La Lagune 2020

This comes in strong with both grip and attitude. Some austerity that shows through in the abundant tannic frame, but there is a juiciness that runs through the palate, a sense that it is light on its feet. Liquorice, black chocolate and a spiced tomato leaf adds layers, but things close down on the finish. This is certified organic and in biodynamic conversion. A yield of 30hl/ha.Drinking Window 2028 - 2040

Full bottle 1,356 g. Cask sample. 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot. Certified organic and in conversion to biodynamic farming.Very dark with purplish rim. Pure left-bank Cabernet aroma that is both intensely cassis but also with a layer of cedar and a hint of stone-dust minerality. A freshness to the aroma without obvious herbaceousness. Super-fine tannins. Pure and fresh on the palate, a hint of dark chocolate and already showing real elegance in the finesse of the dry almost sinewy tannin texture. Lovely young wine without extremes. (JH)Drink 2025 – 2035

(65% CS, 30% M, 5% PV; 65% harvest; 35hl/ha; 14% ABV; 50% new)Fresh black fruit and minerals, very pure, fresh and fine; concentrated, vital, finely tannic, in the slightly crisper style of some Left-Bank wines of the year; freshly ripe, rather than “sweet” as such, dense with an almost salty sapidity, and with a superfine tannic frame, a sort of close-knit velvet texture; compact, distinctly minerally aromatic, and with terrific persistence. A pure, classy, very individual and beautiful wine of great finesse. 2030–50+.

The 2020 La Lagune offers intense Cabernet scents on the nose, the black fruit, tobacco, humidor and light cedar scents bursting from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins that frame the crisp black fruit. This is a classic Médoc with just the right amount of structure and dryness, partnered with assiduous sapidity that gets the saliva flowing. It should gain a little flesh during its élevage. You might call this "proper Claret." Drink 2025-2045.

A firm, polished red with tight, focused tannins that flow across the palate. It’s medium-to full-bodied with good length and a gorgeous finish. From organically grown grapes.

The 2020 La Lagune, bottled in mid-June 2022, retains the intense Cabernet-driven bouquet that I observed from barrel. Blackberry and cigar humidor, the latter ebbing with aeration to reveal iodine and violet petal scents, just a hint of morels in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with quite "thick" tannins on the entry due to the slightly higher percentage of Cabernet. Structured and grippy, there's just a little bit of rusticity towards the balsamic finish. This will require three or four years in bottle.