2020 Clos St Martin, St Emilion, Bordeaux

Vinification intégrale.

Tasted blind. Deepest crimson. Unusual aroma of sweet fruit and citrus, a touch leafy. Firm, chewy tannins dominate the fruit so it is a bit dry at the end as the tannins build.

Drink 2027 - 2036

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.

Drink 2023 - 2035

A touch of liqueur on the nose, smells heady with gorgeous purple floral touches. Ripe and firm, a touch severe in the flavours: blackcurrant, plum, prune, fig and lots of liquorice, giving it a savoury tang, though overall, it's vivid and vibrant. Forward and streamlined with touches of warm spice. Broad and muscular but with a clean finish of wet stone and slate minerality. Lots to like here, though you can feel the power of the 15% alcohol - it needs some time.

Drink 2025 - 2039

Tasted twice four months apart yet with consistent notes.

Since tasting from barrel, the 2020 Clos Saint-Martin has gained more composure on the nose with black cherries, cassis and fresh fig. This has achieved some breeding. The palate is medium-bodied with plush, ripe black fruit, a graphite element not in situ in barrel, tensile with a gradual build on the finish. This deserves a more generous score.

Drink 2027 - 2045

Tasted twice. Harvest September 14 and again on September 25, all grapes brought in over two days. Tasted twice. 3.58pH, just 1.1ha in production. A yield of 32hl/ha. 100% first wine.

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.

Drink 2027 - 2042

Mint chocolate, kelp, bark, and blackcurrants are 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. It is a little intense and extracted right now but with fantastic length and concentration. Give it time to come together.

Try in 2027

The 2020 Clos Saint-Martin is quite simply a different wine from what I tasted en primeur. Racy and yet super-finessed, the 2020 is a Saint-Émilion of exquisite beauty. Crushed red berry fruit, blood orange, mint, cinnamon and rose petal are all beautifully delineated. Medium in body yet deep, with mind-blowing balance, Clos Saint-Martin is a flat-out stunner.

Drink 2030 - 2050

Always a powerful wine, the 2020 Clos Saint-Martin is no exception and sports a dense purple/plum color as well as a primordial bouquet of smoky black fruits, tobacco, scorched earth, graphite, and truffle. A powerhouse on the palate as well, this full-bodied, rich, incredibly concentrated Saint-Emilion has building yet perfectly ripe tannins, a gorgeous mid-palate, and just about flawless balance. It might be the finest wine I've tasted from this estate. Hide bottles for 5-7 years and enjoy over the following 30 years or more.

Drink 2028 - 2058