Wine Varietals

wines

The flagship 2019 Château Léoville Poyferré is based on 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot. It’s one of the bigger, richer wines in the vintage and has a gorgeous, thrilling, full-bodied style as well as notes of crème de cassis, tobacco leaf, violets, and chocolate. While many estates seem to be playing it safe and focusing on so-called elegance and balance, I love that Poyferré continues to make a ripe, sexy, beautifully textured wine that always offers more opulence and sexiness than most in the vintage. Ranking with the crème de la crème of the vintage, this gorgeous Poyferré can be enjoyed any time over the coming 40-50 years. Bravo!Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDThe 2019 Léoville-Poyferré is creamy, racy and voluptuous to the core. Bright red cherry/plum fruit, blood orange, mint, spice and menthol fill out the layers with effortless grace. In some tastings, the 2019 has come across as quite powerful, while in other moments it shows greater finesse. Either way, the 2019 is positively stunning. I very much admire its energy and persistence. Tasted three times.Antonio Galloni | 97 AGSo aromatic with real complexity of notes on the nose, perfume and black fruits. Quite tannic on the palate, broad-shouldered with a core of liquorice-edged black fruit, dark chocolate and slate giving it quite a serious, gourmet and savoury feel right now. Lovely poise though, with mouthwatering freshness. Feels well made with energy and elegance. A standout wine with plenty on offer. Drinking Window: 2027 - 2045Decanter | 97 DECThe 2019 Léoville Poyferré is showing very well in bottle, wafting from the glass with aromas of crème de cassis and wild berries mingled with notions of licorice, loamy soil, cigar wrapper and smoke. Full-bodied, velvety and polished, it’s broad and enveloping, with an ample core of fruit, ripe tannins and succulent acids, concluding with a long, precise finish. Invariably the most sumptuous of the three Léovilles, featuring some 35% Merlot, the 2019 is a terrific effort that will offer a wide drinking window.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPThrows off gorgeous warmed plum, blueberry reduction and açaí berry compote aromas and flavors, laced with ganache and sweet tobacco from start to finish. Delivers ample structure in the guise of a cold cast iron note buried underneath the showy fruit, with a flash of violet for treble in the background. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2025 through 2040. 15,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSBlackcurrant, wet-earth with fresh black-mushroom aromas. Some chocolate, too. Full-bodied with layers of beautiful, ripe fruit and creamy tannins. It’s chewy and focused. Impressive balance. Try after 2025.James Suckling | 95 JS

Famed for its white wine, this estate has produced another impressive vintage. It has great poise between lusciousness and a tight mineral texture, giving balance and longevity. Nutmeg flavors come from the wood aging. It should cellar well.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEPineapple and mango on the nose, delicious and expressive exotic fruit aromas. Good impact on the palate, a nice mix of lemon and creamy patisserie elements. Good balance and harmony, not a showstopper or trying to deliver too much but this has such a great weight and drive on the palate with crisp apple, honeyed lemon and touches of orange too. Energy and acidity. Yummy. Drinking Window: 2024 - 2044Decanter | 94 DECSliced apples, lemons, crushed stones and jasmine on the nose. It’s medium-bodied, crisp and focused. Very pretty and elegant with a mineral, sleek and structured palate. Drink now or hold.James Suckling | 94 JSThe 2019 Chateau De Fieuzal Blanc is a solid effort, offering lots of white peach, honeyed orange, and floral notes in a rounded, medium-bodied, fleshy, and impressively textured style. This concentrated, balanced, rich yet still fresh white is going to keep for 7-8 years or so, possibly longer.Jeb Dunnuck | 93 JDA terrific effort, the 2019 de Fieuzal Blanc offers up inviting aromas of nectarine, confit citrus fruit, white flowers and subtle hints of pastry cream. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and seamless, with an enveloping core of fruit, lively acids and a saline finish, it’s a charming, beautifully balanced wine that punches well above its weight.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPThe 2019 Fieuzal Blanc is perfumed and light on its feet. Orchard fruit, dried flowers, mint and light tropical accents give this understated, tasty white plenty of appeal.Antonio Galloni | 88-90 AG

Based on 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot, the Grand Vin 2020 Château Beychevelle is a stunner that does everything right, offering a monster bouquet of black and blue fruits as well as candied violets, incense, flowers, and toasty oak. A ripe, full-bodied, incredibly sexy wine in every sense, it has a great mid-palate, ripe, velvety tannins, no hard edges, and a great finish. It’s one of the more up-front, exotic wines in the vintage and should be accessible with just short-term cellaring.Jeb Dunnuck | 95-97 JDThe wine’s structure and serious tannins are, happily, balanced by the rich generosity of the fruit flavors. Together, the two elements of this very fine wine will allow it to develop with weight and concentration.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEDeep purple-black colored, the 2020 Beychevelle offers up vibrant notes of black raspberries, fresh black cherries and cassis, plus hints of wild sage, chocolate mint, rose hip tea and fallen leaves, with an exotic hint of Indian spices. The medium to full-bodied palate offers layers of crunchy black fruits with a firm, grainy texture and just enough freshness, finishing long and perfumed.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94-96 RPThe 2020 Beychevelle opens with the most exotic bouquet imaginable. Wild flowers of all sorts, spice, lavender and inky dark fruit all saturate the palate. As always, Beychevelle is an overt, flamboyant wine, but all of the elements are so well out together. The 2020 is sexy, alluring and impossible to resist. Time in the glass brings out redder tonalities of fruit along with sweet floral notes that add striking inner perfume. Even as a barrel sample, I am so tempted to just drink it.Vinous Media | 94-96 VMSmoke, grilled almond on the nose, even a touch of rubber from an edge of reduction. This has depth to black chocolate and bilberry fruit, it is well balanced and seductive. Enjoyable, it’s pretty broad shouldered but it sits well within the successful run of vintages at Beychevelle. A yield of 47hl/ha. 18 months ageing. 55% first wine. Drinking Window 2029 - 2044.Decanter | 94 DECSweet-berry and tobacco character with blackberries and violets. It’s full-bodied with firm, polished tannins and a fresh finish. Very fine at the end.James Suckling | 94-95 JS

A return to form in my eyes for Calon Ségur after the atypical 2018, rippling with elegance, balance and savoury blue fruits of Cabernet, with rose and peony flowers. Concentrated, chiselled and juicy, this has clear personality and equals the great, classically balanced vintages of Calon like 2016. A yield of 33hl/ha, 3.85pH, 100% new oak. Vincent Millet is now overall director as well as technical director, since the departure of Laurent Dufau in 2020. Drinking Window 2029 - 2048.Decanter | 98 DECThe powerful tannins of this wine cannot mask the beautiful fruits and acidity. Rather the tannins enhance them, giving structure to the wine’s fine blackberry fruitiness that leaves a refreshing character at the end. With this structure the wine will take its time and will need to age for many years.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEThe 2020 Calon-Ségur is a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. It is aging in 100% new French oak barrels for an anticipated 18 to 20 months. The alcohol is 13.8%. Displaying a deep purple-black color, it straight away springs up with bright scents of freshly picked black raspberries, kirsch and blackberries, needing considerable swirling to reveal a vast array of nuances—rose oil, cardamom, iron ore, graphite, lavender and aniseed. The medium-bodied palate has a solid structure of firm, ripe, grainy tannins and plenty of freshness supporting the tightly wound red and black fruit layers, accented by lots of mineral and floral sparks, finishing with impressive length and depth. Beautiful, beautiful wine!Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95-97+ RPThe flagship 2020 Château Calon Ségur is also brilliant and certainly brings up the intensity, depth, and richness, although it’s nowhere near the exotic, almost over-the-top style of the 2018. Gorgeous crème de cassis, tobacco, roasted coffee beans, lead pencil, and sappy herbs all define this beauty, which is full-bodied, beautifully balanced, and has incredible purity of fruit. It might have some up-front appeal as well, yet smart money will hide bottles for at least 7-8 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 95-97 JDTobacco and tea aromas with currants and wet earth. Full-bodied and chewy with blackcurrant flavor. Tannins build on the finish with lots of structure and intensity. Quite muscular.James Suckling | 95-96 JSThe 2020 Calon Ségur is a dark, brooding wine that is going to need a number of years to become approachable. Black fruit, gravel, smoke, chocolate, leather and licorice give the 2020 its distinctly virile feel. In two separate tastings, the 2020 has come across as quite potent and forbidding. This sample is more convincing than a sample I tasted this past spring, but I still don’t see Calon-Segur as having reached the level that has become customary over the last few vintages.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM

Intense graphite and violet character with lead pencil. It’s full and firm with chewy and balanced tannins. Iodine coming through. So intense. Super second wine. Like the grand vin of Lynch from the 1980s. 60% cabernet sauvignon and 40% merlot.James Suckling | 95-96 JSOffering classic Pauillac notes of blackcurrants, scorched earth, violets, and lead pencil, the 2020 Echo De Lynch Bages is a big, rich, nicely concentrated wine that shows the fresh yet powerful style of the vintage beautifully. It’s a terrific second wine, yet one that’s going to benefit from a few years of bottle age. The blend is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot.Jeb Dunnuck | 92-94 JDA serious Echo, one that has walls and depths to its tannins, and will take time to open up. Black pepper, cassis, cassis bud and liquorice, I would give this four or five years before opening. 3.8pH. Yields were down to around 22hl/ha. First harvest in the new gravity-fed cellars. (Drink between 2025-2040)Decanter | 92 DECThe 2020 Echo de Lynch Bages is fabulous. A compelling second wine, Echo offers all the aromatic sensuality, red fruit and silkiness of the Grand Vin, but in an open-knit style that can be enjoyed upon release. All the elements are so impeccably balanced. Everything about the 2020 speaks to class and refinement.Antonio Galloni | 90-92 AG

Blackcurrants, orange peel, flowers and tar with hints of graphite. Full-bodied with a creamy texture of exquisitely polished tannins. It goes on and on. Intense flavors at the end, too, with lead pencil and lots of blackberry. Very classic and precise.James Suckling | 98-99 JSBold black fruits and dense, textured tannins are very much in the style of the estate. What is new in this vintage is the extra precision that lifts the wine, bringing together the beautiful black currant flavors of ripe Cabernet Sauvignon with a refined texture of sophisticated tannins. This is an impressive wine, sure to age over many years. Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe lowest amount of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend on recent record but the signature of Lynch Bages is very much in play here - tons of liquorice, grippy and charismatic cassis and blueberry fruit with a velvety texture layered with blackcurrant pastilles and rich dark chocolate. This is easily one of the best Pauillacs that I have tasted in the vintage, totally gorgeous. The 33hl/ha yield meant I was worried that it would be too concentrated, but it pulls it off, although you’ve got to assume that they will need to be careful over ageing. Lower alcohol than both 2018 and 2019, a more classical balance in fact. 4% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. 3.73pH, 75% new oak, 18 months in barrel.

(Château Margaux, Margaux, Bordeaux, France, Red) A brilliant Margaux; one that takes a sigh and then releases the huge floral, eucalyptus and crushed mint whoosh that comes in waves though the palate. You get the concentration of the vintage in an entirely positive light, with a suave softness to the tannins that makes it stand head and shoulders above many others. Plenty in common with the 1996 vintage - the knitted down tannins, the completeness, the juicy blackcurrant purity and acidity on the finish, and the certainty of long ageing. Real clarity of flavour. Alcohol level is lower than both the 2018 and 2019, but tannins and anthocyanins are at the same level as in 2018. 36% of overall harvest, and 1% Petit Verdot completes the blend. A yield of 36hl/ha. 98-100. (Drink between 2028-2044)Decanter | 99 DECSo floral and perfumed with blackcurrants, blackberries and some asphalt. Full-bodied with super, fine tannins. Extremely refined with great length and intensity. The wonderful combination of refinement and power is already evident. Superb finish. Another great Margaux.James Suckling | 99-100 JSThe 2020 Château Margaux is composed of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, accounting for 36% of the harvest. The alcohol weighs in at 13.5%, the IPT is 80 and the pH is 3.67.Displaying an opaque purple-black color, it needs a lot of air, time and patience to coax out the youthfully reticent nose of blueberry preserves, blackcurrant pastilles and Black Forest cake, followed by suggestions of lavender, clove oil, iron ore and menthol with wafts of star anise and candied violets. The medium to full-bodied palate is wonderfully opulent, featuring tightly wound yet beautifully pure layers of black fruits and earthy nuances within a solid structure of firm yet velvety tannins and exhilarating freshness, finishing with very long-lingering earth and mineral notes. Another stunning expression of the vintage by Philippe Bascaules and his team—bravo!Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97-99 RPA stunning, riveting wine, the 2020 Margaux is classic as classic gets. Racy, elegant and super-refined, the 2020 possesses magnificent balance. Inky red/purplish fruit, lavender, rose petal, spice and bright mineral notes build as this super-expressive Margaux builds over time in the glass. The 2020 is not an obvious wine, but then again Château Margaux rarely is. I love the energy and vibrancy here. Margaux is very clearly one of the wines of the vintage in 2020. It’s a tremendous effort from the team led by Estate Manager Philippe Bascaules.Vinous Media | 97-99 VMThe 2020 Château Margaux is a more concentrated, dense wine that has the vintage’s massive dry extract paired with more moderate alcohol levels and building tannins. Blackcurrants, sandalwood, tobacco leaf, and graphite give way to a full-bodied, rich, powerful Château Margaux that’s flawlessly balanced, has a stacked mid-palate, and a great finish. It’s one for the ages, though, and don’t expect much up-front appeal. It almost reminds me of the 1996, yet with slightly more density. It’s a quintessential beauty that will be just about immortal.Jeb Dunnuck | 96-98 JDRipe and creamy, this white wine from the Margaux vineyards is full of apple, grapefruit and tangy orange fruit. It also has a good structure with its touch of toast and spice. The wine is clean, clear, very pure and with great balance. Drink from 2020.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WE

