On September 7 I had an opportunity to attend the “Step into the World of Bordeaux 2020 Release September 23” media tasting. What a fabulous occasion tasting fifteen of the many wines that will be available, in very limited quantities and labels, to pre-order, and later, on September 23rd, be available upon their release. An exciting time for lovers and collectors of Bordeaux wines.
The tasting was lead by Barbara Philip, Master of Wine and Category Manager – Wines of Europe for the BC Liquor Distribution Branch.
Although clearly wines of Bordeaux command a premium price there are a number of worthy wines that have a much more affordable price for those who are looking to add one or two Bordeaux wines to their collection, and especially for those who, up to now, have not ventured into the Bordeaux experience.
Here are the wines in the order that they were tasted:
Blanc de Lynch Bages 2020
“Really fresh ad vivid with sliced grapefruit, lemon, green apple and white peach. Apricot, too. Medium to full body with phenolic texture and a long, vivid finish. 70% sauvignon, 20% semilion and 20% muscadelle. Drink or hold.” 95 pts James Suckling
Scents of oak and parsley on the nose. Fresh, and ready to drink now. A nice level of acidity. Not oaky on the palate. Clean, with good minerality. Delicious.
$90.00 available September 23 with a four bottle limit, while quantities last
Chateau de Fieuzal Blanc 2020
“The 2020 Blanc from de Fieuzal is performing very well in bottle, exhibiting aromas of peach and nectarine mingled with hints of mint, pastry cream and citrus zest. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and incisive, it’s a bright, elegantly fleshy wine that’s a touch finer-boned than the glossier, more textural 2019. Bottled under Diam 30, this cuvée continues to prove itself as one of the more interesting dry whites produced in contemporary Bordeaux. Drink Date: 2022 – 2043.” 93 pts, Wine Advocate
On the nose are wonderful citrus notes, clean and bright in the glass. An ever so slight oak scent. Somewhat sharper than the first wine but with good acidity and minerality. Limestone is prevalent. The wine is light and fruity with just a slight oak note on the palate.
$110. available September 23, while quantities last
Chateau Poujeaux 2020
“The 2020 Poujeaux is a wonderful Moulis-en-Médoc and likely to offer superb value-for-money. Bright blackberry commingles with blueberry and graphite on the nose, quite intense and determined to make an impression. The palate is structured but well balanced, the silver thread of acidity running from start to finish. A little glossy in style towards the finish, that will be tempered by bottle-age which Poujeaux always needs. Don’t ignore this. Drinking Window: 2025 – 2050.” 92 pts, Vinous
This wine is bold with dark, ripe fruit aromas. Blackbery jam. Medium body with medium to heavier tannins. Some pleasant acidity. A little rustic for my taste and I felt it lacked finish.
$70.00 available September 23,while quantities last
Haut Médoc Giscours 2020
“The 2020 Haut-Médoc Giscours is a very pretty wine. It emerges from a 60-hectare holding between Giscours and Cantemerle. Bright, aromatic and medium in body, the Haut-Médoc Giscours is an absolute delight. Freshly cut flowers, mint, red berry fruit and herbs are finely cut in this nuanced, salivating red. Lively acids round out the finish. I imagine this will age exquisitely, but I would also give it a year or two in bottle to soften a bit. The blend is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% Merlot. Drinking Window: 2025 – 2035.” 92 pts, Vinous
Initially a floral scent, followed by ripe fruit. A slightly lighter/medium body, mellow, smooth with very light, approachable tannins and some ripe fruit on the palate. Very nice. This wine would pair very well.
$50.00 available September 23, while quanitites last
Château Margaux 2020
“Gorgeous aromas of dark plums and violets. Orange peel, too. Some crushed stone. Bark. Stems. Iron shavings. Full‑bodied, but very tight and compacted. The tannins are all here making it very structured, yet they are polished and melted together. Needs years to show all of its greatness. Incredible polish and structure. More structured than the 2019. Try after 2030 and beyond.” 100 pts, James Suckling
Presenting a very dark colour in the glass. Distinguishable heavier oak scents predominate. On the nose some medicinal scents and new raw wood, herbaceous. In the mouth the wine is beautiful, ripe fruits, somewhat but not entirely bold with medium tannins. Hints of leather and tobacco mingle pleasantly. I very much enjoyed this wine.
