2020 Chateau de Fieuzal L'Abeille de Fieuzal Pessac-Leognan Bordeaux (375 mL) Half-Bottle

Robert Parker said Château de Fieuzal “represents a very good buy, especially in the great vintages.”

And 2020 was a vintage to remember. 

It took off like a teenage TikToker in a McLaren: A warm, wet winter led into a wild spring, with frost scares and mildew mayhem keeping things a little more interesting than vignerons would like. By June, the vintage was anyone's guess, with some estates praying for a miracle.

Prayers answered: July and August were bone dry, with August storms providing some relief. September arrived with a flourish of warm days and cool nights, a winemaker's dream, prompting a dash to harvest. What, us worry? The top chateaux were now thrilled—for good reason.

“Overall, the 2020 vintage delivers the goods,” wrote Vinous, who said it “seals the trio of great Bordeaux vintages.” And on our last trip to Bordeaux, we laid claim to Fieuzal’s under-the-radar 2020 L'Abeille de Fieuzal, a true Pessac-Léognan gem, in half-bottles.

The centuries-old Château de Fieuzal was formed in the Napoleonic era and first owned by the noble La Rochefoucaulds. It was owned for years by the Griffons, close contacts to Pope Leon XIII. Their wines now fill the Vatican's cellars. 

Fieuzal’s vines are spread across some of the finest gravel slopes in the appellation, excellently draining soils that also maintain and diffuse heat. The estate, blessed with thin, gravel-studded dirt, sits on a gentle sloping gravel outcropping in Graves, Bordeaux. Throughout its existence, this location has been recognized as outstanding for grape-growing.