98-99 Point Wines

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The 2022 Cheval des Andes is a significant upgrade to Mendoza’s historic regional blends, combining grapes from Las Compuertas (Luján de Cuyo) and Paraje Altamira (Uco Valley). The 2022 vintage allowed for a slower ripening of Cabernet Sauvignon, which take prominence in this blend alongside 30% Malbec and 5% Petit Verdot...A bouquet of bright fruit—raspberry, blueberry and delicate cassis—and complementary bay leaf and mint tones give way to a touch of ash and mild bell pepper. Boasting serious concentration, fine tannins and a slight creaminess, the 2022 has a structure that is firm but never tight, maintaining weight without losing balance. The finish is long, energetic and full of flavor. This is an exceptionally beautiful wine. Drink: 2026-2042.Vinous Media | 99 VMEarthy, savoury nose full of wet soil, peppercorns and blackcurrants alongside violets, chocolate, cherries and raspberries. Well crafted, such a svelte and streamlined expression with real charm and finesse. There’s power for sure but it’s funnelled into one line from start to finish. I love the brightness and opulence here yet there’s super charm and precision too. Great energy, succulence and vibrancy with natural acidity creating a salivating effect that makes you want to come back for another glass. Expertly made with an accumulation of details that make it so enjoyable. The joint project of Château Cheval Blanc and Terrazas de los Andes. Winemaker Gérald Gabillet.Decanter Magazine | 98 DECAromas of dark currants, spices, cloves and a touch of elderberries. The palate is elegant and medium- to full-bodied with polished, precise tannins, firm fruit, a juicy backbone and a solid and flavorful finish. 65% cabernet sauvignon and 35% malbec from Lujan and Altamira. Drink from 2027.James Suckling | 98 JSSoon to be released through La Place de Bordeaux, the 2022 Cheval des Andes opens with an exotic, spice-driven bouquet, supplemented by lifted herbal notes and a vibrantly red-fruited and perfumed backdrop. The palate is similarly energetic, melding an elegantly rich, polished texture with a slender, tensile energy. It concludes with a long, persistent and high-toned finish that gradually unfurls a sturdy structure of supremely refined tannins. This is an excellent counterpoint to the comparatively darker and more open-knit 2021, showcasing a brighter, more tenacious profile while sacrificing none of the grace, nuance and textural attention to detail that has come to define Cheval des Andes. It’s a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Malbec and 5% Petit Verdot.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPSupremely structured and rather muscular in style, this offers a loam and iron base, juxtaposed against subtle floral and dried thyme notes that mix with a dense, compact core of cherry and Santa Rosa plum. For all this muscle, there’s finesse on the finish, with mace and floral red currant details lingering around well-formed tannins. Built to cellar. Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Petit Verdot. Best from 2036 through 2040. 8,333 cases made, 1,600 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 94 WSA partnership between Château Cheval Blanc and Terrazas De Los Andes, the 2022 Cheval Des Andes blends 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Malbec, and 5% Petit Verdot. Iron and gunpowder aromatics dominate, with a supple tension to the tannins and well-integrated oak. This will drink well over the next 12-15 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 94 JD