$1600.00 available September 23, with a six bottle limit, while quantities last
Sarget de Gruaud Larose 2020
“The 2020 Sarget de Gruaud Larose is the best vintage when compared directly with 2018 and 2019. This has more freshness and tension on the nose, understated in some ways, delicate tobacco-tinged black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, fine depth, nicely focused with a cleaner finish than the previous years. This will do nicely. Drink over the next decade. Drinking Window: 2024 – 2033.” 89 pts, Vinous
With floral notes of fruit pie with clean scents. Also ripe, and perhaps, too bold to some. Dark cherries with fruity notes. Very smooth in the mouth. Delicate with no discernable tannins. Very nice.
$75.00 available September 23, while quantities last
Château Beychevelle 2020
“The Grand Vin 2020 Chateau Beychevelle is a tiny selection representing just 55% of the total production of the estate. The blend is 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot which spent 18 months in 70% new French oak, hitting 13.5% natural alcohol. Surpassing both the 2016 and 2018, this inky‑hued Saint‑Julien offers a round, lush, full‑bodied style as well as gorgeous aromatics of black cherries, blueberries, loamy earth, chocolate, and spring flowers. The vintage doesn’t get any sexier, and this has sweet tannins, an opulent mouthfeel, and riveting purity and finesse. While it already offers pleasure, it’s going to benefit from 4‑6 years of bottle age and keep for 25+. Best After 2027.” 97 pts, Jeb Dunnuck
On the nose lovely hints of blackberries with some oak, herbaceous. The wine is somewhat lighter but very pleasant with very light tannins. Good acidity with flavours of ripe berries and spice. Nice minerality.
$200.00 available September 23 with a six bottle limit, while quantities last
Château Grand Puy Ducasse 2020
“The 2020 Chateau Grand‑Puy Ducasse is a brilliant, powerful, age‑worthy Pauillac that will reward bottle age. Blackcurrants, tobacco, cedar pencil, and chocolate are just some of its nuances, and this beauty hits the palate with full‑bodied richness, a dense, mouth‑filling texture, plenty of ripe tannins, and outstanding length. It’s not the most elegant Pauillac out there, but it has quintessential aromatics, structure, and density, and is beautifully done, as well as incredibly satisfying. It will probably take a decade of bottle age to hit maturity, and it should have 30‑40 years of overall longevity. Tasted three times. Best after 2031. Maturity: 2023 ‑ 2029.” 95 pts, Jeb Dunnuck
Opening with light scents of berries and a small measure of oak. A very nice wine, fruity with some ripeness. Good acidity and minerality. Smooth with light tannins. Beautifully lingering spice, cinnamon and white pepper. Good density.
$95.00 available September 23 with a six bottle limit, while quantities last
Château Lilian Ladouys 2020
“The 2020 Lilian Ladouys is a real charmer, just as it was from barrel. Silky, aromatic and nuanced, Lilian Ladouys presents a profile redolent of red fruit, cedar, spice and crushed flowers. This mid-weight Saint-Estèphe is just gorgeous. Drinking Window: 2023 – 2032.” 93 pts, Vinous
On the nose some mushroom, slightly ripe fruit. The wine exhibits very ripe fruit in the mouth with medium body. Enticingly delicious ripe fruit, Italian plum, dates. The wine is smooth and mellow with no disernable oak present. I enjoyed this wine.
$55.00 available September 23 while quantities last
Château Phelan Segur
“Gorgeous perfumes of plums, berries, light chocolate and walnut follow through to a medium body, fine tannins and crunchy finish. Bright and fresh. Precise tannins. Drinkable but better after 2027.” 96 pts, James Suckling
Delicate foral scents of lighter fruits. The wine is fairly light bodied with a different feel in the mouth after the more dense wines tasted. Silky with medium tannins. Hints of spice and leather on the nose. A nice wine.
$110.00 available September 23 with a six bottle limit, while quantities last
Château La Vieille Cure 2020
“Always a winner, I can’t remember the last vintage of this cuvée that didn’t put a smile on my face. The 2020 Chateau La Vieille Cure has lots of up-front cassis and black cherry fruits to go with complex floral, lead pencil, and green tobacco-like aromas and flavors. Medium to full-bodied, seamless, and elegant, it has the vintage’s concentrated, pure style front and center. Best After 2023.” 93 pts, Jeb Dunnuck
The wine is a beautiful ruby colour in the glass with aromas of plum torte and ripe fruits. Deliciously ripe and bold, spicey with a little bit of oak. Note: my final reflections were that the wine was too acidic and not for me. Reading these notes now I find that contradictory to my initial expressions, for which I have no explanation.
