Bordeaux Collector Wines

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The aromas to this are really amazing, with a potpourri of spices and dried flowers, as well as redcurrants, sweet plums and even some peaches. Full-bodied with layers of ripe fruit and ultra-fine tannins that spread across the palate in an encompassing yet always elegant and pure way. It’s succulent and unadulterated. Like crushed, perfectly ripened grapes. The length is rather endless. The tannins build. Fabulous young red. 35% in amphora and the rest in 50% new oak and 15% one-year oak. 65% cabernet sauvignon and 30% merlot, the rest cabernet franc and petit verdot. From biodynamically grown grapes. Try after 2028, but an absolute joy to taste now.James Suckling | 99 JSSuch gorgeous aromatics of freshly picked violets, cherries and bramble fruits - pretty and quite delicate. The texture is smooth and succulent, mouth coating but full of soft tannins which have the most delicious black cherry, blackcurrant flesh and liquorice tinge to them - so satisfying. Extremely well balanced and well integrated, this has restrained power, it’s not rich or particularly round but straight, direct and layered rather than wide. Really long finish with great freshness and touches of cool blueberries. This is just such a great wine, everything you want and you know there’s power there promising a long life. Great winemaking on show. 35% aged in concrete, 50% new oak, 15% in barrels of one year, for 16-18 months. This year there’s a new label, the drawing of the house has remained but the font is more elegant and modern. A blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. (Drink between 2027-2047)Decanter | 98 DEC97–99. Barrel Sample. This is a luscious, sumptuous wine, with layers of black fruits and wonderfully cushioned tannins. The structure of the wine is initially masked by the great fruits, but then finds balance from a dry edge of spice, smokiness and lifted acidity. It’s another great vintage from this biodynamic estate. Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEThe 2019 Pontet-Canet was so effusive and generous en primeur. Today, though, it is quite reticent. That won’t be an issue for those who can be patient, but patience indeed will be the key here. Dark red fleshed fruit, tobacco, cedar, spice, kirsch, mint and blood orange gradually open with a bit of coaxing. Imposing tannins wrap it all together. The 2019 is a drop-dead gorgeous beauty, but it needs time.Antonio Galloni | 96 AGVery lush out of the gate, with waves of gently mulled plum, blackberry and black currant fruit that roll through slowly, lined with alder, sweet tobacco, worn cedar and singed savory notes. Delivers a late tug of iron that’s well-buried on a finish marked by lingering perfume, resulting in an end impression of a rich wine that’s very light on its feet. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2023 through 2036.Wine Spectator | 94 WSThe 2019 Pontet-Canet offers up an expressive bouquet of plummy fruit, kirsch, dried herbs and peonies. On the palate, it’s full-bodied, ample and seamless, with melting tannins, succulent acids, and a long, liqueured finish. Tasted twice, it’s a wine I find somewhat perplexing: in a blind tasting, I might be more inclined to place it in Gigondas than Pauillac. I’m far from dogmatic when it comes to what the French call "typicité," and stylistic diversity surely enriches every appellation; but by the same token, I’m not convinced that this is the most compelling aesthetic that a Cabernet-based blend from this part of Bordeaux can realize. Checking in at 13.7% alcohol, some 35% of the production was matured in amphorae, which no doubt contributes to the wine’s idiosyncratic identity.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPThe 2019 Château Pontet Canet checks in as a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot that was brought up in a mix of barrels and concrete tanks. It shows the new style of the estate with a more savory, exotic, medium to full-bodied style that’s a dramatically different beast than the benchmark 2009 and 2010 vintages, which to my mind, are the greatest vintages from this estate to date. The 2019 has a ruby/plum color as well as a perfumed nose of redcurrant and mulberry fruits as well as notes of brambly herbs, woodsmoke, peony, leather, and cedar pencil. It’s aromatic and complex, although certainly not classic Pauillac, and on the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, with firm, savory, yet quality tannins, good balance, and outstanding length. It warrants 7-8 years of bottle age and will evolve for 30+ years. While the style of the estate has been gradually shifting with the winemaking moving to hand destemming and aging in concrete and amphora, this is the first time where the winemaking seems to dominate the wine, and the quality is unquestionably not at the same level.Jeb Dunnuck | 92 JD

The 2020 Beauséjour Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse is one of the most harmonious young wines I have tasted here in some time, maybe ever. All the elements are so well put together. The tannins that can usually be so fierce when the wine is young are totally covered by layers of inky dark fruit. Graphite, wild herbs, lavender, chocolate and gravel add layers of aromatic nuance. In the glass, the 2020 towers with its imposing, vertical structure and pure pedigree.Vinous Media | 95-98 VMThis is a very cool and refined young Bordeaux with crushed-berry, walnut, mushroom, chocolate and salt character. Some wet earth, too. It’s medium-to full-bodied with very integrated tannins that are polished and poised. Energetic, long and precise at the finish. 81.5% merlot and 18.5% cabernet franc.James Suckling | 97-98 JSDeep garnet-purple in color, the 2020 Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse) wafts out of the glass with a glamorous perfume of red roses, kirsch, garrigue and black raspberries, giving way to a core of ripe blackberries and juicy black plums, plus earthy hints of truffles and tar. The medium to full-bodied palate is densely laden with loads of very finely packed and fragrant red and black fruit layers, framed by multilayered grainy and satiny tannin textures and amazing freshness, finishing fantastically long and mineral laced.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95-97 RPA blend of 81% Merlot and 19% Cabernet Franc, the 2020 Château Beausejour (Duffau-Lagarrosse) should end up being up with the top wines in the appellation. Showing the more straight, focused style of the vintage, it has a monster of a mid-palate, full-bodied richness, building tannins on the palate, and incredible minerality on the finish. Loaded with cassis fruit as well as lead pencil and graphite notes, this dense, powerful beauty almost requires a fork. It’s brilliant all the way and will have 30-40 years of longevity.Jeb Dunnuck | 95-97+ JDTakes time to fully show itself - perhaps more than ever this year, as there is so much noise surrounding an estate that was overseen during the growing season and vinification by the team under Nicolas Thienpont, but given its final blend by new owner Josephine Duffau-Lagarosse, who will also take care of ageing from this point. Things kick off with a raspberry and damson softness that is quickly overtaken by iris, peony, white rose aromatics, giving a push-and-pull between flowers and fruit on the attack. As the palate opens out, blueberry and raspberry fruits dominate, as do fennel and almond notes, giving a spicy kick before a saline-drenched mouthwatering finish. As ever with Beauséjour Duffau-Lagarrosse, the wine combines delicacy with laser-like focus, and a build up of tannins that you barely notice until they kick back against the fruit. Takes a good few minutes before the softness that I found on the opening returns as the mid palate widens out, and the richly textured Merlot becomes dominant after a clear Cabernet Franc hit on the attack. It’s going to be fascinating watching what happens over the next decade at this estate, but the quality and potential of this terroir is unmistakable. Drinking Window 2029 - 2045.Decanter | 97 DEC

