Wine Advocate (100)

Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Cheval Blanc is still incredibly primary at this very youthful stage. With coaxing, it unfurls to reveal beguiling notions of ripe black cherries, mulberries, licorice, baking spices and smoked meats with touches of incense and potpourri plus wafts of cast iron pan and crushed rocks. Full-bodied, very rich, very firm/taut and with very ripe, fine-grained tannins, it allows a glimpse at its incredible depth of flavors with a very long multi-layered finish. Wow.

The Wine Independent (100)

The 2016 Cheval Blanc is a blend of 58% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon and has a deep garnet-purple color. It needs a fair bit of swirling to unlock a powerful, profound nose of cassis, black raspberries, and stewed plums, followed by suggestions of Indian spices, fragrant soil, crushed rocks, and menthol, with a touch of violets. Medium-bodied, the palate is bright, energetic and gracefully styled, featuring youthful blackberry layers and loads of mineral and floral sparks, with a fine-grained, beautifully ripe texture, finishing long and earthy. Mind-blowing!

The Wine Independent (100)

The 2019 Cheval Blanc is a blend of 58% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Franc, and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon. 41 out of 53 blocks have had a part to play this year, representing 10 different soil types. The Grand Vin in 2019 represents 82% of production. Deep purple-black in color, it needs a lot of swirling to shake loose fragrant scents of Indian spice, potpourri, star anise, and cardamom, over a core of preserved plums, boysenberries, and charcoal with touches of wood smoke and cracked black pepper. Full-bodied, rich and immediately impactful in the mouth, the layered nuances slowly expand, beautifully framed by ripe, rounded tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with cascading savory and earth flavors and lots of lingering mineral notes.

Wine Advocate (100)

The often-mysterious and ever-changing 2018 La Faraona comes from the vineyard called El Ferro, a very special plot ("I personally prune each single vine from La Faraona," Ricardo once told me. "She's mine!") of only 0.55 hectares that probably has 8% white grapes of the Godello and Jerez varieties. The vines are 72 years old on a very steep southeast-facing slope at 800 to 860 meters in altitude, and there is a tectonic fault that crosses the land and brings an unusual combination of elements and very shallow soils with the mother rock barely 30 centimeters down. The partly destemmed grapes fermented with indigenous yeasts in an oak vat, and the wine matured in foudre and barrique for 12 months. The perfume coming out of the glass was simply mind-boggling, a subtle and complex combination of flowers, herbs and spices that had taken me to different places (often the Loire) in the past, but this time it took me to the green and humid slopes of the Bierzo, the wet soils and the Atlantic smell of the ferns and moss. This is the most Atlantic of the 2018s. It has freshness and lightness but also lots of energy and light. It has great purity, a very strong sense of place, and it encapsulates the humid slopes of Corullón like no other. This is nothing short of amazing. Ricardo told me this has been the only vintage of La Faraona where the wine was harmonious all the way, starting from the grapes, which gives me an idea of a wine that is going to show and drink nicely throughout its life. It's different from the 2014, which was from a cooler year, but this is every bit as good. 1,666 bottles, 54 magnums, 10 double magnums and six jeroboams were filled the 22nd of January 2020. They've been regrafting a good percentage of the white vines to red for eight years.

James Suckling (99)

Expressive, scented and nimble on the nose with refined mineral and a hint of white sesame-like reduction. Subtle white pepper, herbs and red berries extend to a extremely mineral-textured palate full of tactile allures, which makes it even more engaging. I love the subtle delineation from this vintage, which is elegant, dialed-back and soft-spoken, full of etherealness and cohesion. A vintage where La Faraona delivers more austere minerality and verticality over the more perfumed, precise Las Lamas. From organically grown grapes. Delicious now, but will hold, too.

Wine Advocate (97-99)

I had already tasted the 2021 Moncerbal from barrel and found it extraordinary, so I was looking forward to this sample again. It has the bramble freshness (sometimes reminiscent of the 2013s) with good weight. It's medium-bodied with very fine tannins and pungent flavors of flowers and freshly cut grass. A great Moncerbal in the making.

Falstaff (100)

Deep dark ruby, opaque core, purple reflections, faint brightening on the rim. Notes of dried herbs, suede and sage mixed with blackberry confit, candied violet and a hint of dark pesto. Powerful, juicy, pronounced fruit component, fleshy without being opulent, silky, sustainable tannins, has enormous length, mineral, fine savoury nuances of anise, a hint of nougat, black forest berry fruit on the finish, despite its youth already seductive.

James Suckling (100)

This has a very complex nose, offering so many facets of spices and fragrance with florals and orange peel, as well as crushed stones, ripe black cherries, blackberries and dark cherries, earth, chocolate and more. The intensity and power here is very tightly held and it has a build of such precise tannins, which carry very intense and assertively ripe blackberries, dark cherries, ripe plums and blueberries. So much on offer here. This has a very bold, intense feel. Exceptional vintage. One of their finest. Try from 2028. Screw cap.

Jeb Dunnuck (100)

The 2008 Cristal is a perfect wine, and Champagne simple does not get any better. This incredible wine offers a beautiful perfume of clean, crisp fruits, layers of complexity in its toasted spice and white flowers, and an utterly seamless, yet powerful style on the palate. This is a rich, decadent expression of Cristal yet it’s still crystalline and elegant, with no sensation of weight, and it just glides over the palate. Haut Couture at its finest and this majestic, profound, legendary Cristal can be drunk anytime over the coming 2-3 decades.

