Château Peby Faugères 2020

Imposing, powerful, fiery; the tannins are polished but literally drown in the mass.

Lots of blue fruits and boysenberries, with redcurrants, forest floor and violets. Full and compact, with beautiful tension and focus, and fine, structured tannins. 100% merlot. From organically grown grapes.

Almost completely opaque in color, the wine is fully packed with countless layers of perfectly ripe, opulently textured, deep, dark fruits. Powerful yet balanced, it delivers a palate-staining, seamless finish loaded with perfectly ripe, dark red, velvet-textured pit fruits, with a gorgeous sense of purity that builds, expands, and lingers for over 50 seconds. This is already stunning, but its best days are yet to come. Drink from 2025–2050.

Deep dark ruby, inky, opaque core, violet glints, delicately paler at the rim. Intense black fruit, ripe blackberries and sweetheart cherries, lovely fig note, some nougat and candied orange zest underlay. Attractive bouquet. Complex, powerful, juicy black berry fruit, vivid, ripe tannins, savoury and mineral-saline finish. Very good length, awakens great expectations for the future.

100% Merlot, 17 hl/ha, production of 11,000 bottles. What a black-berried concentrate paired with freshly grated cocoa powder and fresh raspberry purée, with Brazilian tobacco in the background, a delicate violet fragrance, and noble dark wood. On the complex palate, a silky texture, a tight-knit tannic corset, balanced vigor, finely grained extract, and a perfectly sculpted body. In the focused, never-ending finish: blue and black berries, profound terroir spice, and lofty astringency. A wine with tremendous aging potential that can still gain further complexity.

Kunz barrel sample 2021: (100% Merlot) Concentrated, complex, velvety, delicately opulent bouquet, cassis cream, raspberry pralines, flint, a bouquet of flowers, dark chocolate, black pepper. Densely interwoven, elegant, multi-layered, fresh palate with finely creamy, dense fruit, plenty of fine tannins, a dense, finely muscular structure, a very long, aromatic finish with plenty of lingering retro-olfactory notes.

The 2020 Peby Faugeres is deep garnet-purple in color. The nose is shut-tight at first, requiring considerable coaxing to reveal fragrant scents of plum pudding, blueberry preserves, and chocolate-covered cherries, followed by hints of star anise, sandalwood, iron ore, and unsmoked cigars, with a touch of Sichuan pepper. The full-bodied palate simply shimmers with energy, featuring fine-grained tannins and bold freshness to frame the rich, dense black and blue fruit, finishing long and perfumed.

Velvety attack, a fruity, juicy palate, mouthwatering, generous, full-bodied. As the lovely fine, racy tannic structure delights, the liveliness lengthens and stretches the finish to infinity, yielding a refined, round wine with pleasant acidity, whose saline notes awaken a desire to escape.

The maturation has been well integrated into the wine. It remains warm and dense, yet it has also kept its character, while the bouquet is complemented by chalky nuances. Suave, the wine manages to show freshness, while boasting powerful tannins and a juicy structure. It’s a style, it’s a choice, it’s fully embraced and it will delight many palates, because it’s simply delicious!

Dark, intense, purple color. Intense nose with ripe, creamy fruit, close to oxidation. On the palate, the tactile feel is successful, the aromatic dimension much less so. An anachronistic presentation that I thought this cru had moved past. Sample issue?

Péby-Faugères pushes all the sliders up, with great ripeness, a deep color, and an equally imposing tannic load; the élevage is pronounced and currently eclipses the fruit. Very concentrated and one to watch.