A return to form in my eyes for Calon Ségur after the atypical 2018, rippling with elegance, balance and savoury blue fruits of Cabernet, with rose and peony flowers. Concentrated, chiselled and juicy, this has clear personality and equals the great, classically balanced vintages of Calon like 2016. A yield of 33hl/ha, 3.85pH, 100% new oak. Vincent Millet is now overall director as well as technical director, since the departure of Laurent Dufau in 2020. Drinking Window 2029 - 2048.Decanter | 98 DECThe 2020 Calon-Ségur is a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. It is aging in 100% new French oak barrels for an anticipated 18 to 20 months. The alcohol is 13.8%. Displaying a deep purple-black color, it straight away springs up with bright scents of freshly picked black raspberries, kirsch and blackberries, needing considerable swirling to reveal a vast array of nuances—rose oil, cardamom, iron ore, graphite, lavender and aniseed. The medium-bodied palate has a solid structure of firm, ripe, grainy tannins and plenty of freshness supporting the tightly wound red and black fruit layers, accented by lots of mineral and floral sparks, finishing with impressive length and depth. Beautiful, beautiful wine!Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95-97+ RPThe flagship 2020 Château Calon Ségur is also brilliant and certainly brings up the intensity, depth, and richness, although it’s nowhere near the exotic, almost over-the-top style of the 2018. Gorgeous crème de cassis, tobacco, roasted coffee beans, lead pencil, and sappy herbs all define this beauty, which is full-bodied, beautifully balanced, and has incredible purity of fruit. It might have some up-front appeal as well, yet smart money will hide bottles for at least 7-8 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 95-97 JDTobacco and tea aromas with currants and wet earth. Full-bodied and chewy with blackcurrant flavor. Tannins build on the finish with lots of structure and intensity. Quite muscular.James Suckling | 95-96 JSThe powerful tannins of this wine cannot mask the beautiful fruits and acidity. Rather the tannins enhance them, giving structure to the wine’s fine blackberry fruitiness that leaves a refreshing character at the end. With this structure the wine will take its time and will need to age for many years.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEThe 2020 Calon Ségur is a dark, brooding wine that is going to need a number of years to become approachable. Black fruit, gravel, smoke, chocolate, leather and licorice give the 2020 its distinctly virile feel. In two separate tastings, the 2020 has come across as quite potent and forbidding. This sample is more convincing than a sample I tasted this past spring, but I still don’t see Calon-Segur as having reached the level that has become customary over the last few vintages.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM

The 2020 Haut-Brion is a blend of 42.8% Merlot, 39.7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17.5% Cabernet Franc, harvested from 7th to 29th September, with an estimated alcohol of 15% and a pH of 3.8. Opaque purple-black colored, it leaps from the glass with a first wave of vibrant black raspberries, ripe blackberries and mulberries scents, followed by a powerful core of warm cassis, dark chocolate and violets, before bursting into an array of crushed rocks, iron ore, tree bark and black truffles notes. The concentrated, densely packed, full-bodied palate is not in the least bit heavy, delivering a refreshing backbone of red berry and dried herbs suggestions, framed by seamless acidity and very finely grained tannins, finishing on an epically long, fragrant earth note. Simply stunning.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98-100 RPUnquestionably one of the top wines in this impressive vintage, the 2020 Château Haut-Brion checks in as 42.8% Merlot, 39.7% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the balance Cabernet Franc, all of which will spend 15-18 months in 77% new French oak. Its deep purple color is followed by a thrilling nose of mineral-laced blackcurrants, black raspberries, toast, spice, scorched earth, and graphite. Possessing an almost Lafite-like elegance on the palate, it nevertheless has huge dry extract, full-bodied richness, flawless balance, and beautiful tannins. Per the spec sheet, the alcohol is an estimated 15% with a pH of 3.78, so it’s no shrinking violet, yet it never shows a hint of headiness or being over the top. I finished my note with “Where can I buy some?” I suspect this wine will require a solid decade to hit the early stages of maturity and will be a 30-, 40-, or possibly a 50-year wine.Jeb Dunnuck | 98-100 JDThis is a superb Haut-Brion with incredible tannins that are wonderfully fine-grained. It’s really powerful. This is very primary with so much grape-generated tannin structure. Very, very long, going on for minutes. Seductive and friendly at the start and then takes you on at the finish with so much structure. Wine of the vintage?James Suckling | 100 JSThe 2020 Haut-Brion is shaping up to be one of the wines of the year. Substance, depth and textural intensity elevate Haut-Brion into the realm of the sublime in 2020. All the elements are so wonderfully balanced. Inky dark fruit, gravel, lavender, violet and dark spice build as the 2020 gradually opens with some aeration. Wow.Vinous Media | 97-99 VMTightly textured, this is a wine whose future is assured. With intense white fruits, spice and touches of toast from the wood aging, the wine’s concentration and taut character combine richness and structure.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WE(Château Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, Red) Concentrated, powerful and precise; this takes a grip and holds on, layers of liquorice, grilled coffee bean, chocolate, blackcurrant pastille, cassis bud and a more steely wet stone edge that gives a much needed balance to the richness of the overall feel of this wine. Gunsmoke curls out of the glass after half an hour - this is going to need serious ageing, impressive and powerful stuff. Harvest from 7th to 29th September. (Drink between 2030-2050)Decanter | 96 DEC

Rather ethereal and so refined with finesse, focus and brightness that provides incredible energy and pedigree. It’s full-bodied with ultra fine tannins that go on and on. Superb presence with tannins that melt into the wine. This is 12.8%. I love the wine. Lots of dark fruit and fresh tobacco. Lead pencil, too. 92% cabernet sauvignon, 7% merlot and 1% petit verdot.James Suckling | 99-100 JSThe 2020 Château Lafite-Rothschild checks in as 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot brought up in roughly 90% or more of new French oak. It’s a deep, inky-hued Lafite boasting incredible notes of crème de cassis, lead pencil shavings, graphite, crushed stone, and gravelly earth-like minerality. Full-bodied and beautifully balanced, with terrific purity of fruit, it has ripe tannins, a layered, seamless mouthfeel, and a great, great finish. It should surpass the 2015 and 2017 and be in the same realm as the 2018 and 2019. Despite its richness and depth, it hit just 12.8% alcohol, with an IPT of 72 and a pH of 3.5. It’s going to be just about immortal.Jeb Dunnuck | 97-99 JDDisplaying a deep purple-black color, the 2020 Lafite Rothschild takes a little swirling and coaxing to unlock scents of freshly crushed blackcurrants, boysenberries and spiced plums, followed by emerging nuances of red roses, raspberry preserves, underbrush and unsmoked cigars, with a waft of cedar chest. The medium-bodied palate is an exercise in elegance and finesse, featuring tightly wound layers of red and black berries and loads of mineral sparks, framed by finely grained tannins and well-poised tension, finishing with fantastic length and the most stunning perfume. Magnificent achievement. This 2020 is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot, coming in at 12.8% alcohol and a pH of 3.9.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96-98 RPThis is a complete wine, with its layers of fruit and tannin in total harmony. Concentration comes easily backed by a palate that shows salinity, as well as impressive black currant fruits. The wine is certainly destined for long-term aging.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEThe 2020 is a super-classic Lafite-Rothschild of grace and finesse. A reticent introvert, Lafite impresses with its vertical lift and palpable energy. It is a wine of regal bearing that does not feel the need to say much, and yet everything is very clearly there. Bright acids and strong, saline notes come alive in the glass as the long, persistent finish unfolds with remarkable grace. The 2020 is simply exquisite. It’s a fabulous showing from the team led by Technical Director Eric Kohler.Vinous Media | 95-97 VM(Château Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, Red) This is pretty much as close to entirely Cabernet Sauvignon as Bordeaux gets (92%) and yet it has an incredibly fine, gentle richness to the tannins. They build up pretty quickly though, so that by the end of the palate you start to feel the closing in and tightening, deftly underscoring how well this will age. The kaleidoscope of flavours and aromatics that Lafite does so well is fully on display, nothing trying too hard, a velvet texture to the tannins where the cassis fruit, earth, crushed stone and graphite is held in from beginning to end. Impressive that even in dry vintages like 2020 with the real concerns over global warming, the top Bordeaux estates can still produce wines of this quality. (Drink between 2028-2046)Decanter | 97 DEC

