Matthew Jukes (19+)

Created in 1988 as a tribute to Elisabeth Salmon, one of the House’s founders, this is the latest release and it has already benefitted from a remarkable ten years on its lees, because my sample was disgorged in October 2020. Made from 76% Grands Crus and 24% Premiers Crus, 55% Pinot Noir comes from Bouzy, Ambonnay, Verzy, Verzenay, Mareuil-sur-Äy and Äy and 45% Chardonnay comes from Chouilly, Cramant and Mesnil-sur-Oger. 9% red wine was added from Valofroy, a parcel of particularly old vines (60+ years old in 2008) situated high up on the hill above the winery in Mareuil. And 17% of the wine was vinified at low temperature in oak barrels which are, on average, 15 years old. The dosage is 7g/L. For the very first time, Elisabeth is available in magnums. I enjoyed an energetic tasting with Mathieu Roland-Billecart and he explained that this 2008 vintage seems like it has stolen the finest parts of each of the 1996 (tension), 2002 (layers of flavour) and the 2007 (refinement) and rolled them all into one wine! In a way, this is a fabulous analogy, but there is more to this vintage than meets the eye. The freshness and acidity here are both spectacular. These notes underpin the refined flavour with jolts of electricity which gather to form bolts of lightning. This is a young wine and yet the tenderness of the fruit is perfectly counterpointed by the shocking youthfulness on the finish. I cannot believe that 13 years have passed in the blink of an eye and so this means that 2008 Elisabeth might well be one of the slowest to age and longest-lived wines under this label to date. Having said this, the fruit is already magnificent. Mathieu asked me if I was familiar with the great French dessert clafoutis! At once a cherry clafoutis aroma arose from the glass, with faint notes of ginger blossom, saffron and white pepper. This is a crystalline and yet kaleidoscopic wine with fractals of flavour which splinter and shiver on the palate. It is high-tensile at the same time as being fragile and demure. It is everything Elisabeth would have wanted in her namesake wine.

The Champagne Guide (99)

"(disgorged in 2012; 60% Montagne de Reims pinot noir, 40% Côte des Blancs chardonnay; 18% barrel-fermented in old oak casks; partial malolactic fermentation; 4g/L dosage)... Even at 13 years of age it upholds brilliant primary definition of icy lemon citrus, with only subtle graceful evolution of nougat and butter, promising decades of potential yet. As always, the greatness of Billecart is proclaimed not by impact or power, but by slowly rising complexity and profound chalk mineral presence. Its cascade of minerality is very fine, to the point of silkiness, yet simultaneously poised and confident. Delightful poise and intricate craftsmanship proclaim one of the great Billecarts of the modern era, a champagne with many characters and subplots to reveal, to be enjoyed slowly in the presence of the most intimate company--and ideally not for at least another decade.

Wine Advocate (97+)

The Biondi-Santi 2015 Brunello di Montalcino exudes dark, velvety fruit and concentration while maintaining the signature elegance, suppleness and lithe personalty that distinguishes the iconic Il Greppo estate. I found this new release to be quite distinctive and exquisitely beautiful, setting it apart from many of the past vintages we are most familiar with. This 2015 edition is dark, exuberant and bold, but precise, focused and sharp as well. It will live for years in your cellar, but tasted now in its infancy, the wine shows blackberry, dried cherry, plum and dark cassis. Those dark fruit tones segue to a rich presentation of tar, spice, earth, tobacco and sweet balsam herb. The bouquet offers seamless and smooth transitions. This warm and sunny growing season favored richness and phenolic weight. Wines from Biondi-Santi are made for the long haul, and the fresh acidity that characterizes this estate is the principle reason why. However, I'd argue that this wine from 2015 will evolve over the years not only thanks to the freshness but more so thanks to the important structure of this solid and profound wine.

