On the nose : dark cherries, black berry, plum. Violets? Some light leather On the oak palette : muted , i think needs time to air. Opened up after about an hour, a little sweet with hints of cooked fruits.
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rich deep purple-red color, ripe nose of cherry cordial, plum, leather and soft bramble, tar, on the palate full and ripe, perfect balance, soaring fruit, sexy, leather notes expand with time as a racy raspberry note emerges, savored over 7 hours during which time it only got better, an especially seductive vintage for this wine- and there is more yet to come with time.
**(***), 2028++ but don't be afraid to enjoy a bottle or three now
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Needs plenty of air to show its beauty. After 3 hours slow ox, the palate was so delicious. The Mourvèdre dominates until the Grenache wakes up after a few hours. Really balanced. The Nose was pretty subtle all night.
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By Jove I have been looking forward to trying this vintage. This and the 2019 will make for fascinating drinking pairs, comparing the two fantastic but contrasting vintages of 2019 and 2020. 2019 is a muscle car with a beautiful gear box, whilst the 2020 is a pure sports car, lighter, more nimble into the corners, different but just as good.
I think the blue fruits (the Mataro/Mourvèdre component) add a gorgeous note to this wine. The nose is very pretty, but there is deceptive power to the palate. Truly a wonderful wine. This is the Polish lancers at Somosierra, or better still, at Albuera where, in conjunction with French hussars, they caught Colborne's 1st Brigade in the flank as they advanced on the French line. 3 of Colborne's 4 regiments were rolled up as the lancers did dreadful carnage, even as the ranks tried to form square. Only the 31st Regiment (the Young Buffs) managed to form square in time, but they had to give up their supporting artillery to do so.
If you had the 2019 to deploy with this 2020, it would be like giving Latour-Maubourg a brigade of huge, sweating Cuirassiers, the kind of shock force that might have carried the day after the Polish lancers had done their butchery.
It remains one of my favoured moments of this brutal battle that the enraged British infantry reinforcements let loose a tremendous fusillade at the now scattered lancers only to find that they mostly missed their targets but cut swathes through their own allied Spanish reactionaries. No Clos des Papes for them!
A blend of organically farmed Grenache (55%), Mourvèdre (30%) and Syrah (10%); the remaining 5% rounded out by a combination of Cinsault, Counoise, Muscardin and Vaccarèse. The fruit gets fully destemmed before the spontaneous fermentation. Aged in old, neutral oak foudres up to 18 months, depending on the vintage. Bottled unfiltered. 15% alcohol, 1 g/l residual sugar and 5,0 g/l acidity.
Somewhat translucent ruby-red color with a youthful blueish hue. The nose feels very primary with almost candied Beaujolais Nouveau-like fermentation aromas along with aromas of strawberries and raspberry jelly, some lactic notes of blueberry yogurt, light bilberry tones, a little bit of savory spice and a hint of sun-baked earth. The wine feels juicy, ripe and youthful on the palate with a full body and sweet, primary blue-toned fruit flavors, some boysenberry tones, a little bit of plummy fruit, light lactic notes of blueberry yogurt, a hint of soft strawberries and a touch of raspberry jelly. The overall feel is somewhat generic and anonymous. The medium acidity and light medium tannins don't really bring much structure to the wine. The finish is ripe, juicy and quite primary with a soft, medium-long aftertaste of bilberries and boysenberry yogurt, some earthy tones, a little bit of sunny strawberry character, light plummy nuances and a hint of kirsch. The high alcohol lends some obvious warmth to the finish.
Meh. This was just way too young and primary, coming across as very anonymous and generic in character. The primary fermentation esters effectively masked away any savory complexity, making the wine come across as quite candied in nature, and the lactic notes from the MLF were still very much to the fore, adding a somewhat yogurt-like note to the flavors. Most likely the wine will show a lot better after a few years, once the primary fruit flavors and lactic MLF tones have disappeared, but even then aging can't really remediate the problematic low-ish acidity and a bit too high alcohol. According to the producer, this 2020 is supposed to be an elegant vintage in contrast to the more powerful 2019 vintage, but for me the wine felt just generic, banal and too soft. Feels heavily overpriced for the quality at 109,90€.