This is a young red with great intensity and vision that starts off slowly and builds with energy and verve. It’s so minerally with salty, chalky and spice undertones to the cool and vibrant, purple and subtle-fruit flavors. The tannins are wonderfully toned and polished and build on the palate to deliver something very special.James Suckling | 98-99 JSDeep purple-black colored, the 2020 Le Gay erupts from the glass with scents of molten licorice and dark chocolate, giving way to a tantalizing core of baked black cherries, prunes and blackberry preserves, plus a hint of cardamom. The full-bodied palate is rich and decadent, featuring layers of black fruits and exotic spices with a firm yet velvety texture and seamless freshness, finishing with epic length. A hedonic powerhouse!Robert Parker Wine Advocate | (94-96)+ RPOne of my favorite estates in Pomerol is Château Le Gay, and their 2020 looks to be a gem, offering a ripe, forward, medium to full-bodied style as well as classic cassis and assorted darker fruits intermixed with white flowers, tobacco, and violets. It has plenty of background oak, sweet tannins, beautiful overall balance, and outstanding length on the finish. I don’t think it has the density of the 2016, but it still shows plenty of concentration as well as the fresh, elegant, incredibly pure style of the vintage.Jeb Dunnuck | 94-96 JDThe 2020 Le Gay offers up a heady concoction of blackberry jam, chocolate, spice, licorice and new oak. Inky and deep, with tremendous sheer textural opulence, this is one of the most explosive, intense Pomerols readers will come across. A delicious wine, but not subtle in any way.Vinous Media | 92-94 VM(Château Le Gay, Pomerol, Bordeaux, France, Red) Careful and seductive oaking, this develops and builds in power and finesse over the palate, and is a seriously enjoyable Pomerol, just packed full of appellation typicity. A yield of 35hl/ha, vinified in new oak barrels, and will stay in barrel for 18 months. (Drink between 2028-2042)Decanter | 94 DEC

The 2020 L’Eglise Clinet is a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. The Merlot was picked between the 11th and the 14th of September, and the Cabernet Franc was picked on the 16th of September. It has an alcohol of 14.4% and is aging in French oak barrels, 80% new. Displaying and opaque purple-black color, it needs a bit of swirling to reveal a fascinating array of earthy notes—black truffles, charcoal, mossy tree bark and fallen leaves—over a profound core of preserved plums, blackberry preserves and violets, with a waft of tapenade. The medium to full-bodied palate has exquisitely ripe tannins and bold freshness supporting the seductively ripe, black fruit layers, finishing on a lingering fragrant earth note.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97-99 RPWonderfully bright, floral aromas with so much violet character. Such purity and focus. Ethereal on the nose already. Full-bodied, but very polished and deep with finesse and beauty. Incredible structure that fills the mouth.James Suckling | 98-99 JSThe 2020 L’Eglise-Clinet is a towering wine. I am not sure what else to say. After having tasted hundreds of 2020s, L’Eglise-Clinet very clearly claims a stake for itself among the wines of the vintage. L’Eglise-Clinet can be a brute in its youth, but the 2020 is all finesse. Sweet red/purplish fruit, rose petal, blood orange and pomegranate are some of the nuances that emerge over time. Perhaps keeping the temperatures a bit cooler in fermentation explains the extraordinary finesse here. The 2020 simply can’t be denied.Vinous Media | 96-98 VMAlways up with the crème de la crème of the vintage, the 2020 Château L’Eglise Clinet is no exception. It boasts a rich, powerful, opulent style that packs loads of ripe black cherries as well as notes of chocolate, earth, tobacco, and graphite. Possessing the pure, elegant, more focused style of the vintage, it still has plenty of mid-palate depth, gorgeous tannins, and one heck of a great finish. This beauty is a thrill a minute and will not hit maturity for another 7-8 years, but it will be a 20-year wine.Jeb Dunnuck | 96-98 JD(Château L’Eglise-Clinet, Pomerol, Bordeaux, France, Red) Noémie Durantou has taken over from her late father Denis with this vintage, and has produced a L’Eglise Clinet that is dark ruby in colour, and needs time in the glass as it is built and muscular. You need a little patience for the cassis, bilberry and raspberry fruits to arrange, enjoy instead the silky, velvety texture that stops the tannins being too restrictive and allows the palate to slowly expand. Not as expressive as in some vintages, but still exudes quiet confidence. A yield of 42hl/ha. Harvest from September 8. (Drink between 2029-2050)Decanter | 96 DEC

On another level, the flagship 2020 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion is one heck of a dense, backward, concentrated wine that’s going to require bottle age. Coming in with the same technical analysis (acidity and alcohol) as the 2018, this full-bodied beauty offers a thrilling nose of blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, charcoal, and gravelly earth. Full-bodied on the palate, with a terrific mid-palate and wonderful purity, it holds things close to its vest yet has flawless balance, impeccable purity, and just a great, lengthy finish. Nevertheless, this is one big bruiser of a wine that’s going to demand bottle age. Do your best to hide bottles for 7-8 years, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following three to four decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 96-98 JDExotic fruit aromas of blackberry, blueberry, peach and orange peel. It’s full-bodied with a vertical flow of layered, chewy tannins that are integrated and intense. Extremely polished and focused. Crushed stone to the fruit in the aftertaste. Some bark and forest flowers, too. Great potential.James Suckling | 97-98 JSDeep garnet-purple colored, the 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion issues forth a beguiling array of savory scents—black olives, charcuterie, bouquet garni and Sichuan pepper—over a core of bright redcurrant jelly, black cherries and cassis scents, plus fragrant hints of rose petals and preserved mandarin peel. The medium-bodied palate is refreshing and elegantly styled yet with a rock-solid backbone of firm, finely grained tannins and bags of freshness, finishing long and perfumed. This is a stunning expression of the vintage that should be long lived and age with fantastic grace.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | (95-97)+ RPThe 2020 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is dazzling, but it is also a wine of reserve and understatement. I image it will be some years, at the very least, be fore the 2020 is ready to show all it has to offer. Today, it is not particularly expressive. The aromatics, which are usually so penetrating are quite shy, although the significant presence of Cabernet Franc that distinguishes this wine comes through in its energy and sense of drive. I can’t wait to taste the 2020 from bottle, and won’t be at all surprised if it turns out even better than this note suggests.Vinous Media | (95-97)+ VM(Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, Red) Clear violet edging to the colour, vibrant and enticing. This is elegant and full of personality, with high floral aromatics, a ton of dark fruits, and a blueberry dominance that gives a classic Carmes Haut Brion feel. Slightly austere, slightly bitter, both in the best possible expression of those terms, where it is mouthwatering and moreish. A juicy salinity ensures this is a wine that doesn’t overpower, its flavours are revealed slowly and carefully, tugging backwards, with a texture that heads towards linen rather than silk - meaning that you don’t glide through, you carefully step through well-placed tannins and fruits. There is clear delicacy here, and with 55% whole bunch fermentation - the highest level that they have done to date. 3.62pH (they harvested this at almost 1% ABV higher), fermented with their own natural yeasts. Highest percentage of the two Cabernets on recent record (before 2010 Carmes was regularly at 50% Merlot). Strong candidate for the score moving upwards when in bottle. (Drink between 2028-2048)Decanter | 96 DEC

