- Château Margaux and Trotanoy have seen their 2020 scores upgraded.
- Several other châteaux that did not send samples have now been scored.
Neal Martin has made some changes to his Bordeaux 2020 scores for Vinous, including upgrading two to a 100-point bracket.
Martin recently visited the region, which gave him the chance to try wines at estates that did not send samples this spring.
New scores
This included Ducru-Beaucaillou and Palmer, both of which he rated 96-98. The Ducru he said was “immense and cerebral” while the Palmer he found “serious” and, “destined for long-term ageing, so readers should have a cool damp cellar handy”.
Ausone and Latour were rated 97-99, the former he described as “rather brilliant” and the latter “aristocratic and quite profound”.
He was also able to re-taste Beychevelle. All three samples sent to his home in the UK appeared to have a “green taint on the finish”.
After his retasting, he said: “I am more reassured that the samples in the UK were unrepresentative and glad that I did not attribute a score, which I am happy to do now.”
Upgrades
The big news though is the upgrading of Château Margaux and Trotanoy to new 98-100 point brackets.
Retasting Margaux he found it “even more” delineated and harmonious. “This is even better than the sample sent to the UK, hence my higher score. Will it achieve perfection?” he asked. “We’ll find out soon(ish).”
As for Trotanoy, he felt that the re-examination, “gives me the mandate to up my potential score. It is simply an astonishing Pomerol that takes all your senses by their lapels and demands attention.
“Let’s see what this boy can do in bottle then,” he concluded.
Our Bordeaux En Primeur 2020 page contains everything you need to know about this year’s campaign. You can also sign up for our daily En Primeur email alerts using the form below.
