As we wrote previously because we tasted over 200 St. Emilion wines, our 2020 Saint Emilion is divided into 4 separate articles. This article, Pt 3 covers wines L-N. For the rest of 2020 Saint Emilion, please read:
2020 St. Emilion, PT 1 Wines A-C with Vintage and Harvest Report, Producer Quotes
2020 St. Emilion, PT 2 Wines D-K
2020 St. Emilion, PT 4 Wines P-Z
To read reports on the 2020 Bordeaux vintage in every appellation, as well as a 2020 Bordeaux vintage summary and analysis, please see The 2020 Bordeaux Complete Guide
The following 2020 Saint Emilion wines constituting Part 3, wines L-N were all tasted in my home office in non-blind conditions.
2020 L’Archange – St. Émilion – With a strong, savory accent, spearmint, espresso, cocoa, and spice to the red fruits, the wine is medium-bodied, supple, vibrant, and fresh with ample red berries, and coffee notes on the palate, and in the chocolate covered, espresso bean, round finish. The wine needs a year or two to allow the oak to better integrate. Drink from 2024-2032. 90 Pts
2020 L’Eclat de Valentin – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Flowers, black cherries, licorice, and espresso aromatics create the perfume. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, creamy, and with ample, sweet, red fruits, chalky tannins, and licorice that hold in the finish. Drink from 2023-2042. 91 Pts
2020 La Clotte – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Licorice, flowers, chocolate, and black, and blue fruits with crushed stones create the aromatic profile. The wine is fresh, lifted, and packed with layers of perfectly ripe salty plums. The ocean-influenced theme continues all the way through to the long, expansive, leafy, spice-tinged finish. With its concentration, balance, and elegance, this is the best vintage of La Clotte ever made. Prices have not yet caught up to the level of quality produced here. Drink from 2024-2050. 95 Pts
2020 La Commanderie – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Medium-bodied, silky, elegant, fresh, forward, and already simply delicious in your glass, the wine delivers its sweet, ripe, plums, licorice, and cocoa easily. Pop, pour, and enjoy this on release without hesitation. Drink from 2023-2036. 91 Pts
2020 La Confession – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Savory plums, crushed rocks, licorice, black cherry, smoke, and, and flowers come through on the nose with little effort. Round, plush, and polished, the finish is focused on its silky textures, sweet red fruits, chocolate, and the array of spices that show up in the mildly chalky endnote. This is already delicious, but it will be even better with a few years of age. Drink from 2024-2045. 94 Pts
2020 La Croix Younan – St. Émilion Grand Cru – A bit oaky on the nose, once past the oak, you find touches of cocoa, flowers, and dark red fruits. Medium-bodied, soft, and round, with a salty edge to the red fruits in the finish. This will offer a lot of charm on the young side. Drink from 2023-2034. 89 Pts
2020 La Croizille – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Flowers, black cherries, wet earth, licorice, smoke, and chocolate aromatics pop in the nose as soon as the wine hits your glass. Rich, lush, and polished with silky tannins, layers of sweet, ripe, dark, red fruits, and a long, polished, silky finish, this is going to be just fabulous on release. Drink from 2023-2038. 92 Pts
2020 La Dominique – St. Émilion Grand Cru – The perfume, with its white, and red flowers, cherries, licorice, smoke, espresso, and smoke is gorgeous. Medium-bodied, soft, silky, and fresh, the wine provides layers of vibrant, sweet, clean, pure, red pit fruits, black plums, earth, roasted coffee, smoke, and chocolate on the palate, which is perfect for its elegant stylings. This is clearly a top vintage for La Dominique. Drink from 2025-2050. 95 Pts
2020 La Dominique Relais de – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Forward, soft, elegant, and floral, the wine is medium-bodied, refined, and offers its sweet, fresh, ripe, red pit fruit with a hint of spice in the endnote with ease. Drink from 2023-2030. 89 Pts
2020 La Fleur Chantecaille – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Espresso, flowers, dried red pit fruit, and licorice create the nose. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, soft, polished, sweet, fresh, and elegant. This will be easy to like on release. Drink from 2023-2034. 90 Pts
