Bordeaux Collector Wines

wines

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

Clinet has been on a hot streak lately and the 2009 appears to be the greatest wine ever made at the estate, surpassing even the late Jean-Michel Arcaute’s monumental 1989. A blend of 85% Merlot and tiny amounts of Cabernet Franc (12%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (3%), this big Pomerol boasts an opaque, moonless night inky/blue/purple color in addition to a gorgeous perfume of blueberry pie, incense, truffles, black raspberries, licorice and wood smoke. Viscous and multi-dimensional with silky, sweet tannin, massive fruit concentration and full-bodied power, there are nearly 4,000 cases of this thick, juicy, perfect Clinet. It should drink well in 3-5 years and keep for 25-30.Robert Parker | 100 RPA big-shouldered, powerful and classic Pomerol. Inky black in colour even at 11 years old, this is concentrated yet juicy and built for pleasure, filled with dense black cherries, fleshy raspberries, liquorice and shaved chocolate. On soils that are largely clay and gravel, with sandier sections, making it an excellent reflection of the appellation, and more than showcasing its ability to deliver superbly brushed tannins that gently pillow the Merlot-dominant fruit. Drinking Window 2020 - 2040.Decanter | 96 DECAromas of dark fruits, hazelnut and dark chocolate, follow through to a full body, with velvety tannins that are polished and refined. Beautiful depth of fruit to this. Best in 2018.James Suckling | 96 JSThe 2009 Clinet has an impressive and complex bouquet with liquorice and truffle infused black fruit, hints of desiccated orange peel and even a dab of honey. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe, succulent, and fine tannins (although not as fine as the 2009 La Conseillante) with a dense, precocious and heady finish. There is hedonism here, but it is on a tight leash. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 95 VMVery lush and exotic, boasting plum sauce, crushed fig, warm raspberry confiture and steeped black currant fruit all dripping over a racy but buried graphite spine. The long, dark finish has plenty of stuffing for the long haul. Really beautifully rendered. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2015 through 2034. 3,750 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSA smooth, superripe wine, full of the sweetest fruit, big and rich. It is opulent, a powerhouse of dense Merlot fruits, rounded out with soft tannins.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE

Among the most saturated in color of all the 2005 Pomerols (which is saying something), this wine has a spectacular nose of licorice, mulberry, blackberry and sweet blue fruits. The new oak is completely hidden, the wine full-bodied, multi-layered and just stunning. The purity, richness and skyscraper-like mouthfeel are incredible. Give it another 5-10 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 30+ years.Robert Parker | 100 RPThe 2005 L’Eglise-Clinet soars out of the glass with captivating aromatics. Inky dark fruit, graphite, lavender, licorice, rose petal and spice captive the senses. In the glass, the 2005 is outrageously beautiful, with layers of inky dark fruit that continue to open, seemingly with no end. Floral notes and redder tonalities of fruit develop with time in the glass. L’Eglise-Clinet is another wine in this tasting that just got better and better with time. It is an epic Pomerol that evokes so many memories of tasting at the château with late proprietor Denis Durantou. Well-stored bottles will prove to be nearly immortal.Antonio Galloni | 99 AGRight from the first nose you find yourself melting into the glass. Layers of complex aromatics prevent you from taking a sip too soon, just sit and enjoy the white truffles, black cherries, tobacco, menthol and liquorice root. These notes continue into the palate, and overall this wine has a huge caressing persistency. The tannins are still holding you tight, very much in control but unobtrusively so. This is the first vintage made with young vines planted in 2001, at 8,000 vines per hectare over 1.5ha, with a pH of 3.6. Drinking Window 2018 - 2038Decanter | 98 DECDark ruby in color. Fabulous aromas of blackberry, tobacco, black olive and brown sugar follow through to a full body, with incredibly velvety tannins that go on and on and caress the palate for minutes. Shows class and complexity. Stunning. The greatest young wine ever from this producer. Best after 2016. 1,375 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSThis is an elegant wine with wonderful length and beauty. Full yet reserved, showing loads of complexity. This is just starting to show its colors, but still needs at least eight years. Don’t touch this until 2018. Please be patient with this one. 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc.James Suckling | 97 JS

