L'Evangile 2021 (750ML)

97 JS / 96 AG / 95 VM / 94 JD / 94 WA / 94 JA / 94 DE

Complex and subtle aromas of black cherries, chocolate and violets with hints of nutmeg and hazelnuts that open to a medium to full body, with fine and polished tannins that integrate nicely then grow beautifully at the end. 69% merlot, 30% cabernet franc and 1% cabernet sauvignon. Better to be patient and taste after 2027. - James Suckling

The 2021 L’Évangile is one of the triumphs of the year, especially considering L'Évangile is now farmed biodynamically. Sharply reduced yields—20 hectoliters-per-hectare versus upper 30s for the rest of the appellation—produced a deeply sensual wine. The 2021 spent 18 months in barrel, 40% new (significantly lower than in the past), with 15% of the wine aged in terra cotta. Those are only details though. What is most encouraging about L'Évangile is how far the property has come in the last few years. Superb. The 2021 L'Évangile is a model of contemporary excellence. It marries classicism with modern approaches to farming and winemaking. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

The 2021 L'Évangile, aged in just 40% new oak from four cooperages and 15% amphora, is the first vintage to be made under certified organic. On the nose, it offers mainly red fruit, well-defined with black truffle and cigar smoked emerging with time. As I wrote during primeur, it exudes Pomerol DNA on the nose. The palate is medium-bodied with a silky-smooth entry, quite complex with black pepper and clove percolating through the red fruit. This is not powerful, but there is a heap of personality and a sustained, truffle- and black pepper-tinged finish, a ferrous tincture lining the aftertaste. A superb wine in the context of a tricky growing season, it will be fascinating to watch evolve in bottle. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

A blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc (which is more Cabernet Franc than usual), the 2021 Château L'Evangile is a beautiful effort that I'd put up with the crème de la crème of the vintage. Blue fruits, cassis, violets, tobacco, and subtle chocolaty oak all define the aromatics, and it has medium to full-bodied richness, a layered, multi-dimensional mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and just about flawless overall balance. Brought up mostly in barrel, with a splash in amphora, this beauty shines for its purity and elegance, and the higher Cabernet Franc component really shows with time in the glass. - Jeb Dunnuck

Unfurling in the glass with aromas of dark cherries and berries mingled with notions of licorice, black truffle, rose petal and iris, the 2021 L'Evangile is medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with a broad and textural attack that segues into a charming, succulent mid-palate framed by sweet, powdery tannins. This saw only two rackings, and some 15% matured in amphora, with the rest in barriques that are less toasty than in the past; the result of these and other initiatives is a much more timeless expression of this property. Bottled in May 2023. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate

A good example of how skilful winemaking adapts to conditions - all the Cabernet Sauvignon has gone into the 1st wine this year because it achieved plenty of natural concentration, while recently it has been put into Blason because it took away from the elegance of the 1st wine. Savoury, supple black and blue fruits, austere but with sapidity and juice, and a gorgeous wash of campfire smoke, salted caramel, liquorice, cloves and saffron spices. 20hl/h yield after mildew. This is their first organic-certified vinified, and first year with Juliette Couderc as technical director from beginning to end of the growing season. Harvest September 21 to October 4. No chaptilisation. 50% new oak, 15% amphora, 3.6ph. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux 

Smells concentrated and quite bold, more of a heady nose, dark fruits and gorgeous perfumed Cabernet aspects. Succulent and juicy, a really appealing and charming palate, juiciness but density too, you get plump fruit here rather than a piercing focus giving more of a mouthful than some others but still with a detail to the fine tannins, the ripe fruit, cherry and blackcurrant and plum with a long finish. Sustained on the palate, this doesn't let up, slowly building from start to finish giving a cool, delicate, refined palate but still with grippy maintaining attention. You can tell they got full ripeness here, but there's also this lovely cooling, slate aspect - the soft chalkiness that comes in on the finish. I like this - the initial intensity, directness of black fruit and then the chalk texture. Feels nicely complete and one of the larger, more dense wines this vintage. A yield of 20hl/ha with all the Cabernet Sauvignon going into the grand vin. Juliette Couderc technical director. First year certified organic. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter