The second time to do the vertical tasting with Benoit Prevot. Last time we had made a consistent 21 vintages' vertical tasting of Chateau Le Bon Pasteur, while Benoit prepared a triple vertical tasting of Chateau Le Bon Pasteur, Chateau Rolland-Maillet and Chateau Bertineau Saint-Vincent for me in this October.

Chateau Le Bon Pasteur 2016 was delicately floral on the slightly stony and reticently dense aroma. Full-bodied and polished, with a chocolaty background. There was lovely freshness generated from clean fruit and bright acid. A promising stuff. Explosively dark fruits (mostly black cherry, with a bit of blackberry) suffused the saline palate of Chateau Le Bon Pasteur 2017 that was suave and tannic. Chateau Le Bon Pasteur 2018 had a tint of fresh herb on the faintly austere but perfumed and dense aroma that also revealed lots of candied ginger, stone, crushed raspberry, black cherry, apricot and red flowers, with deeper underlying notes of spices (nutmeg, white pepper), toast and black chocolate. Delicate but powerful tannins gave the sturdy structure to the mouthfeel that possessed succulently salivary acid to offset mouth-drying sense. Polished, precise and vivid on the finale that exuded defined minerality. Chateau Le Bon Pasteur 2019 was somewhat austere yet refreshing and graceful on the nose that was full of dried flower, spices and stone laced with a hint of earth, blackberry and scrub. Sweetly fruited on the mid-palate that was packed with forceful tannins that made it mouth-drying, while rapsberry-like acid enhanced the freshness on the textured finish that was smoothly balanced. Chateau Le Bon Pasteur 2020 applies micro-vinification, which is vinified exclusively in the 70% new French oak barrels (previously the wine is vinified half in stainless steel tanks and half in oak barrels). Just like the constitution of the vineyards, the fixed blend is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. Not surprisingly, Chateau Le Bon Pasteur 2020 was the champion of the lineup since it's an ideal day to taste the 2020 stuffs. More than an hour's aeration in bottle aided the beauty to reveal the fabulous lucidness and nobility of the vintage, wafting from the glass with a compelling, layered and complete sniff of…(for all the details, please subscribe)…that wasn't too masculine thanks to the fresh acidity and angular minerality, all terminating in an energetic finish that had lovely juiciness and subtle salinity. Wonderful.

Classical Chateau Rolland-Maillet 2016 was tense yet very polished and balanced. Freshly acidic Chateau Rolland-Maillet 2017 was chocolaty and mineral-infused on the serious and saline bouquet. Chateau Rolland-Maillet 2018 was austerely stony on the deep nose. Chateau Rolland-Maillet 2019 was Reductive and closed. Chateau Rolland-Maillet 2020 was precisely refined on the somewhat reticent and austere sniff with a freshly herbal and stony backdrop. Extremely tense on the palate with a faintly powdery yet refreshing finish.

Chateau Bertineau Saint-Vincent 2016 had polished texture, with a tense and candied finish. I preferred its taste than the nose of Chateau Bertineau Saint-Vincent 2017 that was lush on the chocolaty bouquet while fresh on the juicy taste. Chateau Bertineau Saint-Vincent 2018 was reductive and saline. Chateau Bertineau Saint-Vincent 2019 possessed loveable aromas of yellow peach, blackberry, scrub and savoury-mineral. Deeply colored Chateau Bertineau Saint-Vincent 2020 was attractively perfumed on the elegant aroma and palate with delicateness, precision, balance and completeness.