2020 Château Enclos Tourmaline

This is pure merlot, with black chocolate, bark, black truffle, ripe plum, and violets. Some black olives. This is very structured and linear with super fine tannins that run very, very long. Dense silky texture. Less than 3,000 bottles made. 1.1 hectares in total. Needs five to six years of bottle age. Try after 2027. (11/2023)

The 2020 Enclos Tourmaline comes from a 1-hectare parcel previously owned by Château La Patache before being purchased by Hong Kong-based financier Peter Kwok in 2012. This parcel is located directly across from Château Clinet and is 100% Merlot planted in classic Pomerol clay soils. It's an insanely good 2020, revealing a deep ruby/purple hue as well as notes of black raspberries, cassis, toasted spices, iron, and flowery incense. Deep, full-bodied, plush, and wonderfully textured, with ripe tannins, this blockbuster beauty brings incredible richness and intensity yet is seamless, elegant, and graceful. It's a true “Wow” Pomerol. It already offers pleasure today yet should benefit from 3-5 years of bottle age and cruise in cold cellars over the following two decades. It's clearly in the same realm as the 2019, 2018, and 2016. Tasted twice. (03/2023)

The deep garnet-purple colored 2020 Enclos Tourmaline is quite closed to begin. After coaxing, it explodes with baked plums, blackberry pie, and boysenberry preserves scents, followed by wafts of tar, licorice, and lavender. Full-bodied, the palate is laden with bright, juicy black fruits, supported by plush tannins, finishing long and perfumed. (03/2023)