Château Roc de Cambes, Cotes de Bourg, 2020
Much more introverted than Domaine de Cambes, with notes of smoke, cedar and incense; brooding, powerful and packed with dark berry fruit. This is pure cashmere in the mouth. Lavish crème de mûre, Kirsch and blackcurrants are flecked with notes of savoury minerals. Hedonistic, taut, compact, very stylish, one of the most serious Roc de Cambes we can recall tasting. Finishes with graphite, black cherry and Asian spice. Gorgeous.
critic reviews
The 2020 Roc de Cambes displays far too much new oak on the nose that, at the moment, occludes the terroir profile and fruit (note the same remark in my tasting note from December 2022). The palate is ripe with dense tannins, though predictably, the cooperage dictates this wine and renders it generic on the finish. It should assimilate with time, but at the moment, this speaks more about the winemaking regimen. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.
Broad and concentrated, the 2020 Roc de Cambes unwinds in the glass with aromas of cassis, plums, wood smoke, violets and espresso roast. Medium to full-bodied, rich and velvety, with a fleshy core of fruit and powdery structuring tannins, this is the most muscular wine in Mitjaville's cellar.