Note : 90-92
CHRIS KISSACK

«It has a fresh, black cherry hue in the glass, and a modest density. The nose is striking, certainly distinctive, with grilled blackberry, wild hedgerow fruits, blueberry and black olive, all dressed with some toasted oak. There follows a cool start to the palate, surprisingly muted in style, but then through the middle there is an explosion of energy and grip, working within what is a modest texture at first, then dominating the palate more convincingly. A very polished style, with more grippy tannins than in some other vintages at the end. Texturally, though, it feels restrained, and sinewy rather than fat, while the finish is all pepper and tannin. A firm wine, channeling the vintage quite nicely, but which will need some time to come around. «

Note : 89
JEFF LEVE

«Tobacco, cedar, leafy herbs, smoke and cherries dominate the nose. On the palate the medium-bodied wine has filled out during the aging, and now offers a soft core of cherries and herbs on the mid palate and finish.»

Note :
COLIN HAY

«I think I would pick this quite easily blind. A wine with heaps of personality and interest. On the nose, it’s not difficult to detect the presence of the Radoux Blend casks, but this doesn’t have the Tertre Roteboeuf signature.

In a way it’s a little more subtle and its profile is actually rather more Pomerol than St Emilion. Spicy, quite exotic, with turmeric, crushed cardamom and fennel seeds, cloves and that hint of Turkish delight and rosewater that is becoming the signature of Grace Dieu des Prieurs. On the palate this is much more red and blue fruit than, say, Tertre Roteboeuf, with fraise des bois, raspberries, blueberries, and red cherries. The tannins are soft and fine-grained, even if they do not have quite the cashmere elegance of the 2019. That said, they’re pretty impressively svelte – all the more so with air, for the wine builds as it opens, filling out its initially more skeletal tannic frame very well indeed. This is very dynamic and energetic and quite unlike anything else from the appellation.»