2020 La Fleur Perey – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Dried flowers, espresso, cherries, and licorice on the nose get you in the mood for the wave of silky, fresh, sweet, red fruits with their chocolate accent on the palate. This is perfect to enjoy on release. Drink from 2023-2033. 90 Pts
2020 La Fleur St.Emilion – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Flowers, cherries, and smoke show up easily on the nose, and in the medium-bodied, soft-silky, sweet, polished palate. Drink from 2023-2036. 91 Pts
2020 La Fleur d’Arthus – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Flowers, cherries, and cocoa show their character easily. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, soft, and fresh, with ample, sweet, red fruits, and a touch of spice in the finish. Drink from 2023-2035. 90 Pts
2020 La Grangere – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Menthol, chocolate, flowers, espresso, and plums are front, and center here, in the nose, as well as on the medium-bodied, round, showy palate. The wine finishes with dark chocolate, spice, and cherries. Drink from 2023-2037. 90 Pts
2020 La Marzelle – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Flowers, oak, spice, and sweet red fruits dominate the perfume. On the palate, the wine is fresh, vibrant, and silky. The round, supple-textured finish leaves you with layers of espresso-tinted, silky, polished, soft, fresh, black, and red fruits. La Marzelle continues to be an estate on the rise. Drink from 2023-2045. 94 Pts
2020 La Mondotte – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Concentrated, graceful, full-bodied, rich, and intense, the array of black, red, and blue fruits all touched by accents of crushed rocks, and stones hit all the right notes in the nose, and on the palate. The mid-palate, and finish, with their layers of salt-tinted, perfectly ripe fruits, licorice, mocha, and spice go on, and on, leaving you with streams of bitter chocolate, plum liqueur, and sea salts that linger for more than 50 seconds! Not much wine is made here. In fact, the production was about 1,200 cases. Drink from 2026-2055. 97 Pts
2020 La Serre – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Medium/full-bodied, fresh, soft, and silky, the wine requires just a little effort to entice all of its black cherries, plums, chocolate, espresso, and licorice to come to the front of the perfume. Vibrant, with ample, sweet, ripe, lush fruits with a dose of salt that adds to the character of the wine. Polished lively, and long, with sweetness, and purity to the fruits that linger, this is the best vintage of La Serre I have ever tasted. Drink from 2024-2045. 93 Pts
2020 La Tour du Pin Figeac – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Flowers, truffle, espresso, cherries, and mocha notes shine through on the nose. On the palate, the wine is soft, creamy, and polished, with silky tannins, and ample, sweet, ripe, plums, cocoa, and freshness in the elegant, finish. Drink from 2024-2040. 91 Pts
2020 La Voute – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Dark in color, the wine already expresses its floral nature with blueberries, plums, spice, espresso, and chocolate in the nose. The wine is full-bodied, rich, round, and deep, with layers of lusciously-textured, silky, earthy, rich, ripe, fleshy fruits with loads of chocolate-tinted espresso that comes in at the end of the long finish. Drink from 2024-2045. 93 Pts
2020 La-Fleur-Morange – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Medium/full-bodied, the wine is packed with flowers, espresso, licorice, herbs, cherries, and blackberries. Fresh, vibrant, and supple on the palate, the finish leaves you with sweet, savory-edged, red fruits, dark chocolate, and chalky tannins with a bit of chocolate in the endnote. Drink from 2024-2045. 94 Pts
2020 La Fleur Morange Mathilde – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Flowers, cherries, licorice, plums, and spice come through on the nose. On the palate, the wine is forward, lush, soft, fresh, and polished, finishing with ripe, black, and red plums, espresso, and some cocoa on the silky backend. Drink from 2023-2038. 92 Pts
2020 La Fleur Morange Blanc – Bordeaux – Yellow and green apples with a floral edge are created by blending of 50% Sauvignon Blanc with 50% Sauvignon Gris. The wine is rich, ripe, and creamy, and will be best in its youth. Drink from 2023-2027. 89 Pts
