2020 Château Haut-Marbuzet

The 2020 Haut-Marbuzet is open and attractive on the nose, less heavy and toasty than recent vintages. Pure black cherry and raspberry fruit with light iris petal and Indian ink scents. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, quite lithe and supple, gently building to a prudently spiced finish. Excellent.

- Neal Martin (12/2022)

Perfumed dark fruits with toasted spices, crushed walnut shell, savory herbs, graphite and tobacco leaves. Full-bodied. Layers of ripe and chewy tannins that are well-integrated with a velvety and plush core of black fruit. Bold, firm and structured with so much potential. Lingering, chalky finish sits there for minutes. Classic Haut-Marbuzet. Try from 2028. (05/2023)

A little gem of a wine, the 2020 Château Haut-Marbuzet boasts a deep purple color as well as medium to full-bodied aromas and flavors of cassis, blackcurrants, tobacco, and damp earth. It’s ripe, rounded, and pure on the palate, with wonderful precision and freshness as well as silky tannins. It’s worth seeking out. (05/2021)

The 2020 Haut-Marbuzet is deep garnet-purple in color. It features classic cedar, pencil lead, and cassis scents, followed by wafts of kirsch and underbrush. Medium-bodied, the palate is a little thin and chewy, with a refreshing if somewhat abrupt finish. (03/2023)

The 2020 Haut-Marbuzet is showing very well in bottle, offering up aromas of blackberries and plum preserve mingled with hints of pencil shaving, rose petal, licorice and lilac. Medium to full-bodied, it's rich and fleshy, its broad attack segueing into an enveloping mid-palate framed by powdery, youthfully firm tannins, concluding with a nicely defined finish. It can't quite match the energy and elegance of 2019, but it's a terrific effort that could embarrass plenty of classified growths.

- William Kelley (04/2023)