WHAT

Red

WHEN

2020

WHERE

Haut-Médoc, Bordeaux, France

Château Caronne Sainte Gemme sits on one of the Médoc's most distinctive terroirs — an island-shaped plateau of deep Günz gravel, 18 meters high, straddling the boundary between Saint-Julien and Haut-Médoc. The estate belongs to the Nony-Borie family, who also own Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, and the farming and winemaking standards reflect that pedigree.

The Landot is the château's prestige single-vineyard wine — a micro-cuvée of around 400 cases per vintage, first released in 2003 and sold out almost immediately. It comes from Caronne's oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vines, planted on the deepest gravel where the roots go far down and the yields stay very low. The blend is roughly 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot. The 2020 is the most serious vintage Bordeaux has seen in years — warm, dry, and long, producing wines of exceptional concentration and structure. Dark cassis and blackberry on the nose, cedar, graphite, licorice, and a backbone of fine-grained tannins. It's drinking well now with food and has years ahead of it.

Open it with a côte de bœuf, roast lamb, or duck confit. Decant for an hour first.