VIEUX CHÂTEAU MAZERAT

The 2020 Vieux Château Mazerat is a bold, savory Saint-Émilion. Blackberry jam, chocolate, dried herbs, sage, mint and licorice all run through it. In 2020, it’s is a bit more nervy than usual. I would be prepared to cellar it for at least a few years. This is an especially taut style for Jonathan Maltus, but it works well. Drinking range: 2026 - 2040 Rating: 91-93+ Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jun 2021)

The 2020 Vieux Château Mazerat offers plenty of ripe black cherry, blueberry and crushed violets, all expressive and beautifully defined. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit on the entry and firm tannins, and quite saline toward the finish, which just needs to develop a little more delineation. At the moment, the aromatics show better than the palate, though they may change once in bottle. Drinking range: 2025 - 2038 Rating: 91-93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2021)

The 2020 Vieux Château Mazerat reveals a vivid purple hue to go with medium to full-bodied aromas and flavors of cassis, blueberries, scorched earth, and graphite. While Maltus’s Le Dôme gets most of the attention, I continue to just love this wine, and it shines in 2020 with both beautiful fruit and ample structure as well as one heck of a great finish. I’m not sure this will match the 2018 or 2019, but we’re certainly in the same ballpark, with the style being much closer to the more elegant 2019. Rating: 94-96 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2021)

This is a raucously intense wine that benefits greatly from its Cabernet Franc component, which was planted in 1947. Deep-fruited, inky black in colour, and yet crisp and lifted on the finish, this is a mighty VCM with a bounce in its step and this levity suits it extremely well. Rating: 18+ Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (May 2021)

An opulent, sexy, rich wine, this is a clearly seductive, but quite different style from the Vieux Châtau Mazerat that I have loved in the past. Powerfully dense fruits with a stacked wall of tannins. There was some mildew impact this year, along with the low yields, so neither Le Carré or Les Asteries were produced, and the remaining grapes went in here (or at least the Merlot, with the Cabernet Franc going into Le Dôme - it is unclear if this is in fact to be a permanent arrangement). Last year it was closer to 35% Cabernet Franc so this is really a new look, and it is successful, but more expansive in feel. 80% new oak, 25hl/ha yields (they rarely go above 30hl/ha anyway). Harvest September 29 to October 9, made in the brilliant new cellar for Le Dôme. Drinking range: 2026 - 2042 Rating: 94 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2021)

A chewy, focused red with blackberry, blueberry and toasted-oak aromas and flavors. It’s medium-to full-bodied with savory fruit and a flavorful finish. Rating: 93-94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2021)