Why this vintage
- 92/100 from James Sucklingand 2 other scores above 90/100.
- The 2020 vintage in Saint-EstèpheAn early, hot year, with a harvest under pressure: a dense, juicy classic, ripe without heaviness.
Critic scores
- James Suckling92
- Vinous92
- Decanter91
The 2020 vintage in Saint-Estèphe
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 Saint-Estèphe. 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 wines are deeply coloured and fruity, with a fine balance of alcohol, acidity and tannin. 2020 is a great, classic vintage, full-bodied and unctuous, characterised by a lovely aromatic salinity. It embodies the best that Bordeaux can produce: a sun-drenched yet fresh, taut vintage with great ageing potential.
Blend of the 2020 vintage
- 53 % Cabernet Sauvignon
- 44 % Merlot
- 3 % Cabernet Franc
Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2020 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with 44 % merlot, 39 % cabernet sauvignon, 4 % chardonnay, 2 % cabernet franc, 3 % petit verdot — a vintage blend departs from the area under vine as the year dictates.
Figures from the 2020 sheet
- 13 % vol.Alcohol
- 30 yrsVine age
Winemaking
Hand- and machine-harvested from 11 to 29 September 2020. Plot-by-plot selection. Fermentation in the new gravity-fed cellar, in stainless-steel and concrete vats, with slow, gentle extraction.
Ageing
12 months in oak barrels, 40 % new barrels.
Terroir
Garonne gravel soil, clay-limestone subsoil.
An offer on Château Laffitte Carcasset 2020
Availability, allocations and terms: the Compagnie Médocaine will reply promptly. The estate and vintage are already filled in in the message.
Texts and documents 2020
The texts below copy in one click for your product sheets, catalogues and social channels. The printable sheet condenses the whole page onto a single A4 page.
Visuals
This wine’s visuals are grouped in the media library. High-definition packshots, labels, back labels and lifestyle photos are reserved for clients and partners, on the Compagnie Médocaine’s VinCod media library.
Sheet checked on September 28, 2026. Technical data: the estate’s VinCod sheets. Critic scores: sources cited above, with their date. Vintage benchmarks and character: Compagnie Médocaine’s own editorial read. Soils and relief, where shown: the Compagnie Médocaine’s parcel survey and the Mapbox/IGN terrain model.