The Grand Vin 2020 Château L'Evangile checks in as 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc, all of which was brought up in 50% new French oak, with 8% in amphora. Awesome notes of ripe black fruits, darker cherries, chocolate, spicy oak, and smoked tobacco define the aromatics, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a seamless, elegant, perfectly balanced mouthfeel, silky tannins, and a great finish. It's not massive yet shows the classic, balanced, elegant style of this estate today beautifully. Hide bottles for 5-7 years (it already offers pleasure) and drink this incredibly classy Pomerol over the following 30 years. It's pure class.

The 2020 L’Evangile marks the opening of a chapter with a new winemaking team in place. Perhaps now it will begin challenging the Pomerol elite, which it ought to, given its terroir. The nose augurs a different L’Evangile, no question about that. Gone is the wall of new oak that occasionally shrouded the fruit and terroir expression; the oak is still there, but far more assimilated into the attractive brambly red berry fruit, black currant pastilles and light rose petal scents. The palate is smooth on the entry, so much so that it belies the depth of this wine. Complex and quite cerebral, delivering palpable salinity, particularly toward the finish. Veins of black truffle and white pepper come through with aeration over the course of an hour, and with revisits at three-hour intervals. I think there is a little work to do, but what this L’Evangile conveys is newfound personality and soul and a sense of Pomerol typicité. A new chapter opens.

The 2020 L'Evangile was picked quite early, as the estate's rather young vines were suffering in the dry conditions, and the decision appears to have been judicious, as the wine has turned out very well. Wafting from the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums, vine smoke and violets, it's medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered, with velvety tannins and an elegant, harmonious profile that avoids any excess.