This is so floral and pure, showing crushed-grape character with some walnut and crunchy seeds. It’s full-bodied, juicy and fresh. Purity of fruit. Juicy and long. 88% merlot and 12% cabernet franc.James Suckling | 98-99 JSDeep garnet-purple colored, the 2020 L’Evangile rolls effortlessly out of the glass with notions of mulberries, black raspberries and stewed red and black plums, plus suggestions of Indian spices, dusty soil and violets with a touch of iron ore. The medium to full-bodied palate possesses compelling freshness and a fine-grained texture to support the muscular black and red fruits, finishing long and earthy.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | (96-98)+ RP(Château L’Évangile, Pomerol, Bordeaux, France, Red) The sculpting of L’Evangile that began over the past few vintages continues, and the 2020 is a gorgeous wine. Pristine fruit, silky with a whoosh of menthol. It elevates over the palate, both dense and light, with blueberry and raspberry fruits, and pulses of bitter almond and honeysuckle on the finish that gives focus and spice. Juliette Couderc joined L’Evangile (from DBR Lafite’s Long Dai winery) in September 2020 so for the harvest of this wine, working alongside technical director Olivier Tregoat. 50% first wine, with no Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend this year because it was so over-concentrated that it made too much impact. Increased selective harvesting meant going through vineyard plots six times to bring in the grapes as they ripened. A yield of 32hl/ha. In the final year of organic conversion, so this next vintage 2021 will be certified. (Drink between 2028-2050)Decanter | 98 DECThe 2020 L’Évangile is fabulous. Aromatic, deep and fleshy, with magnificent purity of fruit, L’Évangile dazzles right out of the gate. Bright Franc aromatics add striking lift as well as vibrancy that carries through to the long, delineated finish. There is an energy to the 2020 that is palpable. Harvest for the Merlot began on September 3, ahead of a heat wave that was forecast, and wrapped up on the 14th for the Merlot and the 21st for the Franc. That approach worked so well here. In the past, L’Évangile and Lafite-Rothschild were very different stylistically, but that seems to be changing now that Saskia de Rothschild is spending a great deal of her time in Pomerol with the new winemaking team. The estate, certified biodynamic as of 2021, has been pursuing a more refined approach for a few years, but 2020 is the first recent vintage where the personality of the year seems to have aligned especially well with the current thinking here. The 2020 L’Évangile is easily the most Lafite-like L’Évangile I have ever tasted. Don’t miss it!Vinous Media | 95-97 VMDescribed as a new age for l’Evangile by the estate, their 2020 Château L’Evangile showed beautifully, with the pure, elegant yet still ripe, beautifully concentrated style of the estate these days. Rocking levels of crème de cassis, black cherries, blueberries, graphite, and violets all emerge from the glass, and it’s medium to full-bodied, with a terrific sense of purity, present, ripe yet firm tannins, and a great finish. It’s a promising, elegant yet at the same time powerful 2020 that’s going to benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and keep for 20-25 years or more. The blend is 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc, all raised in 60% new French oak.Jeb Dunnuck | (95-97)+ JDA smoky, structured wine with a fine velvet mouthfeel. This is rich and generous while showing restraint in its bold fruits. It will age well with early pleasure and then lasting for many years.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WE

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 | 98-99 JSUltra-classic notes of blackcurrants, freshly sharpened lead pencil, damp earth, and crushed stone emerge from the 2020 Château Lynch-Bages, which checks in as 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, all hitting 13.4% natural alcohol and a pH of 3.73 and a massive IPT of 93, which might be the highest in the vintage. Full-bodied and concentrated on the palate, it has brilliant purity of fruit, a layered, building sense of structure, and a great finish. While not austere or closed, this serious Lynch-Bages will need 10-15 years of bottle age to hit maturity and have 40-50 years of overall longevity.Jeb Dunnuck | 95-97+ JDBold black fruits and dense, textured tannins are very much in the style of the estate. What is new in this vintage is the extra precision that lifts the wine, bringing together the beautiful black currant flavors of ripe Cabernet Sauvignon with a refined texture of sophisticated tannins. This is an impressive wine, sure to age over many years. Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe 2020 Lynch-Bages is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, aging for around 18 months in French oak barriques, 75% new. It has an alcohol of 13.41%, a pH of 3.73 and an IPT (tannin index) of 93. Opaque purple-black in color, it leaps from the glass with notes of crushed blackberries, cassis and boysenberries, plus touches of garrigue, red roses and cedar chest with hints of graphite and black olives. The medium-bodied palate has a rock-solid frame of ripe, grainy tannins and plenty of freshness supporting the tight-knit black fruit and earthy flavors, finishing long and mineral laced.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94-96 RPThe lowest amount of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend on recent record but the signature of Lynch Bages is very much in play here - tons of liquorice, grippy and charismatic cassis and blueberry fruit with a velvety texture layered with blackcurrant pastilles and rich dark chocolate. This is easily one of the best Pauillacs that I have tasted in the vintage, totally gorgeous. The 33hl/ha yield meant I was worried that it would be too concentrated, but it pulls it off, although you’ve got to assume that they will need to be careful over ageing. Lower alcohol than both 2018 and 2019, a more classical balance in fact. 4% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. 3.73pH, 75% new oak, 18 months in barrel.

The 2020 Palmer, which was matured in 65% new oak, possesses one of the most perfumed bouquets of the vintage with entrancing, seductive scents of black cherries, wild strawberry, iodine and crushed violets, all beautifully delineated (as per usual). The palate is medium-bodied with fine but quite firm tannins, lending this Palmer more backbone than presupposed. Blackberry, graphite and touches of liquorice develop with aeration that build towards an assertive, pencil box-tinged finish that nods towards Pauillac. This is a Palmer destined for long-term ageing, so readers should have a cool damp cellar handy. It is a serious Palmer, very different from the previous two vintages, not a mix of the two, but content in just being itself. 14.1% alcohol.Vinous Media | 96-98 VMThis wine’s floral perfume is matched by generous tannins that surprise by their strength. The fruit flavors offer a mix of black and red berries. They are finely structured and concentrated, balanced by tightly woven acidity. Made from organic and biodynamic grapes.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEVivid colours, and the aromatics grab hold straight away. This is intense and concentrated, elegant, balanced and classical, all about the texture which is velvety and seductive with softly-grained tannins. Moves oh so slowly through the palate with dozens of layers to get hold of. The overall feel is precise, slow and seductive, with appellation and estate signature at every turn. Sappy, hawthorn freshness, rosemary, redcurrant, tobacco, cigar box and dark chocolate shavings on the finish. 3.77pH, 78IPT, 55% of overall production, with 13% press wine. Drinking Window 2028 - 2044.Decanter | 97 DEC

Ranking with the top wines of the vintage, the dense purple-hued 2020 Château Pape Clement offers a sensational bouquet of pure crème de cassis interwoven with notes of liquid violets and classy oak. Possessing flawless balance, full-bodied richness, and ultra-fine tannins, it excels in this vintage and has a pretty, elegant, yet also layered and concentrated profile. It will drink well with just short-term cellaring yet evolve gracefully for 20-30 years. I was able to taste this on multiple occasions, and it always checked in near the upper end of the scale. This is a gorgeous wine in the making.Jeb Dunnuck | 97-99 JDDeep garnet-purple colored, the 2020 Pape Clement comes barreling out of the glass with bold notes of cassis, plum preserves and licorice, giving way to scents of cedar chest, crushed rocks, charcoal and pencil lead. The medium to full-bodied palate is tightly coiled with beautiful tension and a firm, finely grained texture locking in the layers of black fruits and minerals, finishing with great length and energy. The blend this year is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% Merlot, aging mainly in French oak barriques, 66% new, with about 10% aging in large oak foudres. The wine will spend approximately 18 months in barrels.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96-98 RPSuperb aromas of blackberries, crushed stones, iodine and graphite. Full-bodied with ultra fine tannins and a balanced finish. Such length and beauty. Very close to the 2019 in quality.James Suckling | 97-98 JSThe 2020 Pape Clément is so impressive. Red cherry, plum, cedar, mint, tobacco, blood orange and rose petal all build as the 2020 opens in the glass. Vibrant and beautifully delineated, the 2020 has a ton to offer. The 2020 exudes purity, energy and breathtaking balance. It is one of the finest recent vintages I can remember tasting.Vinous Media | 95-97 VMThis ancient estate, an oasis in the suburbs of Bordeaux city, offers a wine that is packed with promising tannins. The important and rich black fruits reveal concentration, density and the potential of the development of a fine balance and structure as it matures.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WE(Château Pape Clément, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, Red) Powerful in colour, this has the glass staining red and purple colours that Pape Clément does so well. Touches of liquorice and cocoa beans, well handled, this gives power with one hand but takes it away with the other as the austerity and fresh mint leaf comes to the fore. Impressive, a really enjoyable, classically wrought but still full of concentration Pape Clément. Savoury, there is nothing too exuberant in the fruits but it exudes deft confidence. (Drink between 2028-2044)Decanter | 94 DEC

