Château Malescot Saint Exupery Vertical (2018-2020)

A seductive Margaux with an intense nose of black fruit and red plums. Some herb and wood notes, too. It’s full-bodied with pretty, pure-berry flavors with some crushed stones and cement. The texture is silky and fine-grained and the tannins melt into the wine. Precise, flavorful finish with length. Try after 2024.

The medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2018 Malescot St. Exupery leaps from the glass with expressive scents of baked blackberries, Morello cherries and boysenberries with hints of blackcurrant cordial, dark chocolate, licorice and tilled soil. The medium to full-bodied palate has impressive intensity without heaviness, delivering mouth-coating black fruits and a firm, grainy texture, finishing with a refreshing earthy lift.

I loved the 2018 Château Malescot Saint Exupéry from barrel two years ago, and it certainly doesn't disappoint from bottle today. Based on 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this deeply hued beauty boasts smoking good notes of blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, chocolate, and spice. Full-bodied and impressively concentrated, it has a stacked mid-palate, ripe, sweet yet certainly present tannins, a terrific sense of freshness, and a great finish. It's going to fun comparing this and the 2016 over the coming two decades! While there's some up-front accessibility and charm here, it really needs 4-6 years of bottle age and is going to have 20-25 years of overall longevity. This is gem of a wine that's well worth seeking out.

Sweet currant and berry aromas with hints of blackcurrants, black cherries and flowers. It’s full-bodied and layered with beautifully polished tannins that last for minutes. Tight and very focused. This needs at least six or seven years to open. Try after 2027.

The 2019 Château Malescot Saint Exupéry has an almost old-school vibe in its cedary, herbal, meaty, almost gamey aromatics, but it has beautiful purity in its both black and blue fruits. Medium to full-bodied, on the palate, it's nicely concentrated, has building tannins, good mid-palate density, and a great finish. I don't think it matches the 2016 and 2018, but it's a seriously good Margaux that already offers pleasure. It won't hit maturity for another 7-8 years but should have a lengthy drinking plateau.

The 2019 Malescot St. Exupery is generous and expressive, bursting with aromas of cassis, cherries and blackberries mingled with hints of loamy soil, dark chocolate and espresso roast. Full-bodied, broad and muscular, its fleshy core of fruit is framed by succulent acids and ripe, powdery tannins that assert themselves on the finish. This will reward a bit of bottle age with flamboyant drinking.

Lots of blackcurrants and blueberries on the nose, together with walnuts and chocolate. Full-bodied and very layered, with super depth and plushness, offering currant, crushed-stone and bitter-chocolate flavors. Very lush for this wine, but velvety and structured at the same time. Needs four to six years of bottle age. Try after 2027.

Sporting a deep purple-black color, the 2020 Malescot St. Exupery prances out of the glass with showy scents of ripe black and red currants, black cherries, raspberry leaves and ground cloves, plus wafts of lilacs and tilled soil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers mouth-coating black and red fruit layers with a firm, grainy texture and well-balanced acidity, finishing on a lingering fragrant-earth note.

Beautiful cassis, smoky oak, graphite, blackberries, and scorched earth notes emerge from the 2020 Château Malescot Saint Exupéry, another incredibly impressive wine from Margaux in the vintage. With medium to full-bodied richness, it has plenty of mid-palate depth, the building, firmer tannins of the vintage, fabulous purity of fruit, and a great finish. Hide bottles for 4-5 years and enjoy over the following 15-20 years.