Château Prieuré-Lichine 2020

Château Prieure-Lichine is an estate that exemplifies classic Margaux terroir.  The wines have a certain finesse, generosity, suppleness, and charm.  What makes Château Prieure-Lichine a unique property is not just the quality of the grand vin, however.  The simple fact of the matter is Château Prieure-Lichine was a groundbreaking estate that turned Bordeaux from a relatively sleepy, winemaking collective into a tourist destination.  This was largely because of the legendary figure in the world of Bordeaux wine, the Russian American wine critic nicknamed the “Pope of Wine,” Alexis Lichine.  It would be impossible to talk about the history of this property without mentioning his name.  In many ways, Château Prieure-Lichine is an important estate to know – not just for the sake and quality of its wines -- but because it is a property that radically changed the way things were done in Bordeaux. 
 

The history behind Château Prieure-Lichine is a long one, as the property was initially a priory for Benedictine Monks.  The Monks lived at the estate and produced wines for dinners and a variety of religious services.  The wines were of such great quality that they were lauded by Pope Clement.  It was ranked in 1745 by the Bordeaux Intendance Classification as a Third Growth prior to being seized and split up during the French Revolution. Almost a hundred years later at the 1855 Classification, the estate was declared by the négociants a Fourth Growth property.  Château Prieure-Lichine fell into disrepair until the 1950s, dwindling in size to a diminutive 11 hectares.  The rumor is it was purchased by Alexis Lichine for a minuscule sum of 8,000 British pounds.  The property was renamed Château Prieure-Lichine and that’s where the history of the estate gets very interesting.
 
Alexis Lichine, ever the visionary, wanted to make Château Prieure-Lichine a destination, yet when he purchased the property Bordeaux wasn’t exactly a place where tourists went.  He purchased a large sign that said the estate was open for tastings and visitors could purchase wine there.  The sign was placed along the D2 Route de Médoc, much to the chagrin of the neighboring Bordeaux estates who considered Alexis’ approach  “too commercial,” for their tastes.  With all that in mind, the naysayers began to get on board when they started seeing more and more wine lovers purchasing the grand vin of Château Prieure-Lichine.  By the 1970s, Château Prieure-Lichine was able to expand to 58 hectares of vines.  There are actually plantings of vines from Prieure-Lichine in every commune of Margaux.
 
Eventually, Alexis Lichine passed away in 1989 and was buried on property because of his undying love for the estate.  Château Prieure-Lichine was managed by his son, Sacha who eventually sold it for close to 20,000,000 British Pounds to the powerful négociant, the Ballande Group.  As the years pass, the team has implemented a series of strategies to improve the wines at Château Prieure-Lichine, and it’s clear they are succeeding.  For wine connoisseurs who love properties with interesting and complex histories, Château Prieure-Lichine is definitely an estate worth knowing.

"Totally delicious, just bursting with flavour, with silky tannins and purity to the raspberry, redcurrant and blackcurrant fruits, cloves and black pepper spices add clear depth through the mid palate. It's not often that I prefer a 2020 to the 2019 in Margaux but this is a standout in the lineup. 2020 had natural low yields - 34hl/h yield overall, 32hl/h for the first wine, 40% new oak, being bottled at the time of tasting for delivery in September, so this is a barrel sample but only just. Stephane Derencourt consultant, harvest September 14 to October 1." - Jane Anson, (05/20/2022), Ratings: 95, Drink: 2028-2045

"The 2020 Prieuré-Lichine is elegant and nuanced, just as it was en primeur. Even so, I had hoped to see another step forward in this vintage, and it's just not there. For example, the aromatics aren't quite as focused as they could be. Prieuré-Lichine is still a very good wine, but it is not all it could be." - Antonio Galloni, Vinous, (02/24/2023), Ratings: 93

"Tasted on two separate occasions, the 2020 Château Prieuré-Lichine has a solid perfume of redcurrants, blueberries, smoky oak, and chocolate that shows more and more floral nuances with time in the glass. Nicely textured on the palate, with medium to full-bodied richness, it has solid mid-palate depth, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It needs a solid 4-6 years of bottle age but is another impressive 2020 with real class." - Jeb Dunnuck, (03/29/2023), Ratings: 92, Drink: 2027-2042

"Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2020 Prieure-Lichine offers up notes of fresh redcurrants, blackcurrant pastilles, boysenberries and dried Provence herbs, plus wafts of tobacco leaf and pencil shavings. Medium-bodied, the palate delivers a great intensity of pure black and red fruit flavors, framed by grainy tannins and a lively backbone, finishing long with a refreshing herbal lift." - Lisa Perotti-Brown, May 2021: Week 3, The Wine Advocate, Ratings: 91-93, Drink: 2024-2040