$55.00 available September 23 while quantities last
Château Faugeres 2020
“Deep purple-black colored, the 2020 Faugères stampedes out of the glass with a herd of powerful black fruit notes: blackberry pie, baked black plums and ripe, juicy black cherries, plus hints of wild mushrooms, damp soil, tar and star anise with a waft of tobacco. The full-bodied palate is chock-full of black fruit preserves, framed by ripe, rounded tannins and oodles of freshness, finishing long and earthy. Drink Date: 2025 – 2040.” (91-93) pts, Wine Advocate
Wonderfully robust scents of baked red fruits, plums and berries with ever so slight oak, The wine was lighter than I expected with medium tannins. It seemed immature. Not for me.
$90.00 available September 23 while quantities last
Château Rouget 2020
“Lots of black olive with dark fruit and sandalwood on the nose. Full-bodied with layers of velvety and soft tannins, yet they stay vibrant and focused. Very integrated palate. Flavorful at the end.” 96 pts, James Suckling
The wine has a lovely dark, rich colour. Scents of pickles, apple juice and figs. Rather delicious with medium to heavier tannins. I found the wine to be weighty with ripe fruits, acidic and very spicey. Lingering on the palate.
$120.00 available September 23 while quantities last
Château Gazin 2020
“I continue to absolutely love the wines from this Pomerol chateau, and their Grand Vin always brings a richness and depth that makes it a joy to drink. Coming from a larger vineyard near Petrus, La Fleur Petrus, and Le Gay, the dense purple hue of the 2020 Chateau Gazin is followed by a rocking bouquet of ripe black cherries, currants, melted chocolate, roasted herbs, and earth. Full‑bodied, deep, opulent, and concentrated, give this gorgeous 2020 4‑6 years of bottle age and enjoy over the following 25+. Best After 2027.” 96 pts, Jeb Dunnuck
The wine showed very light scents of cooked fruits. Medium body with heavier tannins and rather oaky. Not for me.
$220.00 available September 23 with a six bottle limit, while quanities last.
Château Dosy Vedrines 2020
Powerful fleshy exotic fruits – the juice comes in from the first moment and doesn’t let up, ensuring the apricot and mango fruits are shot straight through the core of steel. A brilliant showcase of what the soils of Barsac can do. A yield of 11hl/ha, 18 months in barrel. Tasted twice. Drinking window: 2020-2048. Score – 95. (Jane Anson, decanter.com)
Scents of honey with some barnyard and dust. A very nice rich honey colour. Of course very sweet, smooth, lightly flavoured with some citrus notes. Acidic but in the background. Typical but not special.
$50.00 available September 23 while quanities last
During the event some interesting discussions took place about the present and future of the Bordeaux region. It was noted that there seems to be more disparity between the high-end houses and the modest wineries. Some chatter regarding the sale of wineries, younger generations of winery owners and winemakers. Changing styles with some wine focused on boldness and ripeness, organic, bio-dynamic, more hands on versus older, perhaps more established wineries continuing to maintain a distinct finesse to their wines. Barbara spoke about the adaptation to climate change that she observed, such as trees that were struggling, dry with leaves turning unseasonably early whereas the grape vines were adapting and continued to be lush and green despite the hotter and drier conditions.
Bordeaux 101
Vertical Tasting
One of the fascinating things about Bordeaux wine is the variation between vintages. Warm weather vintages will often yield rich, full bodied and fruit-driven wines, while cooler vintages will often result in more earthy, dried herbal and savoury wines. Conducting a vertical tasting consists of getting together a number of different vintages of the same wine and comparing them. Being able to create vertical tastings is one of the benefits of having a cellar and buying the same wines every vintage. Taste blind and see if you can taste the difference in warmer versus cooler years.
Storing Bordeaux Wine
Many Bordeaux wines are known for their ability to age, so it is important that they are stored correctly. The key element of storage is to have a cool, constant temperature, ideally around 13-14°C (55-57°F). The constant part is more important than the exact temperature. This allows a wine to age gracefully, developing all of the complex flavours and aromas you would come to expect. The wine should be kept away from bright light that may heat the wine or fade the labels. Anything sealed with a cork should be on its side to keep the cork from drying out. You may be lucky enough to have a cool basement with ideal cellaring
conditions or you may choose to purchase a wine cooler that controls temperature and humidity.
Great Pairings with Bordeaux
While the vast majority of Bordeaux wine is dry red, there are some high quality dry white and sweet botrytis-affected dessert wines, such as Sauternes, that are also produced.
