart-Milon to also be a touch stemmy, but not abrasively so and I believe it will integrate with more time in bottle. It has youthful tannin and is well constructed. Likely needs 5-7 years or more to flesh out.
Chateau Lynch-Moussas has a more subdued nose. The entry has this fascinating mossy/earthy component under the fruit. Also a softer style and imminently drinkable.
A more burly and black fruited expression came from Chateau Pichon Baron with more noticeable forward oak. Definitely the more powerful and dense of the lineup.
Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande though having a more reserved nose, was quite luscious and pretty with a "feminine" profile and loads of gorgeous red fruit.
For both aromatics and palate, the stand out from this AOC for me is probably the Chateau Lynch- Bages. It offers gorgeous aromatics with hints of spice, red and black fruit. It's wonderfully layered on the palate and with loads of both red and black berries as well as plums, and is simply very tasty!
Into St. Estephe. The wine from Chateau Phelan-Segur has big tension, promising to become quite interesting over a longer period and shows nice, focused fruit.
Chateau Ormes De Pez is also quite red-fruited, but leans a bit tart. It's bright and high toned, so I suggest some time before enjoying this wine.
My standout from this AOC was Chateau de Pez. With a pretty nose and wonderfully round tannins, it's a sexy wine with warm spice and gobs of red fruit. Very nice indeed!
On to St. Julien.
Chateau Talbot is a pretty wine with nice oak accents, well integrated into the balance. It's layered and very pretty.
One I was previously unfamiliar with, Chateau Saint-Pierre has lovely aromatics, red fruit and very floral. On the palate it has very nice structure.
Chateau Leoville Barton is a very nice wine. Elegant, layered and well balanced. Very tasty.
Another supple and pretty wine was from Chateau Lagrange.
The standout here had to be from Chateau Langoa Barton. A lighter and prettier than it's neighbor Leoville, it's bright and high toned on the palate with lots of floral elements and it's simply very pretty, even gorgeous.
I cut it short here, wanting to hit Margaux before both time ran out and my palate got more numbed. It tends to be my favorite AOC. Alphabetically-
Chateau Angludet- Shows a lifted and very pretty palate that is floral and focused on red fruit flavors.
A consistent favorite every time I get to enjoy a back vintage, Chateau Brane-Cantenac offers s savory richness that counters the red fruit that seemed to dominate this vintage, with lots of plum and cassis. It has terrific complexity and layers.
Also possessing some fun savory, earthy notes, is Chateau Giscours with truffle and sous bois that is lifted nicely by freshness of fruit. There is a real focus and purity in the fruit on this wine.
Chateau Kirwan enters with nice warm spice and florals over red fruit.
Elegant and lithe on the palate, Chateau Rauzan-Segla also is driven by red fruit flavors with a touch of green herbs which isn't offputting or abrasive, but rather adds earthy complexity.
Earthiness was showing in notes of black tea over cherry and plum fruit on the Chateau Siran that was very tasty.
The one that leapt out to me initially and remained my favorite from Margaux from the day was Chateau Prireure-Lichine. It has an outstanding nose, perhaps the most expressive of the whole day aside from the sweet wines. Gorgeous on the palate, it's fresh, pretty and offers a depth of both red and black fruits. Really excellent wine!
A real welcome surprise came to me (and many others I know who agreed) from Chateau Desmirail. I hadn't been familiar with this house, but what a find! A gorgeous nose of flowers and fresh berries leads to a warmth on the palate of ripeness in balance and everything is so well integrated. A really gorgeous wine well worth seeking out.
Chateau Cantenac Brown I found to not be very remarkable, but is tasty and well constructed. Perhaps it's a bit mute at the moment. Having a quiet nose at present and showing a bit stemmy and underripe, Chateau Dauzac perhaps just needs more time to integrate and coalesce. I'd like to revisit both down the line.
From Listrac-Medoc, a nice and fresh wine with a very pretty nose from Chateau Clarke, which I was unfamiliar with and is owned by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild. Another very drinkable and finessed wine from this region comes from Chateau Fourcas Hosten.
On to Haut-Medoc, a nice, easy drinking and quality wine from Chateau Belgrave. Chateau Cantemerle offered a darker expression with a blue and purple-fruited nose and lead with the same fruit on the palate along with interesting notes of cola and sassafrass.
A crisp, pure red fruit along with some savory herbs was nicely presented by Chateau Citran and a unique Merlot-driven expression of purity and freshness with nice accents of minerality and oak was from Chateau Coufran.
