Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, Château Boutisse 2020
Vinous 94 (2026); James Suckling 93 (2026); Decanter 92 (2026); Jeb Dunnuck 92 (2026); Wine Spectator 90 (2026)
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Why this wine
Twenty-five hectares on the limestone plateau near the high point of Saint-Émilion, in one of the appellation's best communes, reclassified as Grand Cru Classé in 2022. Merlot-led and aged over a year in French oak, this is the classical cedar-and-chocolate side of the Right Bank rather than the flashy one. A 2020 with the structure to reward keeping.
At a glance
- Grape
- Merlot 80%, Cabernet Sauvignon 10%, Cabernet Franc 5%, Carménère 5%
- Region
- Bordeaux, France
- Alcohol
- 14.50%
- Body
- Full
- Acidity
- Medium
- Tannins
- Medium
- Sweetness
- Dry
- Drink
- Long (10-20 yrs)
- Pairs with
- Red Meat, Poultry & Pork, Cheese
How it tastes
An intense nose of ripe, deep red fruit and blackcurrant backed by sweet toasted spice, then mocha, caramel and dark chocolate on a smooth, velvety palate. Full-bodied, with medium acidity and well-integrated tannins carrying a long, cedary finish. Merlot 80%, Cabernet Sauvignon 10%, Cabernet Franc 5%, Carménère 5%.
The producer
Château Boutisse lies in the commune of Saint Christophe des Bardes, one of the top communes of Saint-Émilion, and was bought in 1996 by winemaker and oenologist Xavier Milhade; his children Elodie and Marc run it today. Its 25 hectares sit near the highest point of the appellation, spread over the limestone plateau and its slopes, where chalky clay topsoil covers large chunks of limestone that regulate the vine's water supply and create the moisture stress good grapes need. The soils are tilled rather than treated, oats and mustard are grown for green manure, and the fruit is picked by hand; the estate was certified HVE3 in 2017 and reclassified as Grand Cru Classé in 2022. Vinification runs parcel by parcel in small underground concrete tanks that let the wine be run off by gravity, with a proportion fermented in 500-litre oak, malolactic conversion in new barrels and 12 to 15 months on fine lees in French oak.
Food and drinking
Serve at 16–18°C. Good with roast beef, rack of lamb, duck, mushroom risotto and aged hard cheeses. Drinking now and over the next ten to twenty years; give it an hour in a decanter at this stage. Sealed with a technical cork.