Flowers are the first thing you notice before discovering all the spice, cloves, kirsch, and dark cherries on the nose. On the palate, the wine is silky, elegant, fresh, supple, and refined. The kirsch shows a beautiful purity and spicy character, along with its refined tannins and peppery strawberries that kick in at the end of the finish. The wine is a blend of 55% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, and 10% Syrah with the remaining 5% consisting of various, allowable grape varieties. The grapes are as always 100% destemmed. The production is quite low this year at only 25 hectoliters per hectare. The wine is 15.2% ABV, but you do not sense any heat. Drink from 2024-2038. 98 Pts
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Drank over dinner at a friend's house. Very drinkable right out of the bottle - fresh fruit in excellent balance, lunch, very little apparent tannin or acid. Felt very classic and harmonious, in some respects almost Burgundian with a lighter color and feel.
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Notes of black cherry and stewed strawberries with an iron character on the backend. Mouthfeel is medium-plus with medium-plus acidity with medium silky tannins. Overall, its a refined, pleasant tasting CDP.
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From barrel. Low quantity, but what quality! Intense, vibrant with cherries, kirsch, minerals, very elegant wine in the making. This will be worth looking for ... #ChezAvril
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Barrel sample chez Avril. Beautiful, floral nose. Aromatic. Wonderful cherry fruit, cool and fresh. Good material, will be interesting to follow in bottle. Small quantities, but high quality says Avril.
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4/17/2024 - Eric wrote:
Châteauneuf-du-Pape with my boy!; 4/15/2024-4/17/2024 (Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Southern Rhône, France): Reduction, smoldring, deep, wowza, spicy, licorice, peppery. A much bigger wine than 2021.
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2/23/2024 - fdub Likes this wine: 95 Points
Lake Tahoe with Ottolenghi pasillia. So yummy!
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12/3/2023 - RichD2 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Beautiful full bodied CdP. Fruit on display with ample structure. Very concentrated in a great way.
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11/29/2023 - Hanibal wrote: 90 Points
Does not have the powerful aromatics that one expects from this cuvée
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11/3/2023 - wizlb Likes this wine: 98 Points
A silky smooth, full body, well balanced burgundize style CDP.. and this, is what a wine should taste like ..
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9/24/2023 - KNNOngQW Likes this wine: 91 Points
Very well put together cdp.
Dark purple, as expected from the young age
On the nose : dark cherries, black berry, plum. Violets? Some light leather
On the oak palette : muted , i think needs time to air. Opened up after about an hour, a little sweet with hints of cooked fruits.
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8/15/2023 - Elpaninaro Likes this wine:
rich deep purple-red color, ripe nose of cherry cordial, plum, leather and soft bramble, tar, on the palate full and ripe, perfect balance, soaring fruit, sexy, leather notes expand with time as a racy raspberry note emerges, savored over 7 hours during which time it only got better, an especially seductive vintage for this wine- and there is more yet to come with time.
**(***), 2028++ but don't be afraid to enjoy a bottle or three now
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6/7/2023 - Southkevin2 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Needs plenty of air to show its beauty. After 3 hours slow ox, the palate was so delicious. The Mourvèdre dominates until the Grenache wakes up after a few hours. Really balanced. The Nose was pretty subtle all night.
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5/17/2023 - Rote Kappelle Likes this wine: 96 Points
By Jove I have been looking forward to trying this vintage. This and the 2019 will make for fascinating drinking pairs, comparing the two fantastic but contrasting vintages of 2019 and 2020. 2019 is a muscle car with a beautiful gear box, whilst the 2020 is a pure sports car, lighter, more nimble into the corners, different but just as good.
I think the blue fruits (the Mataro/Mourvèdre component) add a gorgeous note to this wine. The nose is very pretty, but there is deceptive power to the palate. Truly a wonderful wine. This is the Polish lancers at Somosierra, or better still, at Albuera where, in conjunction with French hussars, they caught Colborne's 1st Brigade in the flank as they advanced on the French line. 3 of Colborne's 4 regiments were rolled up as the lancers did dreadful carnage, even as the ranks tried to form square. Only the 31st Regiment (the Young Buffs) managed to form square in time, but they had to give up their supporting artillery to do so.
If you had the 2019 to deploy with this 2020, it would be like giving Latour-Maubourg a brigade of huge, sweating Cuirassiers, the kind of shock force that might have carried the day after the Polish lancers had done their butchery.
It remains one of my favoured moments of this brutal battle that the enraged British infantry reinforcements let loose a tremendous fusillade at the now scattered lancers only to find that they mostly missed their targets but cut swathes through their own allied Spanish reactionaries. No Clos des Papes for them!