Blackberry and graphite with dark fruit and violets on the nose. Very complex. Full-bodied with lovely, fine tannins that are lightly chewy. Extremely long and polished. Really refined. Integrated tannins. Wonderful length.James Suckling | 96-97 JSThe second wine of Château Margaux is beautiful, smoky with acidity that is intense and yet integrated with the perfumed fruits. The wine’s freshness is very much a product of the vintage, giving the tannins a fine lift. Of course the wine will age.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEThe 2020 Pavillon Rouge is composed of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. The alcohol weighs in at 13.6%. Deep purple-black in color, the nose slowly unfurls to reveal gorgeous floral notes of lilacs and red roses, leading to a core of blackcurrant cordial, Morello cherries and minted blackberries, plus wafts of crushed rocks, forest floor and tilled loam. The medium to full-bodied palate is a mouthful of pure vinous seduction, slowly releasing layers of perfumed black fruits and mineral accents within a frame of achingly plush tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with epic length and a whole array of fragrant earth sparks.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92-94 RPThe 2020 Pavillon Rouge shows just how compelling the vintage is. Rich red berry fruit, red plum, cedar, spice and licorice meld together in a sumptuous, racy yet impeccably balanced wine that is flat-out delicious. It displays tremendous reserve, freshness and nuance, and clean veins of salinity that refresh the finish. The blend is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. The Pavillon Rouge represents 31% of the harvest.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMThe 2020 Pavillon Rouge checks in as 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc. It has a beautifully pure, classic Cabernet style in its cassis and blue-tinged fruits as well as notes of violets, tobacco, and chocolate. With medium to full body, ripe yet polished tannins, and a great finish, it shows the fresh yet concentrated style of the vintage beautifully. It’s going to evolve nicely for 20 years or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 92-94 JDSinewed muscle, nuanced aromatics, graphite, gunsmoke, fresh tobacco leaf and blackberry puree. Great purity of fruits, a ton of lift and freshly crushed mint leaf aromatics that grip and curl out of the glass. One of the really successful second wines in the vintage. 31% of the overall blend. 2% of Cabernet Franc completes the blend. Drinking Window 2025 - 2038Decanter | 94 DEC

This is integrated, with superb density and beauty, offering blackcurrant, mineral and some bark. Full-bodied, yet so polished and refined. Crushed stone. Lots of expression and texture to this wine. Creamy. Pure and precise. Elegant, yet layered. Slightly plusher than the 2019. Dense, yet agile. Fresh as always. 60% cabernet sauvignon, 32% merlot, 4% cabernet franc and 4% petit verdot. 50% new oak 15% old oak and 35% concrete amphorae.James Suckling | 98-99 JSThe 2020 Pontet-Canet is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, aging in 50% new French oak barriques, 35% concrete amphorae and 15% in one-year-old barrels. Harvest began on the 14th September for the Merlot, and the final lot of Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested on 30th September.Opaque purple-black in color, it needs significant aeration and swirling to coax out evocative notes of black cherry preserves, raspberry pie, blackcurrant pastilles and damp soil, before launching into gorgeous floral and spice notions of red roses, cinnamon stick, star anise and cardamom, with a waft of crushed rocks. The medium to full-bodied palate reveals a lot of depth and polish, delivering mouth-coating red and black fruits with loads of fragrant earth and floral sparks, framed by velvety tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and mineral tinged. This is a singular, fascinating expression of the vintage and highly recommended!Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96-98+ RPThe 2020 Pontet-Canet is captivating effort from the Tesseron family. The intensely perfumed, savory bouquet is immediately alluring. Deep and substantial, the 2020 is luxuriously rich from start to finish. Swaths of incisive tannin wrap around a core of dark red cherry fruit, gravel, dried herbs and rose petal, and a whole range of floral and savory accents lend aromatic presence. The Pontet-Canet is often a charmer en primeur, but the 2020 comes across as quite serious. I can’t wait to see how it develops. As always, one of the signatures of Pontet-Canet is a high proportion of Merlot vis-à-vis its peers among top Left Bank châteaux that lends tremendous midpalate weight. In 2020 production is within historical norms. Mildew pressure was high, but not as severe as in 2018, when two-thirds of the crop was lost in a single day. Harvest took place September 14–30, a bit more of a compact time frame than normal, and a good 7–10 days earlier than is typically the case. Aged in 50% new oak, 35% amphora and 15% once-used barrels.Antonio Galloni | 95-97 AG96–98. Barrel Sample. Aromatic black currant and spice aromas give way to a wine that has richness while having impressive balance. The freshness shines with tannins that give a velvet character to the wine’s texture. The fruitiness should not deceive from its longevity, so age this wine for many years. Organic and biodynamic.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEPure black and red berry fruit, very primary as a barrel sample, as expected. At 13% alcohol, it comes across as rather opulent, with tannins somewhat foreboding at this very early stage, which is normal. What impresses is the pristine and pure fruit; a very juicy expression that exudes both density and finesse on the long finish. Bravo! (Drink between 2026-2070)Decanter | 96 DEC

Winemaker Jean-Luc Thunevin has hit a home run in the vintage, and his 2020 Château Valandraud is unquestionably up with the crème de la crème out there. Made in a ripe, sexy, plush style, it brings an incredible amount of ripe black fruit, chocolate, vanilla, espresso, and leafy herb-like aromas and flavors. This carries to a full-bodied, powerful Saint-Emilion that somehow stays weightless and graceful on the palate, with moderate acidity, ripe tannins, and a great, great finish.Jeb Dunnuck | 97-99 JDWow. This is really super polished with incredible length and intensity, offering blackberries and hazelnuts. Superb richness that is reserved and poised. Great length. Full-bodied, extremely long and exciting.James Suckling | 97-98 JSOpaque purple-black colored, the 2020 Valandraud bursts with scents of crushed black plums, boysenberries and blackberry preserves, followed by hints of dusty soil, garrigue and clove oil. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers a lot of energetic, crunchy black fruits with a lively backbone and beautifully ripe, rounded tannins, finishing long and fragrant.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95-97 RPThe 2020 Valandraud is impressive. Inky, deep and exquisitely layered, it possesses tremendous richness in every dimension. crème de cassis, chocolate, licorice, new leather, spice and lavender build as the 2020 gains volume in the glass. Silky and plush, with magnificent balance, this is shaping up to be one of the wines of the year. A magnificent effort from Muriel Andraud and Jean-Luc Thunevin. Superb. Tasted two times.Vinous Media | 95-97 VMThis wine from the premier classé estate is seriously structured, dense and firm. At the same time the beautiful black currant fruits, acidity and fine perfumed character balance its richness. It is an impressive, memorable wine that will develop well over many years.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WE(Château Valandraud, St-Émilion, Bordeaux, France, Red) This is excellent, broad-shouldered with ample depth to the brambled fruits, liquorice, cigar box spice, with a gorgeously saline finish. Chalky, grippy tannins keep tugging you back into the body of the wine. The tannic grip is helped by a linen rather than silk texture that stops things being overly smooth and instead adds depth and interest to the powerfully knitted body, as do white flowers on the aromatics as it opens. Good stuff. 100% new oak for 24 months. A yield of 49hl/ha. Thunevin has sold a 50% stake in Valandraud to the Lefevre family at Sansonnet (also the new owners of Villemaurine, so a busy year for them). (Drink between 2029-2046)Decanter | 96 DEC