This vintage of the 2022 Masseto is 100% Merlot. The nose is pronounced, leading with its mineral aromas of crushed dark stones. It smells like dissolved minerals, delicate peppery accents, black plum, red apples, lavender perfume, and sage. The aromatics are quite profound in this vintage, and on the palate, it’s full-bodied and more structured, with ripe tannins and a good deal of depth and richness, with the minerality shining through. Long on the palate, it’s generous all the way through, and while it feels approachable upfront, more structure comes through on the finish. Allow it some time in cellar and drink 2028-2058.Jeb Dunnuck | 98+ JDThe summer was so arid in 2022 that the vines shut down and ripening was halted until mid-August rains arrived. This helped to preserve acidity in the grapes, giving sensational freshness to balance the rich and finely structured palate. Masseto 2022, then, combines the best of both worlds: fruit ripeness and concentration, and freshness and poise. It’s not as immediately seductive as the 2021, but there is so much potential in this long-lived vintage. Scents of cool, damp earth, dark hedgerow berries, Mediterranean scrub, and cocoa and wood give a sense of what is to come once time has untangled everything. Zingy, crunchy acidity steals the show early on, segueing into a mouthful of succulent yet dense dark berries and spice imbued with plenty of energy. Then some balsamic herbs and floral notes lighten the palate, before a touch of salinity and some bitter herbs emerge on the finish, with a refrain of bright cherry. Something special.Decanter Magazine | 98 DECA solid and structured red with blackcurrant, chocolate and walnut aromas and underlying toasted wood. Medium- to full-bodied with chewy tannins and a chewy, savory finish. Hints of coconut and toasted oak. It’s muscular and toned. It needs time to soften. Best after 2028.James Suckling | 97 JSThis red is both well-structured and framed with new oak nuances of vanilla, toast and resin, setting the stage for plum, blackberry, fruitcake, mineral and tobacco flavors. There’s a salty element interwoven throughout, along with a fluid feel. Offers fine grip on the lingering finish, so give the dense tannins some time to integrate. Merlot. Best from 2028 through 2043. 410 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 96 WSThe 2022 Masseto is soft, open-knit and relatively easygoing. The mid-weight structure of the year is very much in evidence in a wine that speaks more to finesse than power. Dark red cherry, plum, new leather, licorice and incense gradually open over time, supported by fine, silky tannins that wrap it all together in style. Masseto is typically much more potent in the early going, in 2022 the more refined style that has begun to emerge here along with the style of the year yield a Masseto that is quite elegant. Its balance is beyond reproach, especially in the integration of something that usually requires at least a few years in bottle.Vinous Media | 95 VM

A very delicious and complex aromatic wine with layers of textures and flavors. On the nose, dark cherries, black raspberries, cola, flowers and bay leaves. The palate leans toward dark fruits like crushed blackberries and blueberries. Super fresh and delicious, with notes of sage in the finish. So yummy. From organically grown grapes.James Suckling | 98 JSA deep ruby color, the 2022 Pinot Noir Kanzler Vineyard comes from the southern end of the Russian River Valley close to Marin, a cool-climate site with late-ripening 30+ year old vines. The nose is bright and fresh with cranberry and snappy pomegranate fruit, as well as cinnamon, salty earth, and vibrant acidity. It has a medium-bodied frame with more tension and a clean, stony textured finish. This was a highlight for me. Drink 2026-2040.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDThe 2022 Pinot Noir Kanzler Vineyard comes from vines planted in 1990. Fermented with around 25% whole clusters, it has complex aromas of red and black berries and plums, grapefruit peel, Angostura bitters, licorice, woodsmoke and mossy bark. The medium-bodied palate is stunning! It floods the mouth with layer after layer of floral fruit. It’s structured by silky tannins and vibrant acidity and has a hauntingly long finish. It will be long lived in the cellar.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPThe 2022 Pinot Noir Kanzler Vineyard is plump, juicy and ready to go. Vivid floral and savory overtones play off a core of exuberant Russian River fruit. Black cherry, mocha, cloves, new leather and a kiss of French oak build into the supple finish.Vinous Media | 93 VMOffers red and black cherry pâte de fruit notes, with flashes of singed anise, sassafras and rose hip. A bramble detail adds energy through the finish. Best from 2026 through 2029. 200 cases made.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

