CHÂTEAU COUVENT DES JACOBINS

Dark chocolate, bark, dried flowers, cherries, walnuts, crushed stones and orange zest on the nose. Graphite, too. Textured, mineral and expansive with a full body and firm, chalky tannins. Broad yet focused. I like the cool freshness at the end. Best yet? From organically grown grapes. Try in 2026. Rating: 95 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Dec 2022)

Hard and dry with little fruit to be seen right now this is a muscular wine with powerful tannins and a tough finish. The fruit is barely noticeable and slightly old-fashioned and it leaves the palate feeling dried out and bitter. Rating: 15+? Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Jun 2021)

The 2020 Couvent des Jacobins is a dark, powerful wine. Inky black fruit, chocolate, spice, menthol, licorice and gritty tannins are a bit hard to get past today, but this has potential, especially if it softens. Overall, this brooding wine is made in a fairly heady, extracted style. Drinking range: 2026 - 2040 Rating: 87-90 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jun 2021)

The 2020 Couvent des Jacobins was picked September 11–23 at 32hl/ha and aged in 45% new oak. It has a lavish but controlled and focused bouquet of black cherries, crushed iris petals and orange zest. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, supple tannins that render this smooth and approachable. The oak is neatly integrated and there is a very subtle dark chocolate and menthol note that lends a little exoticism toward the finish. A well-crafted Saint-Émilion that should age well in bottle but deserves 4–5 years in the cellar. Drinking range: 2027 - 2042 Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2021)

A meaty, beefy, spicy wine based on 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, the 2020 Couvent Des Jacobins offers up plenty of savory red and blue fruits to go with medium-bodied richness, good mid-palate density, building tannins, and rock-solid length on the finish. While it’s savory and slightly evolved aromatically, I love its purity and freshness on the palate, and my money is on this easily being an outstanding wine once bottled. Rating: 90-92 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2021)

Composed of 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, the 2020 Couvent des Jacobins has an alcohol level of 14.5% with a pH of 3.68. It is aging for an anticipated 12 to 15 months in French oak barrels, 45% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, it strides confidently out of the glass with notions of baked blackberries, black cherry preserves and stewed plums, plus touches of damp soil, espresso and licorice with a waft of wild mushrooms. The medium to full-bodied palate is quite tightly wound with plenty of black fruit layers intertwined with mineral and exotic spice nuances, framed by grainy tannins and bags of freshness, finishing with a lively lift. This is the first year that this label is officially certified organic, by ECOCERT France. Drinking range: 2027 - 2042 Rating: 92-94 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (May 2021)

This takes a severe tone for the opening beats, a little austere with tannins standing to attention, but there is a ton of flavour as it opens, with cocoa beans and cigar box, black pepper spice and a creamy cassis and raspberry fruit through the mid palate. A yield of 32hl/ha. Organic certified as of this vintage. Tasted twice. Drinking range: 2027 - 2040 Rating: 92 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2021)

This is dense and extremely minerally with crushed-stone and chalk character, as well as walnuts and moss to the blue fruit. It’s full-bodied and chewy with polished tannins that are succulent and round. One of the best young wines from here. Rating: 95-96 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2021)