95+ Points

Our 2008 vintage Estate Cabernet Sauvignon's intrinsic aromatic notes of dry sage, black licorice and smoky earth terroir are wrapped in a cloak of dense black cherry and raspberry cream. Layered with provocative nuances of... Read More

Adi Badenhorst is a central figure in the rise of Swartland, and this bottling demonstrates why the district has become so revered. The wine is named after the yellow-coloured granite rocks found in this vineyard, planted in 1966.... Read More

As always, this is a knock-out. Produced from the 80-year-old vines in the Grand Maupertuis section of the clos, this is perennially at the top of my list in the Clos de Vougeot. Aged in one-third new casks using barrels from... Read More

Its dense ruby/purple color is followed by beautiful aromas of blueberries, black currants, acacia flowers, licorice, and spice. The tannins are softer than I remember, but this is certainly one of the vintage’s most extraordinary... Read More

Flirting with perfection, the 2018 Estate Red is an off-the-hook beauty based on 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot, and the rest Malbec and Merlot. Full-bodied, flawlessly balanced, and both powerful... Read More

Winemaker Chris Peterson is on fire making world-class wine in Washington! You may know him as the celebrated winemaker at DeLille cellars, but Peterson has branched into other projects in the Yakima Valley, in particular a partnership... Read More

This is a laser-guided Champagne with fabulous energy and intensity with a tight palate, racy acidity and super fine phenolics. It goes on and on. Fine bubbles. Light pine and praline character. One for the cellar.

The 1998 exhibits a dark plum/purple color along with an extraordinary perfume of liquid minerals, cassis, black cherries, tobacco, spice box, and vanillin. There is fabulous density on the palate, high tannin, admirable concentration,... Read More

Made from equal parts 459 and 37 clones, the 2017 Pinot Noir Machado has a complex bouquet of blackberries, caramelized orange peel, spice, and earth. It's a beautiful, elegant wine, with medium to full-bodied richness, fine... Read More

Bright, full red-ruby. Delightfully floral and cool on the nose following the 2004, offering good mineral lift to the aromas of red berries, licorice and rose petal. Clearly tighter than the '04, in a much more classic style... Read More

The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Coliseum Block is a dark, Gothic-like, supple-textured, rich, stunning wine boasting abundant notes of barbecue spice, forest floor, black and blue fruits and a hint of truffles. Full-bodied, dense... Read More

The Bordeaux-styled reds begin with the 2007 Camaspelo, a blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 8% Cabernet Franc. The already complex aromatics reveal mineral, Asian spices, incense, violets, black currant and black... Read More

The 2008 Camaspelo is made up of 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot. Fresh herbs and spices, earthy minerals, cassis, and black currant aromas lead to an elegant, stylish Catherine Deneuve of a wine.

The Camaspelo blend is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot, and it shows a riot of juicy cranberry, raspberry, blueberry and black cherry flavors in a rambunctious display of power. Full, round and balanced, it offers hints... Read More

More Cabernet Sauvignon dominated, the 2011 Camaspelo incorporates 20% Merlot and was aged in 50-60% new French oak. One of the few 2011s that has some upside, it offers up a smoke-laced array of black currants, singed herbs,... Read More

A blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon and 16% Merlot, the 2012 Camaspelo is more refined and elegant than the Lovers release, showing a seamless, elegant profile to go with lots of dark fruits, savory herbs, graphite and hints of... Read More

Moving away from the Rhônes-styled efforts and the most up-front and perfumed of the Bordeaux blends (just ahead of the Widowmaker), the 2010 Flying Pig is a Cabernet Franc-dominated blend that incorporates 37% Merlot and... Read More

Another thrilling ’08 that continues to shows brilliantly, the 2008 Cayuse Syrah Cailloux Vineyard is elegant and perfumed, with classic Cayuse aromas of kirsch liqueur, rolled stones, meat juice, and smoked herb qualities... Read More

From the first whiff, the Krug 2006 has an alluring array of delectable scents, ranging from subtle notes of smoked almonds and flowers to gentle spices including curry and caraway. On the palate, the mouthfeel is generous and... Read More

The flagship from this great estate is the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill, which checks in as a blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot. It has an incredible nose of pure blue fruits as well as flowers, crushed... Read More

Firm and structured, this beautifully concentrated wine has plenty of the dark tannins that come out of Cabernet Sauvignon in Saint-Estèphe while allowing room for juicy fruit. The wood aging is still showing, giving some... Read More

Armailhac has held its success from en primeur and has further gained in weight during ageing. This is a wine that is changing a little in style, deepening in profile and upping the new oak for ageing from 30% to 50% (and staying... Read More

This is an incredible young Yquem that is so vinous like a great vintage of Montrachet but then on the palate it turns to Yquem with spice, dried fruit and mushroom as well as sweet fruit. Last for minutes. Acidity is all there... Read More

The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape was scheduled to be bottled the week after this tasting, and it's the usual blend of 35% Mourvedre, 25% Grenache, and the rest Syrah, Counoise, and other permitted varieties. While the estate... Read More

The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape was scheduled to be bottled the week after this tasting, and it's the usual blend of 35% Mourvedre, 25% Grenache, and the rest Syrah, Counoise, and other permitted varieties. While the estate... Read More

This is a dense and layered red with blackberries, blueberries and hints of hazelnuts. Full-bodied, very tight and focused. Impressive young tannins. Velvety texture. Very pretty to taste. Juicy and delicious. 43% merlot, 47%... Read More

From the very first sip you see why certain wines just have a hold on the imagination. This has the full intensity of St-Émilion with none of the need to shout about it or push its point home. It's just effortlessly... Read More

Blueberries, tar and licorice on the nose. Full-bodied, solid and dense. Velvety tannins. Long finish. Down on this! Needs at least two or three years to soften.