The 2000 La Conseillante is brilliant (this was tasted from magnum) and while mature, is still youthful and vibrant. Deep ruby/purple colored and loaded with notions of currants, plums, chocolate, Asian spice, and incense, it offers full-bodied richness, fine tannin, and a silky, elegant, yet concentrated style on the palate. This beauty can be drunk anytime over the coming two decades or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDLa Conseillante made an excellent wine in 2001, another great one in 2005, and the estate hit home runs in both 2008 and, above all, in 2009. In fact, the latter vintage may well end up being the modern-day reference point for La Conseillante. Nevertheless, there’s a lot to be said for this 2000. An elegant, gentle style that is never a blockbuster, the 2000 La Conseillante has a deep ruby/plum/purple color and an unbelievably expressive nose of sweet kirsch liqueur intermixed with raspberries, incense, toast, and licorice. Full-bodied yet ethereal in the sense that it seems to combine power along with eloquence and delicacy, this is a beautifully pure wine that has just hit its plateau of full maturity, although ideally I think it would benefit strongly from another 4-5 years of bottle age and drink well for two to three decades.Robert Parker | 96 RP(Château La Conseillante) The 2000 vintage of La Conseillante has produced an absolute classic and all this beautiful wine needs is another six to eight years of cellaring to start to come into its own. The exceptional bouquet offers up a complex and really pure blend of red and black raspberries, cigar wrapper, a superb base of soil, fresh herbs, coffee, cedar and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very pure, with a rock solid core of fruit, great structure, moderate tannins and outstanding length and grip on the very focused and blossoming finish. This is a high class vintage of La Conseillante that will probably prove to be superior to either of the riper vintages of 2009 or 2010 and end up being one of the longest-lived vintages from this estate in many, many years. A great wine. (Drink between 2017-2060)John Gilman | 95 JGPretty, with a perfumy hint to the range of bergamot, blood orange, kirsch and damson plum fruit flavors, which are backed by a graceful, floral-edged finish. Very silky and suave, this expands steadily and dramatically in the glass but still forgoes power for a lacy seduction. This really stands apart from the powerfully ripe general profile of the AOC in ’00 but seems likely to last just as long in the hunt as the other top dogs.—Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2028. 5,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThe colour tells you so much here - it’s clearly rich and concentrated, with younger and more complex layers of cassis and blueberry fruit compared to the the 1999. A tannic backbone is in evidence, and this is still relatively closed up; the 2000s are in general moving in and out of a closed phase, so give this time once opened, perhaps even an hour or so in a carafe. Give it the time it needs and the nose really does evolve very beautifully in the glass and produces crackling, warm autumnal flavours. No need to get stuck in just yet. Drinking Window 2018 - 2034Decanter | 94 DECThe 2000 La Conseillante is much broodier than the previous two vintages, 1998 and 1999. This demands encouragement from the glass, eventually opening with blackberry, briary, black truffle and terracotta scents. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly “furry” tannin. It is not as precise as say, the 2005 or 2010. There is impressive weight here, a concentrated and broad-shouldered La Conseillante, but what is missing is the finesse and poise that more recent vintages have shown. I find the millennial La Conseillante more impressive in its youth, though now it is just looking a little heavy-handed. Tasted at La Conseillante vertical at the property.Vinous Media | 92 VMAn incredibly subtle and sexy nose of perfume, flowers, red fruits, and sliced plums. Full-bodied, yet refined and silky. This is delicious and pretty, and just starting to open up with flavors of tobacco, cedar, and cigar box. No need to wait.James Suckling | 92 JSNo written review provided. | 91 W&S

So much black truffle in the aroma here with blackberry and blueberry character, too. Full body, solid and stalwart. The layers of velvety tannins are impressive. I love the balance and energy to this. Underlines the greatness of 1998 for Pomerol and harks back to 1950. Just starting to be drinkable now.James Suckling | 98 JSComplex aromas of blackberry, fresh mushrooms, tobacco and wet earth. Full-bodied, soft and luxurious texture to this ripe and opulent wine. Long and decadent too. Just coming around now. Give it more time. L’Evangile at its finest.—’88/’98 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2008). Best after 2011. 3,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WS72% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc. This has real depth of flavour and intensity that keep you gripped from start to finish. Near to its perfect drinking window. Amazing freshness at 20 years old; you can feel the flesh of the soft autumnal berry fruit given an edge by the curling cigar smoke. A true Right Bank vintage – and even more clearly a true Pomerol vintage. Drinking Window 2018 - 2032.Decanter | 96 DECDeep garnet-brick colored and blended of 72% Merlot and 28% Cabernet Franc, the nose of the 1998 L’Evangile has the most intensely perfumed scents of potpourri, fallen leaves, Chinese five spice, camphor and new leather over a core of crème de cassis, prunes, star anise, dusty soil and tobacco with wafts of dried lavender and cinnamon stick. Medium to full-bodied, rich and decadent in the mouth, it has layer upon layer of spice and savory notions with a plush frame and refreshing lift on the finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPFull medium ruby. Fabulous nose combines black raspberry, sweet oak, bitter chocolate, truffle and mint, all lifted by a cool, slightly medicinal black cherry note of cabernet franc. Penetrating, pure, youthfully bound-up black fruit and licorice flavors. Densely packed and extremely backward. Finishes with very firm, oak-powered tannins. A superb, powerfully structured vintage for this wine, to drink between 2010 and 2025.Vinous Media | 93+ VM

The 1990 La Conseillante is fully mature, and totally brilliant. Its medium ruby color is followed by a perfumed, complex bouquet of sandalwood, cedar, ripe cherries, licorice and Asian spices. Upfront and not holding anything back, it reveals loads of sweet fruit and is incredibly complex and nuanced aromatically. This gives way to a full-bodied, integrated and seamless Pomerol that has resolved tannin, perfect balance, an opulent mouthfeel, and a great finish. This is Pomerol in all its elegant, yet seductive glory and while I don’t see any upside, it’s going to continue drinking beautifully for another decade.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDOne of the all-time great La Conseillantes, this wine, which to me has similarities to a grand cru Burgundy from the likes of Henri Jayer, still has a deep ruby/purple color and an exotic, even flamboyant bouquet of vanilla, kirsch liqueur, raspberries, licorice, and Asian spice. Full-bodied, very opulent, with low acidity, yet consistently a velvety-textured, full-bodied mouthful, this endearing, very seductive wine clearly demonstrated why Pomerols are often called the “Burgundies of Bordeaux.” The wine still seems surprisingly youthful despite its accessibility, and should continue to develop for up to another 10-15 years. Anticipated maturity: Now-2018. Last tasted, 12/02.Robert Parker | 98 RPWonderful expression on the nose, with black fruit, cocoa powder and a slight hint of reduction which then dissipated. Good colour in the glass, suggesting the wine’s age. However the palate made no such concession, with ripe black fruit compote, leather, savoury tobacco and pencil lead. Excellent volume here with round, generous tannins and a succulent, fleshy profile. Superb concentration of fruit which has a distinctly gourmand feel. Incredible poise, personality and presence. Magnificent length, suggesting this is now in its prime. Drinking Window 2017 - 2040Decanter | 96 DECGood deep color. Enticing black fruit and gamey aroma. Very sweet but manages some restraint; stylish raspberry fruit calls to mind a Côte de Nuits Burgundy. Decent acidity gives this lovely focus and shape. Subtle, very long finish, with ripe tannins buried in fruit.Vinous Media | 94 VM(Château La Conseillante) The 1990 La Conseillante was one of the prettiest examples of the vintage shown at the Hart-Davis-Hart tasting in New York. The nose is deep, impressively pure and quite floral in its aromatic blend of black raspberries, black cherries, cigar smoke, herb tones, gravel and a judicious base of toasty new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nicely complex, with modest tannins, a good core of fruit, fine balance and good length and grip on the ripe, but elegant finish. The ripeness of the 1990 vintage contributes a bit of blurriness on the backend here that is not typical of La Conseillante, but in the context of the vintage, this is a pretty svelte example. I would give this wine a few more years in the cellar to more fully blossom. (Drink between 2015-2040)John Gilman | 91 JGA bit funky but delicious now. Medium-red color with an amber edge. Aromas of ripe berries, earth and saddle leather. Medium-bodied, with spicy flavors, soft tannins and a ripe fruit finish.--1990 Bordeaux retrospective. Drink now. 5,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

