The Top Wine of 2020

Bordeaux is on the cusp of the release of 2022 vintage.  The 2020 has been bottled.  Tradition dictates the wine critics to review and re-rate the vintage in the bottle.  The ratings came back, a bright star is shining over Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion.

Decanter magazine picked the 2020 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion as the #1 Wine of the 2020 vintage (giving it a perfect score of 100 points), an honor Les Carmes Haut-Brion shares with the 2020 Château Mouton Rothschild, the venerable First Growth heavyweight of Pauillac.  Let that sink in, the wine produced from a parcel that was once carved out of Château Haut-Brion is now recognized as a top choice, on equal footing with another First Growth.  That is neither pre-ordained, nor by accident.

Long-term readers of our newsletter would not be surprised by this latest recognition.  We have been sharing our enthusiasm for Les Carmes Haut-Brion for years.  A true story from one of our customers tells it all.  He was vacationing in Bordeaux and walked up to the gate of Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion for an impromptu visit.  While tourists are usually turned away without an appointment, upon hearing that he has been a customer of Laguna Cellar and has bought wine futures of Les Carmes Haut-Brion, the estate made an exception and granted him a tour.  We have been big fans of the chateau.  They also know us as a dedicated importer of their wine year in, year out.

From our perspective, the legacy of Les Carmes Haut-Brion is now finally fully recognized by the whole wine world.  This legacy started in 1584, when Jean de Pontac, the owner of Château Haut-Brion, gifted a parcel of his land to the Carmelite Order to provide permanent income to the monks.  The Carmelites cultivated the land with care and devotion for two centuries, producing a wine they named Les Carmes Haut-Brion, to differentiate from the more famous wine made nearby.  The church-owned property was confiscated following the French Revolution.  Eventually, the estate was auctioned off to the public and was acquired by Léon Colin and his descendants, the Chantecaille-Furt family.  They retained control of the estate for slightly longer than the Carmelites had managed.  In 2010, the family was finally ready to part with the property, as part of the estate planning necessitated by the old age of the matriarch.  It was rumored that Château Haut-Brion considered bringing it back into the house but was outbid by Bordeaux developer Patrice Pichet.

The new owner embarked on a massive renovation of the château and winemaking facilities.  Famed architect Philippe Starck was commissioned to create a new masterpiece featuring a gravity fed cellar that is designed to look like a boat submerged in the creek that runs through the estate.  Despite its seemingly small external structure, anyone who steps inside the building is instantly impressed by how massive the internal space is, and how perfectly temperature-controlled the submerged portion of the building is, cooled by the natural running water.  From the top deck, one can enjoy access to the tasting room, the open air, and the view of the nearby chateau that has been featured on the wine label for decades, now even more stylistically.

"The best 2020s seem to be confident without showing off or shouting too loudly and this Carmes does just that. Focussed and precise, this is complex and characterful, rich yet vibrant with a texture and taste that makes an impact straight away. Fresh black fruits, floral notes and sensational minerality do the talking - it has weight, density and structure - broad and bold yet svelte, it has direction and persistence, building quickly then settling and elongating with such clarity and purity. This is a wine you want to drink. Cool, classic, sharp and decisive with a flawless texture. Whereas '19 was more generous this is more classic and easy to understand. An excellent job - seemingly effortless winemaking in 2020 - and a bottle that is sure to be emptied pretty quickly." - Georgie Hindle, Decanter (3/2/2023), Ratings: 100

"The 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a total stunner. For the first time I can remember, Les Carmes Haut-Brion marries all of its elements so well that nothing stands out. In the past, the high percentage of Franc and/or the whole clusters were evident. The 2020 is the first modern vintage in which all the elements are so well balanced. Dark red/purplish fruit, rose petal, mint, lavender, dried herbs and incense all build in a ravishing Pessac-Léognan that will take your breath away.

The 2020 is 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon and 26% Merlot, picked between September 14 to 26, which is early here. Whole cluster was 55%. Vinification took place over five weeks, using very gentle extraction, with no pumpovers or punchdowns. Aging was 80% new oak, 11% 18hL foudres and 9% amphorae. In tasting, the 2020 is simply magnificent. There are no soloists, just the most exceptionally vivid, breathtaking orchestra imaginable. The 2020 is a masterpiece from Technical Director Guillaume Pouthier and his team. Don't miss it! - Antonio Galloni (12/2022), Vinous, Ratings: 100, Drink from: 2030-2070

"Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion issues forth a beguiling array of savory scents—black olives, charcuterie, bouquet garni and Sichuan pepper—over a core of bright redcurrant jelly, black cherries and cassis scents, plus fragrant hints of rose petals and preserved mandarin peel. The medium-bodied palate is refreshing and elegantly styled yet with a rock-solid backbone of firm, finely grained tannins and bags of freshness, finishing long and perfumed. This is a stunning expression of the vintage that should be long lived and age with fantastic grace." - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Advocate (5/20/2021), Ratings: 95-97, Drink: 2027-2057

"On another level, the flagship 2020 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion is one heck of a dense, backward, concentrated wine that’s going to require bottle age. Coming in with the same technical analysis (acidity and alcohol) as the 2018, this full-bodied beauty offers a thrilling nose of blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, charcoal, and gravelly earth. Full-bodied on the palate, with a terrific mid-palate and wonderful purity, it holds things close to its vest yet has flawless balance, impeccable purity, and just a great, lengthy finish. Nevertheless, this is one big bruiser of a wine that’s going to demand bottle age. Do your best to hide bottles for 7-8 years, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following three to four decades." - Jeb Dunnuck, (5/23/2021), Ratings: 96-98