I'd only had older expressions of Chateau La Lagune prior to the current ownership. I found the wine to also be round and fresh, though just a touch green. That should relax with time and integration so leave this in the cellar a bit.
A darker wine leading with aromas of truffle and cassis came from Bernard Magrez's Chateau La Tour Carnet. A solid wine, with nice balance.
Over to a stint on the Right Bank and St. Emilion.
Chateau Canon La Gaffeliere produced a truly delicious wine in 2020! It's well balanced, luscious, complex and possesses a nice savory edge. It's also fairly cool to have a count pouring your wine for you.
An interesting savory and even briny nose on the wine from Chateau Cap de Mourlin that is very lean on the palate and a touch green. Again, it'd be interesting to revisit this wine in 5-7 years and see how it fleshes out.
More brightness, freshness and purity of fruit from Chateau La Couspaude and a lean, yet flavorful wine of forward red fruit of pretty quality came from Chateau Dassault.
Chateau La Gaffeliere is focused and pure with loads of plum, cherry and red currant. A very nice wine.
The wine from Chateau Pavie Macquin perhaps wasn't my style or was just a bit muted this night and I found Chateau La Tour Figeac nice, but perhaps a touch over extracted.
As for the top wines, it may be a tie for me from this AOC. Chateau-Figeac begins a touch herbal, but fleshes out into flavors of coffee and a wonderful luscious bouquet of red and black fruits. It was rich, complex and very nice. Another rich wine, but in beautiful balance, was Chateau Larcis Ducasse. Nicely layered and just very, very good!
On to Pomerol.
A nice wine with flecks of greenness and lovely perfume from Chateau Le Gay. A heavier, riper style came from Chateau Le Bon Pasteur. Perhaps it's the Michel Rolland touch. It's rich in plummy flavors along with rich cassis. Another wine I can only think to describe as more "New World" came from Chateau La Cabanne with lovely perfume that leans just a touch into cassis syrup. It's a richer, riper style with noticeable oak.
Probably my favorite from Pomerol came from Chateau Clinet. Deep and rich, but with an elegance I didn't find in the couple previously mentioned. It's really a gorgeous wine.
Probably just behind Clinet, was a rich and layered, complex and simply very good expression from Chateau Gazin.
Back then to finish St. Julien with a remarkable and truly delicious wine from Chateau Beychevelle. It's nose of bright black cherry cola simply grabs you. On the palate it's deep and rich with a range of blue and purple fruit and is powerful, yet remains balanced with elegance.
Interesting mint and perhaps menthol undertones come on the nose of the Chateau Branaire-Ducru. It begins with red fruit then leans into more black fruit, which is a nice journey on the palate.
A pretty wine with good grip and what I could only describe as "stony tension" and nice fruit came from Chateau Gloria. An elegant wine with some nice savory qualities and wonderful balance here from Chateau Gruaud Larose.
Back to Pessac for the reds.
A very nice wine that leans high-toned in red fruit that retains a lovely brightness throughout with hints of black berries here from Chateau Bouscaut. I quite enjoyed both their white and red so a house well worth seeking out.
Chateau Carbonnieux comes with a stony minerality along the palate with a nice interplay between red and black fruit. Very nice wine.
Domaine de Chevalier offers a nice licorice and anise-tinged edge along with stones and red and black fruit that leans heavy into cassis.
A super interesting wine from Chateai de Fieuzal that is primarily plum fruit but has a zing of freshness that reminded me of something like McIntosh apple.
Chateau Olivier's red was elegant, layered and well balanced. For Chateau Pape Clement, I enjoyed the red fruit with loads of freshness. It has rather drying, grippy tannins on the finish, so some age will do nicely here.
An interesting note of pine resin and blackberry leaf along with the fruit from Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte with a nice palate of black fruit with a licorice edge.
On to "the stickies" of Sauternes & Barsac.
Chateau Bastor-Lamontange offers nice hazelnut and honey. For me, it could do with a touch more acidity, but it's a quite pleasant wine.
Loads of apple, pear and persimmon greet the palate with some delightful freshness from Chateau Coutet.
Intense aromas of honeysuckle and Jasmine tea and a rich, luscious palate with nice balancing acidity come from this vintage of Chateau Doisy Daene. The wine from Chateau Guiraud is a bit leaner in build and the acid is bright with a crisper profile than many others. It offers lovely jasmine, honeysuckle and orchard fruit.
Lively, nutty and sweet with good balancing acidity here from Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey.
Finally, Chateau Suduiraut. It has exotic perfume and is presented in a forward, luscious style retaining good and proper balance. Very nice!
No comments:
Post a Comment