74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot
95 Points Jeb Dunnuck
It's a gorgeous, complete Saint-Julien offering remarkable purity in its cassis, violets, chocolate, and leafy tobacco-like aromas and flavors. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, with terrific balance, a pure, focused mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and beautifully integrated oak, it's going to benefit from 4-6 years of bottle age and cruise over the following 2+ decades in cold cellar. Best After 2027.
93 Points Decanter
A perky, bright and enjoyable Lagrange, showing some angularity and austerity to the tannins but at the same time it is bright with clarity of direction, firm and concentrated fruits and juicy on the finish. A little subdued, but this is a quality Lagrange with extremely carefully placed fine tannins and fruit - it shows the essence of St-Julien balance, and one that will not need the full 10 years to come around.
91 Wine Advocate
The 2020 Lagrange (Pomerol) wafts from the glass with aromas of sweet berries, cherries, loamy soil and new oak, followed by a medium to full-bodied, velvety and fleshy palate with a gourmand core of fruit framed by powder tannins that assert themselves on the finish. Best after 2025.
A veritable demonstration of balance, this wine illustrates the perfect alchemy between the three grape varieties : Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Powerful and lively in its youth, a slow, serene evolution over time endows this wine with a delicate elegance.
Tasting note: This wine often presents aromas of blackcurrant and black cherry with spicy, smoky notes. Aromas of cedar, liquorice or tobacco also develop over the years, typical of the top Saint-Julien wines.
THE VINTAGE
2020, a unique year in so many ways, will forever remain in our memories. Our work routines were upset by the pandemic and our capacity to adapt to the situation, and stay on track, was essential both for the property and the staff. As in 2019, we had record annual rainfall. The mild winter provoked an early budburst and this advance continued right through to the harvest. The grapes were small, with skins rich in polyphenols. The Merlots are magnificent, boasting an opulence accentuated by the historically low yields. The decision was made to stop for 4 days before picking the Cabernets, to allow the tannins and aromas to develop to perfection : this variety brings power, freshness and length to the wines.
TASTING NOTE
The 2020 is a vintage of contrasts, a vine grower’s vintage. We harvested the smallest crop in 30 years. The extraordinary freshness in this wine, produced in the hottest vintage in modern history, is real proof of the buffer effect of our terroir. The precision of the fruit transpires, with lovely notes of black cherry, blackcurrant and liquorice. The tense tannic structure is reminiscent of the great 2010, with a more creamy, smoother mid-palate. A truly classic vintage that will be enjoyable earlier yet maintain a remarkable ageing potential. A focused, finely tuned, expressive wine showing great purity.
