2020 Roc de Cambes
Buying options
Tasting notes
Tasted blind. Very dark crimson. Smells spicy, evolved and quite complex. Less primary than the rest of the flight. Quite evolved on the palate so that the fruit is more dried cherry than fresh, the tannins chewy on the finish. It is appealing and more approachable than most but should still live long. (JH)
Critic scores
Average Score
James Lawther MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jane Anson, Decanter
More reviews and scores
The 2020 Roc de Cambes displays far too much new oak on the nose that, at the moment, occludes the terroir profile and fruit (note the same remark in my tasting note from December 2022). The palate is ripe with dense tannins, though predictably, the cooperage dictates this wine and renders it generic on the finish. It should assimilate with time, but at the moment, this speaks more about the winemaking regimen. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.
Broad and concentrated, the 2020 Roc de Cambes unwinds in the glass with aromas of cassis, plums, wood smoke, violets and espresso roast. Medium to full-bodied, rich and velvety, with a fleshy core of fruit and powdery structuring tannins, this is the most muscular wine in Mitjaville's cellar.
Another absolute gem of a wine is the 2020 Roc De Cambes, which is mostly Merlot from vines just next to the Domaine de Cambes vineyards. Black cherries, plums, black raspberries, vanilla bean, camphor, and graphite are just some of its nuances, and this concentrated, singular, medium to full-bodied beauty is going to offer tons of pleasure over the coming 15 years as well.