(Château Montrose, St-Estèphe, Bordeaux, France, Red) A serious wall of blueberry and blackberry compote, and a ton of savoury Cabernet sinew and freshness. This is a great Montrose, inky, broad-shouldered and structured. It needs time to aerate and open in the glass, then you see the precision, the heft, the chiselling of the fruits with a ton of graphite, cigar box and campfire smoke - huge persistency. This will need a long time and will reward patience. One of the few where a 1986, 2016 and 2010 comparison makes sense. A yield around 30hl/ha. 1% Petit Verdot, 3.86pH, IPT 80. 45% of the overall production. (Drink between 2029-2050)Decanter | 98 DECJust starting to open, it shows beautiful spices and dark fruit on the nose and palate. It’s full-bodied with ultra-fine, integrated tannins and an extremely complex, refined finish. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 96 JSWhile the wine is firm and with powerful tannins it has delicious fruitiness that is more forward than in many vintages of the wine. The fine black currant flavors are underlined by acidity while the Cabernet Sauvignon gives a fine, firm structure to this very direct wine.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE

Ranking with the top wines of the vintage, the dense purple-hued 2020 Château Pape Clement offers a sensational bouquet of pure crème de cassis interwoven with notes of liquid violets and classy oak. Possessing flawless balance, full-bodied richness, and ultra-fine tannins, it excels in this vintage and has a pretty, elegant, yet also layered and concentrated profile. It will drink well with just short-term cellaring yet evolve gracefully for 20-30 years. I was able to taste this on multiple occasions, and it always checked in near the upper end of the scale. This is a gorgeous wine in the making.Jeb Dunnuck | 97-99 JDSuperb aromas of blackberries, crushed stones, iodine and graphite. Full-bodied with ultra fine tannins and a balanced finish. Such length and beauty. Very close to the 2019 in quality.James Suckling | 97-98 JSDeep garnet-purple colored, the 2020 Pape Clement comes barreling out of the glass with bold notes of cassis, plum preserves and licorice, giving way to scents of cedar chest, crushed rocks, charcoal and pencil lead. The medium to full-bodied palate is tightly coiled with beautiful tension and a firm, finely grained texture locking in the layers of black fruits and minerals, finishing with great length and energy. The blend this year is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% Merlot, aging mainly in French oak barriques, 66% new, with about 10% aging in large oak foudres. The wine will spend approximately 18 months in barrels.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96-98 RPThe 2020 Pape Clément is so impressive. Red cherry, plum, cedar, mint, tobacco, blood orange and rose petal all build as the 2020 opens in the glass. Vibrant and beautifully delineated, the 2020 has a ton to offer. The 2020 exudes purity, energy and breathtaking balance. It is one of the finest recent vintages I can remember tasting.Vinous Media | 95-97 VMThis ancient estate, an oasis in the suburbs of Bordeaux city, offers a wine that is packed with promising tannins. The important and rich black fruits reveal concentration, density and the potential of the development of a fine balance and structure as it matures.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WE(Château Pape Clément, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, Red) Powerful in colour, this has the glass staining red and purple colours that Pape Clément does so well. Touches of liquorice and cocoa beans, well handled, this gives power with one hand but takes it away with the other as the austerity and fresh mint leaf comes to the fore. Impressive, a really enjoyable, classically wrought but still full of concentration Pape Clément. Savoury, there is nothing too exuberant in the fruits but it exudes deft confidence. (Drink between 2028-2044)Decanter | 94 DEC

So much blackcurrant, graphite and iodine character. Full-bodied. Incredible quality to the tannins. They are polished yet powerful. It’s so long and complete with such depth and toned muscles. Vertical. Very fresh and energetic. Will it be better than the famous 2015? Maybe the best ever. From organically grown grapes. 65% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot, 4% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot.James Suckling | 99-100 JSA blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot aging in 60% new barriques, the very deep purple-black colored 2020 Smith Haut Lafitte makes an impactful entrance, opening with flamboyant notes of blackcurrant pastilles, chocolate-covered cherries and molten licorice, leading to nuances of ground cloves, woodsmoke, crushed rocks and dusty soil. The medium to full-bodied palate bursts with opulent black fruit preserves and shimmering mineral sparks, framed by exquisitely ripe and fantastically firm tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with epically long-lasting earthy and savory layers. This is the singular voice of Smith Haut Lafitte at its finest, and wow-oh-wow is it worth a listen. This 2020 has an alcohol of 14.5% with a pH of 3.65. The tannins this year were a little higher than 2018 and 2019. A little less than a third of production went into this grand vin.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98-100 RPPossibly ranking with the top two or three wines of the vintage, the 2020 Smith Haut Lafitte is a blockbuster that reminds me of a hypothetical mix of the 2009 and 2010. Based on a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, its dense purple hue is followed by a monster bouquet of ripe black fruits, scorched earth, charcoal, and graphite. All of these carry to a full-bodied Pessac-Léognan with flawless balance, loads of ripe, polished tannins, a dense mid-palate, and a great, great finish. It’s one of the gems in the vintage and should be snatched up by readers. Give bottles just 4-6 years in the cellar, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following 20-30 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 97-100 JDPowerful on the attack, dense and concentrated at first then brighter on the retro-olfaction with layers of spice, liquorice and flowers. Intense but beautifully precise, with iris and peony aromatics coming in strongly as it opens in the glass. A ton of nuance and complexity, really takes its time, delivering a masterclass in restrained Pessac glamour. Average yields 30hl/ha for the reds. 1% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 60% new oak. Harvest started on September 9 - 30. (Drink between 2030-2050)Decanter | 97 DEC96–98. Barrel Sample. This is a very fine wine, packed with tannins that are rich and suspended in the wine with its smoky edge and ripe blackberry fruits. The wine is direct in its fine, fragrant freshness and in its texture that gives power and concentration. Obviously for long-term aging.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe 2020 Smith Haut Lafitte is a thrilling wine of grandeur and spellbinding beauty. The aromatics literally soar out of the glass, perhaps driven by a touch more Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend. A vertical, explosive wine, the 2020 possesses tremendous energy. It is a rapturous wine that will delight readers for years to come. A move towards gentler extractions, with less oak impact, allows the purity of the fruit to come through loud and clear. Inky dark cherry, plum, mocha, dried herbs and lavender are all amplified in the 2020, but what I admire most is a total sense of harmony. I can’t wait to see how it ages, as evolution has at times been the sole Achilles heel here.Antonio Galloni | 95-97 AG

