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Tasting Notes
Good stuff, plenty of character, making this enjoyable right from the start. Less subdued and subtle than some but it carries it off, with brambled hawthorn-tinged fruits, with density and depth, but a limestone kick that picks things up through the finish. One to give yourself over to. A yield of 30hl/ha. The Lefevre family are also ones to watch in St-Emilion right now, with their recent investments into Villemaurine and Valandraud.
Critic Scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Jane Anson, Decanter
More reviews and scores
Deep purple-black colored, the 2020 Sansonnet needs a bit of swirling and coaxing to release its beguiling nose of black cherry preserves, bursting ripe blueberries and stewed plums, with hints of star anise, violets, dark chocolate and cardamom, plus a waft of wood smoke. The rich, decadent, full-bodied palate (15% alcohol) delivers impactful, mouth-coating black fruits, framed by velvety tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with lingering exotic spices notes. This 35+-year-old, 6.96-hectare vineyard is planted to 6,000 vines per hectare on thin clay and limestone soils atop the Saint-Émilion plateau, just across the road from Château Trotte Vieille. This 2020 blend is 95% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc, aging for around 16 months in French oak barrels, 80% new.
Always a gem in the vintage, the 2020 Château Sansonnet is another winner offering a terrific bouquet of red, black, and blue fruits as well as tobacco, violets, and classy oak. Possessing full-bodied richness, a pure, seamless, polished texture, terrific tannins, and a great finish, this rock star of a Saint-Emilion will benefit from 3-5 years of bottle age and keep for two decades or more.
Sansonnet is once again terrific in 2020. It offers up copious inky dark fruit, chocolate, blackberry jam, spice, mint, licorice and espresso. As always, this is a big, extroverted Saint-Émilion built on richness and texture. The oak needs time to fully integrate, but it always has in the past. Tasted two times.