Purple berry and blackberry aromas with cracked black pepper, violets and lavender. It’s full-bodied and layered and broadens in the mouth. Gorgeous, ripe tannins. Long and thought-provoking. A milestone for the vineyard.James Suckling | 99-100 JSOne of my favorite wines in the vintage is the 2020 Château La Fleur-Petrus, which reminds me slightly of the 2016, even though the growing season was quite different. A blend of mostly Merlot with small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, its dense purple color is followed by a heavenly, ethereal Pomerol offering a powerful, almost Petrus-like sense of stature and density that carries incredible cassis and currant fruits as well as notes of graphite, crushed stone, chocolate, and violets. Flawlessly balanced on the palate, with a dense, layered mid-palate and building, perfect tannins, I just hope it shows this well from bottle! It should, at a minimum, match – and probably surpass – the 2009, 2016, and 2018.Jeb Dunnuck | 97-100 JDThe tannins clamp in on the opening beats of the wine and then spend the rest of the palate gently relaxing to let the juice out from the tight black fruits. The frame is both tactile and fresh, a brilliant La Fleur Petrus full of character and spice, bedded down but with a sense of energy and uplift. Black chocolate shavings shot through with eucalyptus, sage, rosemary, spices and cigar box - all of which really extend through the finish. Harvest September 10 to 20. A yield of around 42hl/ha. Deep gravels over clay. Drinking Window 2028 - 2045.Decanter | 97 DECVery deep purple-black colored, the 2020 la Fleur-Petrus leaps from the glass with bold expressions of baked black plums, molten licorice, Indian spices and blackberry preserves, plus hints of charcuterie, black olives and crushed rocks with a touch of unsmoked cigars. The full-bodied palate delivers compelling tension to the rich, hedonic black fruits, framed by firm, grainy tannins, finishing very long and tantalizingly savory.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95-97 RPThe 2020 La Fleur-Pétrus is wonderfully elegant and polished. Fine tannins give the 2020 its sophisticated feel. Succulent red cherry, cedar, tobacco, smoke and dried herbs all build. A whole range of floral, savory and mineral notes infuse the finish with tons of character. Medium in body and persistent, with real linear energy, the 2020 is all class. La Fleur-Pétrus is, above all else, a wine of understatement and elegance. The 2020 is especially fine.Antonio Galloni | 94-96 AGThe cool clay of this vineyard shows well in the freshness of this impressive wine. It gives the structure that will allow it to age. With richness assured through the tannins, the wine has great promise.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE

One of the finest vintages I’ve ever tasted from this address, the 2018 Château Lynch-Bages has everything you look for in a great wine: incredible aromatics, richness without weight, perfect balance, and a purity of fruit that’s just about off the charts. Dense purple, it reveals a glorious perfume of blackcurrants and blackberry fruits, a deep, unctuous mouthfeel, building tannins, and a complex array of cedar pencil, tobacco, wood smoke, and chocolate. A true blockbuster in every sense, with masses of fruit and tannins as well as moderate acidity, it will probably merit a triple-digit score in a decade and is a 50+-year wine from this team.Jeb Dunnuck | 98+ JDAromas of blackberries, cloves, licorice, dried leaves, graphite and black olives. It’s full-bodied with firm, tight tannins. Structured and tannic with beautiful austerity and a long, mineral and layered finish. The tannins grow on the palate. Try from 2026.James Suckling | 97 JSVibrant, with a violet and cassis lead-in that then expands to include steeped black cherry and plum fruit as well as extra savory, iron and licorice root notes. Nice latent grip too, with a mouthwatering tug of earth at the very end. The fruit is so vibrant, it’s a tease now, but there’s structure here for the long haul, so be patient. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2025 through 2040.Wine Spectator | 97 WSDeep, rich black fruits on the nose followed by a powerful punch of spice alongside a ferocious tannic structure that will benefit from the extra polishing of bottle ageing. Combines tannic heft with cassis, bitter chocolate shavings, sage, cardamom and smoke. This is impressive, with a solidly confident, classic Pauillac character and a great example of the confidence of Lynch-Bages right now. A yield of 38hl/ha. Drinking Window 2028 - 2048.Decanter | 96 DECComposed of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, the 2018 Lynch-Bages was aged in 75% new barriques. Deep garnet-purple in color, it soars out of the glass with a magnificently expressive nose of blueberry compote, black cherry preserves and blackcurrant pastilles, plus suggestions of dark chocolate, licorice, tar and violets with a waft of hoisin. The medium to full-bodied palate is just as impactful as the nose, coating the mouth with juicy black berry and spicy layers, supported by firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long with a refreshing earthiness coming through at the end.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPAn utterly fabulous wine, the 2018 Lynch-Bages captures all of the richness and generosity that make the year so appealing, and yet doesn’t stray too far from its classic feel. Rose petal, lavender, spice, sweet red berry fruit and mint are all beautifully lifted in the glass. Racy and silky to the core, the 2018 is a real head-turner from the very first taste. All the elements fall into place effortlessly. Readers will have a very hard time keeping their hands off this jewel of a wine.Antonio Galloni | 96 AGThe Lynch-Bages style is unmistakeable in this wine’s richness and the density of its structure and tannins. In addition it conveys a great sense of style, restrained power and opulence. Drink this wine from 2027.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE

The 2015 L’Eglise-Clinet is one of the wines of the vintage. Even better from bottle than it was from barrel, the 2015 towers out of the glass with stunning power and richness. Super-ripe black cherry, plum, licorice, tobacco and menthol are some of the many notes pulse through this riveting Pomerol. There is plenty of structure, but the tannins are nearly buried by the sheer intensity of the fruit. Hints of lavender, smoke, spice, licorice reappear to round out the finish. L’Eglise-Clinet is 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, aged in 70% new oak. More importantly, the 2015 is a total pleasure bomb. This a fabulous wine from Denis Durantou. Don’t miss it.Antonio Galloni | 99 AGThe violets, roses and dark fruits are so evident but they entice you in a subtle and fresh way. Full-bodied, dense and tannic, yet everything is so in tune with everything else and there are no hard edges or loose ends. It’s like a whirlpool that draws you down and then shows you its beauty. The harmony and complexity is phenomenal. Try in 2024 but I don’t want to wait.James Suckling | 99 JSComposed of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, the 2015 L’Eglise Clinet comes bursting out of the glass with a gorgeous perfume of exotic spices and potpourri over a core of blueberry compote, red currant jelly, spiced black plums and mulberries with touches of unsmoked cigars, powdered cinnamon and licorice. Big, rich and full-bodied, the palate offers exquisite harmony, packed with exotic spice and red and black fruit layers, finishing on an epically long-lasting mineral note. In an understated word: WOW.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98+ RPThis delivers a fresh, enticing beam of raspberry, boysenberry and blackberry coulis flavors that stretch out admirably while light anise, singed apple wood and fruitcake notes check in. Picks up some sneaky grip and a pretty mineral twinge through the finish. Rather elegant overall considering how much is here. Best from 2020 through 2035. 1,510 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSThe second wine of Eglise Clinet, the 2015 La Petite Eglise is a pretty, elegant, even Burgundian, 2015 that opens up beautifully with time in the glass, Ripe red currants, cherries, sandalwood, cedary spice, and dried floral notes all emerge from this medium-bodied 2015 that has fine tannin and a great finish. It’s certainly not a blockbuster but excels on its finesse and elegance. Drink it anytime over the coming decade. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to taste the top cuvee from this estate.Jeb Dunnuck | 92 JD