2020 La-TourFigeac – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Flowers, licorice, and smoke with fresh red berries create the nose. On the palate, the wine is elegant, silky, and fresh, as well as supple, long, and packed with dark chocolate, black cherries, espresso, and licorice, there is length, and refinement here. Drink from 2023-2040. 93 Pts
2020 Lafon La Tuilerie – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Deeply colored, the wine opens with licorice, smoke black cherries, and dark chocolate in the perfume. Medium-bodied, ripe, lush, and deep, with a core of licorice, dark red pit fruits, dark chocolate, and salty tannins, give it a year or two, and enjoy it over the next 15 or more years. Produced from 100% Merlot that comes from a small, 2.3-hectare parcel of vines, recently purchased by Silvio Denz. This is my first time tasting Lafon La Tuilerie, and I am already looking forward to tasting it again. Drink from 2024-2040. 91 Pts
2020 Laforge – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Leafy black cherries, licorice, espresso, and dried flowers come through in the nose while the medium-bodied palate is round, soft, polished, and fruity, leaving you with a luscious display of creamy, polished, dark red pit fruits. Drink from 2023-2040. 91 Pts
2020 Laniote – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Medium-bodied, round, and supple, with a noticeable oak underpinning to the ripe, but subtle, red pit fruits. A definite step up from previous vintages, a bit less oak, or a touch more fruit would make this wine even better. Drink from 2023-2035. 90 Pts
2020 Laplagnotte-Bellevue – St. Émilion Grand Cru – With a floral edge to the red, dark red, and black fruits along with a shot of espresso in the perfume, the wine is medium-bodied, round, polished, supple, and fruity on the palate, and in the dusty, espresso tinted finish. If the oak better integrates, and I think it will, this will be a better wine with a year or two of aging. Drink from 2023-2033. 90 Pts
2020 Larcis Ducasse – St. Émilion Grand Cru – If you are seeking a masterclass in minerality, taste this wine! The nose screams crushed rocks, stones, and oceanic influences before moving to its flowers, licorice, black cherries, plums, and espresso nose. Concentrated, full-bodied, and intense, with layers of mineral-infused black, and red fruits, the wine builds, lingers, and expands, finishing with vibrancy, refinement, and elegant, sweet, ripe, luscious red fruits with a touch of salt in the tannins. Drink from 2026-2055. 98 Pts
2020 Larcis Ducasse Murmure – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Blackberries, flowers, spice, and cigar wrapper pop in the nose. On the palate, the wine is forward, medium-bodied, fruity, and packed with sweet, black cherries, and a mild touch of cocoa in the dusty finish. Drink from 2023-2030. 89 Pts
2020 Larmande – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Medium-bodied, the red fruits have a savory, peppery edge, which shows on the palate, and in the fresh crisp, savory, spicy, red berry, chalky finish. Drink from 2024-2042. 90 Pts
2020 Laroque – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Espresso, black cherry, licorice, coffee bean, chocolate, and plum liqueur fill the perfume. The wine is rich, opulent, deep, and fresh on the palate with layers of lushly-textured, black plums, chocolate, blueberries, and blackberries. Perfectly balanced, hedonistic, concentrated, and vibrant, with a long, expansive finish, this is in contention for the best vintage produced at Laroque yet. Drink from 2023-2042. 95 Pts
2020 Le Chatelet – St. Émilion Grand Cru – The best vintage of Le Chatelet I have ever tasted starts off with notes of smoke, licorice, espresso, red, and black fruits in the perfume. Medium-bodied, silky, and fresh, with a dose of oak on the palate which needs to better integrate before you find all the sweet, red fruits on the palate, and in the finish. Drink from 2023-2037. 90 Pts
2020 Le Conte – St. Émilion – Savory red fruits, herbs, and a touch of pepper create the core of this medium-bodied wine. Forward, and already drinkable, this soft-textured, easy-going wine with its peppery, olive edge will be best over the next few years. Drink from 2023-2026. 83 Pts