Deep garnet colored, the 2010 L’Eglise Clinet begins unassumingly with gentle notions of fragrant dried flowers and wild sage leading to savory nut and meat characters over an expanding core of preserved plums, blueberry compote and black cherry coulis plus a waft of menthol. Full-bodied, concentrated and wonderfully decadent, the palate is absolutely packed with rich, ripe black fruit preserves and loads of spicy sparks, framed by super ripe, super plush tannins, finishing very long and decadent. I love the interplay of subtly and power here - this is truly a WOW wine!Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPSo much elegance and complexity to this young wine with plenty of flowers and dark fruit notes. Full and super refined, with amazing complexity and firmness. It is very tight and silky. Long and intense. This is a super 2001 or a 1961.James Suckling | 97-98 JSRich but delightfully pure, with a stunningly gorgeous, pure beam of unadulterated raspberry preserves driving through the middle, showing hints of plum, anise and blueberry hanging in the background. The long finish drips with fruit, but maintains the racy acidity needed for balance and elegance, while a fine minerality slides in underneath. Drink now through 2030. 1,333 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSThe 2010 L’Eglise-Clinet comes across a little introverted and sullen on the nose compared to its peers in this very strong flight. It is attractive in its own way with pretty red berry fruit, briary and rose petals, but declines to reveal its complexity. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, slightly lactic in style, modern in the context of this Pomerol cru, but well balanced on the finish. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.Vinous Media | 94+ VM

The paradox of Bordeaux is that some of the greatest vintages are almost unapproachable until they are 20 years old or more. 2010 almost certainly qualifies to be in that bracket, and no one would say this is ready to drink yet (head to Les Pensées for a good few years yet). But at 10 years it practically runs you over with its brilliance the second you get anywhere near it. This is intense with lashings of tannins yet finely wrought and elegant. Power without weight, loaded with graphite, olives, sage, rosemary and violets. This really shows how expansive Lafleur can be, and yet without the slightest trace of heaviness, this is suspended over the glass. So much nuance, texture and layers here - an utterly amazing wine from a year that had a cool early season then turned hot right through until harvest, but always with fresh nights. A standout that makes the most of its high Cabernet Franc content. Drinking Window 2021 - 2055.Decanter | 100 DECThis red shows such beautiful and ripe aromas of blackberries, orange peel, hazelnuts, and tropical fruits. It’s full-bodied, with superb texture of polished tannins that are velvety. The length last for minutes. It’s muscular yet elegant. It flexes it muscle yet pulls them back. What gorgeous tone to this young red. Try in 2020.James Suckling | 100 JSMade of 62% Cabernet Franc and 38% Merlot, the deep garnet colored 2010 Lafleur features cedar chest and kirsch notes to begin, unfurling to offer baked plums, boysenberries, sandalwood and licorice scents plus a waft of pencil lead. Full-bodied, the palate is very taut and muscular, with slowly maturing red and black fruits and a solid frame of firm, ripe, grainy tannins, finishing long and mineral laced.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPThe 2010 Lafleur is showing a lot of Cabernet Franc on the nose. It is supremely well defined with incredibly clarity and terroir expression. You could almost mistake it for a Left Bank. Figeac? The palate is precise and detailed, touches of burnt toast and white pepper sprinkled over the persistent and structured finish that does not miss a step. Brilliant. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.Vinous Media | 98 VMPacked, with a charcoal frame and hints of alder and mesquite offering an impressive, aromatic profile, while flavors of crushed plum, warm linzer torte and blackberry preserves form the massive core. Dense, chewy and velvety, this features a riveting iron note and enticing tobacco accents that help to expand and lengthen the finish. Best from 2020 through 2040.Wine Spectator | 97 WS(Château Lafleur) The 2010 Château Lafleur is an almost miraculous 13.5 percent in alcohol in this drought year and is probably destined to be the wine of the vintage as a result. The wine displays classic structure and absolute brilliant potential, as it soars from the glass in a stunning mélange of black raspberries, plums, bitter chocolate, a great base of soil, woodsmoke, a touch of game, fresh herbs and a gentle base of new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and intense, with a rock solid core of fruit, a very impressive signature of soil, ripe, substantial tannins, tangy acids and a huge, long and nascently complex finish. This will take a very long time to come around, but it should be absolutely monumental at its apogee. (Drink between 2025-2100).John Gilman | 97+ JG

