Château Durfort Vivens 2020

Critic scores

• James Suckling96-97
• Wine Enthusiast97
• Vinous96
• Wine Advocate95
• Decanter94

The 2020 vintage in Margaux

Vintage benchmark: 94/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: An early, hot year, with a harvest under pressure: a dense, juicy classic, ripe without heaviness.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Margaux. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

The aromatic expression of Château Durfort-Vivens 2020 is disconcerting, at once sun-drenched and fresh; the balance on the palate has a refined and

voluptuous power.

Léopold Valentin, Technical Director

Blend of the 2020 vintage

Figures from the 2020 sheet

• 120,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

Plot-by-plot vinification.

Alcoholic fermentation with

native yeasts.

One pump-over per day

for gentle extraction.

21 days of alcoholic

and malolactic fermentation.

No additives throughout the

vinification phase.

Ageing

18 months of ageing:

70% in new barrels

30% in TAVA amphorae

Terroir

Situated in the communes of Margaux, Cantenac and Soussans, the Durfort-Vivens vineyard puts down its roots on deep and particularly poor gravel rises. These gravels were deposited by the successive beds of the Garonne in the Quaternary era. This great terroir gives Cabernet Sauvignon an early and optimal ripeness, allowing it to express fully the finesse and silkiness of its tannins, the guarantee of the freshness and elegance characteristic of the great Margaux wines. At Château Durfort-Vivens, the constant search for a natural balance between the vine and its terroir is reflected in traditional cultivation practices. In 2012, 80% of the vineyard was farmed biodynamically and 20% under integrated production