2020 Le Dome – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Quite floral in nature, this is an elegant, complex wine loaded with sweet, ripe, red pit fruits, incense, crushed rocks, and leafy essences at the core of the nose, and palate. The wine is vibrant, polished, refined, and long, with purity, lift, and richness in the seductive wave of salt-tinged cherries in the lingering endnote. Drink from 2025-2050. 96 Pts
2020 Le Prieure – St. Émilion Grand Cru – The nose with its blend of crushed rocks, and flowers wakes up your nose. On the palate, the wine is even better with its flashy display of minerality, fresh, ripe, cherries, silky tannins, and long, expansive finish, which showcases the purity in the fruit. Drink from 2025-2050. 95 Pts
2020 Leydet-Valentin – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Black cherries, flowers, blueberries, and a bead of espresso show on the nose, and on the silky, fresh, palate. The finish, with its ripe, lush plums, and sweet cherries with their touch of cocoa hits the spot too. Drink from 2023-2040. 92 Pts
2020 Lif – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Flowers, black, red, and blue fruits, licorice, chocolate, and espresso notes pop with little effort in the nose. On the palate is where the wine truly sings with its multiple layers of sensuous, opulent, rich, black, and red fruits, silky tannins, citrus, and dark cocoa nuances. The over 50-second finish, with its endnotes of sweet, dark red, pit fruits, savory herbs, salt, and spiced chocolate gets you wanting to go back for more. Drink from 2025-2045. 97 Pts
2020 Louis – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Medium/full-bodied, soft, ripe, round, and polished, the wine is loaded with layers of sweet, lushly textured black fruits, licorice, smoke, coffee, and spice, This is a beautiful, hedonistic wine for pleasure seekers. Drink from 2023-2038. 92 Pts
2020 Lucia – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Licorice, black cherries, chocolate, and espresso express their notes with ease. Full-bodied, rich, ripe, and round, but also fresh, and vibrant, with a luscious, supple textured, fruit-packed, chocolate mint, and dark, pit fruit-filled finish. Drink from 2024-2040. 92 Pts
2020 Lynsolence – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Produced from 100% old vine Merlot, from vines more than 50 years of age is what makes this special. Deep in color, with black cherry liqueur, licorice, chocolate, and floral notes are found in the perfume. On the palate, the wine is lush, supple, and deep, with silky, polished tannins, and a blast of chocolate-covered black cherries, plums, and a touch of salt in the long finish. Give it a year or two in the cellar for the oak to become better integrated, and it should drink well for up to two decades. It was a sad day when this was tasted as earlier that afternoon, I learned that the passionate owner, Denis Barraud, one of the nicest people in St. Emilion had just passed away. 2020 is his final vintage where he saw it all the way through. Drink from 2024-2042. 94 Pts
2020 Mangot – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Packed with black cherries, chocolate, and licorice from start to finish, the wine is deeply colored with layers of lusciously-textured black plums, blue fruit, and cherries. This is an opulent style that will offer pleasure young, yet it can age for 2 decades as well. Drink from 2023-2040. 92 Pts
2020 Mangot Todeschini Distique 13 – St. Émilion – Rich, concentrated, opulent wine packed with black, and dark red fruits, espresso, chocolate, licorice, and smoke. The wine is full-bodied, yet not overpowering, there is a finesse to its depth of flavor and fruit-packed finish. Drink from 2025-2045. 93 Pts
2020 Mauvinon – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Medium-bodied, fresh, elegant, chewy, and with a salty edge to the ripe, red cherries, and savory herbs that you find on the nose, and palate. There is more of that savory edge that comes with a touch of crushed stone in the red berry finish. Drink from 2023-2037. 90 Pts
2020 Milens – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Medium-bodied, with an overly oaky nose at the moment. Once past the toasty oak, you find flowers, chocolate, licorice, spice, and sweet, red fruits on the nose, and on the palate. The wine finishes with a sprig of mint, dusty tannins, and bright red cherries. Drink from 2023-2037. 89 Pts