This is a great Talbot, a real success for the château. Subtle and deft touches throughout, from the smoked turmeric notes that lace the black fruits to the finessed aromatics that accompany the body of the wine. Balance and freshness, and a saline edge to the finish that is extremely moreish. Three years with Jean-Michel Laporte as director and he is doing great work. Drinking Window 2026 - 2040.Decanter | 95 DECA great success from this estate, the wine has bold tannins and richly, concentrated fruit. Its blackberry flavors mingle with the dry core, promising some serious aging.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEA tight, focused young red with blackcurrant, lead-pencil and chocolate character. It’s full-bodied and tense with a long, flavorful finish.James Suckling | 94-95 JSThe 2020 Talbot is a hugely promising wine. It offers up an exotic mélange of inky dark fruit, chocolate, licorice, gravel, lavender and menthol. Brooding in the glass, with broad shoulders and tons of intensity, the 2020 is a Talbot that marries power, breadth and savory intensity with notable stylishness and tons of personality. Impressive.Vinous Media | 92-95 VMThe 2020 Château Talbot is a winner and certainly an outstanding wine. Offering lots of blackcurrants, green tobacco, chocolate, and lead pencil notes, it’s a classic Saint-Julien, with medium to full body, velvety tannins, and a rounded, layered texture. It’s ripe, yet certainly plays in the fresher end of the pool and should have 15-20 years of longevity.Jeb Dunnuck | 91-93 JDDeep purple-black colored, the 2020 Talbot storms out of the glass with powerful blackcurrants, raspberry leaves and baked plums scents, followed by suggestions of dried Mediterranean herbs, tobacco leaf and graphite. The medium-bodied palate delivers lovely freshness and an approachable chewiness, nicely framing the herb-laced black fruits, finishing savory.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90-92 RP

You need to take a little time to let the concentrated flavours seep out, this is a long hauler. The tannins build slowly but surely through the palate, sombre and serious right now, particularly for an estate that is known for its exuberance. The opulence is there if you give it time, and as the tannins elongate and relax, richer notes of bilberry fruits, toasted cedar, salted chocolate, turmeric and black pepper spice arrives. Harvest September 10 to 24. A 3.9pH is the highest since 2003, but any threat of low acidity is balanced by high tannins, and relatively low alcohol. A yield of 39hl/ha (43hl/ha in 2019). Drinking Window 2027 - 2044.Decanter | 97 DECThis is a very refined, polished Cos with superb finesse and length. Medium-to full-bodied, very fine and persistent. Really long with beautiful tannins. Rich, but fresh and linear. Yet, the alcohol is around 13.5%. 62% cabernet and 38% merlot.James Suckling | 97-98 JSPowerful, ripe fruits show exceptional quality and a velvety character that’s allied to a ripe structure. With the freshness so typical of the vintage, the wine seems open and fruity but surprises with its density.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe 2020 Cos d’Estournel is composed of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot. The harvest took place September 10–24 with a yield of 39 hectoliters per hectare. The alcohol weighs in at 13.46% with a pH of 3.9 and an IPT (total phenolic index) of 80. It is being aged in French oak barrels, 55% new.Deep purple-black in color, it pops with explosive scents of ripe red and black currants, black cherry preserves and black raspberries, followed by sparks of violets, wild sage, pencil lead and clove oil, with emerging hints of iron ore and damp soil. The medium-bodied palate has amazing elegance and grace contrasted by jaw-dropping energy, featuring a firm frame of finely grained tannins and just enough freshness, finishing with a whole firework display of mineral nuances. I love the way this Cos d’Estournel shimmies and shines—a unique vintage signature expressed so beautifully at this estate!Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96-98 RPThe Grand Vin 2020 Château Cos D’Estournel is based on 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot that was brought up in 55% new French oak. An inky-hued, concentrated, yet flawlessly balanced wine, it has gorgeous cassis and dark currant fruits, medium to full-bodied richness, ripe, building tannins, and just a wonderful sense of purity and elegance backed up by ample concentration. It stays tight, focused, and seamless, and is a brilliant example of the vintage. The 2020 hit 13.4% natural alcohol with a pH of 3.9 and an IPT of 80.Jeb Dunnuck | 95-97+ JDThe 2020 is a gorgeous wine from a very unusual year in which the Merlot is a bit more prominent in the blend than usual because of dehydration in the Cabernet. Even so, the 2020 is a wine of mid-weight finesse more than opulence. All the elements are impeccably balanced throughout.Vinous Media | 94-96 VM

Detailed and delicate, this has a seductive charm to it, slowly displaying scented blueberries and raspberries, before layers of salty minerality, liquorice, and cooling blue fruits come into play as well as tobacco and liquorice adding a savoury touch. It’s not immediately upfront - more calm and collected, slowly growing in stature and presence. Tannins are fine but mouthcoating, giving the structure, this isn’t a light wine, but it’s supremely elegant and excellently textured. Impressive complexity and drama here, still very serious but it’s sublime too. A luminous wine I’d love to own.Decanter | 98 DECA lovely softness and texture to this wine with a medium to full body, plenty of fruit and fine velvety tannins. It’s lovely to taste now and will age beautifully. Really seductive. Hard not to drink now but one for the cellar. Best to try after 2025.James Suckling | 96 JSThe 2020 Gruaud-Larose is a powerful, dense wine. Super-ripe dark cherry, kirsch, menthol, licorice, rose petal and espresso infuse the palate with tons of intensity. Unctuous and flamboyant, the 2020 also offers a good bit of energy to keep things in balance. The 2020 is very much an extrovert, a gorgeous extrovert at that. Sweet floral and spice accents, along with a kick of sweet French oak, linger.Vinous Media | 95 VMRock-solid, with a core of dark plum, boysenberry and blackberry compote flavors held together with cedar, savory, tobacco and monkeyd apple wood notes that add texture and energy through the finish. Built for the cellar. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2030 through 2040. 9,250 boxes made.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

