Château Carbonnieux 2020

This offers a lovely streamlined, mineral-edged palate full of blackcurrant, plum and black cherry fruit. It’s quite potent, with heat on the mid-palate suggesting high alcohol, which detracts a little from the overall enjoyment and makes it a touch severe. But there’s nice freshness underneath, with summery red berry fruits and herbal accents, so give this time.

Blackcurrants, raspberries, crushed stone, bark, and dark mushroom. Licorice, too. Full-bodied with chewy tannins that are minerally and intense. Tangy undertone with plenty going on. Very structured. Solid wine from this estate. Best after 2027.

60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc. Member of the 1st ISO 14001 certified Bordeaux EMS Association, HVE3 certified (Haute Valeur Environnementale Level 3). One organic-control plot. Fermented in temperature-controlled stainless-steel vats for 3–4 weeks with pumping-over. Aged in oak barrels (35–40% new) for 15–18 months. Sweet, spicy nose. Just a little pinched and drying on the mid palate. Not much follow-through. But with food this should be fine. Just a slightly charred note on the end. (JR)

The nose, with its smoke, flowers, cocoa, and wet earth scents, is a treat. But it is on the palate, with all its layers of lush, elegant, ripe, silky blackberries, plums, and cocoa, where the wine shines. Soft, supple, long, and complex, with solid depth of flavor on the finish packed with ripe fruits, chocolate, and coffee bean, this is in contention as the finest vintage of Carbonnieux I have ever tasted. Drink from 2025–2045.

Deep dark ruby garnet, purple reflections, dark core, delicate rim brightening. Nuances of figs and ripe plums, hints of nougat, a touch of cardamom. Medium complexity, chocolaty touch, ripe tannins, a little too loosely knit on the finish, mineral-salty on the aftertaste, good to use.

Youthful aromas showing purity and ripeness, with both sweeter red berries, plum and darker cassis notes alongside tobacco leaf, gentle oak and spice. Nicely tuned palate, youthful and ripe tannins adding freshness and structure, attractive dark-fruit flavours, a rounded texture already approachable with well-concealed oak and a long, fresh finish. Well done.

From a region that excelled in 2020, the 2020 Château Carbonnieux sports a deep purple hue to go with a killer bouquet of ripe blackcurrants, leafy tobacco, scorched earth, and graphite. It's rich, concentrated, and medium to full-bodied on the palate, with a beautiful mid-palate as well as building, ripe tannins. This stunning effort warrants 3-4 years of bottle age and will evolve for 10-15 years in cold cellars.

Restrained, almost shy start, a hint of rosewood, light graphite, musk and delicate red-berry contours. On the taut palate with a soft texture, supportive energy and subtle, crunchy notes in the background, medium body. On the finish, the Pessac–Léognan folds in on itself and ends with juniper and tarragon, unable to match the good en primeur result and slipping by one point.

Kunz barrel sample 2021: delicate, lactic bouquet; cherries, mocha yogurt, tobacco. Fine, fresh palate with sweet fruit, airy aromatics, silky structure, fine tannins, long, delicate finish.

Delicate, lactic bouquet, cherries, mocha yogurt, tobacco. Fine, fresh palate with sweet fruit, fragrant aromatics, silky structure, fine tannins, long, delicate finish. 17/20 2025 - 2038

The 2020 Carbonnieux Rouge is a blend of 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color, it rolls out with ready-to-go notes of fresh blackberries and blackcurrants plus hints of sauteed herbs, licorice, and iron ore. The full-bodied palate is plush and juicy, with loads of savory accents on the long finish.

The nose is rich, offering a bouquet of black and red fruits, blueberries, with a subtle vegetal hint that adds complexity, and an intoxicating note of incense. On the palate, the fruit is pure and ripe, with aristocratic tannins.

Fruit first. Then freshness, precision, and that desire to break away from the beaten track, that drive to come back to wines to drink whenever we feel like it! Juicy and moreish in character, Carbonnieux has pep. It’s mouthwatering, slightly saline, and persistent. Bravo!

Nose of blueberry and blackberry. In the tasting context, we found the wine full-bodied, with a significant tannic load on clearly defined, structuring tannins, making it a little austere at this stage. A wine that should soften over time. Definitely a wine for ageing.

Solidly built, this seems to soak up the vintage’s heat, turning it into a broad swath of steeped black currant and blackberry paste flavors supported by warm tar and smoldering tobacco. Shows a nice singed cedar frame, with a lingering note of warm paving stone on the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2025 through 2035. 12,000 cases made, 3,000 cases imported.

Concentrated, structured and spicy, with an emphasis on Cabernet Sauvignon and Left Bank character, upright with grippy tannins, needs more time in bottle. Great quality though, touches of tomato leaf, cassis, smoked earth. 42 hl/ha yield, 40% new oak.

93–95. Barrel Sample. The Perrin family's wine has a structured character with tannins and crisp black currant fruits offering juicy, bright acidity as well as some fine potential. The wine's richness will develop well.