CHÂTEAU BARDE HAUT

The 2020 Barde-Haut is packed with inky dark fruit, blackberry jam, chocolate, licorice, cloves and new French oak. Deep and muscular in the glass, the 2020 possesses off the charts intensity married to equally imposing tannins. The 2020 is a huge, virile wine that is going to need time to fully come together. It sure is impressive today. Harvest took place between September 15 and 29, a compact time frame by historical standards. Drinking range: 2032 - 2050 Rating: 93-95 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jun 2021)

Coming from a gorgeous vineyard on the eastern, cooler side of Saint-Emilion, and 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, the 2020 Château Barde-Haut has a bright, juicy, yet powerful bouquet of ripe blue fruits, scorched earth, tobacco, and cedary herbs. It has a kiss of background oak (it’s aging in 60% new barrels), medium to full-bodied richness, a ripe, textured mouthfeel, and serious underlying structure that comes out with time in the glass. It should have some upfront appeal, yet smart money is on giving bottles at least 4-5 years of bottle age, and it will keep for 2-3 decades. Rating: 94-96 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2021)

Opaque purple-black in color, the 2020 Barde-Haut opens with a beguiling perfume of wild blueberries, dark chocolate and candied violets before giving way to notes of kirsch, forest floor and spice cake with a waft of dried mint. The medium to full-bodied palate bursts with juicy black and blue fruits, supported by a lovely line of freshness and beautifully soft tannins, finishing with impressive restraint and a long-lingering mineral note. Drinking range: 2025 - 2045 Rating: 93-95 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (May 2021)

A good drop of damson and black cherry fruits right up front, and holds its line while the more austere tannins come in towards the finish. Expertly extracted, self-contained right now, firm fruits that don't dip through the mid palate alongside a glossy wash of liquorice, black chocolate, sage and anis. This is clearly going to age well. 60% new oak for ageing. Owned by Hélène Garcin-Leveque, this is located right next to Troplong Mondot. Drinking range: 2027 - 2042 Rating: 94 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2021)

The 2020 Barde-Haut clearly benefited from its limestone soils in this vintage. Picked September 21–30 at 42hl/ha, it does not disguise its opulent nose and displays more blue fruit than some of its peers, gaining purity with aeration and delivering macerated black cherries, loganberry, crushed violet and very subtle hints of fresh fig. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins that disguise the structure of this Saint-Émilion Grand Cru. It has the same harmony and detail as its stablemate, but there is more depth and length toward the finish, which shows real panache. Gorgeous. Drinking range: 2027 - 2042 Rating: 93-95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2021)

A young red with blackberry, chocolate and walnut character that follows through to a medium to full body with creamy tannins and a flavorful finish. Subtle in the end. Rating: 94-95 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2021)