2020 Château Croix de Labrie

The 2020 Croix de Labrie is rich, sumptuous and a real head-turner. Jammy dark fruit, blood orange, mint, cinnamon, sweet oak and mocha are all amplified. Plush, silky tannins wrap it all together beautifully. The 2020 is opulent and flamboyant, but also remains light on its feet, showing impeccable balance and tons of class.

- Antonio Galloni (12/2022)

This is a glorious 2020 with such pure fruit of currants and blackberries, as well as dark chocolate. It’s full and layered and opens in the glass to a lovely layer of fine, velvety tannins that are bright and citrusy. Crunchy. It really opens and shows so many layers. Spectacular. Drink after 2027.

Deep purple-black in color, the 2020 Croix de Labrie wafts out of the glass with flamboyant notions of sandalwood, red roses, ground cloves and cedar chest, giving way to a core of stewed black plums, Morello cherries and boysenberries, plus a waft of bouquet garni. The medium to full-bodied palate has a rock-solid backbone of firm, ripe, rounded tannins and plenty of freshness, nicely framing the muscular black fruits, finishing long and spicy. Axelle and Pierre Courdurié's 50-year-old, 3.79-hectare vineyard consists of a mix of clay and limestone soils, a portion of which are in Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes and another portion of which are located at the foot of the Pavie slope in Saint-Émilion.

- Lisa Perrotti-Brown (05/2021)