The 2015 Vieux Château Certan is every bit as magnificent from bottle as it was from barrel. Rich, sumptuous and explosive in the glass, the 2015 is pure class. The flavors are deep and boldly sketched in this sumptuous, spectacularly ripe Pomerol. Inky blue/purplish fruit, spice, lavender, licorice and menthol all develop in the glass, but it is the wine’s textural richness and intensity that stand out most. As good as the 2015 is today, it is going to need at least 15-20 years to be at its very best. Is there anything more I can ask of the 2015? No, there is not. This is a tremendous showing.Antonio Galloni | 100 AGI was able to taste both the 2015 and 2016 grand vins, and these are heavenly, magical wines that could not be any better. Starting with the 2015 Vieux Château Certan, it shows the opulent, flamboyant style of the vintage to a T and reveals a saturated purple/ruby color, a monster bouquet of blackberries, tobacco, kirsch, dried spices, and loamy earth, full-bodied richness, sweet tannins, and a finish that won’t quit. A thrill a minute, wine doesn’t get any better, and I only wish every reader could taste this beauty. Drink it any time over the coming 30 years or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDThe blackberries, blueberries, oyster shell and violets are so mesmerizing. Full-bodied, focused and deep. It takes you to another space and plane. Dried flowers and dark fruit. The tannins are perfectly crafted. Keeps going as you taste it. Drink in 2023 but why wait?James Suckling | 100 JSBlended of 80% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, the medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Vieux Chateau Certan opens with profound notes of blueberry compote, dried mulberries, black forest cake, licorice, violets and garrigue with wafts of black truffles, sandalwood and rose hips. Medium to full-bodied, very earthy/savory and beautifully layered with very plush yet present tannins, it offers lovely freshness and a very long minerally finish. So very Pomerol!Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98+ RPThis is a beautifully fragrant wine that has power along with an elegant acidity. It has wonderful juiciness that cuts through any of the tannins to give great freshness, a silky texture and fruitiness at the end. Perfumed and stylish, this is a very fine wine.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEExpressive and alluring aromas of warm plum reduction and boysenberry puree lead off here, followed by fleshy, seamlessly layered notes of blackberry, black currant, melted black licorice and smoldering tobacco. Shows a lovely tug of dark earth through the finish without sacrificing a sense of polish or giving ground to the waves of fruit. Displays terrific latent energy through the finish. Best from 2023 through 2040. 3,750 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WSAromatics here are a little more evolved than with the 2016, showing tar notes, Liquorice Allsorts, anise, raspberry and blackberry fruits. This is a good quality wine with impact and character and the subtle complex shades of flavour that VCC does so well. Really does need time in the glass, suggesting it will hit full stride in another two or three years. (Drink between 2023-2042)Decanter | 95 DEC

Aromas of tar, black olive skin and blackberries follow through to a full body. Ultra-fine tannins and a long, linear finish with super intensity. Well-crafted in every sense. A fabulous Pomerol for the future. Try in 2022.James Suckling | 98 JSNewly-arrived Technical Director Marielle Cazaux turned out a jewel of a wine at La Conseillante in 2015, her debut vintage. A polished and super-sophisticated Pomerol, La Conseillante is all class. Precise, lifted aromatics make a strong first impression, but it is the wine’s overall feel and sense of harmony that truly dazzle. Over the last two years, the 2015 seems to have gained in freshness, precision and nuance. What a wine! The blend is 81% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc. Don’t’ miss it.Antonio Galloni | 97 AGComposed of 81% Merlot and 19% Cabernet Franc and aged for 18 months in 70% new and 30% one-year-old French oak, the medium garnet-purple colored 2015 La Conseillante opens with reticent, earthy notes of dusty soil, garrigue, forest floor and iron ore with a core of warm plums, cassis, cigar boxes, star anise and dark chocolate plus a hint of violets. Medium to full-bodied with decadent fruit and a gorgeous plushness to the texture, the palate features impeccable poise and compelling depth, finishing on a lingering mineral note.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96+ RPReminding me of the 2009, the 2015 La Conseillante is more overt and sexy compared to the 2016, offering a huge nose of mulled black fruits, spring flowers, chocolate and gravely/clay-like earthiness. This is a full-bodied, complex, elegant and layered 2015 that has a singular character and the class to drink well for 20-25 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDThis is reserved, with subtle Earl Grey tea, singed apple wood and warm fruitcake aromas opening slowly ahead of a core of dark boysenberry, raspberry and blackberry compote flavors. A lovely swath of velvety tannins carries the finish, with the fruit and spice aromas pulling together nicely. Some patience is needed here, but this is one of the elite of the AOC in this vintage. Best from 2023 through 2040. 3,333 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThis is a perfumed wine, rich in tannins and with a good balance between the Merlot and Cabernet Franc in the blend. Ripe black fruits and velvet tannins give the wine elegance and charm. It is juicy and ripe, with a background of firm structure set against a crisp final texture. The wine will develop well; drink from 2025.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEA warm, sunny vintage, giving crème de cassis flavours and a crème caramel edging. Still young, but packed with gourmet, creamy character. Very much on primary flavours right now, so more focused on plum and black cherry than black truffle, but not question that this will appear over the next few years. Traces of heat on the finish. 70% new oak. A yield of 39.5hl/ha. Drinking Window 2024 - 2042.Decanter | 94 DEC