Vinous (97)

The 2021 Chardonnay Reed Vineyard is pure, harmonious and suave, caressing the mouth with its gentle texture and purity. It's not showy but a wine worth getting to know: it provides cognitive and sensory pleasure. You can expect almond, oatmeal, smoky nuts and party popper aromas. Yes, party poppers. I really love the smell of party poppers, so I want to keep smelling this and having a little party shimmy. Pure and textural with a gourmand character that will make you want to lick your cheeks to keep tasting it. Already good; this is going to be great.

James Suckling (95-96)

A savory and juicy Carruades with softness and notes of ripe berry, cedar and dried tobacco. Like Lafite from the 1980s but more precise. Round and pretty. It really grows on the finish with such sweetness of fruit and length. Pointed, fine tannins at the end. Very long. A blend of 60% cabernet sauvignon and 40% merlot.

Jancis Robinson (19)

Aromas of green and yellow fruit mix it with flinty minerality. The palate shows a little more fruit than the straight Marienburg, grapefruit with peel and pith, but without any tropical aspirations. Nuances of salt and quinine give an almost medicinal tang, but a generous texture makes the medicine go down without any resistance. Very cool, the essence of mineral Riesling.

Tim Atkin MW (97)

Right up there with the best Chardonnays Chile, and South America, has ever produced. This stunning wine comes from five specific blocks within the Quebrada Secain Limarí. Tangy, chiselled and refined, with very stylish oak. It’s the kind of thing that could embarrass a range of Puligny-Montrachet Premiers Crus in a blind tasting. Simply stunning

Decanter (96)

Elegant perfume of lavender, wet stones and jasmine haunt the nose of this expressive and vibrant wine. With the chalky minerality and tangy finish that are trademarks of Limarí, this shows great regional typicity and is a mouthwatering wine with subtle oak integration. A complex yet elegant style.

Jancis Robinson (17.5)

Superb. The acidity is geometric, triangular, feisty, orange-blossom fragrant, direct. The fruit is orange and passion fruit bleeding into plums and tea leaves and sage and mint and thyme and scribbles of pencils and late-summer nights and the finish is like walking through a just-harvested hay field when the first cool rain of autumn is falling soft as mist. Love this. It's delicious, delicious, delicious. I tasted it right at the end of a very long tasting – seven hours on my feet – and it quite literally revived my flagging soul.

Vinous (98)

The 2002 Dom Pérignon is unforgettable. Rich, sumptuous and flamboyant to the core, the 2002 captures all of the radiance of a year in which ripeness in the Chardonnays was pushed to the edge. The 2002 is oily and viscous on the palate, with tremendous textural resonance in all of its dimensions. Tropical fruit, pastry and exotic floral notes all build as the 2002 opens up with air. I can still remember the first time I tasted the 2002, here in the Hautvillers cloister, with former Chef de Caves Richard Geoffroy. It was thrilling back then, and is every bit as memorable today.

Tim Atkin MW (96)

The Savage Red is now a varietal Syrah from a vineyard on decomposed granite in Kuils River, right next door to the Polkadraai Hills. Peppery, pure and intense, with no new oak to occlude the flavours, lots of plum and blackberry fruit, detailed tannins and a stony, refreshing finish. Brilliant winemaking.

James Suckling (97)

A hint of flint and gunpowder with waxed lemon, oyster shell, mango and salted green apples. Quite a textured, saline expression of chardonnay with tangy flavors and a mineral drive. Full-bodied and reductive with phenolic support. Savory, saline and mouthwatering finish. Love the austerity here. Drink or hold.

Wine Advocate (95)

This wine always stands out in my mind, and it's worth dedicating a few words as to why. Poggio Valente offers us a rare opportunity to taste Sangiovese made according to the highest standards but from a territory—on the Tuscan Coast—that does not share a big legacy with monovarietal Sangiovese reds. The Fattoria le Pupille 2019 Poggio Valente was born in a happy vintage with a cool spring and a growing season that had plenty of underground water reserves to keep the vines hydrated well until the end of August. This is a full and generous wine with dark cherry and wild plum aromas that segue to tar, licorice and crushed slate. My sample (tasted a few weeks after bottling) was a little shy initially, but it quickly blossomed in the glass.

