Inky red with a purple tinge, the 2020 L'Esprit Des Pavots is brooding with spice, black cherry preserve, forest earth, and black licorice. It’s full-bodied, rounded, and gushing with boysenberry, with a balance of sweet fruit and savory Sonoma character in its notes of tea leaf, wildflowers, and lightly toasted spices. Long on the palate, with ripe tannins and a good finish, it’s attractive now and will drink well over the next 10 years.

The 2020 L'Esprit des Pavots is a blend of 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Cabernet Franc and 29% Merlot, with 72% Knights Valley fruit and 28% Oakville fruit. Opaque ruby in color, it has pure, layered scents of red plum and cherry, mint chocolate, rose petals, soy sauce and cedar. The full-bodied palate features restrained, mineral-driven fruit and loads of floral character. It has abundant, finely grained tannins, energetic acidity and a long, perfumed finish. Drinkable straight from the bottle, enjoy it over the next 5-7 years. 1,161 cases were made. This will be released in July of 2023.

A fleshy and rich red with crushed berries, green pine needles, bark, orange peel and bark. Hints of walnuts, too. Full-bodied with round and polished tannins that are integrated and solid. Second wine.

The 2020 L'Esprit des Pavots is mostly Knights Valley in this vintage. Bright and punchy, the 2020 offers lovely forward red-toned fruit followed by touches of mocha, dried flowers, mint, tobacco and cedar. This is a terrific second wine, especially considering the year.