Decanter (99)

Created in 1876 to satisfy the demanding tastes of Tsar Alexander II, Louis Roederer’s Cristal has since become a symbol of luxury all around the world. Produced only during the best years, it’s made from 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, the grapes coming from 45 of the finest lieux-dits in the region. 2013 was a late bloomer, with flowering only taking place in July after a cool spring. The summer was ideal with long periods of dry and warm weather. One third of the wine is aged in oak and there’s no malolactic fermentation. Vincenzo Arnese: Packed with elegant yet powerful aromas of ripe orchard trees that merge with brioche and dry cookies. This is a harmonious and well-defined Champagne with integrated residual sugar and astonishing acidity. Divine! Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW: Lemon coloured with a pink hue. Like a blanc de noirs, with cherries and white fruit aromas. Balanced and suave. Goes from less to more, with an exceptionally long and complex finish. Amanda Barnes: Appealing notes on the nose of pastry dough and apple tart that are very open. On the palate there’s beautiful concentration with lingering savoury notes. Minerally and sophisticated. Nominated by Peter Liem

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.

Wine Advocate (100)

Deep garnet colored, the 2009 Pontet-Canet is a little shut down to begin, but with coaxing this baby is soon firing on all cylinders with a full-throttle nose of chocolate-covered cherries, crème de cassis, boysenberries and spice cake plus tons of kirsch and cranberry sauce sparks and a beautiful undercurrent of emerging tertiary characters: cigar box, sandalwood, chargrill, truffles and cast iron pan. Full-bodied, rich, multilayered and completely seductive, the palate is charged with incredible energy, with a firm backbone of velvety tannins and seamless freshness providing solid grounding and promising a very long life ahead. It finishes with an incredible display of epically long-lasting flavor fireworks. Wow!

Wine Advocate (100)

The 2010 Pontet-Canet offers a very deep garnet color. Whoa—the nose explodes with a vast array of black fruit preserves and savory nuances: plum preserves, blackcurrant cordial, black cherry coulis and licorice with wafts of dried lavender, melted chocolate, charcuterie, black olives, truffles and camphor plus a hint of sandalwood. The full-bodied palate is completely filled with black fruits, exotic spices and earthy nuances with a firm foundation of ripe, grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing with epic length and depth. So much more expressive and seductive than a lot of 2010s at this stage, and yet it is still incredibly youthful!

Wine Enthusiast (100)

A voluptuous wine, this is rich and fruity yet properly balanced by a magnificent structure. Pure, crisp and packed with a black currant flavor, this will be a remarkable wine as it develops. Still young, it needs many years to develop. Don't think about drinking before 2025.

Jeb Dunnuck (100)

Pure perfection, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello is a sensational effort from this estate that should be snatched up by drinkers and collectors. Based on 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc that was brought up mostly in new American oak, this saturated purple-hued beauty is legendary Monte Bello in the making and has a stunning yet primordial bouquet of crème de cassis, lead pencil shavings, graphite, chocolate, and chalky minerality. Full-bodied, incredibly powerful, and one of the most concentrated versions of this cuvée ever made (I've had most of them), it needs a solid decade of bottle age and will have 50-60 years of overall longevity. Despite the long drinking window, it offers plenty of pleasure even today. I followed this bottle for two days and it showed best right out of the gate, closing down and becoming more brooding and backward with air. It's an incredible wine that I promise you won't regret having in your cellar.

Wine Advocate (100)

The 2013 Monte Bello is a very special vintage for this great wine. Amazingly, it has yet to shut down, unfurling in the glass to reveal a bouquet of black raspberries, cassis, rich espresso roast, cigar wrapper, subtle black truffle and burning embers that has already integrated its 100% new oak remarkably completely. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, powerful and multidimensional, with a lavishly textural attack that segues into a stunningly layered, richly structured mid-palate endowed with incredible depth and concentration underpinned by succulent acids. The finish is long, vibrant and beautifully delineated. The 2013 is a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% Merlot, and it attained 13.6% natural alcohol. Analytically, this ranks as one of the most tannic vintages of Monte Bello ever produced, but the tannins are of such high quality and cloaked in such a wealth of fruit that Ridge forwent their habitual egg white fining this year—beginning a trend that has continued since. This profound Monte Bello will begin to blossom as it reaches age ten and should prove practically immortal.

Wine Advocate (98)

From the first sniff, the 2020 Columella is an instant champion that is pointing and swinging for the fence. With its fresh frame of fruit and expertly layered oaky essences, the wine is incredibly complex as it bursts from the glass with precision and finesse. Medium-bodied and with 13.5% alcohol, the Columella somersaults into a phantasmagoria of bright crunchy red fruit flavors and seductive floral essences that makes my head spin. Collectors will take note and add a couple of bottles of this to their cellar. It’s an absolutely stellar bottling that will age gracefully for decades.

Vinous (88)

The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon shows good up front fruit, but that fades pretty quickly, ultimately exposing a compact mid-palate and abrupt, drying finish. This is a fine record of the year, but there is no way to get past the significant challenges 2020 posed.