- Dunnuck called the vintage “terrific” and said Pomerol is his standout appellation.
- He suggested that, at “a high level”, the 2020 would be rated behind the 2019 and 2018 vintages.
- He gave five wines a range that includes 100-points.
In the first part of his report, which covers the key Left and Right Bank appellations, Dunnuck wrote, “to answer the primary question for readers, yes, Bordeaux has another terrific vintage on its hands with 2020”.
He added that the wines had a “beautiful sense of purity” and that “the more clay and limestone soils of the region excelled”.
“A bevy of legendary wines”
Pomerol was his “star” appellation of the vintage which had produced, “a bevy of legendary wines”.
He wrote that St-Emilion had also “excelled” and he was “blown away” by wines from Pessac-Léognan. The Left Bank was “slightly inconsistent” around Margaux and the Haut-Médoc but, in his view, improved as one moved further north.
As with some other critics he noted that it was a strong vintage for Merlot but that did not mean there were not excellent Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines.
In his opinion, for example, Pichon-Comtesse is “one of the wines of the vintage (probably wine of the vintage in the Médoc).
“Precision and focus”
Considering the 2020 against its recent peers, Dunnuck said he found the wines showed more “precision and focus” than the “exotic” 2018s, yet also displayed “more density” than the “ethereal, elegant” 2019s.
He picked out the Right Bank as reminding him of a “much-improved 2001” – due to its also being a good Pomerol vintage.
He said 2020 was “unquestionably a great vintage”, but added he “suspected” it would be ranked behind 2016, 2018 and 2019.
For all critics’ scores of the leading Bordeaux châteaux released En Primeur, click here.
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