Winemaker Notes
Chateau La Garde 2020 is deep and bright in appearance. A more significant proportion of Merlot on clay-limestone has created a particularly mineral dimension to this poised, generous vintage. On the palate, the wine is characterised by intense, complex fruit, underpinned byimpressive tannic structure. With a hallmark smoky edge so typical of the great Pessac-Leognan terroirs, the wine is long and harmonious on the finish, a very great vintage for La Garde.
Blend: 65% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Initially smoothly textured, this wine then fills out with tannins and structure. It is rich, with dense blackberry fruits and acidity supported by wood aging. The wine will be ready from 2026.
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Vinous
The 2020 Château La Garde is a little muted at first, opening gradually to display blackberry, brine, pitted olives and light undergrowth scents, coalescing nicely with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied, crisp and focused, with fine-grained tannins, a fine bead of acidity and good grip on the finish. This estate has been a little inconsistent of late, but this is certainly one of the better vintages that I have tasted from barrel. -Neal Martin
Barrel Sample: 90-92 -
Decanter
Sappy; a little coffee edged, this is good and measured, with cassis. Easy to drink, powers down as these are pretty concentrated flavors for this estate - a reflection of the vintage.
Barrel Sample: 91 -
James Suckling
Black berry fruit, gravel, bark, tobacco leaves and iodine here. It’s medium-bodied, savory and pleasantly austere, with fine tannins. Rusty elements.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep purple-black colored, the 2020 la Garde rolls out of the glass with bright, expressive notes of Morello cherries, redcurrant jelly and plum preserves, plus hints of dark chocolate, dried herbs and pencil shavings. The medium-bodied palate delivers mouth-filling, crunchy black fruits with a lively backbone and approachable, grainy tannins, finishing on an earthy note. Barrel Sample: 88-90
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Wine Spectator
Shows tobacco, sanguine and savory notes that weave in and out of the core of red currant and black cherry fruit. Reveals a light tarry streak that adds some grip to the finish. Nicely done. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.
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.
Recognized for its superior reds as well as whites, Pessac-Léognan on the Left Bank claims classified growths for both—making it quite unique in comparison to its neighboring Médoc properties.
Pessac’s Chateau Haut-Brion, the only first growth located outside of the Médoc, is said to have been the first to conceptualize fine red wine in Bordeaux back in the late 1600s. The estate, along with its high-esteemed neighbors, La Mission Haut-Brion, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pique-Caillou and Chateau Pape-Clément are today all but enveloped by the city of Bordeaux. The rest of the vineyards of Pessac-Léognan are in clearings of heavily forested area or abutting dense suburbs.
Arid sand and gravel on top of clay and limestone make the area unique and conducive to growing Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc as well as the grapes in the usual Left Bank red recipe: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and miniscule percentages of Petit Verdot and Malbec.
The best reds will show great force and finesse with inky blue and black fruit, mushroom, forest, tobacco, iodine and a smooth and intriguing texture.
Its best whites show complexity, longevity and no lack of exotic twists on citrus, tropical and stone fruit with pronounced floral and spice characteristics.