The 2012 Haut Bailly is brilliant and does nothing to damper my belief that this vintage is underrated in the market. Offering up a classic bouquet of tobacco leaf, cigar wrapper, blackcurrants, lead pencil, and graphite, this... Read More

Tasted on two separate occasions, the 2016 Château Pape Clément never failed to disappoint, offering a huge, powerful, full-bodied personality as well as beautiful notes of cassis, graphite, high-class cigar tobacco,... Read More

The 2018 Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse De Lalande is a monster of a wine with an almost Château Latour-like stature and structure, offering deep, backward, slightly reductive notes of blackcurrants, crushed stone,... Read More

Subdued on the first nose but opens up to show the rich, citrus and rosemary-filled grown up glamour that Smith Haut Lafitte's white does so well. Acidity feels lower than in vintages like 2017 but similar to last year, with... Read More

El Lugar is the passion project of Coby Parker-Garcia & his family. Parker-Garcia made a name for himself at Clairborne & Churchill in Santa Barabara County for Alsatian white varieties, but Pinot Noir and Syrah were always a... Read More

More tobacco, peppery herbs, graphite, asphalt, and crushed stone notes emerge from the 2019 Chopping Block, another rich, powerful, yet still fresh and lively wine from winemaker Connor McMahon. It's going to round into form... Read More

Crisp and bright Sauvignon character but with added depth, flesh and mouthfeel that comes across in a lovely expansion through the mid palate, and slate walls to drag things down to a snail's pace through the finish. Accomplished... Read More

Despite the heat of the vintage and serious ripeness (14.5% alcohol), this is surprisingly elegant and nuanced. There is a pleasant lemony accent to the ripe tropical flavours coloured with hints of cream, butter, and spice. On... Read More

It’s always educational, and a treat, to taste the latest vintage of Louis Roederer’s flagship Cristal Champagne. This cuvee is sourced from 45 separate plots covering just under 200 acres spread between the villages... Read More

The 2021 Melville Estate Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir is a brilliant pale ruby purple-garnet color in the glass. Wonderfully perfumed aromas of bright cherry, red plum, and spice notes can be found in the beautiful Pinot. Hints... Read More

Black-cherry, dried-strawberry, slate and sandstone aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, medium-chewy and bright at the end. The texture and intensity are beautiful and pure. Energy and depth.

The two most expensive offerings include the 2007 Reserve Claret. Its opaque purple color is followed by a beautiful flowery nose revealing notions of blueberry pie, blackberries, cassis and a hint of vanillin in the background.... Read More

The Greco grape is naturally rich in pigments, and when it reaches full maturity, the grape takes on a golden color with amber highlights. That is the inspiration behind the wine's name, which evokes the yellow color so adored... Read More

Molly, our wine buyer, just took an 'exploratory mission' to Sonoma County that included, among others, a tasting at the legendary cellars of David Ramey. Though Ramey has firm footing in Sonoma, his roots run deep in... Read More

The 2019 Small Vines Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is all hand-harvested from their estate-grown and organically farmed vineyards. The husband and wife team of Paul and Kathryn Sloan called their winery Small Vines in reference to the... Read More

The sensational 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate (their 25th anniversary selection) may be the best wine Staglin has ever made. Tasting like a classic Margaux or St.-Julien, it offers up notes of new saddle leather, cedar, spice... Read More

The sucrosity and richness of the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate are prodigious. This dense purple-colored offering from the famous Rutherford AVA exhibits copious red and black fruits (especially blackberries and dark jammy cherries),... Read More

A ripe and generous red with ripe berry, smoky meat and leather. Full-bodied, round and velvety. Extremely rich style for 2013. Drink or hold.

Still showing brilliantly (and I don't expect that to change), the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate has the ripe, expansive, sexy style of the vintage front and center. Loads of crème de cassis, blueberries, crushed violets,... Read More

Still in barrel, the 2021 Côtes de Tablas is a blend of 47% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 15% Counoise and 8% Mourvèdre. It opens with some tarry reduction at this stage over a core of blueberries, blackberries and cranberries,... Read More

Inky purple black with narrow magenta rim. Classic Taylor nose, with exotic scents of violet and gumcistus set against an impenetrable background of intense dark berry fruit. Stylish and racy palate, displaying a tight fabric... Read More

The 2019 Terminim 'Alder Springs Vineyard' Syrah is made by the iconic Don Patz, who was the founder of Patz & Hall. This wine was made in partnership with the famous Francois Villard who is one of the top producers in... Read More

Always a selection of the top lots in a vintage, the 2018 Black Magic is based on 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc. It's another incredible wine from this talented team, revealing a saturated... Read More

Always a selection of the top lots in a vintage, the 2018 Black Magic is based on 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc. It's another incredible wine from this talented team, revealing a saturated... Read More

Sensational aromas of blackberries, blueberries, violets and wet earth. Tar undertones. Full body, chewy yet polished tannins and a long, flavorful finish. A neoclassical wine with a great future. A majority of cabernet sauvignon... Read More

The 2013 La Muse, like all of the 2013s, comes about one-third from Alexander Valley vineyards, 40-plus percent from Chalk Hill, and the rest Knights Valley and Bennett Valley - all high-elevation hillside vineyards. A blend of... Read More

The 2013 Le Desir represents 2,500 cases. This is the softest of the three wines in 2013, and this blend of 61% Cabernet Franc, 23% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec emerges with more than half of the cuvée coming... Read More

This is such a beautifully nuanced red with tobacco, dried herbs, wet earth and currants. Some leather and rose petals, too. Full-bodied and chewy, yet refined with great polish. It’s rich and intense at the same time. Very... Read More