The Grand Vin 2020 Domaine De Chevalier ratchets everything up another notch and will be one of the legendary wines from this address. Notes of pure cassis, graphite, lead pencil, and scorched earth define its incredible aromatics, and it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, ultra-fine tannins, no hard edges, and a great, great finish. This is pure, classic, regal Pessac-Léognan is as good as anything in the vintage. Give bottles 4-6 years and it will evolve for 50, 60, 70+ years. I absolutely love this wine. The blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc.Jeb Dunnuck | 98+ JDThe 2020 Domaine de Chevalier is brilliant. Bright, poised and wonderfully pure, the 2020 Domaine de Chevalier marries the radiance of the year with tremendous freshness. Red cherry fruit, blood orange, mint, star anise and cinnamon all meld together. The 2020 is a wine built on aromatic presence and persistence, more so than heft, with all the elements very nicely balanced. What a wine! Tasted two times.Vinous Media | 96 VMBright red fruits, creamy and deliciously textured - full, ripe and round but so well controlled. Vibrant and vivid yet balanced and sleek, you want to drink this now with great acidity and cool blue fruit touches and stony minerality. Tannins are present and mouthfilling but grippy and supportive not overwhelming. Feels stylish and really so drinkable. A great effort!Decanter | 96 DECIron, black mushroom and dark berry with some burnt orange peel. Flowers, too. It’s full-bodied with round tannins that turn linear and tight at the end. Excellent energy. Brightness and purity.James Suckling | 96-97 JSThis impressively rich wine is centered on great swathes of black fruits. The tannins, with their stylish swagger, are a fine complement to the fruit, giving the wine structure and the potential for elegant aging.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEThe 2020 Domaine de Chevalier is a touch more tightly wound than the brilliant 2019 out of the gates, but it seems likely to equal that vintage with a bit of time. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of minty blackberries and cassis mingled with notions of burning embers, spices, rose petals and orange rind, it’s medium to full-bodied, fleshy and concentrated, with a deep core of fruit, powdery structuring tannins and a long, saline finish. As I wrote last year, this estate in recent vintages has arrived at a sort of stylistic contemporary classicism that evokes the great wines of yesteryear from this address, and the 2020 continues that trend.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95+ RPWell-built, pulling ample and weighty waves of cassis, plum reduction and blackberry preserves along, atop a broad spine of warm loam, smoldering tobacco and singed alder. Long and deep through the fine-grained finish, with a warm paving stone note that won’t quit, thanks to well-buried acidity—not an easy feat in this vintage. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2028 through 2038.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

The Grand Vin 2020 Château Phelan Ségur from director Véronique Dausse checks in as 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, and 2% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, and this is the first time that blend has included all four varieties. Aged 18 months in 55% new French oak, its vivid purple color is followed by a gorgeous bouquet of pure cassis and black raspberry fruits as well as complex floral, spice, and crushed stone-like minerality. Medium to full-bodied and flawlessly balanced, with silky tannins, it’s an incredibly classy, seamless, elegant 2020 that shows the ripe yet classic style of this incredible vintage. It will evolve gracefully for over two decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDBright and perfumed with some chocolate, berry, sandalwood and cedar. Very elegant and fine, medium to full-bodied palate with very integrated tannins and refined, polished texture. The tannins melt into the wine. Long finish with serious structure. Vivid and refined. Class here. Very Bordeaux. 54% cabernet sauvignon, 42% merlot, 2% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot.James Suckling | 95-96 JSThe 2020 Phélan Ségur, which was picked 16 September to 1 October, and is the first vintage with four varieties in the blend i.e. Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot as well as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. It fulfils the promise that it showed from barrel. Not quite as intense on the nose, yet it has retained that Pauillac-inspired allure thanks to those subtle pencil box and cedar scents infusing the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with a cohesive, well-knit entry. Lovely texture, very pure, this is one of the most seductive Phélan that I can recall at this stage and I adored the classicism and graphite note that lingers on the aftertaste. Superb.Vinous Media | 94 VMClean and compelling, quite richly textured with bright black fruits but also savoury touches. This is brooding and you can feel the power and the concentration of the vintage. Ripe tannins remain prominent with spiced edges giving tension and linearity throughout. Forward, intense but detailed, nuanced and seductive. Feels well worked, salty and tangy. Give it time but this will have fans. So sleek and well controlled with bite. Lovely.Decanter | 94 DECFirm tannins, very much in the traditional style of Saint-Estèphe, give this wine an intense, concentrated structure. To balance this and in the new more open style from this estate, the wine also has fine fruits—black currants layered with acidity.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEThe 2020 Phélan Ségur is rich and generous, unwinding in the glass with aromas of sweet berries, cherries and plums mingled with hints of violets and spices and framed by creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered, it’s a concentrated, structured wine underpinned by a chassis of generously extracted tannin that lends it a somewhat youthfully chunky profile.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPA sleek, taut, winey style, with a mix of red and black currant coulis notes that stretch out over hints of charcoal, tobacco and wet stone. Shows a sanguine echo through the finish, with nice range and character overall. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2024 through 2038. 150,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

The 2020 Beaumont is fabulous in the way it marries power and finesse. Crushed red berry fruit, charcoal, dried flowers, spice and tobacco lend notable complexity. The 2020 has lost some of its youthful fruitiness, but none of its charm or pedigree. This is beautifully done.Vinous Media | 92 VMEnticing, with a mix of boysenberry, mulberry and blackberry fruit moving along seamlessly, infused with black tea, anise and apple wood accents. Reveals a savory flicker that sparkles on the finish. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Drink now through 2036.Wine Spectator | 92 WSAromas of ripe berries, licorice, cloves and nut shell with some earthy undertones. Medium body. It’s round and supple on the palate with dusty tannins and a dry, velvety finish. Try from 2025.James Suckling | 92 JSRipe, soft, revealing sumptuous black fruits, this wine shows an impressive side to this estate. Tannins and black fruits are coming together well, with ripe black currant flavors and fine density. The wine will be worth aging.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEThe 2020 Château Beaumont is rock solid, with a great nose of ripe red and black fruits, spicy oak, and spring flowers. Medium-bodied, It has the pure, focused, structured style of the vintage as well as a great mid-palate and the balance to evolve for 10-12 years or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 91 JDJuicy and supple, there’s a nice softness here, with bright red cherry and some clear herbal tones - rosemary, mint and liquorice. Good persistency, not too heavy on the palate, with slightly grainy, grippy tannins giving the roundness. Still a little austere and tight but good potential. Decanter | 91 DEC