When I asked winemaker Olivier Berrouet about his greatest challenges in 2015, he replied, “Our biggest challenge is to avoid all the temptations you can have in the vineyard and in the cellar. You can go too far. With our job, if you go too far, you can’t go back. Little steps are best.” His comments eloquently explain the immense pressure of handling a seemingly pressure-less vintage like 2015 in Pomerol. But, with the devil in all the many details that are involved in the pursuit of wine perfection, if anyone has that devil by the horns, it is this incredibly talented young winemaker.Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Petrus (bottled in mid-July 2017) opens in its own time to reveal crushed black cherries, warm plums, mulberries and cedar chest suggestions with touches of anise, lavender, beef drippings and wild thyme plus a waft of crushed rocks. Medium to full-bodied, it fills the palate with generous, exuberant, wonderfully layered red, black and perfumed blue fruits contrasted beautifully by very ripe, very fine-grained and very firm tannins plus an ethereal line of seamless acid, finishing long and minerally. Olivier Berrouet and his team have knocked it out of the park in 2015. Look for this Pétrus to build and unfold over the next 20 years and confidently cellar this legend for 40+ years.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPThere is so much going on with Petrus in 2015 that you should just pull up a chair and relax, don’t expect to be going anywhere soon. Aromatic persistency keeps reaching in, pulling you further alongside. There is a soft quality to the tannins that allows the black fruit to be both juicy and sweet. High alcohol is balanced by freshness - a pH of 3.5 is relatively rare on these sticky clay soils - unleashing waves of flavour, including bergamot, smoky tea, black olives and rich cherry. The persistency is crazy - I had to get my notes back out two or three times to take down additional flavours because it just kept giving something more. And it makes you smile! What more do you want? Bottled in June, but will not be sent out to customers until April 2018. 50% new oak. Drinking Window 2023 - 2040.Decanter | 100 DECThe aromas to this are a reference for Pomerol with truffles, black olives, black licorice and dark fruit. Even brown sugar. Full-bodied, layered and multi-dimensional. Chocolate underlines the character above. The perfect tannin texture, length and balance make you think you’re dreaming. All about harmony and beauty. Love to taste it now but needs at least five or six years.James Suckling | 100 JSThis is like drinking liquid black currants and blackberries. The wine has great intensity and richness from the superbly generous Merlot. The wood aging shows as a hint in the background, with the bold black fruit and ample acidity dominating. Drink from 2026.Wine Enthusiast | 100 WEThe 2015 Chateau Petrus is undoubtedly one of the gems in the vintage and will probably merit a perfect score in another decade. Even so, it has the sexy, exotic nature of the vintage front and center and offers a huge perfume of black currants, kirsch liqueur, Asian spices, and incense. As always, this beauty is 100% Merlot that was brought up in 50% new wood in 2015. A wine that opens up beautifully with time in the glass, it has beautiful mid-palate depth, sweet, sweet tannins, and voluptuous yet weightless texture that needs to be tasted to be believed. Hide bottles for 4-5 years, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following 3-4 decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDThe 2015 Petrus has a fresh, detailed yet quite understated bouquet of black fruit, pencil box, smoke and light tarry aromas - very succinct and classy. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, and linear and quite strict in style, which might explain why I knocked off a point compared to my note in January 2018. But it gently builds in intensity to a grippy, graphite-infused finish with that subtle Japanese seaweed tincture I observed previously. Classic in style, this will benefit from several years in bottle. Excellent. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 98+ VMReserved right now, but there is a well of blackberry, boysenberry and plum coulis flavors in reserve here, infused with black tea, anise and singed spice elements. Remarkably silky, elegant and extremely long, this unfurls ever so slowly in the glass, beguiling with texture and fruit purity. Best from 2022 through 2042. 2,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WS

A monumental wine is the 2015 Hosanna and it’s 82% Merlot and 18% Cabernet Franc raised in (I suspect) all new barrels that’s from a single parcel of older vines. One of those rare wines to pair incredible opulence with off the charts elegance and purity, it’s up with the top handful of wines in this vintage and readers should do whatever they can to taste this beauty. Loaded with notions of blackcurrants, black raspberries, toasty oak, truffles, graphite, and spice-box, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, an ethereal, seamless texture, perfect balance, and a huge finish. It’s unquestionably one of the superstars in the vintage and should last for 25-30 years. Hats off to the Moueix team!Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDThis has the wow factor; it’s very impressive. The nose is saturated with dark, rich plums and wet-earth aromas, not to mention the roasted-coffee and crushed-violet undertones. The palate has polished, lustrous appeal, and dark plums and ripe blueberry flavors abound. Long, deep-set tannins with incredible depth. This has x-factor depth and elegance. Best from 2025.James Suckling | 98 JSA blend of 82% Merlot and 18% Cabernet Franc, the 2015 Hosanna had a medium garnet-purple color, charging out of the glass with an exotic perfume of smoked meats, truffles, sandalwood and Indian spices over a compelling core of cherry cordial, blackberry tart and blueberry compote plus suggestions of garrigue and rose hip tea. The full-bodied palate is absolutely laden with taut, muscular black and blue fruits, with a solid frame of grainy tannins and just enough freshness, finishing with languidly lingering licorice and spice flavors. Incredibly seductive and just plain delicious right now, hedonists can enjoy this captivating wine while it’s relatively young, while traditionalists can wait ten years and drink it over the next 25 years or more.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPA dense, powerful Pomerol, the 2015 Hosanna hits the palate with a huge center of fruit and layers of flavor that open up effortlessly in the glass. Hosanna is easily the most exotically ripe, flamboyant wine in the Mouiex range. Dense, powerful and also quite structured, with huge tannins, Hosanna is going to need at least a number of years before it is at its best. Hosanna is also one of the darkest and most potent Pomerols readers will taste in 2015.Antonio Galloni | 95 AGThis wine with its dense and dusty tannins has considerable power as well as concentration. The small 10-acre vineyard has produced a wine packed with both tannins and luscious black fruits. Acidity complements all this richness with its own freshness and balance. Drink from 2027.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEFleshy and inviting, featuring warm fig, boysenberry and blackberry pâte de fruit notes laced with ganache and tobacco accents. Long and especially velvety through the finish, with waves of fruit and ganache in lockstep. This will have fans for sure. Best from 2022 through 2035. 1,030 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSSignature spicy, smoky, coffee, dark chocolate and damson; deep, brooding and earthy with a lingering freshness and a long finish. Drinking Window 2022 - 2032.Decanter | 91 DEC

