Chateau Labegorce 2020

Bordeaux Red Blends

93 James
Suckling
93 Decanter
93 Jeb
Dunnuck
93 Vinous
91 Robert
Parker

4.1 Very Good (16)

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Chateau Labegorce 2020 Front Bottle Shot

Product Details

Varietal

Bordeaux Red Blends

Producer

Chateau Labegorce

Vintage

2020

Size

750ML

ABV

14%

Your Rating

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Somm Note

Winemaker Notes

2020 is a vintage of elegance, harmony and balance. A medley of black fruits, blackberries, blueberries and red fruits, including strawberries and raspberries. An intense aromatic expression supported by a sharp tannic line.

Professional Ratings

93 James Suckling
A tight, compact Labégorce with blackcurrant, walnut and some graphite. It’s medium-to full-bodied with a solid core of tannins and fruit. Some lead pencil. Very structured for this estate. Barrel Sample: 92-93
93 Decanter
Smoked cedar oak on the nose, a welcome touch in a vintage where tannins have frequently been turned up to 11. Grilled almonds; really a campfire edge. I like this, works well with the vintage. The fruit softens through the mid palate but the team has done a great job of finding extra layers flavor and complexity. Good stuff. 40% new oak. 2% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Yields around 32hl/ha. Just 20mm of rain in August here, which meant veraison was more difficult. Tasted this also at the estate, and both times I was impressed. Less opulent than 2019, more classic and serious but this is great.
Barrel Sample: 93
93 Jeb Dunnuck
A forward, textured, already delicious wine, the 2020 Chateau Labegorce offers lots of red and black fruit as well as notes of cedar, smoke tobacco, and chocolate. Based on 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, aged in 40% new barrels, it has perfectly integrated oak, ripe, fine-grained tannins, and outstanding overall balance. Give bottles just a year or three and enjoy over the following 10-15 years or more. Best After 2023.
93 Vinous
The 2020 Labégorce is a dark, sumptuous beauty. 2020 has softened a bit with élevage, but it remains a distinctly potent, brooding Margaux. Best After 2025.
91 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Labégorce has turned out nicely, bursting with aromas of cherries, berries and licorice, followed by a medium to full-bodied, rich and ample palate. Fleshy and layered, this contemporary-styled Margaux will drink well young. Best after 2023.

Other Vintages

2022

95 Decanter
94 Vinous
94 Jeb
Dunnuck

2021

92 Jeb
Dunnuck
91 James
Suckling
91 Decanter

2019

94 Jeb
Dunnuck
92 James
Suckling
92 Decanter
90 Robert
Parker
90 Wine
Spectator

2018

95 Wine
Enthusiast
94 Jeb
Dunnuck
94 James
Suckling
93 Robert
Parker
93 Decanter
92 Wine
Spectator

2017

93 Jeb
Dunnuck
92 Decanter
92 Wine
Spectator
92 James
Suckling
91 Wine
Enthusiast
90 Robert
Parker

2016

95 James
Suckling
94 Jeb
Dunnuck
94 Wine
Enthusiast
93 Robert
Parker
93 Decanter
90 Wine
Spectator

2015

95 Wine
Enthusiast
94 James
Suckling
94 Jeb
Dunnuck
93 Robert
Parker
90 Decanter

2014

93 Robert
Parker
92 Wine
Enthusiast
90 James
Suckling
90 Wine
Spectator

2009

90 Robert
Parker
90 Wine
Spectator

2006

91 Wine
Spectator

2005

94 Wine
Enthusiast
90 Wine
Spectator

2004

92 Wine
Enthusiast
90 Wine
Spectator

2003

91 Wine
Enthusiast
90 Wine
Spectator

Chateau Labegorce

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Chateau Labegorce Chateau North Side Winery Image

Chateau Labegorce GM Marjolaine Maurice de Coninck Winery Image

The origins of Labégorce lie in a large estate in the northern parts of the commune of Margaux which belonged to the Gorce (or Gorsse) family, perhaps as long ago as the 14th Century. The family were originally merchants, gradually climbing the social ladder in Bordeaux, assuming a more aristocratic standing in the community as they did so. They were still the proprietors here in the 18th Century, and documents from that time indicate that there was viticulture on the estate, the vineyards dotted between fields of wheat and pasture where cattle grazed. This was the situation at the time of the French Revolution, when like so many other estates in Bordeaux, Labégorce was divided and sold off, giving rise to three estates that still estate today. The first, that which concerns us here, is Chateau Labégorce and the second is Labégorce-Zédé, named for Pierre Zédé who acquired the estate in 1840. The third is the curiously named L'Abbé Gorsse de Gorsse, an estate long defunct as far as viticulture is concerned, but which is still clearly visible on the currently available maps of the commune. Following the break-up of the original estate the modern-day Labégorce first passed to a gentleman named Capelle, and subsequently changed hands a number of times, most recently coming into the ownership of Hubert Perrodo in 1989.

The Labégorce vineyards include three main plots, totalling 70 hectares in all, although only approximately 40 hectares are fully planted up. All three plots lie in the northernmost part of the commune. The largest plot, accounting for about two-thirds, lies just northeast of the fine chateau, which was constructed by the renowned architect Courcelles. There is a second plot around the chateau itself, accounting for about a quarter of all the Labégorce vines, while the smallest plot lies a little further north around the church in Soussans. The vines average 30 years of age, with the oldest vines, of which there are just four hectares, dating from between 1902 and 1950. More date from 1951 to 1985, whereas a quarter date from 1989 when extensive replanting took place. Vineyard practices involve careful use of chemicals, with no herbicide used at all, and yields are typically 50 hl/ha. Harvesting is by hand, and fermentation begins with a short, cold maceration followed by a temperature controlled process. Each parcel of vines, of which there are many, is vinified separately. The blend is 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Malolactic fermentation takes place in oak, 30% of which is new, where the wine spends up to fifteen months. It is fined using egg whites before bottling. The grand vin is Chateau Labégorce, and the second wine is Chateau Tour de Laroze. There is also a third wine, produced from a 4 hectare plot entitled to the Haut-Médoc appellation, called La Mouline de Labégorce

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BAJ748140_2020 Item# 748140