This has a dusty character with black cherries and currants, as well as hints of cocoa, wet earth and raw mushrooms. Medium- to full-bodied with ripe, plush tannins that continue to build up throughout the deep, dark-fruited palate. It’s a muscular Poujeaux with a spicy and chocolatey finish. Try after 2026.James Suckling | 93 JSOwned by a member of the Cuvelier family, this estate has produced a ripe, juicy wine bright with black currant and rich with generous tannins. The future is good for this carefully structured wine.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEThe 2020 Poujeaux is a wonderful Moulis-en-Médoc and likely to offer superb value-for-money. Bright blackberry commingles with blueberry and graphite on the nose, quite intense and determined to make an impression. The palate is structured but well balanced, the silver thread of acidity running from start to finish. A little glossy in style towards the finish, that will be tempered by bottle-age which Poujeaux always needs. Don’t ignore this.Vinous Media | 92 VMThe 2020 Poujeaux is a strong follow-up to the excellent 2019. Wafting from the glass with aromas of cherries, minty blackberries, pencil shavings and licorice, it’s medium to full-bodied, deep and lively, with excellent concentration, refined tannins and a penetrating finish. A touch more tightly wound out of the gates than the 2019, it will reward a few years’ patience with a broad drinking window.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91+ RPBramble fruits on the nose. Supple and generous, this has quite clear salty minerality, with pencil lead, cola and liquorice elements lining the fruit, giving this a dark, seductive tone. Good depth, texture and weight. Round, complete, driven, deep and long. Feels a touch closed and pent up right now, or all in one line, but clearly stylish. A touch of spice on the finish, with some dark chocolate bitterness that lingers. Shows power right now, rather than softness of fruit that will come in time.Decanter | 91 DECAlso solid, the 2020 Château Poujeaux exhibits a deeper ruby/purple hue to go with impressive aromatics of ripe black cherries, cedary herbs, and leather. These carry to a medium-bodied, nicely textured Moulis that has the ripe, yet firmer tannins of the vintage. Drink bottles any time over the coming decade or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 90 JD

The 2020 Mouton Rothschild is a striking wine and one that I regretted not purchasing en primeur as soon as it landed in my glass. Offering up complex aromas of minty cassis, pencil shavings, loamy soil, cigar wrapper, espresso roast and violets, it’s medium to full-bodied, broad and layered, with terrific concentrated, beautifully refined tannins and a long, penetrating finish. Checking in at 12.8% alcohol, its incipient complexity, ineffable sense of completeness and exquisite balance mark it out as the purists’ choice among the trio of 2018, 2019 and 2020. In this vintage, the lots that made it into the blend were largely confined to the core gravel terroirs that represent Mouton’s heart, meaning that there’s a little less to go around. This was the first vintage overseen by Mouton’s new technical director, Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy, and he has begun with a flying start.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPDark fruits on the nose, blackcurrants and cherries with savoury nuances of dark chocolate and tobacco. Fresh and forward on the palate, this hits you square on, still very lean and direct, almost piercing and severe in its intensity and drive, though wonderfully precise: it’s like an arrow. Serious and focussed yet full and layered, the texture is lovely, a slight graininess that lingers but it’s the acidity and the fruit purity that are so excellent - they give such a sense of vibrancy and make this wine so thrilling. You get a feeling of pent-up energy, but after a few minutes the slight density of the ripe fruit comes through, giving some plushness and weight. I love the Cabernet details and the mineral element that leaves the mouth cool and fresh. A well constructed, subtle beauty.Decanter | 100 DECThe purity of blackcurrants, blueberries, creme de cassis, and flowers. Hints of subtle spearmint. Iron. Blood orange. Medium-bodied with a compacted palate, like a cylinder of perfectly ripe fruit and fine tannins. A million layers of tight-grained tannins. It goes on and on. Such freshness and weightlessness to it. Ethereal. New classicism. Modern take on the 1986. 12.79% alcohol. 84% cabernet sauvignon, 13% merlot, 2% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot. Drink after 2030 but hard to not drink now.James Suckling | 100 JSThe 2020 Mouton Rothschild is very clearly one of the great, great wines of the Left Bank in 2020. All the elements are in perfect balance. A wine of total sensuality and nuance, Mouton is all finesse in 2020, all elegance. An explosion of dark cherry fruit, plum, pomegranate, mint and cinnamon are all amplified. From barrel, the 2020 Mouton hinted at greatness. Today, that greatness is evident. The rich, vibrant finish is a thing of beauty.Vinous Media | 99 VMThis is a massive, impressive wine. Dense tannins and succulent black fruits are the outward manifestation of the hidden power of this concentrated wine. The fruit is opulent, full of possibility. Drink this wine from 2028.Wine Enthusiast | 99 WEThe 2020 Château Mouton Rothschild is in the running for the biggest, baddest, and most concentrated wine in the vintage. Based on 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petite Verdot brought up in new barrels, this inky hued beast of wine offers up classic Mouton ripe black fruits, scorched earth, tobacco leaf, and freshly sharpened pencil-like aromatics. These carry to a full-bodied, concentrated, tannic, backward 2020 with terrific purity, building, mouth-coating tannins, terrific balance, and one gorgeous finish. Unfortunately, as with many of the top 2020s, this isn’t for those looking for instant gratification, and a decade (or more) of cellaring is advised. This hit 13.1% natural alcohol with a pH of 3.78. It will be a 50-, 60-, 70+-year wine.Jeb Dunnuck | 97+ JD

Shows a core of lovely mulberry, cassis and plum reduction flavors that stretch out over a racy graphite note, in turn revealing flashes of anise, apple wood and sweet tobacco. Offers a late tug of warm earth, too. Rock-solid, with an old-school hint. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2026 through 2038.Wine Spectator | 94 WSDried flowers, lots of pot pourri scents on the nose, very aromatic in a floral sense with some rich Cabernet blackcurrant flavours at the back. Smooth and lively, excellent acidity from the get go, this has a nice bounce and push but also a creaminess and a touch of spice so you’re getting a lot of complexity in the mouth. A touch little rustic with clove, green pepper and cinnamon spice but I love the slightly textured grainy tannins and the freshness is there. Definitely learner than I was expecting, with a saline finish and wonderful crystalline aspect to the fruit. Clear, detailed, precise with a sense of classicism.Decanter | 94 DECThe 2020 d’Armailhac is excellent, bursting with aromas of blackberries, violets, burning embers and licorice, followed by a medium to full-bodied, rich and fleshy palate that’s broad but precise, with powdery tannins and a lively core of fruit. It’s a blend of 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPThe 2020 d’Armailhac has a very pure bouquet with blackberry, bilberry, crushed iris flowers and hints of potpourri, tightly-wound at first but opening nicely in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly angular tannins at first, fine acidity, pure blackberry and graphite notes becoming more accentuated towards the finish. That could only come from Pauillac. A classy d’Armailhac that bestows great terroir expression and sense of classicism.Vinous Media | 93 VMA fresh, layered red with blackberry and chocolate. It’s full and beautiful. Cool finish. Soft tannins spread across the finish. Savory.James Suckling | 93-94 JSRipe and juicy fruits go along with intense background tannins, giving this wine richness as well as structure. Open and full of fruit, the wine still needs time. Drink the wine from 2026.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEThe 2020 Château D’Armailhac is a blockbuster that’s going to reward patience. Based on 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, its inky purple hue is followed by a deep, concentrated, mouth-filling Pauillac offering classic darker currant fruits, notes of graphite and lead pencil, building tannins, and outstanding length. This chewy, tannic, backward wine will need 5-7 years of bottle age and will evolve for two decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 91+ JD