Wild aromas of crushed fruit, forest flower and wild mushrooms. Full-bodied, with incredibly velvety tannins that go on and on. Lovely and exciting fruit. Gorgeous, seductive wine. Hard to resist now. Better than I remember.--’95/’96 Bordeaux retrospective. Best after 2007.Wine Spectator | 94 WSProprietor Christian Moueix’s 1996s have turned out well in the bottle. The 1996 Petrus is a big, monolithic, foursquare wine with an impressively opaque purple color, and sweet berry fruit intermixed with earth, pain grille, and coffee scents. Full-bodied and muscular, with high levels of tannin, and a backward style, this wine (less than 50% of the production was bottled as Petrus) will require patience. It is a mammoth example. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2035Robert Parker | 92 RP

Seven years ago I said this was a monumental wine, and at two different recent tastings, it was a true star of the vintage. Its stunning dark plum color offers up notes of caramelized red and black fruits, toffee, smoke, Asian plum sauce, sweet cherries, chocolate, and espresso. Its spectacular aromatics do not disappoint on the palate, as this multi-dimensional, highly complex, opulent wine seems to have hit a magical point in its evolution. Full-bodied, and concentrated, there is no issue with drinking this dazzling effort now, but those who own it can certainly cellar it for another 15 or more years. Bravo!Robert Parker | 96 RPThis is a ripe and intense red with a layered and intense character of chocolate and dried tomatoes. Full-bodied, layered and spicy with cloves and dried thyme. Very flavorful.James Suckling | 95 JSThis is rather dramatic, with lush, layered blackberry puree and mocha notes that just keep going and going, picking up juicy black licorice and Black Forest cake flavors along the way. This has the spine to pull it off but is really for the all-hedonism-only crowd.--Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2025. 1,250 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSFull ruby-red. Superripe, alluring aromas of raspberry, cherry liqueur, mocha, coffee, game, violet and truffle. Thick, concentrated and sexy, with perfectly integrated acidity giving the wine uncanny vivacity and lightness of touch considering its great ripeness and richness. Underlying minerality contributes to the impression of precision. Very intensely flavored and long on personality. An utterly captivating drink.Vinous Media | 93 VM

This wine displays plenty of black raspberries, black currants, espresso roast, Asian soy and plum sauce along with some mocha and chocolate. Beautifully rich, firm, and full-bodied, with sweet but abundant tannins, this is a classy, noble style of wine that should be forgotten for at least 5-7 years and drunk over the following 20. Remarkably, the alcohol, like most of the wines in the J. P. Moueix stable of Pomerols and St.-Emilions, hit 14.5%.A tiny production of only 1,000 cases in 2010 (versus 1,500 in most vintages), its proprietor Christian Moueix has turned out a more tannic, structured, backward style of Hosanna than the 2009 or, for that matter, the 2008.Robert Parker | 96+ RPBeautiful nose with ripe strawberries, red apple and vanilla. Wonderful floral notes too. Sumptuous ripe red fruit and juicy acidity on the palate with finely knit tannins. Full-bodied and very juicy with a soft silky texture and good length. It's hard not to drink it now. But much better in 2017.James Suckling | 96 JSA fleshy, alluring style, with strong structure, displaying plum, fig and boysenberry fruit laced with incense, Lapsang souchong tea and violet notes. Almost creamy, this features a thread of charcoal lending extra drive and depth on the finish. Seems to expand rapidly in the glass, boding well for cellaring. Best from 2017 through 2030. 1,000 cases made, 212 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 95 WSHigh-quality, 40-year-old Cab Franc planted on fine gravelly soil gives Cheval Blanc-like results. The 2010 is the best Hosanna ever, offering fragrant raspberry, blackcurrant, espresso and soy notes. Power in spades! Drinking Window 2025 - 2050Decanter | 94 DEC(Château Hosanna) The 2010 Hosanna is one top Pomerol that seems better in 2010 than it did in 2009, as this is an impressively tight, complex and refined example of this rather exuberant vintage. The bouquet is deep, classy and nicely reserved out of the blocks, delivering a blend of dark berries, black cherries, cigar smoke, gravelly soil tones, a touch of espresso and a stylish framing of new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, suave and very refined, with the inherent power of the vintage felt here as great intensity of flavor at the core. The ripely tannic and well-balanced finish delivers excellent grip, and this wine should be absolutely stunning with a decade’s worth of bottle age. (Drink between 2020-2070)John Gilman | 94 JGThis is a wine that is all tannin at this young stage. It is firmly dry and structured with a tight, dark texture. It has the concentrated fruit to sustain this initial severity, but will need many more years to show its power.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEThe 2010 Hosanna shows much more ripeness on the nose compared to its peers, more red fruit with perfumed cherries and bergamot tea aromas, rose petal and sage. The palate is silky smooth with what feels like a fair proportion of Cabernet Franc. It does not quite kick on towards the somewhat oaky finish, though this is very seductive. Unlike other Pomerols, you could broach this now. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.Vinous Media | 91 VM

