Château Talbot 2020 is a classic Saint-Julien that’s polished and refined, showing blackcurrant, dark chocolate, and graphite notes with firm but smooth tannins. Less powerful than 2018, it leans more on elegance and balance, approachable in a few years but built to age gracefully into the 2040s.

Decanter | D 96
Published: Oct 4, 2024
Drink: 2025-2045

The long and polished 2020 Talbot leads with great fragrance followed by black fruit notes and even a hint of tar. Overall, it is less muscular, but still concentrated, and more refined than the densely paced 2018, conveying a classic St-Julien temperament. Its suaveness makes it surprisingly approachable even now. The energy and refinement of the 2020, like the 2019, make one wonder whether Laporte consciously turned down the volume after the massive 2018.

Jamessuckling.com | JS 94
Published: Dec 21, 2022

Focused and composed with notes of currants, truffles, dried leaves, dark chocolate and graphite. It’s full-bodied, with firm, fine tannins giving sturdy support throughout. Savory and austere at the moment. Needs some time to open up. Try after 2026.

The Wine Advocate | RP 90?
Published: Apr 6, 2023
Drink: 2026-2050

The 2020 Talbot exhibits aromas of cassis and plums mingled with hints of clove, violets and toasty new oak. Medium to full-bodied, with a rich core of fruit, powdery tannins and lively acids, it's quite strongly marked by its élevage out of the gates, and it's an open question for me as to whether there's enough depth here to integrate the barrel program and reassert its Saint-Julien identity. On each of the three occasions I tasted it, it left me wanting more.

Jancisrobinson.com | JR 16
Published: Jan 25, 2024
Drink: 2027-2038

Tasted blind. Deep greyish crimson. Lifted with red and black fruits and slightly volatile. Very leafy and a bit toasty. Lighter than some, pretty oaky and a bit dry on the finish even though the tannins are finely textured. Too oaky for me.

Chateau-talbot.com

It’s true, Talbot is a champion of longevity, which doesn’t prevent it from being amiable and round even in its earliest youth, always marked by silky, smooth, very civilized tannins. Talbot is outgoing by nature, never inward-looking. It’s a racy wine, with complex notes of Havana and licorice, deliciously classic without the slightest hint of austerity.

Owner: Family Bignon-Cordier
Appellation: Saint-Julien, 4th Classified Growth in 1855
Area of vines: 102,5 ha
Terroir: Medoc’s gravelly soil
Planting density: 7 700 plants/ha
Age of vines: 49 years
Pruning: Medoc double guyot
Farming: Traditional plowing 4 ways
Harvests: Manual
Sorting:; Successive (manual and optical/floating sorting)
Winemaking: In oak vats
Blend: 68 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 26 % Merlot, 6 % Petit Verdot
Degree: 13,5 % vol
Yield: 49 hl/ha
Harvests: From September 18th to October 4th
Ageing: 15 months in oak barrels (50% new)
Bottling: From May 9th to 17th 2019