Totally delicious, just bursting with flavour, with silky tannins and purity to the raspberry, redcurrant and blackcurrant fruits, cloves and black pepper spices add clear depth through the mid palate. It's not often that I prefer a 2020 to the 2019 in Margaux but this is a standout in the lineup. 2020 had natural low yields - 34hl/h yield overall, 32hl/h for the first wine, 40% new oak, being bottled at the time of tasting for delivery in September, so this is a barrel sample but only just. Stephane Derencourt consultant, harvest September 14 to October 1.

This wine already shows a luscious side with its ripe black fruits and rich tannins. The obverse shows structure and acidity. Both these elements will together give a wine for aging. (RV)

Supple and generous, grippy tannins, a slate saltiness, fine but present and mouthcoating. Feels a little constricted with its youthful, spicy edging, a touch tight and unyielding. There is a juiciness and underlying acidity, and the fruit is minty, liquorice-tinged, ripe and chewy; this is mostly brawn right now with a muscular power directed quite narrowly. There’s confidence and style though, so give it a few years. (GH)