2020 Château L'If

The 2020 L'If has a slightly more savory bouquet than the preceding 2020 Quintus, perhaps with a higher proportion of Cabernet Franc (16% in this blend). The complexity really comes through with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied, fresh and quite saline, with firm tannins and hints of oyster shells toward the long, refined finish. This fans out wonderfully. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Bursting with aromas of sweet blackberries, cherries, licorice and spices, the 2020 L'If is medium to full-bodied, bright and youthfully structured, with a pretty core of fruit, chalky tannins and a mouthwatering finish. In recent years, this property has begun to find an identity of its own, the bulk of whose holdings lie next to Troplong-Mondot, a property the Thienpont family owned for a decade in the 20th century.

This is one of the most structured L’Ifs I have had with currants and cherries, and chalk and salt undertones. Full and muscular. Long, long finish. The tannins and fruit go on and on. Give it three or four years to soften.