Winemaker Notes
Very dark purple colour, with violet and almost black highlights. Very expressive and fine, the nose lets out notes of black fruits, very ripe (plum, blackcurrant, blackberry); all associated, in the background, with a light toastiness. On the palate, we find a lot of balance and a nice structure. The fruit (strawberry, blackberry), very ripe, juicy, fills the palate, to our great pleasure. Nice length with more spicy notes. It is an elegant wine, full of gourmet pleasure.
It should be kept for one or two years, before being enjoyed with grilled meat, pan-fried mushrooms, pigeon with grapes or stuffed saddle of lamb.
Blend: 65% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Ripe black cherries, currants, savory spice, and leather are just some of the nuances in the 2020 Chateau La Louviere, a medium-bodied, balanced, complex, incredibly charming Pessac-Leognan. It already offers pleasure if you don't mind tannins, but it's going to benefit from 3-4 years of bottle age and drink brilliantly over the following decade or more. It's a beautiful wine. Best After 2026.
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Decanter
A welcome precision and depth, with a slate texture that offers a sense of minerality and lift. Good quality with dark fruits, cassis and bilberry, and touches of bitterness on the finish. Once again the concentration and tannins of the vintage are clear.
Barrel Sample: 92 -
James Suckling
Fresh black berry fruit, graphite, fresh earth and tobacco leaves on the nose. It’s medium-bodied with firm, creamy tannins. Mineral and chalky at the end.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 La Louvière has turned out well in bottle, exhibiting aromas of cherries, blackcurrants, petals and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, supple and vibrant, with fine concentration, polished tannins and good length on the finish, this is a strong effort that will reward some bottle age. Recent vintages suggest that this is an estate on the rise. Best after 2026. Rating : 92+
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.