Neal Martin has confirmed the Southwold 2020 Bordeaux tasting has been completed. I will post further links as I find them.
https://www.instagram.com/nealmartin123/p/C2iIy5tNwEU/?img_index=1
The summary from Farr Vintners, hosts of the tasting are now online. This really focuses on the very top wines. I note that the individual comments have not yet been uploaded against the wines listed on their website, it should follow soon though.
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Thanks. No real surprises.
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I didn’t buy much of 2020 and now super keen to look at La Mission, Montrose, Canon, Poyferre and Lalande. Between this and Southwold 2014, February will be a Bordeaux heavy month.
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Wow - it takes 13 minutes to read my report? Sorry guys!!!
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11+ minutes for me. 
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Expensive thirteeen minutes as it triggered major fomo on pichon lalande…
Interesting that some common threads are emerging already. Some wine such as Brane Cantenac and Tronquoy appear to be widely admired
My sample size is small enough to make this a meaningless statement, but the 2020 Montrose is probably the best young Bordeaux I’ve ever tasted.
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We had a few 2020’s at a tasting in December. The Canon was exceptional, one of the best young Bordeaux that I have tasted in awhile. The Pichon Baron was also very, very good.
I love Matthew’s take on this, and understand why the top wines are getting so much love.
I did buy a number of favorite wines, and delighted that I did. Montrose seems to have now morphed seamlessly into first growth territory at a third of the price. Pichon Lalande year in and year out seems to make the same case. I don’t think you can go too far wrong buying those two.
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honestly, reading between the lines, it doesnt seem like 2020 is necessarily worth buying against the backdrop of 2019. Reading the report makes me happy with the wines I have bought, but that’s it.
I don’t think you buy the vintage, but you buy the wines.
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Yeah, thats probably fair - I did buy quite broadly in 2020, with the focused buying on canon/carmes (as ever)
Thirteen minutes to read. Two hours to digest, check my inventory, look at prices and availability, ponder the next twenty years of life…
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When I tasted it at UGC last year, BC was one of the better wines, and I put it in my buy list (and I did in the end). Margaux & Saint Julien wines were very strong across the board, imo. I also liked Saint Emilion (I bought Canon as well), but those may be more polarizing for traditional palates.
At the risk of rekindling some old controversy, I think it would be nice if you could share a bit of information just in the interest of disclosure around your own Southwolds scoring process, e.g. are the published scores blinded, are you consistent in the translation from 20 point scale to 100 point scale (eg do all 17/20 wines translate to the same /100 score +/- 1-1.5 points?), and would you be willing to release your own raw and published data, how consistent were you on wines that you tasted twice? What percentage of bottles would you say showed poorly?
Just curious
Edit - apologies I think I’ve just remembered you publish a 20 point score anyway
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Hey Jim. I missed this message. DM me if you wanna discuss in private?