Pavillon rouge - Margaux 2020

Vinous

94-94

byNeal Martinthe2/28/2025

The 2020 Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux has a wonderfully delineated, utterly charming bouquet—pure and floral with enticing violets infusing the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with very pliant, finessed tannins. A gentle grip disguises the power of this Margaux, which is persistent and caressing on the finish—outstanding. This shoots well above my expectations! Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Wine Advocate

93

byWilliam Kelleythe4/6/2023

The 2020 Pavillon Rouge is excellent, offering up aromas of raspberries and dark berries mingled with hints of cedar and rose petals, followed by a medium to full-bodied, vibrant palate with excellent depth and tension, concluding with a long, chalky finish. It's more tightly wound than the exceedingly demonstrative 2019, though in the fullness of time, it wouldn't surprise me if it ended up being just as good.

Jeb DUNNUCK

94

byJeb Dunnuckthe3/30/2023

As to the reds, the 2020 Château Margaux Pavillon Rouge is classic Château Margaux with its finesse, elegance, and purity. A blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot aged in 50% new French oak, it has a great perfume of cassis and darker cherries as well as notes of dried flowers, sandalwood, and graphite. Beautifully balanced, layered, and concentrated, it's a gem of a second wine with plenty of Grand Vin character. It will benefit from just a few years of bottle age and keep for two decades.

Jamessuckling.com

97

byJames Sucklingthe3/30/2023

Subtle and attractive aromas of blackcurrants and flowers with hints of spices. Black truffles as well. Medium to full body, with fine tannins that are nicely integrated and racy. Succulent at the end. Umami, too. Drinkable but better after 2027.

Vinous

94

byAntonio Gallonithe2/24/2023

The 2020 Pavillon Rouge is just as gorgeous from bottle as it was from barrel. Rich and sumptuous, with no hard edges, the Pavillon Rouge captures the combination of fruit richness and energy that is such a signature of the year. Bright red-toned fruit, blood orange, cinnamon and mint are all beautifully delineated. Lively acids, sweet floral and vibrant saline notes extend the effortless finish. The 2020 is a gorgeous Pavillon Rouge.

Vinous

92

byNeal Martinthe2/15/2023

The 2020 Pavillon Rouge has a delightful bouquet that unfurls beautifully in the glass: pure dark cherries, bilberry fruit, red plum and light damp mulch scents. Lovely delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins. Very smooth in texture, quite plump, just a slight savory/dark chocolate note emerges towards the piquant finish. This is going to be one of the more approachable Pavillon Rouge - just needs two or three years.

Yvesbeck.wine

94

byYves Beckthe1/3/2023

La finesse est un élément itinérant à Margaux, au château et dans l'AOC en général. C'est d'ailleurs certainement un des éléments-clé du millésime. Pavillon Rouge se profile de manière filigrane et subtile. Il révèle de discrètes nuances d'élevage accompagnées de parfums de baies rouges et d'épices. Le vin a du tempérament et de la densité. Il se révèle avec grâce au travers de tannins crémeux et aux grains fins. L’expression aromatique est quelque peu en retrait, mais la substance présente saura valoriser cela au fil du temps. Un vin élégant, conquérant doté d'une bonne aptitude à la garde. 2026-2042

TASTED

95

byAndreas Larssonthe7/6/2021

Floral with violet notes, intense and pure with layered and elegant dark fruit, very cabernet. Grainy and polished texture very powdery with intense dark berry flavours and a long pure finish.

Vinous

92-94

byAntonio Gallonithe6/1/2021

The 2020 Pavillon Rouge shows just how compelling the vintage is. Rich red berry fruit, red plum, cedar, spice and licorice meld together in a sumptuous, racy yet impeccably balanced wine that is flat-out delicious. It displays tremendous reserve, freshness and nuance, and clean veins of salinity that refresh the finish. The blend is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. The Pavillon Rouge represents 31% of the harvest.

