Duhart-Milon - Pauillac 2020

Vinous

92-92

par Neal Martin le 28/02/2025

The 2020 Duhart-Milon has a classy, well-defined bouquet, with brambly red fruit, pencil box and scents of autumn leaves, gradually gaining intensity in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with rather dry tannins that render this quite serious at the moment. It has good substance but is missing a bit of brightness and charm at the moment. Even so, I would contentedly cellar this for three or four years because there is potential. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Alexandre Ma

95

par Alexandre Ma le 18/04/2023

Wine Advocate

94

par William Kelley le 06/04/2023

The most underrated wine in the Lafite stable these days has put in another strong performance with the 2020 Duhart-Milon, as this somewhat cooler, later-ripening site is well adapted to warmer vintages. Unfurling to reveal aromas of cassis, plums, cigar wrapper, loamy soil and violets, it's medium to full-bodied, broad and layered, with polished tannins, terrific depth at the core and a long, sapid finish.

Jeb DUNNUCK

94

par Jeb Dunnuck le 30/03/2023

The 2020 Château Duhart-Milon is a much more concentrated, serious wine. Based on 72% Cabernet Sauvignon and 28% Merlot hitting 12.5% natural alcohol, with a pH of 3.91, its deep ruby/plum color is followed by medium to full-bodied aromas and flavors of darker currants, cherries, damp earth, ripe tobacco, and graphite. Beautifully balanced, elegant, and straight-up seamless, it shows the classic, focused style of the vintage and will be a modern day classic from this terroir.

The Wine Cellar Insider

93

par Jeff Leve le 22/03/2023

Red pit fruits, flowers, cedar, and plums with a touch of tobacco leaf, and create the nose. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, vibrant, soft, and energetic with an air of elegance, refinement, and silky textures which feel great on the mid-palate, and in the finish. This is the debut vintage produced in their new cellars which helped shape the wine as it allowed the team to vinify for the first time on a parcel-by-parcel basis. Drink from 2024-2045.

Alexandre Ma

95

par Alexandre Ma le 15/03/2023

Vinous

93

par Antonio Galloni le 24/02/2023

The 2020 Duhart-Milon is a powerful wine, with Cabernet Sauvignon driving the blends with tons of savory and earthy character. Dark cherry, dried herbs, scorched earth, tobacco, licorice and menthol are all laced together. This virile, somber Pauillac needs time in bottle to blossom. I won't be surprised if it is even better in another few years' time. This opens beautifully with time.

Vinous

93

par Neal Martin le 15/02/2023

The 2020 Duhart-Milon, the maiden vintage crafted in the new cellar, has a glorious, unashamedly seductive bouquet with pure blackberry, pressed violet and light vanilla pod aromas that are beautifully defined. You know, this could dupe you into thinking it came from the Right Bank! The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannins and here we revert back to the Left Bank thanks to its prominent graphite seam. Finely balanced, quite silky smooth towards the finish, this is an excellent Pauillac that punches above my expectations in barrel.

TASTED

93

par Andreas Larsson le 06/07/2021

Mild new oak, violet, liquorice, dark and fresh berries, rather rounded texture, yet with good material and density. In a medium bodied shape with plenty of muscles and fine polished tannin with good length. The best young Duhart I ever tasted.

Vinous

90-92

par Antonio Galloni le 01/06/2021

The 2020 Duhart-Milon is soft, pliant and wonderfully seductive. Strong Cabernet aromatics open first, lending quite a bit of savory nuance. Bright red/purplish berry fruit, spice, cedar and earthy notes show the vibrant side of this Pauillac's personality. The 2020 deftly balances ripeness with energy. It's a terrific example of the year. Yields were 36.5 hectoliters per hectare, more or less in line with the recent past. The 2020 is the first vintage made in the new cellar.

Jeb DUNNUCK

94-96

par Jeb Dunnuck le 28/05/2021

Lots of tobacco, damp earth, chocolate, and lead pencil notes define the 2020 Château Duhart-Milon. Medium to full-bodied, it has a beautifully balanced mouthfeel, loads of blue and black fruits, and ripe yet certainly present tannins. Its relatively plush, rounded style is not too dissimilar from the 2016, but it offers ample structure as well. The blend is 72% Cabernet Sauvignon and 28% Merlot, and it hit 13% natural alcohol. This is another classic, concentrated, impressive wine from this team.

Vinous

90-92

par Neal Martin le 27/05/2021

The 2020 Duhart-Milon has a delightful, elegant bouquet, an almost equal mixture of red and black fruit laced with sous-bois, cigar box and touches of curry leaf in the background. It is a little timid at first, but it seemed to grow over the 90 minutes I observed this wine. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, a slightly fleshier Duhart-Milon compared to the obdurate, tannic wines of yore. It is gentle in some ways, revealing elegant brambly red fruit mixed with cedar and mint on the finish. Fine, although I would have liked just a tad more grip and heft.

Decanter.com

95

par Jane Anson le 25/05/2021

Restrained and sombre at first, but carefully constructed, with a rippling muscular texture, full of firm tannins with bright acidities underneath. Like the precision and the slightly austere cool blue fruits, pencil lead and liquorice root. Elegant, precise, feels very Pauillac in its density combined with fine tannins that have life and lift on the finish. Harvest September 9 to 29. First vintage in the new cellar.

The Wine Cellar Insider

93-95

par Jeff Leve le 21/05/2021

Earthy in nature, the wine lifts off with its cigar wrapper, forest leaf, tobacco, peppery spice and sweet red currant profile. Medium-bodied, elegant, silky and fresh, with a beautiful symmetry and balance, along with freshness, length and purity in the fruits, this is a top vintage for Duhart Milon. The wine is a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon and 28% Merlot. This is the first vintage made in the new cellars, which for the first time allow for parcel by parcel vinification. 93-95

Wine Advocate

91-93

par Lisa Perrotti-Brown le 20/05/2021

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2020 Duhart-Milon comes skipping out of the glass with vibrant notes of crushed black cherries, black raspberries and plum preserves, plus an exotic spice undercurrent of cumin seed, star anise and cardamom, with an earthy touch of black truffles. The medium-bodied palate delivers mouth-coating, juicy black fruits with a plush texture and just enough freshness, finishing long and spicy. The blend this year is 72% Cabernet Sauvignon and 28% Merlot, with the alcohol coming in at 13.1%.

Anthocyanes

93-95

par Yohan Castaing le 11/05/2021

Légèrement graphite, réglisse, des notes de fruits noirs et une touche moka. Bouche droite et tendue, milieu de bouche élégant et charnu, une belle allonge avec une finale mentholée et aérienne. Un Duhart-Milon charmeur et juteux pour un vin séduisant. Très classique dans son approche, il fera date dans cette propriété.

Falstaff

92-94

par Peter Moser le 10/05/2021

Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, zarte Ockerrandaufhellung. Zart nussig un- terlegte dunkle Beerenfrucht, ein Hauch von Nougat, schwarze Herzkirschen, feine Kräuterwürze. Saftig, rote Kirschen, ein Hauch von Pflaumen, frischer Säurebogen, integrierte Tannine, Herzkirschentouch auch im Nachhall, ein lebendiger Speisen- begleiter.

My Bettane + Desseauve

93-94

par Bettane & Desseauve le 07/05/2021

Jamessuckling.com

95-96

par James Suckling le 04/05/2021

This is so refined with beautiful currant, berry and some subtle chocolate and coffee. It’s full and very subtle with fine tannins that have a long finish. Such purity and finesse with structure. Fresh and savory. 72% cabernet sauvignon and 28% merlot.