Jancis Robinson (19)

100% new oak. Not the flash appeal of the Clos de Bèze and it's so much more youthful but it’s a huge success in 2011. Chewy end and more muscular but it’s all there for the taking – except that it’s a bit tighter than Clos de Bèze so may be better to concentrate on the latter for the moment. Vibrant and resonant.

Vinous (98)

The 2017 Chambertin Grand Cru is just a glorious success. Vivid red fruit, Morello cherries, wild strawberry and pressed violets on the nose, the aromatics here feel so animated and exquisitely defined. The palate is perfectly balanced with a killer line of acidity: crystalline red fruit, filigree tannins and more freshness than it knows what to do with. There is a sense of "channeled intensity" in this Chambertin and whilst there is no question that it is a 20- to 30-years wine, I felt no guilt in polishing this off in its youth. Tasted at Maison de Colombier in Beaune.

Vinous (96)

Rousseau's 2011 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St. Jacques is flat-out gorgeous. Waves of blue/purplish fruit hit the palate in an intense, explosive Burgundy loaded with pure class and pedigree. This is another 2011 that is going to need considerable time in bottle to come around. Today, the Clos St. Jacques impresses for its richness, power and depth.

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 Enthusiast (98)

The flagship of the Clarendon Hills line, this comes from a patch of 80-year-old vines that winemaker Bratasiuk claims routinely provides his best fruit. The 2004 is a stunner, yielding up scents of flowers and spice, framed by hints of vanillin oak. It's dense and amply textured in the mouth, packed with wonderfully expressive blackberry and blueberry fruit, then shows layers of rich tannins on the finish that leave no doubt this needs time in the cellar to show its best. This is a tour de force of Australian winemaking that should be consumed 2010-2025.

LaRVF (95)

Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair La Romanée Grand Cru 2004

The Wine Independent (100)

Deep garnet in color, the 2016 Cos d'Estournel is quite closed to start, requiring a lot of coaxing to bring out profound notions of creme de cassis, wild blueberries, black cherry compote, and rose oil, leading to suggestions of Indian spices, crushed rocks, and dried lavender. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is both opulent and energetic, revealing loads of perfumed black fruit layers and a plush, polished texture, finishing with epic length and depth.

Wine Advocate (100)

It's an historical wine, a one-off, semi-sweet white produced at the end of the Spanish Civil War, a wine impossible to replicate, fruit of impossible circumstances, a wine I've had the luck to drink and share with many people on a number of occasions and which never fails to impress everyone. The perfect 1939 CVNE Rioja Blanco Semi Dulce Corona is a mythical wine! 1939 saw the end of Spain's Civil War, and the country was upside down. There were some major battles fought in Rioja, and by the time they had to harvest the grapes, there were not enough men in the village. They must have focused on the best parcels, surely giving priority to red grapes. Some vineyards were overlooked, as happened with the whites that eventually produced this wine. These grapes were harvested extremely late, into November, close to December and their health was not optimal, they had developed some botrytis and were clearly rotten. The people in charge of making the wine surely didn't know about botrytis cynerea, or noble rot, and were surely afraid their grapes were rotten and they would not be able to produce any decent white. So they did the best they could, but the fermentation never finished completely and there was some residual sugar in the wine. So, as they did with all their wines, they put it in oak barrels to mature and kind of put it in a corner hoping nobody would notice its shortcomings. We have to realize that CVNE was already producing quite a lot of wine at the time, so it's not unusual to have a few stray barrels here or there that nobody pays attention to. What is not that normal is that the wine was REALLY forgotten and was "found" during a stock take for an audit in 1970! So the wine aged slowly in barrel for some 30 years! Once found, nobody saw any reason to keep the wine in barrel any longer, so they decided to bottle it. Not knowing quite what to do with it, the bottles were stacked somewhere and the same story was repeated, as the stash was forgotten and basically untouched until thirty something years later: thanks to the daughter of one of the family owners (the winery is still in the hand of the same family that created it back in 1879). The proud father had a vague idea about a somewhat sweet wine that could be served at his daughter's wedding and asked to get some bottles to taste. They uncorked it, tasted it and found a complex, subtle white with great balance between alcohol, acidity and a little bit of residual sugar (around 20 grams), which took the edge off the acidity and made the wine rounder, as old Viura can be too austere. The slow aging, first in an oxidative way during the years in oak provided some nuttiness, and spicy aromas, while the botrytis added some of those dry apricot, beeswax and pollen notes, hinting on honey, but also the long reductive period in bottle made it very elegant and polished, with infinite nuances of white pepper, quince, faint smoke, walnuts, petrol...This redefines complexity, elegance and slow aging. The palate is prodigious, with a gobsmacking (literally!) balance, pungent flavors, freshness, acidity, very faint sweetness and length like only something which has slowly evolved over 70 years can be. The aftertaste should not be measured in seconds, but in minutes, and the empty glass keeps changing and giving different tones for hours. If you leave a little bit in the bottle for the day after (yes, it's difficult, I know!) the wine is even better on the second day. There is no reason to believe that if the wine is as good as it is today it is not going to reach its one-hundredth birthday. The wine is mainly Viura, but there might have been a little bit of the white Garnacha Blanca in the blend. At this stage nobody really knows (or cares). This is simply otherworldly, superb, perfect wine, whose only improvement would come if they had bottled some magnums! A dream. A unique, historical wine. If there is a perfect white Rioja, this is surely it. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2039.

