Château de Sales - Pomerol 2020

Bettane & Desseauve

About the domain :

The long driveway leading up to this 16th-century château puts Pomerol's finest edifice, which has belonged to the de Lambert family for five centuries, into perspective. This family owns the largest surface area in the appellation.

Decanter

About the wine:

Juicy intensity with bright, delicate, lively red fruit in the glass - friendly but with a salty licorice edge that gives it some seriousness. Fine and direct, but polished and clean on the finish. A touch of lingering heat on the finish, but this wine is dynamic and well-structured, with bite and power. 2025-2040

Guide Hachette des vins

About the domain :

Vincent Montigaud has been managing director of the estate since 2017, succeeding Bruno de Lambert who retired. With 47.5 ha, making it the largest estate in the appellation, Ch. de Sales has belonged to the de Lambert family for 550 years. Today, the estate is presided over by family member Marine Treppoz. Two wines are produced here: Ch. de Sales and Ch. Chantalouette, the second wine.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About the wine:

The 2020 in bottle is faithful to this wise, distinguished style as well as to the promise of the primeur samples. A restrained, elegant, tight wine, full-bodied but particularly slender, with crisp, fine tannins. Its distinguished character will only blossom with age.

About the domain :

On the edge of the town of Libourne, extended by the majestic perspective of its park, Château de Sales has been in the hands of the same family for five centuries. Defying the vagaries of history and inheritance taxes, which have become confiscatory for many winegrowing families, the appellation's largest winegrowing estate has never felt the need to outbid one another in the race for rotundity and opulence. With its specific terroir of fine gravel, Château de Sales remains faithful to an elongated, classic, delicate style, little marked by the barrel, which is undeniably returning to the zeitgeist and deserves the full attention of connoisseurs. While the stylistic course seems firmly maintained, 2017 is a vintage of change for this historic cru: new president of the operating company uniting many cousins, Marine Treppoz, and new director, Vincent Montigaud from Libourne.

Wine Spectator

Wine Enthusiast

About the wine:

The predominance of Merlot in the blend gives this wine both its richness and its unctuous texture. Black fruits and generous acidity are sure to flourish. Drink from 2026.

James Suckling

About the wine:

A full-bodied, juicy red wine with aromas of blackberry, black olive, dark chocolate and hazelnut. Creamy, round and deliciously textured. Not an imposing, powerful wine, but very attractive now and for the future. Seductive in many ways. Best after 2026.

Yves Beck

About the wine:

The 2020 from Château de Sales is the most accomplished I've tasted since. It presents itself with subtlety and complexity. It's all about measure, and therefore a fine notion of precision. The bouquet reveals nuances of red berries, spices and licorice wood. On the palate, the wine creates a superb link between finesse and richness. It is slender yet dense and, above all, perfectly balanced. A beautiful symbiosis of fullness and temperament. A wine that underlines the ambitious prospects we have set for de Sales. 2027-2045

Tastingbook - Markus Del Monego

About the wine:

Dark purple color with violet highlights and black core. A wine of great purity, with a refined nose of elegant fruit, ripe blackberries, cherries and plums, hints of chocolate and oriental spices, vanilla and gingerbread, with floral notes of wisteria and violets in the background. The palate is well-balanced and structured, with ripe, silky tannins, wonderful freshness and precision, fine minerality, ripe fruit and hints of licorice on the finish. Excellent and convincingly long.