Château Pédesclaux 2020

Velvety and juicy in style, with well-integrated tannins and a fruity finish, it will be enjoyable even when young.

Still very youthful with firm tannin and, seemingly, more evident acidity. Plump fruit notes but with a distinct mineral thread and some leafy tannin. Needs a year or two, but lots of promise with attractive red, Merlot fruit at the fore. Marked by an extremely hot August, the quality of the Merlot was very high. Harvested between 14 - 29 September. 16 months in oak, 60% new, 3.88 pH. 34% Merlot utilised in the blend.

A crunchy and fresh 2020 with sliced oranges and redcurrants as well as cedar and nutmeg. Full-bodied with very firm and tight tannins. Bright finish. Crushed stone at the end as well. Needs three to five years to soften. 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. First year with organic farming. Try after 2027.

The 2020 Pédesclaux is a powerhouse. The tannins are a bit less searing than they were en primeur, but only slightly. Dark fruit, chocolate, leather, spice and licorice struggle to emerge. This feels pushed. Pédesclaux is a Pauillac that relies more on power than finesse.

The first thing you notice is the beautiful sense of purity in the red fruits before finding all the flowers and tobacco leaves. On the palate, the wine is vibrant, firm, fresh and layered with crushed rocks, currants, blackberries, and spice. The tannins are soft and ripe, with a gentle polish to the lifted red fruits in the elegant finish. Give it a few years in the cellar and enjoy over the following two or more decades. Drink from 2025–2050.

Dark ruby garnet, purple reflections, delicate rim brightening. Subtle floral nuances of cassis and heart cherries, light tobacco, pleasant spiciness, mineral touch. Medium body, red berry nuances, fresh acidity, fine, integrated tannins, mineral-salty finish, certain ageing potential, lively style.

Dark, fruity nose with some sage, mint and aromatic herbs, and modest oak. The palate is on the fuller side, with fresh acidity, youthful yet ripe extract, generous fruit and good length.

The 2020 Château Pédesclaux reminds me of the 2016 with its concentrated, pure, classic Pauillac style. A blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, it has a great nose of pure blue fruits (currants, cassis) as well as ample lead pencil, chalky minerality, and violet aromas and flavors. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced, and elegant on the palate, it has the purity and polish to shine even today, yet my money is on it benefiting from 4–6 years of bottle age, and it should evolve gradually over the following 15+ years.

34% Merlot, 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot, 37 hl/ha, 60% new barriques. Extremely dark purple with an opaque core and a delicate lilac rim. Fascinating bouquet of ripe blackberry, refined cassis spice and Brazilian tobacco, followed by chocolate pastilles and cooled Earl Grey. On the generous palate with a soft texture, fine-grained extract, supporting tension and a powerful body. In the focused finish, delicate black-berried fruit, tobacco leaf and walnut, ending with a finely austere astringency. “Best-Buy” from Pauillac!

Kunz barrel sample 2021: (56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot, 13.07% alc. by vol.) Fresh, dense, velvety, deep, complex bouquet: black cassis, fine plum notes, currants, smoke, graphite. Densely interwoven, elegant, velvety palate with dense, dark, creamy fruit, plenty of fine tannins, a finely concentrated, silky structure, varied dark aromatics, and a very long, dense, creamy finish with many sweet lingering aromas.

(56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot, 13.07% vol. alcohol) Fresh, dense, velvety, deep and complex bouquet: black cassis, fine plum, currants, smoke, graphite. Tightly knit, elegant, velvety palate with dense, dark, creamy fruit, plenty of fine tannins, a finely concentrated, velvety structure, varied dark aromatics, and a very long, dense, creamy finish with many sweet after-aromas. 19/20 2028 - 2050

The 2020 Pedesclaux has a deep garnet-purple color. It flies out of the glass with bright, energetic scents of cassis and crushed blackberries, followed by wafts of kirsch, violets, and underbrush. Medium-bodied, the palate is elegantly styled and refreshing, with fine-grained tannins and a mineral-laced finish.

92-93

Subtle and complex, Pédesclaux confirms its qualitative ambitions. With good density, the wine has energy, perfectly integrated tannins, and a beautiful flavor expression all the way through the finish. Pédesclaux combines charm, breadth, and character.

The nose is fresh, elegant and vibrant, offering intensity, power and a lovely fine grain. It reveals notes of ripe wild blackcurrant, fleshy small black fruits and, more subtly, crushed redcurrant, together with touches of morello cherry, graphite, iodised minerality (terroir) and flowers (a hint of lilac), as well as hints of spices, nutmeg, cinnamon and a very discreet hint of vanilla pod. The palate is fruity and offers minerality, juiciness, roundness, a certain indulgence, a tangy backbone, a touch of tension, lovely definition, good fruit purity, bright fruit, a sense of fullness and contained richness. The palate discreetly tightens. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of bright blackberry and morello cherry and, more lightly, fleshy raspberry, joined by touches of raspberry, bright plum, star anise and cardamom, as well as fine hints of sweet spices, toast, racy minerality and a discreet hint of toasted hazelnut. Lovely potential for the future. One of the best, if not the best, Pédesclaux I have tasted En Primeur.

A sparkling nose of purple fruit, piercing and pure, gradually filling the nostrils like the ebb and flow of the tide—hypnotic. Simply delicious on the palate. Of superlative freshness, balanced, sapid.