Cooler soils can be a little austere in this structured vintage of 2020, and you'll find angular tannins on the opening beats, speaking of the limestone, along with salinity, energy and clear purity of blueberry and raspberry fruit. Lovely, a lyrical take on St Emilion limestone from the Durantou family, Olivier Gautrat director. The first year with Noemie Durantou as winemaker, having taken over from her late father Denis. Cellar master Olivier Gautrat.

The 2020 Saintayme, 100% Merlot, is deep garnet-purple in color. It comes bounding out of the glass with playful scents of crushed black and red cherries, wild blueberries, and baking spice, plus hints of chocolate box and fragrant soil. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers muscular black fruits with a firm, grainy texture and plenty of freshness, finishing savory.

The 2020 Saintayme has opened up nicely on the nose since I tasted it from barrel. Black cherries, raspberry coulis, and a background estuarine scent. This is very well-defined and cohesive. The palate is medium-bodied with a slightly granular texture, fine acidity, black fruit with a touch of orange rind, just a little rigidity on the finish that will be addressed by a couple of years in bottle. This is a lovely Saintayme that may deserve a higher score down the line.