This is a wine that had extreme intensity of electrifying tannins and acidity, with supercharged fruit. Full-bodied, yet agile and lively. It touches every taste bud on your palate. Chocolate mousse and fruit. I am lost for words. Legendary 1950 all over again. Try it in 2020.James Suckling | 100 JSThe 2009’s nearly 14% natural alcohol, exquisite ripeness, and incredible complex bouquet of Asian spices, fruitcake, licorice, smoke, blackberries and black currants are to die for. A blend of 84% Merlot and the rest equal parts Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, it possesses a viscous texture as well as a freshness and vibrancy that are remarkable given the wine’s weight, richness and potential massiveness. This extraordinary effort is one of the finest Vieux Chateau Certans made over the last sixty years. It will undoubtedly shut down in bottle, requiring a decade or more of cellaring. It should keep for 50 years thereafter. Proprietor Thienpont thinks it is a modern day version of the 1948.As I wrote in my barrel tasting notes, the 2009 ranks alongside four of the legendary vintages of Vieux Chateau Certan’s ancient past, 1945, 1947, 1948 and 1950. It is undoubtedly a cleaner wine than those older vintages, and the selection process under proprietor Alexandre Thienpont was far more severe in 2009 than it would have been sixty years ago.Robert Parker | 99 RPThis shows gorgeous silk and polish, brimming with beguiling plum, cherry eau de vie and red currant fruit flavors laced with supple toasty vanilla and cedar hints. But in the background brews a darker side, with loam, maduro tobacco and iron notes, which take over on the finish authoritatively. This feels like it will get a lot bigger before it fully melds--and that will be a while. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2018 through 2035. 4,300 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WS(Vieux Château Certan) The 2009 Vieux Château Certan is a great wine in the making, but it will be a rather atypical vintage for this great estate, as the rains of the 19th and 20th of September played havoc a bit with the cabernet franc vineyards here, and a much larger percentage of merlot ended up being used for the grand vin in this vintage. Consequently the ’09 VCC is comprised of eighty-four percent merlot this year, with the balance made up of equal pars of cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. But despite the atypical blend, the wine is stunning, as it offers up a beautiful nose of black cherries, blood orange, tobacco leaf, really lovely minerality, espresso and a discreet base of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very, very pure, with plenty of power, a rock solid core of fruit, tangy acids, fine-grained tannins and great length and purity on the complex and beautifully poised finish. A great wine. (Drink between 2020-2060)John Gilman | 93-94+ JGThe 2009 Vieux-Château-Certan has a gorgeous bouquet with red fruit, warm bricks, just a hint of sloes and rose petals. The palate is medium-bodied with tarry red fruit, firm tannin and well judged acidity. It tapers in slightly towards the finish where I would like a little more roundness but there is persistence here. Readers know I am huge fan of Alexandre Thienpont and this property, but I aver that this growing season never suited them. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 93 VM

This captures the magic of Lafleur and is utterly moreish. It is so silky, with hints of truffle, tobacco and sweet blackberry fruits from the first sip, opening up to violet flowers and drawn-out finely spun tannins. It’s at a beautiful moment for drinking now, but clearly has a long life ahead of it. 2001 was a vintage that suited the Merlot grape and tasting this as a pairing with the 2002 is a brilliant way to explore the two sides of Lafleur’s personality. The vintage was not released en primeur as it came along during the handover of ownership from the Robins to the Guinaudeaus, which is why there is still wine at the estate to share during the vertical. Drinking Window 2019 - 2050.Decanter | 98 DECThe 2001 Lafleur was tasted directly from bottle with Baptiste Guinaudeau. It opens gradually to reveal scents of brambly red fruit, black truffle, mint and touches of iron and sage. The palate is medium-bodied with firm, grippy tannins, and very ferrous in style, the Cabernet Franc definitely in the driving seat. Residues of black pepper and white pepper linger on the slightly savory finish. Poured at Café Cuisine with Baptiste Guinaudeau.Vinous Media | 95 VMThis wine starts out very tight, with fresh herb and tobacco character, but then it opens to ripe plum, berry and chocolate character. Full-bodied, with silky tannins and a long, caressing finish. Impressive. Lafleur is always outstanding. Best after 2009. 1,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSPerforming slightly less impressively from bottle than it did from cask, this wine’s Cabernet Franc element has come forward, revealing a distinctive herbal, bell pepper, vegetal character that kept my score from going higher. Nevertheless, there is plenty to like about this 2001 Pomerol. It possesses a saturated ruby/purple color, powerful aromas (kirsch liqueur, raspberries, and blackberries), an earthy, muscular, chunky character, and the most tannic personality of any Pomerol I tasted. While not the huge blockbuster Lafleur can often produce, it is well-built. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2019.Robert Parker | 92 RP

After the fabulous 2005, Pétrus again has produced a magnificent wine in 2006, even if it doesn’t hit quite the same heights. It has an immensely powerful structure and concentration, always the hallmark of this wine. But this structure is almost masked by the superbly ripe and fresh fruit. And with all this weight, there is still a sense of proportion, the rich berry fruits, smokiness and light spice beautifully integrated.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WETerrific texture, weight and heft on both the nose and the attack. A flush of powerful tannic grip is balanced by stunning acidity and bright silken fruit. Overall the structure is compellingly insistent, still dancing around the palate, a flourishing, featherweight beauty that demands your attention. Magisterially good. Drinking Window 2016 - 2035Decanter | 96 DEC This displays green coffee bean and raspberry aromas, with a leafy undertone. Full-bodied, with refined tannins and a pretty finish. Very silky and classy. Lasts a long time on the finish. Best after 2014. 2,800 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSCurrently closed and backward, this wine seems to share a more similar character to Trotanoy than in any recent vintages I recall. Powerful, structured, masculine, but a long-term proposition, this dark ruby/purple-colored wine displays notes of caramelized, sweet black cherries and wild berry fruit with plenty of spice, earth, and a hint of herbaceousness. The wine has very high tannins, impressive concentration, but that mouth-searing level of tannin. This is one Petrus that should probably be forgotten for at least 8-10 years and drunk over the following two to three decades. I always find it ironic that Petrus, which is virtually 100% Merlot, is more backward than the first growths of Medoc, which are Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated.Robert Parker | 93+ RPBright medium ruby. Reticent but complex nose opened with air to display an almost roasted ripeness to the aromas of dark berries and licorice. Sweet, deep and lush, showing brooding dark berry and black cherry fruit sexed up by an exotic chocolate liqueur quality. A hugely rich but rather inscrutable wine. This was much deeper in pitch than the Trotanoy I tasted next to it, and missing that wine’s ineffable mineral high notes, inner-mouth perfume and impression of harmoniousness. Is this simply too young to assess today? Time will tell.Vinous Media | 93+ VM

