Emerging from the home estate of renowned consultant Michel Rolland, the 2020 Château Le Bon Pasteur sports a deep, inky purple hue to go with its medium to full-bodied aromas and flavors of ripe black fruit, smoked herbs, tobacco, and scorched earth. With terrific overall balance, fabulous tannins, and a deep, concentrated mid-palate, this beautiful Pomerol might be up with the finest wines I have ever tasted from this address. Tasted twice.

The 2020 Le Bon Pasteur is impressive. In fact, the 2020 is one of the best vintages I have ever tasted. Rich and deep, with terrific verve, the 2020 is magnificent right out of the gate. Dark red/black cherry, mocha, cedar and espresso all meld together in the glass. The heavy, over extracted style of the past seems a distant memory, and that is a good thing, as the purity of the fruit here is positively striking.
Vinous.com

Drink Date
2025 - 2040

Reviewed by Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Deep purple-black colored, the 2020 Bon Pasteur needs a little swirling to release bright, vibrant notes of crushed black and red plums, boysenberries and black raspberries, plus hints of menthol, cedar chest and fertile loam. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a solid frame of grainy tannins and well-balanced acidity supporting the earth-laced, muscular black fruits, finishing on a lingering black pepper note.

The 2020 Le Bon Pasteur, which as always is fermented in new oak barrels, is impressive on the nose, delivering mineral-driven black fruit, clean and precise, the new oak very neatly integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannins and saline in the mouth, building nicely toward a finish that demonstrates a sense of symmetry and poise. This is a really fine Le Bon Pasteur that is maybe cut from a less hedonistic cloth than previous vintages. Excellent.
- vinous.com

Tight and linear with fine tannins that run the length of the wine. Medium-bodied with blackberry and dark-chocolate character and a medium finish. Ripe fruit in the center palate that’s nicely mixed with the wood.

Full bottle 1,364. Cask sample. 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc. 40-year-old vines. Fermented in new oak barrels (Intégrale).
Intense colour – black almost to the rim. Marked by the oak but the fruit and the oak are well integrated so the oak is not off-putting, even if it is not to my personal taste. Black fruit with a savoury quality that reminds me of black rocks. Intense but not intensely aromatic. A touch spirity on the nose. On the palate, ripe, thickly textured tannins, and concentrated. A very big wine, very oaky but meshed. Powerful and not for those who like their oak more subtle. But there's surprising freshness on the finish. Small sips recommended. (JH)

Vinification intégrale. Tasted blind. Deep crimson. Dark fruit and dark chocolate on the nose. Open. On the palate, compact, chewy but very fresh and those tannins starting to resolve. Really dark-fruited, savoury finish. (JH)