The tension and linearity of this wine are incredible, as fresh, vivid fruit flavors ride an electric wave of bracing acidity from the first whiff to the long, lingering finish. Layers of haunting mushroom, iron and bay leaf nuances meet cranberries, sour cherries, rhubarb and black tea flavors that linger and echo after the last sip. An impeccable wine for drinking now through at least 2032.James Suckling | 98 JSThe 2022 Pinot Noir Mineral Springs Ranch is spicy, with nuances of white pepper, dusty rose and dried strawberries. Its soft texture offers a tart core of fruit to balance as crisp mineral tones and inner florals arch across the palate. Structured yet balanced and long, this 2022 finishes with admirable length and a sour citrus tinge that adds freshness. Patience is suggested.Vinous Media | 94+ VMThis wine reminds me that I live in Oregon. It smells like the loamy soil and pine needles I encounter on forest walks. At the same time, the cherry-flavored pipe tobacco and well-worn Pendleton wool shirt aromas remind me of campfire sessions at the beach. The wine’s elegant texture befits its nice acidity and firm tannins without being harsh. Ripe blackberry and sourdough bread flavors are spiced up by Thai basil and black pepper. Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEVibrant and tart with acidity, this red offers well-sculpted cherry and cranberry flavors highlighted by savory tea and tarragon tones that build toward lively tannins. Drink now through 2032. 2,340 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSA medium, matte-red color, the 2022 Pinot Noir Mineral Springs Ranch is ripe with autumnal spiced aromas of baked cherries, mushroom-covered earth, walnut, and baking spice. The palate is medium-bodied, with ripe tannins and a more modest feel through the finish. It’s showing some development at this tasting and I would recommend drinking it over the next 6-7 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 92 JD

Very complex aromas of pears, persimmons, honey and cooked apples. Mineral undertones. Always subtle and multidimensional. Full-bodied with a tight and dense middle palate that gives a superb mouthfeel. It’s lively and flavorful at the end but in a reserved way. Just a hint of bitter lemon and lilac. I really want to drink this, but give it three or four years to reach the right place.James Suckling | 99 JSBased on 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Semillon that spent nine months in barrel, the 2022 Domaine De Chevalier Blanc is a brilliant white revealing a vivid gold hue as well as bright citrus, crushed stone, mint, and honeysuckle-driven nuances. Pure, focused, and elegant, it has remarkable balance, integrated acidity, medium to full body, and a beautifully layered texture. It should evolve beautifully for 20+ years.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDThis is a magnificent white wine, balancing the herbal element of Sauvignon Blanc with the rich Sémillon in a melange that promises considerable aging. Produced in small quantities on the Domaine de Chevalier vineyard it is one of the legendary white wines of Bordeaux. Drink from 2027. Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe 2022 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc has turned out brilliantly in bottle, wafting from the glass with aromas of pear, jasmine, white flowers, spring blossoms and spices. Medium to full-bodied, layered and enveloping, it’s charming and sappy with a dense structure, bright acids, gastronomic bitterness and a long, saline and mouthwatering finish. Confirming my expectations, this blend of 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Sémillon is one of the best white wines of the vintage. It should gain harmony with age.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPThis is lovely from the get-go, delivering a sensation of shimmering, wet pebbles, plus fresh thyme, oyster shell, quinine and Key lime zest notes that streak and glide at the same time. The long, unadorned finish hums like a tuning fork. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Drink now through 2035. 2,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSPineapple, honey, lemon, peach, lime - a lovely expression on the nose, fresh and fragrant, open and alive. Great depth of flavour and purity. Gorgeous depth and body, really fills the mouth with some bitterness that gives a nice counter to the acidity. This widens and expands and then elongates and makes your mouth water in just the right places. This is fantastic, moreish and really complete. Feels retrained and just the right amount of each aspect. Great to drink now and age.Decanter Magazine | 94 DECThe 2022 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc offers more complexity on the nose than the L’Esprit, with scents of yellow fruit, melon and lime. The palate is well balanced with texture, notes of peach skin, pear and a dash of stem ginger, leading to a brisk harmonious finish. Although it does not rank among the best recent vintages due to the limitations of the growing season, this is still a capable Domaine de Chevalier Blanc.Vinous Media | 93 VMThis is a blend of 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Semillon, and the élevage was in close to 40% new oak, for between 16 and 18 months. I like the powdery substance and intensity evident on the nose here, with crushed gravel and citrus fruits, lemon peel, white chocolate and waxy smoke, all delivered with a sense of phenolic maturity. This latter element pervades the palate, which presents lemon meringue and pastry notes, wrapped up with touches of tobacco oak, with a firm central spindle of oak and rather confident acidity which integrates with this delicately bitter grip. Great energy on the finish, with a delineated finish too, the length bitter and acid-washed. This is a very stylish interpretation of the vintage, with maturity and vivacity, and it will develop well. Tasted twice. The alcohol on the label is 13.5%.The Wine Independent | 92 TWI

