2020 Haut Marbuzet

The 2020 Haut-Marbuzet has a lovely bouquet with pure blackberry and raspberry fruit, cedar and light tobacco scents. The palate is medium-bodied and fresh with a minty entry and fine depth, becoming almost "playful" toward the finish. What a delightful wine. It's approachable now but has the substance to reward cellaring. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

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.