2020 Ch D'Armailhac 5ème Cru, Pauillac

A little austere on the opening beats. Carving out its place more clearly alongside its two Pauillac siblings, this has some excellent sappy dark fruits, plenty of tannins and power but also elegance and confidence. This Armailac is gorgeous, lovely mid palate dept, and plenty of juicy blueberry and bilberry fruit, with lift through the finish, 3% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 50% new oak. Harvest September 7 to 29. The new cellar with be finished for the 2021 harvest, but this one was made in the temporary cellar. I really like this, it has a floral edge, a juice and freshness and sense of elegance; a good two minutes after you have stopped tasting a wave of subtle smoke comes in - the after wash of a fine gravel terroir. 50% new oak, harvest from September 7 to 29 across the three estates. Drinking Window 2028 - 2042

93 points Jane Anson decanter.com

The 2020 d’Armailhac, raised in 50% new oak with a planned 17-month barrel maturation, is a little deeper in color compared to the Clerc Milon. I find more complexity on the nose of blackberry, briar, cedar and pencil box aromas, less extravagant than previous vintages and more terroir-driven, perhaps. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins that have a little more edge than the Clerc Milon, plus there is slightly more mineralité and depth. In particular, the finish is very harmonious and fans out wonderfully. This Château d’Armailhac is a splendid wine in the making, and one of the best examples from the estate that I have tasted out of barrel.

92-94 points Neal Martin vinous.com

A fresh, layered red with blackberry and chocolate. It’s full and beautiful. Cool finish. Soft tannins spread across the finish. Savory.

93-94 points James Suckling jamessuckling.com

Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2020 D'Armailhac strides confidently out of the glass with classic scents of cassis, warm plums and cedar chest, plus wafts of pencil lead, bay leaves and kirsch. The medium-bodied palate has a sturdy frame of chewy tannins and plenty of freshness to support the crunchy black and red fruits, finishing savory. The blend this year is 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, with an alcohol of 13.3%.

“The vintage went quite well—not as extreme as 2018,” said Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy, the new estates manager, formerly the winemaking director at Clerc Milon, now overseeing winemaking for Mouton Rothschild, Clerc Milon and d’Armailhac, following the retirement of Philippe Dhallhuin last year. “There was no excessive heat, no sunburn damage, no blockage on the vines. It was an extremely early vintage, but, because of the earlier budbreak, it was also a long growing season—180 days. Usually, it is around 178 days.” I asked Danjoy about the slightly lower alcohols this year, given the overall heat of the vintage. “I don’t know why—the sugars never went up toward the end. The vines appeared fine. The tannins were getting more and more polished. We also don’t have really high acidity.” As for the styles of the 2020’s, Danjoy commented, “We have cool wines from a hot vintage. There was no heat spell just before the harvest—no cause for jamminess.” Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, chairman and CEO of Baron Philippe de Rothschild, commented, “This vintage is freshest compared to the other two (2018 and 2019). And there is a great complexity of tannins. What’s happening in the barrels with the wines—there is a multilayered, complexity to the tannins. These wines handle the barrels—they are like an oxygen sink. Usually, it's the more structured vintages that behave like this. It’s incredible.”

90-92 points Lisa Perrotti-Brown robertparker.com