James Suckling (98)

An exceptional vintage for this wine, with such intense aromas of lime and sweet flowers, as well as hints of white nectarine and wet stone in the background. The palate has density and sleekly refined shape that drives so long. Lime juice throughout, and some almost pithy density builds into the finish, supported by driving acidity. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but best from 2026 and a number of years after that. Screw cap.

Wine Advocate (100)

One of the greatest wines produced in Bordeaux this year is the 2019 Lafite Rothschild, an impeccably balanced classic of immense charm and grace. Wafting from the glass with arresting aromas of cassis, blackberries and cherries mingled with violets, cigar box and warm spices, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and seamless, its velvety attack segueing into a layered, concentrated mid-palate framed by exquisitely powdery tannins and ripe acids, and concluding with a long, perfumed finish. This rivals the 2010 and 2016 as the greatest Lafite of the decade, and of those three vintages, it's clearly the most sensual and demonstrative out of the gates. The blend contains fully 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and attained a modest 13.4% alcohol.

Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (97)

You just know that this estate is well placed to succeed in the vintage, and this really does walk the line of ripeness and salinity, such gorgeous definition and vivid energetic fruit. Stretches out through the palate also, has a relaxed confidece to it that is quite unusual in such a full--on vintage. Really impressive, Beaumartin family, David Suire director.

Vinous - Antonio Galloni (94)

The 2019 Le Petit Smith Haut Lafitte is fabulous. Rich, powerful and vibrant, Le Petit packs a serious punch. Readers will have a hard time keeping their hands off this jewel of a wine. Black cherry, plum, new leather, licorice, mocha and dried herbs build as this effusive, generous wine shows off its racy, alluring personality. I loved it.

Vinous - Antonio Galloni (98)

The 2012 Cristal is the first made entirely from biodynamically farmed vineyards. Passionfruit, mango, spice and ginger open first, but it is the wine’s textural richness and volume that stand out most. The 2012 is one of the most opulent, flamboyant recent Cristals. Those qualities feel especially amplified in this tasting, perhaps because of the presence of wines from the surrounding vintages. It was a complicated season, as mildew reduced yields significantly, resulting in an especially rich Cristal that seems to be gaining intensity with time in bottle. Dosage is 7 grams per liter. Disgorged: 2020.

Jeb Dunnuck (98)

Sourced from 39 plots, the 2014 Champagne Cristal is 60% Pinot Noir and the remainder Chardonnay, with 32% aged in oak, and it has 7 grams per liter dosage. It is highly expressive of classic elegance and purity, revealing aromas of crushed rock, almond croissant, and perfume of citrus blossoms. The palate is hyper-refined in its mousse, with pinpoint bubbles, a subtly rounded mid-palate, an irresistible chalky texture, and energy throughout its long and floral finish. Everything about this feels perfectly tailored. Drink 2024-2044.

Vinous (99)

Tasted from magnum, the 2013 Cristal Rosé is ravishing. Dense, creamy and powerful, the 2013 captures all the qualities of the vintage, specifically the interplay of rich fruit from the warm summer and cooler inflections from a year that started late and ended late with a rare October harvest. Today, the 2013 is deep and beautifully seamless, but it is also young – far too young to be at its best. Dosage is 6.5 grams per liter, a bit less than for the standard bottlings, a decision taken to balance longer aging on the lees and a bit more residual sugar that is always left in the magnums after fermentation. Readers who can find the 2013 in magnum will experience one of the greatest thrills in wine.

Jeb Dunnuck (97)

A rock star Margaux that should be snatched up by readers, the 2018 Château Marquis D'Alesme reveals a dense purple hue as well as ripe, sexy notes of blackcurrants, spicy oak, tobacco leaf, earth, and cedar. Deep, full-bodied, and gorgeously concentrated, it has velvety tannins, a layered, mouthcoating texture, and a great finish. It's a baby, but wow, what a wine. Hide bottle for 5-7 years if you can (you'll be forgiven for opening a bottle early) and it's going to evolve for 30-40 years.