A stunning wine marked by finesse and delicacy. This is ethereal but also deep, with moss and mineral aromas followed by delicate yet naturally racy sweet berries, decadent roses, spices and forest floor. Almost full-bodied for a pinot, but this is much more about texture than anything else. Tense, round and elastic, with a ripe but minerally finish that expands at the end and goes on and on. Real depth in an airy, super-delicate way. 80% whole bunches and 20% new oak barrels. So good to drink now, but this is age-worthy and is likely to morph into something stunning in a decade.James Suckling | 99 JS Though well-marked by new oak for now, this red features ripe cherry, blackberry, violet, sandalwood and mineral aromas and flavors. Silky and elegant, yet there’s underlying intensity and power. Harmonious in its youth, with its full potential and pedigree on display on the long, detailed aftertaste. Best from 2029 through 2050. 422 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 98 WSThe 2022 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru is a blend of 11 different cuvées and includes, for the first time, the plot of "30 Rangs". This vintage includes 80% whole bunches, and like La Richemoine, it is deftly subsumed on the nose, which blossoms with vivacious red berry fruit, forest floor, white truffle, and light autumn leaf scents. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, a svelte Clos des Lambrays with a slightly chalky, mineral-rich finish. Very tender and complex, this is undoubtedly a great wine with a long-term future.Vinous Media | 96-98 VMThe 2022 Clos des Lambrays contains 80% whole bunches (100% in the very old vines, a lower proportion elsewhere). A fine even deep ruby purple. The bouquet is backward with still a suggested intensity of fruit that can easily cope with the stems. Beautifully suave with an enveloping dark red fruit, a very graceful finish on silky, refined tannins, and we don’t often say silky for Morey St Denis. They are caressing, according to Jacques. The floral touch works throughout, beautifully long and sensual. Drink from 2032. Tasted Nov 2023.Jasper Morris | 96-98 JMProduced from two large parcels of differing vine ages - one that is approximately two-thirds of the blend and is now 50+ years of age and a second, smaller group of vines that are approximately 25+ years of age; made with 80% whole clusters and 80% new wood.Burghound | 93-96 BH

Opulent, yet with racy acidity underneath, this red bursts with cherry, strawberry, floral, mineral and spicy oak aromas and flavors. Silky and airy, gliding effortlessly across the palate. Yet there’s ample support in the form of dense, finely wrought tannins, and the finish seems to go on forever, with a flash of cinnamon along with mineral and spice details. Best from 2030 through 2050. 20 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 98 WSNicolas Groffier has done a superb job with his Amoureuses; he will separate the upper and lower parts in 2022. Just under Musigny, he explains, there is a lot of sand, which helps the vines ripen to a greater degree. This cuvée has a black plum and cassis fruit character with notes of earth and smoke. The texture is fuller and more powerful, with great ripeness and depth. One should wait seven to ten years to open this monumental wine and drink over the next thirty.Decanter Magazine | 97 DECAlso made with 30% new wood and 100% whole bunches. A fine fresh purple, albeit a little less dense than the clay version. The bouquet is lighter, more airy, this is more cerebral, a romantic lover (I think that bit was a contribution from Nicolas!). With a delicious purity of cherry and alpine strawberry topnotes, less body behind. Really markedly different! Delicate and sensual together. I am going to give my preference, albeit fractional, to Grâce des Argiles as that seems to be the wine which is more typical of my expectation of Amoureuses. Drink from 2030-2040. Tasted Nov 2023.Jasper Morris | 95-97 JM