While I loved the red from this château, their white might be even better! Based on 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Semillon, the 2020 Château De Fieuzal Blanc has a riveting bouquet of bright citrus, subtle grapefruit, leafy herbs, and obvious minerality. Beautifully textured, pure, medium-bodied, and flawlessly balanced on the palate, it’s a no-brainer purchase to enjoy over the coming two decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDAlways a signature white wine for this appellation, the wine is tightly delineated with citrus and taut, mineral acidity. Its texture and freshness contrast with ripe white fruits and spicy acidity at the end.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEGooseberry and basil on the nose with grapefruit, sandalwood, nutmeg and salted almonds. Creamy and bright with vibrant acidity. Delicious marriage of fresh herb and pretty oak spice. Bitter lemon. Needs time to open and come more together. Better after 2025.James Suckling | 94 JSThe 2020 Blanc from de Fieuzal is performing very well in bottle, exhibiting aromas of peach and nectarine mingled with hints of mint, pastry cream and citrus zest. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and incisive, it’s a bright, elegantly fleshy wine that’s a touch finer-boned than the glossier, more textural 2019. Bottled under Diam 30, this cuvée continues to prove itself as one of the more interesting dry whites produced in contemporary Bordeaux.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPStone fruit aromas and flavours on the palate - peach, pear, green apple and gentle pineapple. Nicely balanced and textured with an appealing weight on the mid palate. Loses a touch of energy towards the finish, it’s not as bright and freshly acidic as some but this has appeal with bitter, zesty, lively and sharp nuances that all combine to give interest.Decanter | 92 DECThe 2020 Château de Fieuzal Blanc has a fresh nose with orange blossom, grapefruit and lime flower scents that are well-defined and energetic. The palate is quite concentrated on the opening, with fine depth and purity, white peach mixed with chamomile and vervain tea, leading to a pithy finish. This is a thoroughly enjoyable de Fieuzal that will be difficult to resist young.Vinous Media | 91 VM

Perfumed, ripe and juicy, this structured wine is already impressive. Its layered texture and black plum fruits have serious potential, packed with fruit and tannins with a generous aftertaste.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe 2020 Giscours is every bit as compelling as it was from barrel. Succulent dark cherry, plum, new leather, licorice, menthol and mocha fill out the layers nicely. There’s a good bit of Merlot in this year, which lends quite a bit of mid-palate juiciness and textural depth, but there is also plenty of supporting structure underneath. The 2020 is both flamboyant and serious, a pretty appealing combination, I have to say. Tasted two times.Vinous Media | 96 VMFascinating aromas of blueberries, crushed stone, and blackcurrants. Very aromatic. Full-bodied with juicy tannins that are creamy and intense. Slightly bitter, burnt citrus character. This is very muscular with velvety tannins. Needs time to soften. Try after 2025 but will age a long time.James Suckling | 96 JSThis estate is now enjoying its finest run since its glory days in the 1970s, and the 2020 Giscours is excellent. Unwinding in the glass with deep aromas of blackberries, cassis, pencil shavings, rose petals and sweet, loamy soil, it’s medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with a layered and seamless mid-palate, excellent concentration and powdery structuring tannins.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95+ RPWonderful aromatic expression, fragrant with wild flowers and dark bramble fruits as well as sandalwood. Rich and round on the palate, really so juicy and succulent, mouthwatering acidity balances the crushed stone texture and flavour - a combination of liquorice, slate, pencil lead and blackcurrants and black cherries. It’s concentrated but delivered so gracefully. Nicely layered, graceful and refined, a delicacy to this overall. It’s not weighty but precise and nuanced, lots of individual flavours really hitting different aspects. They haven’t pushed this, it’s definitely still a little high-toned and slightly austere in the chalky tannins but I love the gentle fragrance, the air of quiet confidence but still with structure, concentration and persistence. Well worked. So much going on here, this will be delicious in time. Decanter | 95 DECThe Grand Vin 2020 Château Giscours is based on 56% Cabernet Sauvignon and 44% Merlot that spent 17 months in 50% new French oak. It has a gorgeous perfume of pure cassis, graphite, and flowers that gives way to a medium to full-bodied Margaux possessing ample tannins, a layered, concentrated mid-palate, remarkable purity, and one heck of a great finish. It’s another beautiful Margaux in the vintage that will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and evolve for at least two decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 94+ JDRipe but fresh and sleek in feel, with black cherry and blackberry puree notes gliding through, infused with sandalwood, bay leaf and black tea accents. This has a pleasant dark earth tint to the finish, though the fruit still holds sway. Nicely done. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Drink now through 2035.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

94–96. Barrel Sample. This fine estate has produced a powerful, rich wine that has fine potential. Solid, foursquare with dense tannins that will gracefully meld into the fruit, the wine should age well.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WE(Château Cantemerle, Haut-Médoc, Bordeaux, France, Red) This has the tight tannins of the vintage with damson and an edge of bitter dark chocolate, but it is a success all the same - confident, succulent, elegant and classic. Philippe Dambrine retires as director of the estate as of this vintage, replaced by Laure Canu from Château Angélus. A yield of 45hl/ha, 40% new oak, 6% Petit Verdot completes the blend. (Drink between 2028-2042)Decanter | 93 DECLots or richness and fruit for this winery, showing blackberry, blackcurrant and dark-chocolate character. It’s full and layered. Well done.James Suckling | 93-94 JSLots of darker currants, cedarwood, lead pencil, and tobacco-like notes emerge from the 2020 Château Cantemerle, and it’s medium-bodied, with lots of fruit and texture, building tannins, and a great finish. Drink this classic, nicely structured, balanced beauty over the coming 10-15 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 89-91 JDDeep purple-black in color, the 2020 Cantemerle reveals a great intensity and purity of blackcurrant cordial, stewed plums and black raspberry scents, plus hints of dried Provence herbs, Indian spices and woodsmoke. The medium-bodied palate delivers approachable chewy tannins and just enough freshness to support the savory-laced black fruit flavors, finishing with an herbal lift.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 88-90 RP

