Chateau de Sales 2020
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James
Suckling - Decanter
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Chateau de Sales, the first wine of the estate, embodies the complexity and refinement of its terroir. A wine to be aged, it is made from rigorously selected grapes with a majority of Merlot.
Blend: 79 % Merlot, 14 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 7 % Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A full and juicy red with blackberry, black olive, dark chocolate, and hazelnut aromas and flavors. Creamy, round and deliciously textured. Not a big and powerful wine but very attractive now and for the future. Seductive in so many way. Merlot, cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. Best after 2026.
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Decanter
A juicy intensity with bright red fruits, delicate and alive in the glass - friendly but with a salty liquorice kick that gives it some seriousness. Lean and direct but polished and clean on the finish. A touch of lingering heat at the end but this has vibrancy and is well structured with clear bite and power.
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Wine Enthusiast
Dominant Merlot in the blend gives this wine both its richness and its smooth texture. Black fruits and generous acidity are sure to develop well. Drink this fine wine from 2026.
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Jeb Dunnuck
I loved the 2020 Château De Sales from barrel, and it's showing beautifully from bottle. Sporting a deep purple hue as well as a ripe, sexy, medium to full-bodied style, it has ripe, supple tannins, a layered, balanced mouthfeel, and classic aromatics of ripe black cherries, plums, licorice, spring flowers, and damp earth. It's another beautiful, layered, elegant Pomerol in the vintage that will benefit from 3-4 years of bottle age and drink brilliantly through 2040.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
An attractive, elegantly fruit-driven Pomerol, the 2020 De Sales offers up aromas of sweet berries, dried herbs and spices, followed by a medium to full-bodied, supple and seamless palate. With a core of vibrant fruit and melting tannins, this is a success for this large estate, where Jean-Claude Berrouet consults. Best After 2023
Other Vintages
2022-
James
Suckling - Decanter
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Robert
Parker
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling
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Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling - Decanter
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Jeb
Dunnuck
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Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling - Decanter
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Wine
Enthusiast
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Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Wilfred
Wong - Decanter
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Wilfred
Wong
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Wine
Spectator
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Robert
Parker
Built in the 17th century, Chateau de Sales is largest estate in the Pomerol appellation on the Right Bank. The chateau possesses exceptional beauty and elegance, and the same is true for its wines as they are the true expression of the Pomerol terroir from which they originate. Located in the northwest corner of Pomerol, it is the only true chateau building in the appellation and has been owned by the same family for more than five hundred years. Chateau de Sales wines are the expression of their terroir: fruit-driven, round and full-bodied, with good structure on the palate, smoothness, refinement and elegance.
Located 22 miles east of Bordeaux, the vineyard of Chateau de Sales is situated in the northwestern part of the Pomerol appellation. The chateau's vineyard has a surface area of over 200 acres, of which 118 acres are planted — the largest in Pomerol. The soils of Chateau de Sales are comprised of fine gravel and sand, with clay in some areas and an omnipresence of iron oxide, known as "crasse de fer."
The vines are an average of more than 30 years old. The grape varieties planted here are typical of this appellation: 73% merlot, 15% cabernet sauvignon and 12% cabernet franc. The vines are cultivated in the traditional way: the soil is regularly ploughed, vineyard practices are environmentally sound, leaves are removed with clusters thinned at regular intervals, and the grapes are harvested by hand at optimum maturity for each parcel.