Crunchy bright fruit, delicious brambled griotte cherry and violet flowers, pulses of white pepper, sage, slate, crayon, black tea. Depth and character, easy to love, ready to drink. Stainless steel ageing, unoaked...

The 2020 Le Pauillac de Chateau Latour is a blend of 53% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it springs from the glass with vivacious notes of stewed blackberries, raspberry...

The 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion has an opulent bouquet of black cherries, blueberries and violets, with just a patina of new oak to be fully subsumed. The palate is medium-bodied with fleshy, ripe tannins. Very well...

The 2020 Pavie, which oddly is the first time that I have tasted it in bottle (likely due to Covid) has a lovely touch of shucked oyster shell on the nose that is extremely delineated and focused. The oak is (again)...

The black olives and dark fruit come through on the nose with violets and wet earth. Full and very chunky and powerful. Yet it’s lively and vivid with excellent energy. Fantastic. Pure merlot. Leave it until 2030.

The 2020 Malescot Saint-Exupéry is oaky on the nose. At the moment, the wood occludes the fruit profile, but it will assimilate with time, and there is satisfying delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with a sweeter...

The 2020 Bélair-Monange has a more backward nose with dense black fruit. There is a very noticeable cedar/Cabernet element here that indicates that it might be Lafleur. The palate is medium-bodied with fine...

The 2020 Lascombes has a discrete, finely delineated bouquet that unfolds in the glass with blackberry, bilberry, crushed violet and a touch of iodine. The palate is medium-bodied with sour cherry and brown spices on the...

The 2020 Lafleur lies in marked contrast to the 2019. This is far less expressive and, as I remarked last year, shows a little more reduction. You can immediately tell this is a very serious, almost stentorian Lafleur...

The 2020 Grand Mayne has an earthy, savory nose, a bit more rustic than its peers, with black truffle and antique bureau infusing the black fruit. There is plenty of charm and character here. The palate is medium-bodied...

The 2020 Haut-Brion has a well-defined, quite cerebral nose—a mélange of red and black fruit, black olive, subtle estuarine scents. The oak is very well integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with a succulent, almost...

2020 Léoville Barton has a very concentrated and opulent bouquet with lavish blueberry and bilberry fruit and a veneer of new oak that will be subsumed in the near future. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent, ripe...

Evoking aromas of dark berries, cassis, violet and spices, the 2020 Clos Puy Arnaud possesses a medium to full-bodied texture on the palate, lively acidity, structuring tannins and a long, saline finish. This vintage...

Bottled after 24 months' élevage, much of which took place in large foudres, the 2020 Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion offers up aromas of dark berries, plums and spices complemented by hints of rose petal and licorice. Medium...

The 2020 Pichon Baron has a delineated, slightly conservative but brilliantly focused bouquet that opens gloriously with time in the glass: black cherries, blueberry and cassis tinged with graphite. The palate is...

A decade ago, a vintage like this would have produced a monster at this address, which is naturally blessed with old vines and low yields, but vinification at low temperature, without any saignée, has delivered a...

The 2020 Pichon Lalande is blended from 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc but without any Petit Verdot and it has a deep garnet-purple color. It is a touch closed to start off, before soaring out...

Plenty of currants and flowers with crushed stone. Slate and iron, too. Lead pencil. Medium-bodied with racy and polished tannins that show intensity and length. Linear and focused. 44% merlot, 33% cabernet sauvignon, 22%...

The blue fruits and flowers with some dark chocolate come through clearly. It’s medium-bodied with firm tannins that are integrated and long. Savory finish. Needs three or four years to soften. Drink after 2026.

Lots of freshly cut violets on the nose with purple fruits and hints of chocolate. Medium- to full-bodied. Integrated tannins. Second wine of Trotanoy. Needs time to soften and open. Try after 2028.

(94+ points) Aromas of rich cherries, cassis, burning embers, violets and dark chocolate introduce the 2020 Pape Clément, a medium to full-bodied, rich and fleshy wine that's ripe, layered and generously extracted but...

The 2020 d'Armailhac has a more backward nose than its peers, though it gradually unfurls to reveal wonderful blackberry, pencil shaving and violet scents that are very delineated and precise. The palate is medium-bodied...

A blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, the 2020 Alcée offers up notes of cherry, cassis, violet and dark berries, it’s medium to full-bodied, broad and supple, with terrific concentration allied with racy acids. -YC

A surprisingly up-front, soft, almost mid-weight effort from this château, the 2020 Château Le Gay offers a pretty perfume of both red and black fruits as well as loads of flowers, spice, leafy herbs, and incense...

A blockbuster of a Les Forts, the 2020 Les Forts de Latour is based on 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26.5% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and aged 18 months in 60% new French oak. Its deep ruby/plum hue is followed by...

The 2020 Croix Canon has a classy, well-defined bouquet with mineral-driven black fruit and good concentration, but it doesn't try to impose itself too strongly. The palate is medium-bodied, fleshy and ripe with saturated...

The 2020 Dame de Montrose does not quite have the horsepower of its peers on the nose—quite floral and Margaux-like—though it is nicely defined. The palate is medium-bodied with a ripe, sweet entry. Marmalade- and...

The 2020 L'Eglise-Clinet has a very intense bouquet with multi-layered red and black fruit, cedar and iron scents—complex and engaging, though there is a touch of oak still to be assimilated. The palate is medium-bodied...

(92+ points) The flagship cuvée from Denis Barraud, the 2020 Lynsolence comes from a tiny 2.5-hectare vineyard of gravelly soils over clay and limestone located on the lower plains of Saint-Emilion. As always, it’s all...