2020 Château Haut-Bages-Libéral
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
Coming from the heart of this hallowed appellation (the main vineyard is just north of Château Latour), the 2020 Château Haut-Bages Libéral sports a vivid purple hue as well as a beautiful perfume of cassis and plum-like fruits interwoven with licorice, violets, damp earth, and subtle underbrush-like aromas and flavors. It's medium-bodied and has a focused, elegant mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and outstanding length. It shows the focused, elegant, yet concentrated style of this vintage beautifully. Give bottles another 3-5 years and enjoy through 2050.
Critic scores
James Lawther MW, jancisrobinson.com
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
The 2020 Haut-Bages-Libéral is supple and seamless, bursting with aromas of sweet dark berries, petals and licorice, followed by a medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy palate. Succulent and polished, it will offer a broad drinking window. As readers will remember, this wine derives from biodynamically farmed vineyards located on clay-limestone and gravel soils to the north of Château Latour (as well as a parcel of gravel sandwiched between Pichon-Baron and Lynch-Bages).
The 2020 Haut-Bages Libéral was 20% aged in a mixture of concrete eggs and amphora. Blackberry, raspberry coulis and light orange pith scents on the nose, with hints of star anis emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, fine acidity, quite strict on the entry with a fine salinity towards the finish. Good length. This is one of the finest wines from this Pauillac estate in recent years and might well provide outstanding value.