2020 Millaud-Montlabert – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Medium-bodied, floral-edged, slightly oaky, mineral-driven, plummy, salty wine with some oak that is overly present, in the firm, chewy finish. Drink from 2023-2032. 89 Pts
2020 Milon – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Medium-bodied, soft, fresh, and fruity, with a core of chewy plums, and cherries in the nose, and on the palate, this will be best in its up-front youth. Drink from 2023-2033. 88 Pts
2020 Moine Vieux – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Ripe red, black, and blue fruits with licorice, espresso, and chocolate to round things out. The wine is round, supple, soft, and fruity with black cherry, plum, and cocoa-tinted finish which is quite nice. This should be ready to go on release. Drink from 2023-2034. 91 Pts
2020 Monbousquet – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Black cherries, black plums, espresso, smoke, licorice, and a touch of cocoa form the aromatic profile. The wine is lush, polished, sweet, and fresh with polished- tannins, and a vibrant, refined finish with a mild savory, minty, fresh note in the background in the finish. The reduction in the amount of new oak, which is now 50%, really helps with the freshness, texture, and fruits here. This is a top vintage for Monbousquet that will be enjoyable in its youth, yet age for up to 2 decades as well. Drink from 2023-2040. 94 Pts
2020 Mondou – St. Émilion Grand Cru – There is a strong citrus note in the nose before you get to all the toasty oak, and black with blue fruits. The wine is better on its rich, dense, luscious, opulently =-textured palate with its blast of flashy, black cherries, and chocolate. The wine comes in an attention-seeking, oversized, and overweight bottle. Drink from 2025-2040. 91 Pts
2020 Monlot – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Quite floral in nature, the wine is forward, soft, and polished, with layers of sweet, ripe, lusciously-textured, cocoa, plums, espresso, licorice, spice, and charred coffee beans in the finish. This is a property that has been on the upswing over the past few vintages. Drink from 2023-2038. 91 Pts
2020 Montlabert – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Still showing some of its oaky youth in the nose before you get to its floral character. The wine is medium-bodied, vibrant, earthy, fresh, and silky with a sweet, ripe, fruit-packed, polished, earth, espresso, and chocolate-mint, accented finish. Give it a year or so in the bottle to better integrate. Drink from 2024-2040. 92 Pts
2020 Montlisse – St. Émilion Grand Cru – It is still a bit oaky on the nose at this point, once past the oak you find a medium-bodied palate chocked of chocolate-coated cherries, licorice, spice, and espresso. There is a burnt coffee edge to the finish here that could dissipate with a few years in the bottle. Drink from 2023-2034. 90 Pts
2020 Moulin Saint Georges – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Cherries, flowers, espresso, forest leaves, and plums create the perfume. Medium-bodied, soft, lifted, fresh, and silky, there is a nice touch of salinity, chocolate, and mint in the finish that accompanies all the elegant, bright, red fruits. Drink from 2025-2045. 92 Pts
2020 Moulin du Cadet – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Flowers, cherries, plums, and espresso beans make up the perfume. The wine is deep, dark, and lushly textured, with a rich, deep, concentrated, polished finish ending with chalky tannins, and layers of sweet, chocolate-enriched plums, with toasty oak. Drink from 2024-2042. 93 Pts
2020 Muse du Val – St. Émilion Grand Cru – Cherry pipe tobacco, flowers, and plum aromas create the nose. On the palate, the wine is sweet, soft, polished, and fresh, with an open, elegantly styled, berry, espresso, and cocoa-filled mid-palate, and finish. This is already quite delicious. Drink from 2023-2038. 92 Pts
This report is published in 4 articles. For the other 2020 Saint Emilion Wine reviews:
2020 St. Emilion, PT 1 Wines A-C with Vintage and Harvest Report, Producer Quotes
2020 St. Emilion, PT 2 Wines D-K
2020 St. Emilion, PT 4 Wines P-Z
After 2020 Saint Emilion is finished, we will wrap everything up with the final reviews from the Left Bank with 2020 Pauillac, 2020 Margaux, 2020 St. Julien, 2020 St. Estephe and 2020 Sauternes.