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3/30/2023 - jmoon Likes this wine: 95 Points
Beautful, spicy crunchy raspberry cassis . Wonderful and fun now, will evolve beautifully
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3/24/2023 - forceberry wrote: 84 Points
A blend of organically farmed Grenache (55%), Mourvèdre (30%) and Syrah (10%); the remaining 5% rounded out by a combination of Cinsault, Counoise, Muscardin and Vaccarèse. The fruit gets fully destemmed before the spontaneous fermentation. Aged in old, neutral oak foudres up to 18 months, depending on the vintage. Bottled unfiltered. 15% alcohol, 1 g/l residual sugar and 5,0 g/l acidity.
Somewhat translucent ruby-red color with a youthful blueish hue. The nose feels very primary with almost candied Beaujolais Nouveau-like fermentation aromas along with aromas of strawberries and raspberry jelly, some lactic notes of blueberry yogurt, light bilberry tones, a little bit of savory spice and a hint of sun-baked earth. The wine feels juicy, ripe and youthful on the palate with a full body and sweet, primary blue-toned fruit flavors, some boysenberry tones, a little bit of plummy fruit, light lactic notes of blueberry yogurt, a hint of soft strawberries and a touch of raspberry jelly. The overall feel is somewhat generic and anonymous. The medium acidity and light medium tannins don't really bring much structure to the wine. The finish is ripe, juicy and quite primary with a soft, medium-long aftertaste of bilberries and boysenberry yogurt, some earthy tones, a little bit of sunny strawberry character, light plummy nuances and a hint of kirsch. The high alcohol lends some obvious warmth to the finish.
Meh. This was just way too young and primary, coming across as very anonymous and generic in character. The primary fermentation esters effectively masked away any savory complexity, making the wine come across as quite candied in nature, and the lactic notes from the MLF were still very much to the fore, adding a somewhat yogurt-like note to the flavors. Most likely the wine will show a lot better after a few years, once the primary fruit flavors and lactic MLF tones have disappeared, but even then aging can't really remediate the problematic low-ish acidity and a bit too high alcohol. According to the producer, this 2020 is supposed to be an elegant vintage in contrast to the more powerful 2019 vintage, but for me the wine felt just generic, banal and too soft. Feels heavily overpriced for the quality at 109,90€.
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2/23/2023 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
Flowers are the first thing you notice before discovering all the spice, cloves, kirsch, and dark cherries on the nose. On the palate, the wine is silky, elegant, fresh, supple, and refined. The kirsch shows a beautiful purity and spicy character, along with its refined tannins and peppery strawberries that kick in at the end of the finish. The wine is a blend of 55% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, and 10% Syrah with the remaining 5% consisting of various, allowable grape varieties. The grapes are as always 100% destemmed. The production is quite low this year at only 25 hectoliters per hectare. The wine is 15.2% ABV, but you do not sense any heat. Drink from 2024-2038. 98 Pts
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1/30/2023 - dhwesley Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drank over dinner at a friend's house. Very drinkable right out of the bottle - fresh fruit in excellent balance, lunch, very little apparent tannin or acid. Felt very classic and harmonious, in some respects almost Burgundian with a lighter color and feel.
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12/27/2022 - Elitecow Likes this wine: 96 Points
Amazing wine! Decanter briefly and was smooth complex. Will buy again
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12/16/2022 - Sonoma-W Likes this wine: 96 Points
Wow! Smooth yet intense - no hard edges
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11/13/2022 - sboyle Likes this wine: 92 Points
Notes of black cherry and stewed strawberries with an iron character on the backend. Mouthfeel is medium-plus with medium-plus acidity with medium silky tannins. Overall, its a refined, pleasant tasting CDP.
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4/21/2022 - watcheslover Likes this wine: 95 Points
A top quality wine but not at same level than the fabulous 2019
95-96
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11/10/2021 - beatles wrote: 95 Points
From barrel. Low quantity, but what quality! Intense, vibrant with cherries, kirsch, minerals, very elegant wine in the making. This will be worth looking for ...
#ChezAvril
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11/10/2021 - pbaek wrote:
Barrel sample chez Avril. Beautiful, floral nose. Aromatic. Wonderful cherry fruit, cool and fresh. Good material, will be interesting to follow in bottle. Small quantities, but high quality says Avril.
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