L'Evangile 2020 (750ML)

99 WI / 99 JS / 98 DE / 97+ JD / 97 WCI / 96 VM / 95 WA / 95 FS / 17++ JR

#29 James Suckling's Top 100 Wines of France 2023

The 2020 L'Evangile is composed of 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color, it is a little closed to start, soon emerging with flamboyant scents of kirsch, crushed blueberries, and fresh plums, giving way to hints of garrigue, star anise, iron ore, roses, and crushed rocks. The full-bodied palate is lively and vibrant with shiny black berry layers accented by bright mineral and spicy sparks and a velvety texture, finishing long and fragrant. A beautifully poised and fantastically expressive L'Evangile - bravo to Juliette on her first vintage! - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent

Very classy and refined with subtle complexity and linear structure. Floral and perfumed. Medium- to full-bodied. Fine velvety tannins and a bright finish. Racy and fine. Really intense. Juniper and fresh sage. Bitter lemon. Botanicals. Bright. 88% merlot and 12% cabernet franc. Drink or hold.- James Suckling

Glamour and seduction in spades at L'Evangile giving classic Pomerol typicity with a kick. Floral and expressive on the nose with pink and purple flowers, pink peppercorns, white and dark chocolate, raspberries and black cherries. Gorgeous texture on the palate, rich, deep, potent in the weight and tannic frame - chalky, ripe, mouthfilling, gently chewy giving bounce to the blackcurrant, plum, strawberry and cherry fruit while the minerality and salinity give a cool, fresh undercurrent. Clearly youthful and strict but such long length, really direct and focussed. Sleek yet muscular, everything feels precise and sculpted with a lingering clove and cinnamon edge giving the angles and tension right now. Clean and straight with precision, shape and style, tons of energy and juiciness. A great wine. - GH, Decanter

The Grand Vin 2020 Château L'Evangile checks in as 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc, all of which was brought up in 50% new French oak, with 8% in amphora. Awesome notes of ripe black fruits, darker cherries, chocolate, spicy oak, and smoked tobacco define the aromatics, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a seamless, elegant, perfectly balanced mouthfeel, silky tannins, and a great finish. It's not massive yet shows the classic, balanced, elegant style of this estate today beautifully. Hide bottles for 5-7 years (it already offers pleasure) and drink this incredibly classy Pomerol over the following 30 years. It's pure class. - Jeb Dunnuck

Chocolate mint, plums, espresso, black cherry, and dark cocoa on the nose. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, dense, rich, dark, deep, and powerful. On the palate, the wine is rich, deep, concentrated, tannic, and reserved. It is holdings its cards close to the vest. So, if you have a bottle, it is best to wait a few years before pulling a cork. The wine blends 88% Merlot with 12% Cabernet Franc, 14.5% ABV. Yields were low at 32 hectoliters per hectare. The Grand Vin was made from 50% of the harvest. Drink from 2027-2055.Jeff Leve, Wine Cellar Insider

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! - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

The 2020 L'Evangile was picked quite early, as the estate's rather young vines were suffering in the dry conditions, and the decision appears to have been judicious, as the wine has turned out very well. Wafting from the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums, vine smoke and violets, it's medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered, with velvety tannins and an elegant, harmonious profile that avoids any excess. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate