Chateau Clos St. Martin 2020
- Decanter
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Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Inky velvet colour, with a violet rim. Rich and deep and even, full of concentrated black fruits and cinnamon spice. This is deliciously balanced between rich fruit and salty saline crackers, has a tension that runs through the palate, as good as the 2018, which for me is the best of a recent vintage vertical that I did of this estate. Tasted twice. Harvest September 14 and again on September 25, all grapes brought in over two days.
Barrel Sample: 94 -
James Suckling
Mint chocolate, kelp, bark and blackcurrants on the nose. Touch of sandalwood and sweet spice. Chewy, firm tannins, with a full body and a compact and dense core of spicy black fruit. A little intense and extracted right now but with fantastic length and concentration. Give it time to come together. Try in 2027.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Clos St. Martin is a rich, modern Saint-Émilion, offering up aromas of ripe blackberries, cherries, plum liqueur and creamy new oak, followed by a full-bodied, broad, muscular palate with a jammy core of baked fruit flavors and plenty of structuring oak tannins. Readers more tolerant of over-ripeness will appreciate it more than me. Best After 2023
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Spectator
Wine -
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Robert
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.