Jancis Robinson (17+)

Cool and without obvious richness. Really refreshing and with great substance and density. More approachable in youth than I remember some Silex bottlings. You could happily enjoy this layered wine now but it should age well too. It really does taste flinty!!

James Suckling (98)

A firm and vivid Champagne with a precise, focused palate. Full-bodied and dry. It’s very layered and bright with light pineapple, peach, praline, cooked-apple and stone aromas and flavors. It’s very subtle and focused at the end. Integrated with richness and high acidity. Good depth. Reminds me of the 1995. Very clean. Solid. Lovely to drink already, but will age nicely.

Decanter (99)

And so from P1 methuselah to P2, which for Geoffroy ‘goes beyond Champagne’. P2, he continues, must be ‘deeper, richer, longer…better than P1' - otherwise why release it? Well, they haven't yet, although it's pencilled in for later in 2019. Here we have drive, vinosity and incredible length. The sweet and savoury balance indulges with a seductive embrace. Gustav Klimt in a glass maybe. Outstanding.

Wine Advocate (93)

A forward, sexy-style Cote Rotie that shows more oomph than most in the vintage, Jamet's 2000 Cote Rotie offers the hallmark complexity of the estate with its perfumed raspberry, game, flowers, olives and peppery bouquet. This carries to a full-bodied, voluptuously textured, seamless wine that has excellent purity, low acidity and tons of charm. Probably closest in style to the 1990, drink this character-filled beauty over the coming 5-7 years.

Wine Advocate (97)

Floral aromas accent sturdy notes of grilled meat and almost delicate notes of red berries in the open, approachable 2014 Cote Rotie La Mouline. Medium to full-bodied, it shows great purity and a supple, silky, classic feel. It's built more on elegance and complexity than power, with those floral, herbal notes leaving a long, silky impression on the finish.

Whisky Advocate (93)

Deep layers of vanilla and mizunara oak with sugar sprinkled pastries, incense sticks, oiled wood, tatami, dried apricot, golden sultana, and faint smoky spiciness. Nectarous mouthfeel with honey, barley sugar, dried citrus, orange peel, and delicate spices, it continues to sweeten beautifully showing vanilla, sugared almonds, banana custard, with hints of ginger and gentle oak. Slightly gummy finish as the vanilla quenches little eruptions of wood spices.

Vinous (99+)

Light gold. Remarkably perfumed nose projects an exotic bouquet of deep, leesy yellow fruit, minerals, honeycomb, smoked meat and flowers, with Asian spices building expanding in the glass. Almost painfully concentrated, offering a surreal parade of orchard and pit fruits, smoked meat, toasted brioche and marrow braced by intensely salty, stunningly incisive minerality. Imagine a Frankenstein's monster of Chablis Le Clos and Clos Ste. Hune-but one with perfect balance, of course-and you get an idea of what I found in my bottle. The energetic, stony character builds exponentially on the finish, which didn't seem to, well, finish. The best analogy I can come up with for the intensity, focus and clarity of this Champagne is liquefied barbed wire. Utterly hallucinatory and one of the most amazing wines I've ever been fortunate enough to drink. At the risk of sounding completely out of touch with reality, this is a value.

Vinous (97)

Krug 2006 Vintage is bright, tense and full of energy. Lemon confit, pastry, chamomile, dried flowers and tangerine oil all race out of the glass. The breadth of the Pinot comes through on the mid-palate and finish, as the 2006 gains power and resonance with a bit of aeration. Light tropical inflections, along with hints of almond and spice, open up later, adding further shades of nuance. Although it has just been released, the 2006 is unusually open and a real pleasure to taste today. In most vintages, Krug demands cellaring, but in the 2006 readers will find a Krug Vintage that is superb, even in the early going.

Decanter (99)

The first aromatic impression is surprisingly floral in the context of such a hot vintage, and then evolves to reveal elements of menthol, liquorice and yellow fruit. With aeration, the bouquet blossoms to reveal increasing complexity, including spicy notes. On the palate, this is a fleshy and densely textured Clos du Mesnil with a salty tang on the finish, one that stands out for its singularity, albeit in the context of a classic crystalline, tense purity. Bravo – a work of art! 100% Chardonnay, disgorged at the end of 2019. Dosage: 4g/l.

