Château L’EVANGILE 2020

Description

Jane Anson 98 points  www.decanter.com (at Primeur week tastings in Bordeaux, 01 May 2021)
The sculpting of L’Evangile that began over the past few vintages continues, and the 2020 is a gorgeous wine. Pristine fruit, silky with a whoosh of menthol. It elevates over the palate, both dense and light, with blueberry and raspberry fruits, and pulses of bitter almond and honeysuckle on the finish that gives focus and spice. Juliette Couderc joined L’Evangile (from DBR Lafite’s Long Dai winery) in September 2020 so for the harvest of this wine, working alongside technical director Olivier Tregoat. 50% first wine, with no Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend this year because it was so over-concentrated that it made too much impact. Increased selective harvesting meant going through vineyard plots six times to bring in the grapes as they ripened. A yield of 32hl/ha. In the final year of organic conversion, so this next vintage 2021 will be certified. Drinking Window 2028 – 2050

Lisa Perrotti-Brown 96-98+ points www.robertparker.com
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2020 L’Evangile rolls effortlessly out of the glass with notions of mulberries, black raspberries and stewed red and black plums, plus suggestions of Indian spices, dusty soil and violets with a touch of iron ore. The medium to full-bodied palate possesses compelling freshness and a fine-grained texture to support the muscular black and red fruits, finishing long and earthy.

Yves Beck 96-97 points www.yvesbeck.wine
83.5% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, 0.5% Cabernet Sauvignon
Rouge grenat dense aux légers reflets violets. Beaucoup de finesse dans le bouquet d’Evangile qui se profile avec délicatesse au travers de notes de mûres et un peu de menthe. La finesse est également le marqueur du palais. Les tannins sont veloutés, parfaitement intégrés et confèrent une touche suave tout en assurant idéalement les arrières. La fraîcheur et le fruit forment un excellent team et marquent la finale avec persistance et délicatesse. Un vin que l’on pourra certainement déjà approcher dans sa jeunesse mais qui a un grand potentiel de garde.  2024-2044

Antonio Galloni 95-97 points www.vinous.com
The 2020 L’Évangile is fabulous. Aromatic, deep and fleshy, with magnificent purity of fruit, L’Évangile dazzles right out of the gate. Bright Franc aromatics add striking lift as well as vibrancy that carries through to the long, delineated finish. There is an energy to the 2020 that is palpable. Harvest for the Merlot began on September 3, ahead of a heat wave that was forecast, and wrapped up on the 14th for the Merlot and the 21st for the Franc. That approach worked so well here. In the past, L’Évangile and Lafite-Rothschild were very different stylistically, but that seems to be changing now that Saskia de Rothschild is spending a great deal of her time in Pomerol with the new winemaking team. The estate, certified biodynamic as of 2021, has been pursuing a more refined approach for a few years, but 2020 is the first recent vintage where the personality of the year seems to have aligned especially well with the current thinking here. The 2020 L’Évangile is easily the most Lafite-like L’Évangile I have ever tasted. Don’t miss it!

Neal Martin 94-96 points www.vinous.com
The 2020 L’Evangile marks the opening of a chapter with a new winemaking team in place. Perhaps now it will begin challenging the Pomerol elite, which it ought to, given its terroir. The nose augurs a different L’Evangile, no question about that. Gone is the wall of new oak that occasionally shrouded the fruit and terroir expression; the oak is still there, but far more assimilated into the attractive brambly red berry fruit, black currant pastilles and light rose petal scents. The palate is smooth on the entry, so much so that it belies the depth of this wine. Complex and quite cerebral, delivering palpable salinity, particularly toward the finish. Veins of black truffle and white pepper come through with aeration over the course of an hour, and with revisits at three-hour intervals. I think there is a little work to do, but what this L’Evangile conveys is newfound personality and soul and a sense of Pomerol typicité. A new chapter opens.

Jean-Marc Quarin 94 points  www.quarin.com
Couleur sombre, intense et pourpre. Nez très aromatique, fruité, frais et mûr. Moelleux en départ de bouche, très savoureux au milieu, gracieux et doux dans son toucher, le vin s’étire délicat en finale sur une bonne longueur savoureuse. Assemblage : 88 % merlot, 12 % cabernet franc.  Production : 50 % de la récolte. Une nouvelle équipe travaille à l’Evangile avec des préoccupations structurelles fortes préparant le vin de demain, entre autre le souhait d’élaborer un vin avec un pH moindre (c’est en partie un pH élevé qui contribuait beaucoup au toucher si hédoniste de ce vin dès sa jeunesse tandis qu’il pouvait parfois entamer son potentiel de vieillissement). Toujours à la recherche d’un peu plus de fraîcheur, les vendanges 2020 ont été très précoces.