2020 La Mondotte

Community Tasting Notes (4) Avg Score: 95.8 points

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  4/23/2023 - Cailles wrote: 93 Points

  Bordeaux 2020 - 10 red & 1 sweet wine: Arrivage tasting by a merchant. Be aware, the sample size is quite small but here are a few observations: 1) Overall quality: This is another good vintage in Bordeaux but clearly not on the same level as 2016 or 2019. 2) Ripeness: What I tasted showed less ripe than 2015/18/19. Most wine show fresh dark and blue fruit, the two right banks showed well behaved too. None of the wines showed alcohol heat (a problem in many 18s and some 15s). Overall, I expected more ripeness but maybe the wineries I sampled all just got the picking date right. 3) Complexity: 2020 will not reach the heights of 2016 and for me is also a step or two behind 2015/18/19. 4) Precision: The precision was quite good, although not on the level of the 2016s. 5) Structural frame: The tannins are ripe but have more edges than in 16/18/19 and will need time to soften, the acidity is high and well-integrated, the texture is not as airy as in 2016 but a step above 15/18 and maybe even 19. Overall, the wines showed quite harmonious but without the magical balance of the 2016s (and the best 15/18/19s I had).
  
  TN: Brief impressions. While it was not the most layered wine tonight, this vintage of La Mondotte is better than what they produced in many post 2000 vintages. There is no shred of overripeness but the fruit is pure and fresh (all circling around dark cherries). One of the more elegant wines today with less grippy tannins than most others and a good freshness and very good balance. If age will bring a few more layers forward, this could become great.

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  3/21/2023 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points

  Concentrated, graceful, full-bodied, rich and intense, the array of black, red and blue fruits all touched by accents of crushed rocks and stones hit all the right notes in the nose and on the palate. The mid-palate and finish, with their layers of salt-tinted, perfectly ripe fruits, licorice, mocha, and spice go on and on, leaving you with streams of bitter chocolate, plum liqueur and sea-salts that linger for more than 50 seconds! Not much wine is made here. In fact, the production was about 1,200 cases. Drink from 2026-2055.

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  5/20/2021 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points

  Intensely colored, the aromatic profile, with its licorice, blackberry, bitter chocolate, plum liqueur. crushed rocks and stones get noticed quickly. On the palate, the wine is concentrated, full-bodied and ntense. Picture a giant gulp of ripe black plums, blue fruits, licorice, cocoa and broken stones with salt coating your palate and expanding for at least 60 seconds. Not much wine is made here. In fact, the production was about 1,200 cases. Still young, give this stunner at least a decade and drink it over the next 3 decades or longer. 98-100

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  5/8/2021 - Shrewsram Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Opaque
  Ripe, some vapour. Dark fruits, a touch of graphite… this unfurls with time, showing a frame of red fruits, real complexity of spice and tea.
  
  Juicy and creamy attack, better acidity vs Canon, some savoury elements and serious bones. Has savoury, spicy and herby elements, with good mineral intensity. Fine, ripe tannins that build, this is very long, sophisticated with great fragrance.

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