The 2016 Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion checks in as a Merlot-heavy blend, 57.5% Merlot and 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon. About as pure and seamless (yet sexy) as they come in the vintage, it offers awesome notes of dried flowers, sweet currants, cedarwood, forest floor, and exotic spices. With a flawless texture, medium to full body, and ultra-fine tannins, this beauty builds incrementally on the palate with terrific mid-palate depth and a stunning finish. It’s sexier and more charming compared to the more backward Haut Brion, yet I suspect it will age just as long.Jeb Dunnuck Wine Spectator Wine Enthusiast | 98 JDThe 2016 La Mission Haut-Brion is a blend of 57.5% Merlot and 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet-purple in color, it is just a little muted to begin, soon unfurling to reveal slowly growing scents of crushed blackcurrants, black cherries, dark chocolate and candied violets with nuances of crushed rocks, tobacco leaf, forest floor and fragrant earth plus a hint of bergamot. Medium-bodied and exquisitely elegant, the palate offers perfectly ripe, fine-grained tannins and tons of freshness with layer upon layer of perfumed fruit and a very long, ferrous-laced finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98+ RPThis is a wonderful wine, it’s absolutely precise, finely wrought and gorgeously balanced between richness and elegance, with notes of damson, black cherry, slate and rosemary. Silky soft tannins highlight the concentration of the fruit and the grilled oak notes that are La Mission’s signature, with a fresh core that stretches out the palate. A low pH gives tension through the palate, and is highly seductive. No Cabernet Franc this year. Drinking Window 2026 - 2044.Decanter | 98 DECThis is super vivid, offering cassis, blackberry, raspberry and blueberry compote flavors that bristle with energy while a mouthwatering frame of anise and apple wood adds electric energy. This is borderline rambunctious but it’s bridled well enough and when the fruit and wood sides mesh fully, this will be a rock star. Best from 2025 through 2040. 7,300 cases made. — JMWine Spectator | 97 WSRegal wine, showing alluringly ripe and dark plums, that carries a wealth of complexity in its DNA - fine spices, leaves, graphite, violets and more. The palate has very precise drive and super focused style and delivers authoritative tannins that are arranged in linear fashion. Power with elegance. Try from 2024.James Suckling | 97 JSThe 2016 La Mission Haut-Brion is flat out gorgeous. Today, La Mission is incredibly primary, with stunning purity in its red/purplish berry fruit. Readers will have to cellar the 2016 for the better part of a decade at a minimum before the telltale aromatics of this fabled château start to blossom in bottle. I adore the 2016 for its gracious personality, fine tannin and remarkable freshness, not to mention that it is absolutely delicious and the kind of wine that is so suggestive of a very bright future.Antonio Galloni | 97+ AGAs so often with this estate, this is a generous, opulent wine. This year a strong tannic element gives the wine a good structure. Smoky, textured and powerful, it needs many years to mature. Do not drink this wine before 2026.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE

If you want to drink a Margaux 2009 any time soon, you need to go for the Pavillon - the grand vin is still extremely young, holding back its power and impact for another five or 10 years time. It’s still closed up enough to hint rather than reveal. The smooth, silky tannins are joined by blackberry and cassis fruit with a great sense of vibrancy and concentration, and some tingling minerality with a pulse of electricity. There’s a latent generosity here, a slow confidence that builds through the palate as the flavours layer up, yet it’s clear that there’s still lots to be revealed, particularly the hints of violet and peony florality that just peek through on the finish. This is very, very good - up with the best ever from this estate. 31% of production went into this wine, and it has the same amount of Cabernet Sauvignon as in 2005. 2% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Drinking Window 2022 - 2046Decanter | 100 DECThis marathon runner is currently in the no-man’s land between youthful vitality and mellow maturity. There’s a very serious tannin structure here, but it needs a lot longer to fully resolve. Very tight and closed. A perfect wine usually. But not today. Try in 2020. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019).James Suckling | 99 JSA brilliant offering from the Mentzelopoulos family, once again their gifted manager, Paul Pontallier, has produced an uncommonly concentrated, powerful 2009 Chateau Margaux made from 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest primarily Merlot with small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. As with most Medocs, the alcohol here is actually lower (a modest 13.3%) than most of its siblings-. Abundant blueberry, cassis and acacia flower as well as hints of charcoal and forest floor aromas that are almost Burgundian in their complexity are followed by a wine displaying sweet, well-integrated tannins as well as a certain ethereal lightness despite the wine’s overall size. Rich, round, generous and unusually approachable for such a young Margaux, this 2009 should drink well for 30-35+ years.Robert Parker | 99 RPA massive wine for Margaux, packed with tannins and ripe fruit. It has more Cabernet Sauvignon than usual, giving intense black currant flavors with enticing acidity balanced by the sweetness of the fruit. Ripe swathes of this opulent fruit are also elegant and structured.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEThe 2009 Château Margaux is intense and powerful on the nose with blackberry, forest floor, graphite and rose petals that unfurls with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin, impressive density and plenty of freshness, perhaps more than the 2009 Mouton-Rothschild. There is a genuine Pauillac-like drive to this Château Margaux thanks to the Cabernet Sauvignon, clearly a First Growth destined for long-term ageing. 13.1% alcohol. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 97 VMThis offers gorgeously caressing fruit, with steeped plum, blackberry and red currant notes, finely embroidered with accents of rooibos and black tea, tobacco leaf, alder and sandalwood. Delivers loads of fruit, with the structure already melded into the core of fruit--but that’s the vintage style. A stunner, though I still find the ’10 a full step ahead.--Non-blind Château Margaux vertical (December 2013). Best from 2018 through 2035.Wine Spectator | 97 WS(Château Margaux) The 2009 Margaux is again, very, very ripe, but never strays over the line. The bouquet is deep and flamboyant, as it offers up scents of black cherries, cassis, dark chocolate, cigar smoke, fine soil tones and plenty of spicy new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and black fruity, with a firm core of ripe fruit, low acids, fine focus and impressive length and grip on the beautifully balanced and ripely tannic finish. This is a very well-made, low acid and big-boned Margaux that will need a good decade in the cellar to start to blossom and should provide a solid forty year window of peak drinkability. A fine result. (Drink between 2020-2060)John Gilman | 93-94 JG

Performing even better from bottle than it did from barrel, this appears to be the finest Lynch Bages since the 2000, 1990 and 1989. According to the chateau, the 2009 has the highest level of polyphenols ever measured as well as high alcohol (nearly 13.5%). A blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest largely Merlot with touches of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, it is an expressive, voluptuously textured effort with unctuosity and powerful, juicy, succulent blackberry and black currant flavors, low acids, a layered, massive mouthfeel, but no sense of heaviness or fatigue. This exquisite Lynch Bages should drink well for 30+ years.Robert Parker | 98 RPA powerful and ripe wine with a wide-screen personality, this makes a very bold statement without becoming a jot heavy. Serious tannins at the long finish suggest this has long-term aging potential. Drink now with a big steak or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019).James Suckling | 96 JSA dense, immense, solidly powerful wine. The ripest fruit overflows, paralleling the dark, solid tannins. As so often, Lynch-Bages is a blockbuster, dark and concentrated, with immense aging potential.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WETight and backward, this has dense, almost chewy layers of fig, currant and plum cake behind a very solid wall of cedar, roasted vanilla and charcoal notes. There’s serious grip on the finish, with an iron edge that won’t quit. Best from 2015 through 2035. 31,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSThis is a little more subdued than some right now, needing a good five minutes in the glass before revealing layers of rich olive, cassis, exotic spices, cracked pepper and garrigue. You get the heat of the vintage and the ripeness of the fruit, balanced by muscular, chewy tannins and gorgeous chocolate notes. This is great, although for me the 2010 just pips it. Drinking Window 2020 - 2040Decanter | 95 DECThe 2009 Lynch-Bages has an intense bouquet which is more forward than Grand Puy Lacoste, albeit without the same complexity. Layers of blackberry, bilberry, brine and a touch of graphite. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannin, slightly lower in acidity than the 2010 Lynch Bages, dense and quite sinewy towards the finish. It might miss the class of its peers but you cannot help but admire the brawn underneath its aristocratic coat. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits’ Ten Year On tasting.Vinous Media | 93 VM(Château Lynch Bages) I tasted two sample bottles of the Lynch Bages at the UGC tasting at Branaire-Ducru, but probably neither bottle was a pristine example. I tried to find time to swing by the château and taste another sample, but could not squeeze it into my already densely packed schedule, sop this note will have to suffice. I have given a wider range than customary for a sound wine, and I suspect that the ’09 Lynch Bages is probably likely to reside at the upper end of the range when all is said and done. The nose is deep, complex and classy, as it offers up notes of cassis, espresso, tobacco leaf, cigar smoke and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full, long and complex, with ripe tannins and quite a bit of structure on the finish. These samples were just not as vibrant or as long as I would expect from the ’09 Lynch, particularly based on the fine quality of the nose, and hence my equivocation on the score. (Drink between 2018-2050)John Gilman | 87-92+ JG

