I continue to absolutely love what this estate puts in the bottle, and it remains an incredible value given its quality. The 2020 Château Saint-Pierre (Saint-Julien) reveals a deeper ruby/purple hue to go with gorgeous aromatics of blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, gravelly earth, and chocolate. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it shows the more elegant, pure, precision style of the vintage, has perfectly integrated background oak, ripe tannins, and a great finish. This brilliant Saint Julien will benefit from 4-6 years of bottle age and have 30+years of overall longevity. Bravo.

The 2020 Saint-Pierre has a distinctly Pauillac-like nose with veins of graphite and mint infusing the black fruit, focused and full of tension. This is very classy. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins that belie the structure underneath. It has good grip, and comes across quite strict and correct. If I am to quibble, and quibble I will, it maybe doesn’t finish with the fireworks that I have noticed on other recent superlative vintages. Perhaps that might develop in barrel. If so, it will warrant a higher score.

Deep purple-black in color, the 2020 Saint-Pierre bursts with baked blackberries, stewed plums and cassis, followed by hints of dried mint, chocolate box and tapenade with a waft of pencil lead. The medium-bodied palate is elegantly styled with impressive freshness and ripe, fine-grained tannins supporting the energetic black fruits, finishing on a lingering fragrant earth note. The blend is 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc, aging for around 14 months in French oak barrels, 50% new. The alcohol is 13.3%.