Jeb DUNNUCK

92-94

byJeb Dunnuckthe5/28/2021

The 2020 Pavillon Rouge checks in as 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc. It has a beautifully pure, classic Cabernet style in its cassis and blue-tinged fruits as well as notes of violets, tobacco, and chocolate. With medium to full body, ripe yet polished tannins, and a great finish, it shows the fresh yet concentrated style of the vintage beautifully. It's going to evolve nicely for 20 years or more.

Vinous

91-93

byNeal Martinthe5/27/2021

The 2020 Pavillon Rouge de Château Margaux has an understated nose at first, gradually opening to offer raspberry and wild strawberry and subtle iodine scents in the background, precise but not wishing to create too much of a fuss. The palate is medium-bodied with a pliant opening. There is a discreet lushness conveyed by this Pavillon Rouge. At its core is brambly red fruit laced with white pepper and sour cherry, and just a faint pencil lead and black olive note right on the finish. I suspect that this will be a more approachable Pavillon Rouge compared to the 2018 and 2019, but it will certainly not shortchange anyone in terms of elegance.

Decanter.com

94

byJane Ansonthe5/25/2021

Sinewed muscle, nuanced aromatics, graphite, gunsmoke, fresh tobacco leaf and blackberry puree. Great purity of fruits, a ton of lift and freshly crushed mint leaf aromatics that grip and curl out of the glass. One of the really successful second wines in the vintage. 31% of the overall blend. 2% of Cabernet Franc completes the blend.

The Wine Cellar Insider

94-96

byJeff Levethe5/21/2021

Right off the bat you find an array of flowers before moving on to the ripe, red berries, dark pit fruits, black plums and earthy nuances. Refined, elegant, soft and supple, there is freshness and purity to the fruits, along with length and precision on the palatemaking this a contender for the finest vintage of Pavillon Rouge that has been produced yet. Give this 5-7 years of age and enjoy it over the following 15 years or so. The wine was made from blending 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 2 Cabernet Franc. 94-96

Wine Advocate

92-94

byLisa Perrotti-Brownthe5/20/2021

The 2020 Pavillon Rouge is composed of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. The alcohol weighs in at 13.6%. Deep purple-black in color, the nose slowly unfurls to reveal gorgeous floral notes of lilacs and red roses, leading to a core of blackcurrant cordial, Morello cherries and minted blackberries, plus wafts of crushed rocks, forest floor and tilled loam. The medium to full-bodied palate is a mouthful of pure vinous seduction, slowly releasing layers of perfumed black fruits and mineral accents within a frame of achingly plush tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with epic length and a whole array of fragrant earth sparks.

Anthocyanes

93-95

byYohan Castaingthe5/11/2021

Superbe éclat de fruit noirs, des arômes de mure, de cassis, de crème de cassis avec de très belles notes de violette. Bouche charnue, belle texture tannique, fumé, réglisse et fraicheur mentholée. Un Pavillon Rouge plein et relativement massif. Très proche du millésime. Parti pour une longue garde.

Bernard Burtschy

95-96

byBernard Burtschythe5/10/2021

Falstaff

93-95

byPeter Moserthe5/10/2021

Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, dezente Ockerrandaufhel- lung. Feine Edelholzwürze mit Zimt und Mandarinenzesten unterlegte schwarze Waldbeerfrucht, feine tabakige Nuancen, ein Hauch von Lakritze, zarte Röstaromen. Saftig, frische rote Herzkirschen, lebendig strukturiert, mineralisch-zitronig im Ab- gang, salziger Touch, ein eleganter Speisenbegleiter, gutes Entwicklungspotenzial.

My Bettane + Desseauve

93

by Bettane & Desseauvethe5/7/2021

Jamessuckling.com

96-97

byJames Sucklingthe4/23/2021

Blackberry and graphite with dark fruit and violets on the nose. Very complex. Full-bodied with lovely, fine tannins that are lightly chewy. Extremely long and polished. Really refined. Integrated tannins. Wonderful length.