Wine Advocate (97)

The 2018 St Henri Shiraz is a terrific effort, perhaps rivaling the top-flight wines under this label in 1976 and 1986. Remarkably fine and silky in texture yet simultaneously dense and concentrated, it showcases the amazing fruit harvested in 2018. Boysenberry, mulberry and mocha shadings all swirl together effortlessly in a whorl of full-bodied elegance, finishing long and effortless. Mainly Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, it includes smaller amounts of fruit from Port Lincoln, Robe, Padthaway, Clare Valley and the Adelaide Hills, all aged 12 months in large old wooden vats.

Wine Advocate (95)

The 2020 Inseparable comes from a warm and dry year, when they picked earlier and achieved a wine with lower alcohol than the 2019 that I tasted next to it, 14% here versus 14.5% in 2019—half a degree that was noticeable. It's juicier and more approachable too, and it feels fine-boned and balanced, with good acidity. Since 2019, the wine is kept unoaked, fermented and matured in concrete for 12 months. It's a more approachable vintage with fine-grained tannins. 6,000 bottles were filled in February 2021, as it was a lower-yielding year.

Falstaff (99)

Bright, flint garnet red. Seductive nose with pronounced notes of wild raspberry, some strawberry, underlaid with liquorice tones. On the palate extremely juicy and clear, many churches, in addition pomegranate and some blood orange, much tension, very long finish.

Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (98-100)

A wine to convince you of the quality and ripeness of Cabernet Sauvignon in Pauillac in this 2023 vintage, showcasing superbly supple tannins, great balance, depth and savoury blue and black fruit character, bitter cocoa bean, freshly cut herbs, black tea, fennel, all vivid and with purity of character. There is density here but it is not overt, with heightened raspberry leaf, peony and violet aromatics. Vinified in the newly-completed section of the cellars, in egg-shaped wooden vats and sunken qveri-style clay vats. 50% new oak for ageing, with 35% amphora and 15% one year old barrels. One of the wines of the vintage. New lighter bottle as of the 2022 around 490g, down from 815g in the past, 30 tonnes of CO2 saved just in terms of production. Harvest September 7, one day earlier than 2022, then slow picking through to October 10, later than many in Pauillac - and normal yields of around 40hl/h.

Jeb Dunnuck (94-96)

Also showing considerable elegance, the 2019 Gigondas Les Souteyrades sports a ruby/purple hue to go with beautiful and exotic notes of black raspberries, kirsch, candied orange, violets, and peppery garrigue. Beautifully balanced, medium to full-bodied, and downright silky on the palate, this heavenly Grenache should be snatched up by readers. It's going to keep for 15 years.

Vinous - Neal Martin (93)

The 2018 Sergant, which impressed from barrel, has a captivating bouquet of precise black cherry, wild strawberry and rose petal aromas that waft from the glass. The palate is well balanced with fine-grained tannins, a silky-smooth texture and beautifully integrated oak toward the finish. This is a top-quality Lalande de Pomerol, a bit of a hidden gem. Go seek!

Scoring 98 points from the Wine Advocate's Lisa Perrotti-Brown, 97 points from Decanter's Jane Anson and 18.5/20 from Jancis Robinson MW, this 2009 "remains the benchmark Suduiraut of recent years".

 

Still taking a while to open up fully, indicting a very long life ahead, it has a "divine bouquet... building layer upon layer" (NM) that "seductively unfurls" (WA) with gorgeous notes of honey, dried pineapple, chamomile tea, yellow flowers and nectarine. The rich, viscous and satiny texture of the palate is "effortlessly" countered by a "beautiful razor-sharp line of acidity" (NM) that gives this Sauternes bags of freshness. With "epic length and depth" (WA) on the finish, this is a wine that will span generations with Neal Martin giving it a drinking window up to 2070.