Château Gazin 2020

Critic scores

• James Suckling96-97
• Vinous95
• Wine Enthusiast94
• Wine Advocate93
• Decanter93

The 2020 vintage in Pomerol

Vintage benchmark: 96/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: An early, dry year gave splendid wines, which many rank above 2018.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Pomerol. 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

In terms of quality, Château Gazin 2020 is on par with the 2018 and 2019 vintages. Despite the lack of rainfall and high temperatures recorded in July and August, the judicious selection of the harvest dates allowed us to produce a lively, refreshing wine, in spite of alcohol levels which were a little high in places, resulting in a final blend with 14.5% alcohol. This vintage has the rich texture and distinctive characteristics of a delicious, complex Pomerol, with all the balance and finesse one would expect in a great wine.

Blend of the 2020 vintage

Figures from the 2020 sheet

• 14.5 % vol.Alcohol
• 35 hl/haYield
• 80,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

Harvest dates: Merlot: 8 to 11 September, then 15 to 18 September. Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon: 29 September. Fermentation went smoothly, under the watchful eye of vineyard manager Mickaël Obert. For several years now, Gazin has been equipped with a glycol cooling system to transfer the perfectly sorted and destemmed grapes to our concrete vats at low temperature, ready for cool pre-fermentation maceration. Alcoholic fermentation is conducted without sulphur, using biocontrol techniques.

Ageing

Ageing naturally requires the use of sulphur (15-16-month barrel ageing). For 50% of the first wine, malolactic fermentation takes place in new barrels and in vat, while the other 50% is aged in barrels previously used for one vintage.

Terroir

The vineyard of Château Gazin covers an area of 26 ha in a single block, situated on the high terrace of the Pomerol terroir. The terroir of Château Gazin is made up of Günzian gravels at the surface and, in the subsoil, blue and green clays containing iron oxides (crasse de fer). These clays (smectites) provide the vine with a regular and moderate supply of water, a characteristic of the great terroirs. The clay-gravel subsoil of the Pomerol plateau makes up the essential part of Château Gazin’s terroir. The vineyard is planted with 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc. The average age of the vines is 35 years.