CHÂTEAU KIRWAN

Attractive nose of hazelnuts, chocolate, blueberries, blackcurrants, peach pits and sandalwood. Hints of olives and mushrooms, too. Complex, layered and integrated, with a medium to full body and powdery tannins. Long and savory at the end. Drink from 2025. Rating: 94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Dec 2022)

This is a little more red-fruited than many of its neighbours and it holds this fruit fairly well on the palate, but like so many Margaux in 2020, it falls away and becomes searingly dry and far too resinous. There is an under ripe feel on the finish, too. Rating: 15.5+ Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Jun 2021)

The 2020 Kirwan is a pretty tough, brooding wine. It will be interesting to see if the searing tannins soften during élevage. There is good depth to the fruit, but I am not sure if that will be enough to balance the tannins. Red purplish berries, gravel, smoke and grilled herbs linger. This is an especially potent, brooding style. Drinking range: 2030 - 2045 Rating: 88-91 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jun 2021)

The 2020 Kirwan, cropped at 33hl/ha and tank-fed via gravity, undergoes an 18- to 22-month élevage. It offers ripe black currant and raspberry coulis scents on the nose, violets and citrus peel emerging with time. There is a seductiveness to these aromatics. The palate is medium-bodied with a sweet, ripe entry that disguises the backbone, a very silky texture and traces of tobacco and graphite furnishing the opulent finish. One of the more luxuriant Margaux 2020s. Drinking range: 2025 - 2045 Rating: 91-93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2021)

The deep purple 2020 Château Kirwan offers a rocking bouquet of jammy blackberries, blueberries, violets, cedary oak, and sappy flowers. Playing in the medium to full-bodied, rich, concentrated end of the spectrum, on the palate it shows the more focused and elegant style of the vintage, with wonderful tannins and impressive purity of fruit. This is another strong showing by Château Kirwan that will benefit from 4-6 years of bottle age and have more than two decades of longevity. Rating: 92-94 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2021)

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2020 Kirwan prances out of the glass with pretty scents of redcurrant jelly, black raspberries and Morello cherries, followed by hints of lavender, black tea and dried Provence herbs, with a touch of tree bark. The medium-bodied palate has fantastic tension and fine-grained tannins framing the tightly wound red fruit and savory layers, finishing long and refreshing. Drinking range: 2025 - 2040 Rating: 91 - 93+ Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (May 2021)

Classic and powerful with plenty of architectural features giving angles and walls as the wine stretches out. This has confidence and juice, but lacks exuberance. The tannins are pretty high, there is some chewiness, a little austere, it will benefit from softening over ageing. 7% Petit Verdot completes the blend. A yield of 33hl/ha. Drinking range: 2028 - 2042 Rating: 92 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2021)

51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot. Black core with purplish rim. Intense blackcurrant aroma and a lovely lift from all that Cab Franc – lively dark-red fruits. Juicy, bright and yet well structured. Complete, harmonious and fresh. Not a blockbuster but all in proportion. Drinking range: 2028 - 2038 Rating: 17 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2021)