| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > St Emilion |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
Francois Mitjavile's brilliant and unique wine has a different character from that of all its Saint Emilion rivals and is only available in very limited quantities. Our visit to the unassuming cellars with their mud floors and dirty walls is always fascinating and a highlight of our trips to Bordeaux. Production is around 2000 cases annually with élevage in 100% new "Radoux blend" fine grain barrels. The south-facing vineyard produces wines that are ripe but never jammy. They frequently remind us of Le Pin and sometimes even of Musigny. A top performer at the annual Southwold blind tastings. Unique and individual.
Another absolutely perfect wine in this incredible vintage, the 2020 Château Tertre Roteboeuf comes from a tiny hillside vineyard (5.6 hectares) and is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc raised all in new Radoux barrels. This show-stopping wine has everything and reveals a dense purple hue, incredible aromatics of cassis, vanilla bean, burning embers, graphite, and smoke tobacco, full-bodied richness, flawless integration of its tannins and acidity, and a massive finish. The finest wine I've ever tasted from this address, it's not going to hit maturity for another 7-8 years and will be a 30+-year wine. Hats off to the team of François Mitjavile for another singular, sexy, absolutely off-the-charts wine.
The 2020 Le Tertre Roteboeuf will delight admirers of Mitjaville's singular style. Unfurling in the glass with aromas of rich dark berries and plums mingled with black truffles, exotic spices, espresso roast, cedar, vine smoke and toasty new oak, it's full-bodied, layered and velvety, with an ample core of ripe, heady fruit framed by sweet, powdery tannins, concluding with a long, sapid finish.
Opaque purple-black in color, the 2020 Le Tertre Roteboeuf needs a little coaxing and patience to lure out captivating notes of wild blueberries, crushed black plums and juicy blackberries, followed by suggestions of red roses, dark chocolate, molten licorice and rich, red soil, with wafts of garrigue and cumin seed. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers decadently intense, exotic spice and mineral-accented black fruit flavors, supported by velvety tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long and very perfumed. This is without doubt one of the most impactful, singular, nuanced 2020 barrel samples tasted.
This is a powerful, deeply focused and intense. Plenty of spice, cassis pastille, intense muscular tannins, fairly closed and austere right now, but a real sense of lift and juice becomes clear after 10 minutes of opening in the glass. Harvest began on September 21st, the earliest since Mitjavile arrived at the estate. Recently had the beautiful 1998 of Tertre Roteboeuf, and it is easy to see that this vintage also will allow the limestone terroir to become clearer with bottle age.
Drinking Window 2024 - 2036
Deep ruby colour in the glass. The unique, redolent nose here could not be mistaken for any other wine in Bordeaux. Almost Burgundian in its floral accents, there is real depth of plum and even cassis here too. The palate is glossy and intense, full of silky, ripe and dark fruit. The tannins are velveteen, enveloping the core of fruit before it drives through to the finish. This finishes with an explosive, beguiling flourish. An outstanding 2020.
85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc. 33 hl/ha. Harvested 22–25 September, one of the earliest ever. Cask sample.
Seductive and just a little decadent as always en primeur with a mix of toasted, mocha notes from the oak and red-berry fruit. Dense, rich and ripe on the palate, the ripeness pushed just to the limit. Supple tannins but a structure for ageing, the alcohol offset by a stony freshness. (JL)
Drink 2027 – 2040
