95 Points | The Wine Advocate, William Kelley
The 2020 L'Evangile was picked quite early, as the estate's rather young vines were suffering in the dry conditions, and the decision appears to have been judicious, as the wine has turned out very well. Wafting from the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums, vine smoke and violets, it's medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered, with velvety tannins and an elegant, harmonious profile that avoids any excess.
The 2020 L'Evangile is the first vintage produced under the management of Juliette Couderc and Olivier Trégoat at this Pomerol benchmark, sandwiched between the likes of La Conseillante, Cheval Blanc, Vieux Château Certan and Pétrus. The vineyards here are young, as 22 hectares have been replanted since 2001, which necessitated an early harvest. In warmer, drier vintages, canopies are being hedged lower to mitigate against excess sugar accumulation, systematic deleafing is no longer employed, cover crops are protecting the soils, and a row of Cabernet Sauvignon is increasingly making it into the grand vin, traditionally a blend of more or less 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. Attempts are also being made to rein in this wine's tendency to opulence, employing less new oak, more discreet toasts adapted to Evangile, and experimenting with amphorae and now a foudre. Of course, harvest timing is crucial, and more and more the vineyard is picked by soil type instead of block.
