There are many properties to search out in the St Emilion satellite appellations. For the last few years I’ve been impressed with the wines of Château Barbe Blanche, Château La Rose Perrière and Château de Lussac in Lussac St Emilion. There is real polish and style exhibited here by these properties. Over in Montagne St Emilion Coralie de Boüard is blazing a trail with Château Clos de Boüard but this year I have also been impressed with Château Faizeau, Château Messile-Aubert and Vieux Château Palon presented by the Grand Cercle. Overall in 2020 all these wines show strong colours and exhibit lots of extract but the winemaking is sophisticated and the tannins soft and pure.

This is a very small snapshot of the wines from Pomerol in 2020. They all showed good colour and generally had plenty of fruit. Château Feytit-Clinet was a beauty, displaying sensuality and satin-like fruit qualities. I was also impressed again with Château Mazeyres from Alain Moueix, a leading biodynamic producer who makes wonderfully fresh and clear Pomerol. Château La Commanderie, Château Lécuyer, Château Taillefer and Château Vieux Maillet have also made attractive Pomerol in 2020, showing substance but also elegance. Château La Clémence, Château Le Moulin and Clos Vieux Taillefer have produced solid wine but without the excitement of the rest.

There’s lots to like in Lalande de Pomerol in 2020. Many of the wines have healthy colours, plenty of attractive black fruits and genuine freshness. There are a few that feel the need for a bit more flesh, but many may full out further during élevage. Excellent wines have been made by Château de Chambrun, Château La Fleur de Boüard, Château Grand Ormeau, Château Tournefeuille, La Surgue and Enclos de Viaud. The super cuvée Le Plus from Château La Fleur de Boüard continues to impress. The 2020 Le Plus is concentrated, fancy stuff. The following blog post contains notes on a dozen wines. I hope you find them useful!

It’s always difficult to generalise about the wines in St Emilion, such are the complexities of terroir and the variations of winemaking and viticultural approaches. Still, I think it’s pretty safe to say that 2020 is another exciting vintage here in the heart of the right bank. In terms of the broader overview, alcohols are down slightly on the heady numbers in 2019, and it feels as if there is greater freshness in the 2020s than in the last couple of years. These wines feel well balanced and delicious in this vintage, with attractive textures and supple creamy tannins. On the best limestone and clay-limestone terroirs the wines are fabulous. The summer was dry, and conditions were even drier here than on the left bank. Some properties on sandier soils may have run into trouble with vine stress but generally I was very impressed by the wines here at this early stage. The following post contains notes on forty châteaux. It’s slightly less comprehensive than usual and I hope to fill in some of the gaps with further tastings over the coming months.