A major success of the vintage. The wine exhibits extreme richness of the fruit, with all its sweet blackberry flavors. It also has underlying firm structure, density and solid tannins. Bring in the acidity at the end, and this is both impressive and ready for long-term aging.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEMeasured and confident tannic hold with subtle grilled oak notes, a ton of ripe cassis and blueberry fruits, liquorice and eucalyptus on the finish, and a mouthwatering, moreish construction overall. This is a powerful St Julien, but with clear and present finesse. 60% new oak. A standout wine from this property, and a wonderful showcase of the slow burning brilliance of St Julien. Drinking Window 2020 - 2040.Decanter | 96 DECA super-classic St.-Julien that only has a hint of the opulence of the vintage. The beautiful cassis fruit and elegantly dry tannins push briskly through the long and graceful finish. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)James Suckling | 96 JSThe 2009 Léoville-Barton has a much better bouquet than the Langoa with better definition and focus: blackberry, raspberry coulis, cedar and touches of graphite that gain intensity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, a fine bead of acidity, lightly spiced with a graphite infused finish that feels very persistent. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits’ Ten Year On tasting.Vinous Media | 95 VMThis is powerful Cabernet, with gutsy weight, but also polished feel to the fresh plum, warm blackberry sauce, bittersweet ganache and roasted apple wood notes. Long and tarry through the finish, but still invigorating despite its heft. Needs some time to round fully into form. Best from 2017 through 2035. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 21,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSMedium to deep garnet colored, the 2009 Leoville Barton gives up expressive cherry cordial, warm cassis and blackberry tart scents with nuances of menthol, cigar box and fallen leaves. Medium-bodied and elegantly played with loads of freshness and soft tannins, it has a long, perfumed finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RP

At once deep and rich, yet cool and delicate with a minty freshness, this is a really concentrated and super-elegant Pomerol that’s now very seductive, but has the structure and vitality to live for a long time. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)James Suckling | 97 JSThe 2009 La Conseillante has a very classy and sophisticated bouquet with beautifully defined black and red fruit mixed with black truffle and pressed rose petals. The oak is just completely subsumed here. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe and saturated tannin, a fine line of acidity, fresh and tensile with a sense of mineralité on the finish. This bottle shows even better than the one poured at the property 12 months earlier. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 97 VMThis tasted brilliant in London a few weeks ago at the Bordeaux 10 Years On tasting, but even better in New York. There’s so much complexity on offer - the natural elegance pumped up with dark chocolate, graphite and liquorice layering up through the damson and blackberry fruits. A gorgeous, delicious wine with a blast of freshly crushed mint leaf on the finish. This was the third vintage since a second wine was launched in 2007, helping the winemaking team to concentrate and refine this main bottling. Jean-Michel Laporte was director at the time, with Gilles Paquet as consultant. Drinking Window 2020 - 2032Decanter | 97 DECSimilar in style to the 2015, the 2009 La Conseillante is another sexy, seductive, opulent even, Pomerol that offers a huge array of spiced dark fruits, cured meats, crushed flowers, and truffle. Deep, full-bodied, layered and beautifully pure, with an extroverted personality that just begs to be drunk, it will keep for another three decades or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDThe medium to deep garnet colored 2009 La Conseillante strides confidently out of the glass with very classy Black Forest cake, blueberry compote and kirsch scents plus suggestions of violets, liquid licorice, cardamom and bay leaves with a touch of eucalyptus. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is elegantly fruited with a firm, grainy frame and oodles of freshness, finishing long and minerally.Robert Parker | 96 RPThis delivers stunning toasted spice, mocha and black tea aromas, while the core of plum, blackberry and fig flavors is still rather reticent. The long finish is liberally laced with a racy graphite note, while the perfumy accent pervades. This will be a suave head-turner when it rounds into form. Best from 2018 through 2030. 4,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WS(Château La Conseillante) The 2009 La Conseillante is evolving nicely and shows every likelihood of delivering on all the early promise it showed out of barrel during the En Primeur week of 2010. A year on, the wine offers up a ripe and classy nose of red and black raspberries, chocolate, fine, gravelly soil tones, tobacco smoke and spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and ripely tannic, with a fine core of fruit, good focus and balance and very good length and grip on the youthful finish. The 2009 vintage has still produced a La Conseillante that is a bit broad-shouldered by the elegant standards of this estate, but this is a very good example of the vintage that should age gracefully. (Drink between 2022-2060)John Gilman | 93 JGDensely rich, very sweet wine. It has some smoky tannins that give structure, along with a dark core of dry raisin and wood flavors. It has concentration and an opaque texture.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WE

The inky/blue/purple-colored 2009 Bellevue Mondotte offers aromas of creme de cassis, mulberries, licorice, white flowers, forest floor and candied cherries. Extremely thick, rich and full-bodied, it is nearly overwhelming in its textural richness, colossal concentration and mind-blowing finish that lasts nearly a minute. Undeniably massive and over-sized, but perfectly balanced, it is made for those looking for something to put away for 30-50+ years. One has to admire a proprietor who is making a wine for the history books, not for near-term gratification.This is a tiny jewel in the empire of entrepreneur and quality conscious Bordeaux visionary, Gerard Perse. It is a 5-acre parcel of nearly 50-year old vines planted on pure limestone at an elevation above that of his neighboring property, Pavie-Decesse, not far from Pavie-Macquin. Bellevue Mondotte is generally a blend of approximately 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Since Perse got control of this estate and renovated the cellars, he has been draconian in reducing yields, which were a mere 22 hectoliters per hectare in 2009. The fruit was picked very ripe and the wine was fermented in oak tanks with malolactic in barrel, aged on its lees (a la Burgundy), and bottled unfined and unfiltered. At all the Perse properties the wine stays in oak about six months longer than at other Bordeaux estates.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPLoads of fruit with blueberries and blackberries. Cassis. Full and juicy with super fine tannins. Very flamboyant. Powerful structure. Goes on for minutes. 90% Merlot with 5% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Try in 2018.James Suckling | 97 JS(90% merlot with 5% each cabernet franc and sauvignon): Deep ruby. Superripe, slightly inky aromas of blueberry liqueur and violet. Like liquid silk in the mouth, but with surprisingly firm acidity leavening the wine’s sweetness and giving shape to its blue and black fruit flavors. A compellingly rich, thick wine with palate-staining length and the tannic clout to support at least a couple decades of positive evolution in bottle.Vinous Media | 95+ VMA very dark, almost brooding style, with loads of ganache, espresso and roasted fig aromas and flavors, backed by extra notes of black forest cake, warm currant preserves and melted black licorice. There’s a gorgeous polished feel despite its heft, with a purity buried deep on the finish. Drink now through 2015. 415 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WS