Wine Advocate (100)

One of the wines of the vintage, the 2000 has barely budged in its evolution since it was bottled and released in 2002. After ten years in bottle, it still reveals a dense opaque purple color along with a potentially sensational bouquet of blueberries, black currants, graphite, asphalt and background oak. Extremely powerful, full-bodied and superbly concentrated with good acidity and high but round tannins, this massive La Mission-Haut-Brion should take its place among this estate’s most hallowed vintages when it hits full maturity in another one to two decades. I was surprised by just how youthful this wine tasted at age 12. If tasted blind, I would have guessed it to be around 4 to 5 years old. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050.

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.

Decanter (100)

A legendary wine, with reason. I have only tasted this once, at the home of a very kind friend, exactly as it should be drunk – over a dinner table, where it managed to stop the conversation. It is still young, just now starting to open up to reveal its dazzling array of black and blue fruits, black olives, truffles and well-defined tannins exerting an influence over the structure. The mineral slate side of Lafleur is now fully in its stride, tugging you back as you reach the end, keeping you hanging on for more.

Vinous (97)

The 2013 Extra Brut Les Chemins d'Avize Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru is floral and gracious, much more so than is common in Avize Champagnes, which tend to have more body. The 2013 is beautifully perfumed and ethereal from start to finish, with striking beams of salinity that confer tension. Candied lemon peel, white flowers, spice, hazelnut, dried flowers and chamomile are some of the many notes that are laced together. This subtle, wonderfully nuanced Champagne has so much to offer. It is the most restrained wine in this range. The Chemins d'Avize is a blend of fruit from Chemin de Plivot and Chemin de Flavigny, done in neutral oak. Dosage is 2 grams per liter. Disgorged: October, 2019.

Jeb Dunnuck (97-99+)

The vivid purple, almost blue-hued 2019 Château Léoville Barton is a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated wine that includes 16% Merlot. It will spend 18 months in a mix of new and used barrels. Classic Barton notes of cassis, scorched earth, burning embers, new leather, and violets emerge from the glass, and this beauty is full-bodied, massively concentrated, and structured on the palate, yet it has a beautiful elegance as well as a plushness in its texture. Nevertheless, it's not for those seeking instant gratification and is going to need 10-15 years of bottle age to hit maturity. It reminds me of the 1990 and is a great, great wine in the making. If you love Léoville Barton, don't miss this wine!

Vinous - Antonio Galloni (100)

The 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a total stunner. For the first time I can remember, Les Carmes Haut-Brion marries all of its elements so well that nothing stands out. In the past, the high percentage of Franc and/or the whole clusters were evident. The 2020 is the first modern vintage in which all the elements are so well balanced. Dark red/purplish fruit, rose petal, mint, lavender, dried herbs and incense all build in a ravishing Pessac-Léognan that will take your breath away.

Vinous - Antonio Galloni (100)

The 2004 Cristal has always been one of my favorites. It is all that again today. A Champagne of precision and nuance, the 2004 impresses with its linear cut and saline intensity. Readers will find a Cristal built on vibrancy more than power or opulence. In this tasting, the 2004 is an absolute stunner. These were the highest yields, even in Champagne. “We dropped half the crop on the Chardonnay and still picked 18,000 kilos (per hectare). That’s massive. We would have picked 25,000 otherwise.” I have always loved the 2004 for its purity. That quality is very much on display today. This is an especially fine bottle, the best I have tasted so far. Dosage is 8 grams per liter. Disgorged: 2011.

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.

James Suckling (98-99)

Blackcurrants, orange peel, flowers and tar with hints of graphite. Full-bodied with a creamy texture of exquisitely polished tannins. It goes on and on. Intense flavors at the end, too, with lead pencil and lots of blackberry. Very classic and precise.

James Suckling (100)

Gorgeous aromas of dark plums and violets. Orange peel, too. Some crushed stone. Bark. Stems. Iron shavings. Full-bodied, but very tight and compacted. The tannins are all here making it very structured, yet they are polished and melted together. Needs years to show all of its greatness. Incredible polish and structure. More structured than the 2019. Try after 2030 and beyond.

Wine Advocate (93-94)

The Potel 2005 Vosne-Romanee Les Gaudichots offers a nose of cherry, red raspberry and spice box. Cinnamon and white pepper are among those that hitch a ride on the creamy palate, where intensely ripe, sweet red fruits, raw meat, and suggestions of caramelized root vegetables expand to fill all recesses of the mouth. Concentrated and complex manifestations of meat, roasted root vegetables, and mineral along with distilled red fruit suggestions inform the superbly long, multi-registered finish. Amazingly, there are three whole barrels of this.

Jancis Robinson (17.5)

Nicolas Potel's négociant wine. 'No chaptalisation and no filtration therefore the most natural wines we've made for years. Some winemakers make a comparison with 2003 – but there were more than 100 days between flowering and picking in 2007 and 2008. 2007 was less delicate than we thought; I was tempted to bottle in September but found the wines were not ready.' Much more delicate than the Clos St-Denis. Wild strawberry fruit aromas plus delicate spice, and then more marked spice on the palate. All in a restrained and scented style and leading to a lingering finish and very fine tannins.