The Grand Vin 2022 Clos Apalta checks in as 68% Carménère, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Merlot that spent two years in 70% new French oak. Smoking notes of black raspberries, leafy herbs, iron, and violet carry to a brilliantly balanced, seamless, medium to full-bodied red that has ultra-fine tannins, integrated acidity, and a great finish. It’s an absolutely sensational red from this team that comes close to topping out my scale. I love it today yet see no reason it shouldn’t evolve for 15+ years.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDThe carmenere character is more obvious and confidently transparent this year, but in a really complex and layered way. Cedar, black olives, graphite, paprika and hints of pepper and iodine. It’s well rounded, with a light sanguine note to the ripe fruit. The tannins are fine-grained yet polished. The lengthy finish doesn’t want to stop. 68% carmenere, 22% cabernet sauvignon and 10% merlot. Drink from 2027.James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2022 Clos Apalta is 68% Carménère, 22% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot from Apalta. This aged primarily in French oak vats with 10% of the blend in 225-liter Bordeaux barrels. It opens with black fruit, a delicate ash note, underbrush, boldo and gentle spice over subtle oak. Blueberry, blackberry and sour cherry aromas complete the aromatic profile. On the palate, this is dry for the house style, with medium structure, refined grip and juicy flow. The finish is long and finely tuned. This vintage offers a more restrained version of Clos Apalta. It’s less opulent than usual but with captivating nuance and poise. The 2022 is a terroir-driven response to a cooler year.Vinous Media | 98 VMGorgeous nose, pixelated, not shouting but lovely expressions of dried herbs, toast, some sweet spices, blackcurrant and crystalline blue fruit and lead pencil. Broad and structured but so graceful with delicate and grippy tannins that fill the mouth and leave a coating of powdery, graphite edge chalkiness. Compact but sculpted, you can feel the muscles here with both ripe and cooling elements. Precise and characterful. Juicy as well as mouthwatering with a depth that is so captivating. Linear and straight but still with grip and intensity. A knockout wine! Ageing 21 months in 73% new oak, 27 two-year-old French oak 225l barrels. 3.78pH. Cooler and drier conditions than in 2021 with lots of sun and light and excellent sanitary conditions although 35% lower yields. Harvested on March 11.Decanter Magazine | 96 DECA particularly pretty and floral expression of Clos Apalta, the 2022 Clos Apalta is beautifully lush and expressive on the nose, combining a deep core of black and blue fruit aromas with pencil lead, camphor and bramble accents, developing dried purple flower notes that continue to gain volume with aeration. The palate displays the house’s quintessentially lavish yet graceful style before concluding with a long, staining, and saturated finish that blends sweet fruits with a toasty, oak-driven backbone, polished tannins and bright acidity. As always, this is quite a stylized expression of Apalta but one that retains a sense of nuance. This blend of 68% Carménère, 22% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot fermented and aged in a mix of barrique, puncheon and large cask.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RP

From blue marls with a high share of calcium and magnesium and aged in doppelstücks (2,400 liters), the 2022 Ried Zieregg Kår GSTK is spectacularly deep, intense and ripe on the saline and enormously mineral as well as lemony (and yeasty) nose. Full-bodied, enormously saline and mineral on the palate, this is an intense and bitter, all in all still abstract but tensioned and saline or mineral Ziregg with huge complexity and aging potential. Tasted as a sample in April 2025.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPThis shows wildly dark, spicy and smoky aromas of tobacco, ash, black currants, ginseng, kaffir lime leaves and citrus brightness. It’s medium- to full-bodied with deep, salty and spicy intensity. Very long, tense and savory. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 96 JS

Aromas of lemons, pie crust and a salty, minerally edge. Austere yet voluminous, incisive and saline, it shows a medium- to full-bodied structure, with an attractive interplay of freshness and nervy texture that drives the finish. This comes from a vineyard planted on decomposed gneiss soil in Sanxenxo. This wine should evolve beautifully with time in the bottle. Already drinkable. Drink now or hold.James Suckling | 98 JSThe nose of the 2022 Leirana O Pradiño is very expressive and complex, different, with notes of quince, smoke and citrus, and the palate is marked by the soils, beautifully textured, tasty and long, with great balance, a little more volume and a harmonious finish. It comes from a single vineyard in the village of Sanxenxo. The wine matured for 12 months in a 600-liter barrel. 750 bottles were produced. It was bottled in August 2023.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95+ RPThe 2022 Albariño Leirana O Pradiño, from Salnés, Rías Baixas, is planted on gneiss soils with ample sun exposure. Golden in color, it reveals resin and ripe stone fruit aromas. Compact on the palate, it shows intense freshness, a creamy mid-palate and a lingering saline finish. Refined and distinctive.Vinous Media | 93 VM