Chateau Talbot 4eme Cru Classe, Saint-Julien 2020

This is a great Talbot, a real success for the château. Subtle and deft touches throughout, from the smoked turmeric notes that lace the black fruits to the finessed aromatics that accompany the body of the wine. Balance and freshness, and a saline edge to the finish that is extremely moreish. Three years with Jean-Michel Laporte as director and he is doing great work.

A tight, focused young red with blackcurrant, lead-pencil and chocolate character. It’s full-bodied and tense with a long, flavorful finish.

The 2020 Talbot was corked on the first bottle. The second has a refined and focused bouquet, with more black fruit than its peers. Cedar and light minty notes impart a Pauillac-like personality. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, fine delineation, lovely poise and a sorbet-fresh, high-toned finish. This appears to have meliorated since I tasted it just after bottling, hence the higher score. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

The 2020 Talbot is a hugely promising wine. It offers up an exotic mélange of inky dark fruit, chocolate, licorice, gravel, lavender and menthol. Brooding in the glass, with broad shoulders and tons of intensity, the 2020 is a Talbot that marries power, breadth and savory intensity with notable stylishness and tons of personality. Impressive.

Drink from 2030 to 2045.

The 2020 Château Talbot is a winner and certainly an outstanding wine. Offering lots of blackcurrants, green tobacco, chocolate, and lead pencil notes, it’s a classic Saint-Julien, with medium to full body, velvety tannins, and a rounded, layered texture. It’s ripe, yet certainly plays in the fresher end of the pool and should have 15-20 years of longevity.

Deep purple-black colored, the 2020 Talbot storms out of the glass with powerful blackcurrants, raspberry leaves and baked plums scents, followed by suggestions of dried Mediterranean herbs, tobacco leaf and graphite. The medium-bodied palate delivers lovely freshness and an approachable chewiness, nicely framing the herb-laced black fruits, finishing savory.