2020 St Joseph, Clos Florentin, Domaine Jean-Louis Chave, Rhône

Deep, bright-hued violet. Highly perfumed, mineral-accented cherry liqueur, cassis, candied licorice, incense and black pepper aromas show outstanding clarity and floral lift. Stains the palate with intense black and blue fruit, smoky bacon, star anise and floral pastille flavors that possess unlikely energy for their depth. The mineral and floral notes drive a strikingly long, vibrant finish that showcases resonating cherry, floral and mineral notes.While the 2019s and 2018s at the benchmark Domaine J.L. Chave are undoubtedly deep and powerful, there is a surprising, welcome energy to the wines as well. But, then again, I usually find Jean-Louis Chave’s wines to be vibrant, even in sweltering years, like 2003. There’s no doubt that the 2020s here are shaping up to be truly outstanding, with even more vivacity than the preceding two vintages. The wines display intense floral and spice character, and the fruit profiles lean more toward red than usual. That said, there is a solid underlying structure to the wines; between that and their energy, they should turn out to be eminently age-worthy, if not for as long as super-solid years like 2015, 2010 and 2005. Should you be lucky enough to get your hands on the 2019 Saint-Joseph Clos Florentin, or the 2020 rendition when it is bottled, consider yourself highly fortunate. It is an extremely rare wine that, in both vintages, performed at the same level or above that of most Hermitages out there.josh_raynolds, Vinous.com.com (December 2022)

Le Clos exhibits its usual exceptional balance this year: it's very ripe in fruit but slender on the palate, with tannins like 100% cacao. Bright, firm acids bring a perfect sense of balance. A panther of a wine.Drink 2025 - 2033matt_walls, Decanter.com (October 2021)