The 2020 L'Évangile is gorgeous. Rich, creamy and expansive in feel, the 2020 is a wine of succulence and textural richness. Black cherry, mocha, espresso, cloves, leather and licorice all meld together. Malolactic fermentation in barrel helps give L’Évangile its sumptuous, creamy personality. The 2020 spent 15 months in barrel, 50% new, with 10% of the wine aged in amphora. The 2020 is a gorgeous wine that is also a wine of transition, as so many things are being looked at with a fresh eye at the estate these days. 02/2023 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!

The 2020 L'Évangile, the maiden vintage under the new team, is matured in 60% new oak and 40% mixture of used wood and amphora. It has an expressive, mineral-driven bouquet that open nicely with aeration, light floral touches, incense and potpourri emerging with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, lovely balance and very intense. This is not a powerful Pomerol, not one of huge dimension and muscle, yet there is a multi-layered finish of black fruit that lingers long in the mouth. One for laying down for a decade. Very impressive. 02/2023 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.

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. This 2020 blend of 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc has an alcohol of 14.5% and a pH of 3.8. “Since the beginning, it was tracking as an early vintage,” said L’Evangile’s technical director, Olivier Tregoat. “We were close to the mid-ripening period here, when 30 millimeters of rain fell on the 17th August in Pomerol. It was just enough. We wanted to maintain the power and creaminess, but we also wanted freshness, more tension in the wine. We were the first people in Pomerol to harvest. We picked all the main plots 5th-13th September, just before the two heat waves on 14th and 17th September. And this year, we decided to decrease the amount of new oak. We’re aging in 50% new oak and a few amphora (7% to 8%). “We have a DNA at Lafite to always look for delicacy in our wines,” added Saskia de Rothschild, chairwoman of Domaines Barons de Rothschild. “Not forgetting this, we also want aging capacity.” 2018, 2019 and 2020 have indeed been a trio of strong vintages at L’Evangile, as it evolves and edges ever closer to a fresher, more nuanced style, without losing its intense and, at times, powerful core. This vintage captures this paradox beautifully.

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. Degré d’alcool : 14°5. pH : 3,85– IPT : 78 (moyenne +). Rendement : 32 hl/ha. 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.

This is so floral and pure, showing crushed-grape character with some walnut and crunchy seeds. It’s full-bodied, juicy and fresh. Purity of fruit. Juicy and long. 88% merlot and 12% cabernet franc.