Red Bordeaux: These wines have structure and power and are best paired with robust red meats. Classic pairings are roast or grilled beef or roast leg of lamb. Wines that have some age pair well with roast game birds or duck.
White Bordeaux: Often partially oak-aged and rich, yet still lively and refreshing, these wines are best paired with rich white fish, lobster or roast chicken stuffed with lemons.
Sauternes: Rich and sweet, these wines pair beautifully with peach-, pear- or apple-based desserts, crème brûlée and foie gras. Try with bluecheese for a savoury option.
Decanting
There are two main reasons for decanting wine. The first is to remove any sediment that has formed during the ageing process. The second is to aerate a young wine to hopefully soften up some of its rough edges, making it taste smoother and smell more aromatic. To aerate a young wine, simply pour the bottle into a decanter, not worrying if it splashes in and gets plenty of air. To remove sediment, a bottle should first sit upright for around 24 hours to let any sediment gently settle to the bottom. Carefully open the bottle without disturbing the sediment.Pour the wine slowly and steadily into the decanter, watching the shoulder of the bottle and stopping when you see sediment appearing or when the wine looks cloudy. Old corks can often crumble in which case you can use a filter to catch any pieces of cork. A candle or flashlight shining on the shoulder of the bottle makes it easier to see the sediment. A general rule is that the older and more delicate the wine, the shorter the time should be between decanting and serving as older wines can lose their freshness quickly.
Left Bank or Right Bank?
Bordeaux is situated around the Gironde estuary and its two rivers the Dordogne and Garonne. The area west of the Gironde and Garonne is known as the Left Bank while the Right Bank is the name used for the vineyards located on the north and east side of Gironde and the Dordogne. In between the two rivers is the Entre-Deux-Mers appellation.
The Left Bank is where Cabernet Sauvignon is usually the dominant variety in the red blends and is the home of the famous appellations of the Médoc such as St‑Estèphe, Pauillac, St‑Julien and Margaux as wellas those further south – Pessac‑Léognan and Graves. The Right Bankchâteaux are generally smaller and the climate and soils are more suited to Merlot and Cabernet Franc rather than Cabernet Sauvignon. The famous appellations of the Right Bank are St‑Émilion and Pomerol.
Rhys Pender MW
RELEASE DAY
The in-store release products are available for purchase in-store starting Saturday, September 23, 2023. Bordeaux Release shoppers will be given access to the store at 8:00 a.m. to mitigate line ups. We ask that customers do not line up earlier than September 23.
INVENTORY
Kindly note that inventory for all pre-order products will not be visible on the website until all orders have been picked up. Inventory will only be available to view on Tuesday, September 26th. For in-store release products, inventory will be available to view starting Friday, September 22nd at 9:00 a.m. and available to buy Saturday, September 23rd at 8:00 a.m.
PARTICIPATING STORES
Richmond Brighouse, 39th & Cambie, Park Royal, Alberni & Bute, Fort Street, Dunbar, Westwood Centre, Richmond Ironwood, Peninsula Village, Lynn Valley, Langley, Kelowna Orchard Pk, Caulfeild, Solo, Arbutus, Richmond Seafair, 8th & Cambie, Highgate Village, UBC Wesbrook Vill, Kamloops Columbia Pl, Westshore, Northgate, Broadmead Village, Whistler Market Place, Kerrisdale, Pr. George Pine Centre, Cloverdale, Penticton Plaza, Kelowna Mission Park, Meadowtown, Nicola Station, Hillside, Vernon, Nordel Crossing, and Abbotsford Village.
About Barbara Philip
Category Manager – Wines of Europe
Barbara Philip, Master of Wine, is the Category Manager responsible for selecting Eurpean wines for BC Liquor Stores. Barbara has a long history of working as a sommelier and wine educator. In 2007 she became the first Western Canadian to achieve the Master of Wine deisgnation. Barbara also works as a freelance lecturer, radio columnist and wine judge with her company Barbaraiain Wine Consulting.
Wine reviews courtesy of BC Liquor website. More information is available on their online brochure which can be viewed here. My notes (in bold italics) strictly an opinion and ot to be used as either a recommendation or a “don’t buy” warning. Do your homework before venturing out to purchase wine. Note that quantities will be limited and a very few may be sold out at the pre-order stage, conversely not all pre-orders are claimed so happy shopping! Bottle shots courtesy of BC Liquor website. Sauterne notes courtesy of the LCBO website.