The Grand Vin 2020 Château Léoville Poyferré, which is released in a stylish black bottle commemorating a century for the Cuvelier family, is reminiscent of the 2016 with its powerful, concentrated, yet vibrant and inward style. Pure crème de cassis, melted chocolate, loamy earth, graphite, and some spicy nuances all define the aromatics, and it’s full-bodied, with a stacked mid-palate, nicely integrated oak, ripe tannins, and one hell of a great finish. This is another utterly brilliant wine from this team, which has been producing First Growth quality wines for many years now. The blend of the 2020 is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, aged in 80% new barrels, hitting 13.58% natural alcohol and a pH of 3.81. It will benefit from just 5-7 years of bottle age and will evolve for 50 years or more if well stored. Bravo. Tasted multiple times with consistent results.Jeb Dunnuck | 98+ JDThe 2020 Léoville-Poyferré is every bit as impressive as it was from barrel. If anything, it has gained in freshness and vibrancy with élevage. Dark cherry, plum, mocha, graphite and a kiss of French oak are some of the many notes that infuse the 2020 with tons of character. I especially admire its vertical energy and buttoned up personality. In some recent vintages Léoville-Poyferré has been quite showy, but the 2020 also has a more nuanced side that is hugely appealing.Vinous Media | 97 VMSupple and generous with mouthwatering acidity, though really quite tannic at this point which does cover up some of the nuance. I like the texture, the frame and the weight, it’s clean, polished and well worked, not overdone at all, but this has a sense of potent seduction in the flavours, rich blackcurrant, perfumed and scented. Detailed with lots of stony, slate, and wet stone elements giving a wonderful terroir influence. It’s not as immediately charming as the 2019, the tension still prominent, but this will be brilliant in 5-10 years.Decanter | 96 DECThis is really floral on the nose with violets and roses, and some black berries and dark cherries. It’s medium- to full-bodied with firm and polished tannins, and plenty of hazelnut and milk chocolate. Structured, yet so finely textured. So attractive and enticing now but needs three or four years to show what it has. Try after 2026.James Suckling | 96 JSShowy and very hard to resist, this gushes with velvety plum and boysenberry reduction flavors, along with melted black licorice and violet hints along the way. This has a very cold cast iron note buried deeply on the finish, too, to keep it grounded. A very distinctive house style. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2030 through 2038.Wine Spectator | 95 WSOf course, this impressive classified growth wine is young. But it’s easy to discern its promise. Black fruits and layers of sophisticated tannins are balanced with the wood aging and smoky fruit flavors. This estate in the heart of Saint-Julien has produced a very fine wine, fresh and structured at the same time. Drink from 2026.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEA rich, powerful wine, the 2020 Léoville Poyferré offers up aromas of sweet berries, blueberry liqueur, exotic spices, incense and creamy new oak. Full-bodied, broad and layered, it’s deep and concentrated, its ample core of fruit only partially concealing a hefty payload of sweet, powdery, generously extracted tannin. Poyferré is generally the most flamboyant and demonstrative of the three Léovilles, but in 2020, it’s chunkier, broader shouldered and more brooding than usual.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94+ RP

Bramble tones, lovely herbal raspberries and black cherries and milk chocolate - fragrant and scented. Taut and streamlined on the palate, succulent and supple, a lovely purity with crystalline fruit and grippy tannins softly edged with dark chocolate, all very round and nicely weighted on the tongue. Excellent energy yet still with depth, this is approachable and really enjoyable.Decanter | 92 DECWhile I don’t find 2020 to be a particularly great vintage for second wines, the 2020 Moulin De Duhart is nevertheless a beauty with loads to love. Ripe cherries, currants, tobacco, and sandalwood all define the nose, and it’s medium-bodied, with a supple, elegant mouthfeel, light yet present tannins, and outstanding length. You can drink this total charming, rock-solid Pauillac any time over the coming 10-15 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 90 JD

The 2021 Smith Haut Lafitte is an engaging, dynamic wine. Gravel, menthol, licorice, mocha and spice are all beautifully delineated. A wine of energy and focus, the 2021 is absolutely enthralling—medium in body, refined and super-impressive.Vinous Media | 96 VMLots of clove, black-licorice and cigar-box character. Already perfumed. Medium body with fine, chalky and precise tannins. Lead-pencil shavings. Well framed and structured with a fresh, lengthy and spicy finish. Extremely long and intense. 63% cabernet sauvignon, 33% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot. From organically grown grapes.James Suckling | 96-97 JSThe 2021 Smith Haut Lafitte, a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot reveals a deep, complex bouquet of dark berries, spices, licorice, pencil lead and flowers intertwined with hints of menthol. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and seamless, it’s suave and concentrated, with velvety, elegant tannins and a refined, penetrating finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPGorgeous aromas on the nose, so expressive with blackcurrant, plum, damson, strawberry and red cherry all abounding out of the glass. This has style and substance on the palate, the sour cherry, blackcurrant and blueberry covered in the terroir markers of slate, graphite, pencil lead and liquorice which are the drivers on the palate, the fruit taking a backseat right now though there is cohesion with verticality and an undercurrent of freshness. The energy is there, almost latent, it’s under the surface, brimming, not yet ready to go but it will be there in time. This has refinement and you feel they haven’t pushed too hard. It’s definitely got the markers of the vintage, the coolness of the year, showing the grapes and terroir even more clearly in the glass, especially the spiced Cabernet aspects. I love the style and the no frills effect. It’s got a super long length too with enough class on show you know it will age well.Decanter | 94 DECProvides a step up in substance, with steeped red and black currant fruit laced with tobacco, bay leaf and worn leather accents. Features flashes of warm earth and iron that underscore the finish, also showing depth and grip. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2025 through 2035. 10,000 cases made, 2,400 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WSThe flagship 2021 Château Smith Haut Lafitte checks in as 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and a splash of Petit Verdot. It’s a rich, powerful wine, delivering lots of ripe black fruits (currants, some cassis), notes of scorched earth and graphite, medium to full body, ripe tannins, and a great mid-palate. It shows the straight, focused style of the vintage yet brings plenty of mid-palate depth, ripe, building tannins, and outstanding length.Jeb Dunnuck | 93-95+ JDThe 2021 Smith Haut Lafitte is a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, aging in 60% new oak. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs a little swirling before it bursts with vibrant black cherries, fresh blackberries, and blackcurrant cordial scents, followed by hints of violets, star anise, and cedar chest. Medium-bodied, the palate delivers a great density of fresh black fruits and earthy layers, framed by firm, ripe, grainy tannins and compelling freshness, leading to a long finish with a spicy kick on this very impressive wine. At 22 hl/ha, yields are less than half of 2019 and about half of 2020, with 1/3 of the crop going into the Grand Vin this year.The Wine Independent | 92-94 TWI