Beautiful aromas of plums, soy, black currants, black raspberries, espresso, and spring flowers jump from the glass of this perfumed, dense plum/ruby/purple-tinged Pomerol. Medium to full-bodied and pure with sweet tannin and impressive extract, it will benefit from 2-3 more years of bottle age, and should last for an additional two decades.Robert Parker | 93 RPThere’s no denying the dense, rather massive core of raspberry, blackberry and boysenberry confiture flavors here, but the core is already showing a lightly dried edge. The finish picks up mulling spice, cocoa and melted licorice notes that compensate for that, but I feel like this is burning the candle at both ends, relying more on oomph than precision.—Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2023. 2,330 cases made.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

A rather hard wine, with a firm backbone of silky tannins and sweet black olive, vanilla and berry aromas and flavors.--Pétrus vertical. Best from 1992 through 1995. Wine Spectator | 90 WS

It is hard to call Petrus a “sleeper of the vintage,” but the 2008 will merit more attention than most consumers would think. Low yields of 30 hectoliters per hectare resulted in only 25,000 bottles of this beauty. A wine of great intensity (possibly the most concentrated wine of the vintage), this 100% Merlot boasts a dark purple color as well as a sweet perfume of mocha, caramel, black cherries, black currants, earth and forest floor. Deep, unctuously textured, full-bodied and pure, it will benefit from 4-5 years of cellaring and should drink well for 25-30+ years.Robert Parker | 97 RPGorgeous, smooth wine, perhaps even more intense than in past vintages. The tannins are totally enveloped by the ripe plum and damson fruits. Complex, powerful, layered and opulent, this is a wine for the long term.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe 2008 Pétrus has a classic Pomerol nose, perhaps darker fruit than other vintages, blackberry and briary, a touch of truffle and minerals. I love the definition here, the cool restraint. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin, a fine bead of acidity, chalky and tensile with moderate depth. There is a sense of composure, maybe even conservatism attached to this Pétrus that sports a mineral-driven and (at least for this Pomerol) almost austere finish compared to the 2009 or 2010. But it is a lovely wine that is only just beginning to open. Haunting. (Tasted at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual 10-Year On tasting).Vinous Media | 96 VMTight and firm, yet with incredibly embracing tannins that are still in their early phase of evolution, even though it is 100% Merlot. It’s a trick that basically nobody else in Pomerol can pull off to quite this extent. Some liquorice kicks through, along with dark plum and blackberry fruits, touches of white pepper and coffee bean. Extremely enjoyable and still extremely young. Drinking Window 2020 - 2038.Decanter | 96 DECThere’s so much floral and berry character on the nose and palate here. It’s full-bodied and very dense with lots of fine and delicate tannins. Winemaker Oliver Berrouet calls it a classic Bordeaux in style and I have to agree with him because of the fine tannins, fresh acidity, and beautiful reserve fruit. Lovely sweet berry and chocolate finish to the wine.Try in in five to six years.James Suckling | 94 JSThis has texture and range that’s a step up from the pack, with a gorgeous, silky feel to the ripe but restrained cherry, raspberry and damson plum notes that are layered with hints of black tea, incense and mineral. The long finish is more about poise than power. Lovely. Drink now through 2020.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

One of the monumental wines in the vintage is the 2016 Château Eglise Clinet from proprietor Denis Durantou. Based on 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, this utterly perfect wine boasts a saturated purple color as well as an essence of Pomerol bouquet of ripe black cherries, blackcurrant liqueur, smoked tobacco, camphor, and graphite. Deep, full-bodied, incredibly powerful, and layered, yet always with class and balance, it offers a remarkable marriage of power and finesse. It’s already sexy and seductive yet also a baby, and needs 7-8 years of cellaring. It should keep for 3-4 decades (probably longer), but why wait?Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDWe are now levitating somewhere above the rest of Denis Durantou’s excellent range. Typical of the incredibly deft and precise way of working that is his signature, this wine brings cinammon and clove then hugely deep, rich dark fruits. Utterly elegant, it completes a circuit around your mouth. This is a physical reaction to a wine that you only get in certain vintages and in very few wines. A great European wine. 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc aged in 80% new oak. 43hl/ha yield from 4.2ha. Drinking Window 2027 - 2050Decanter | 98 DECThe depth and beauty in the aromas really draw you in with black truffles, blackberries, crushed stones, violets and other flowers. Black olives, too. Full-bodied, super refined and structured with perfectly manicured tannins and a very, very long finish. It’s full of soul and precision. Take a look after 2024.James Suckling | 98 JSThe 2016 L’Eglise Clinet has a medium to deep garnet-purple color with aromas of warm black cherries, mulberries and Black Forest cake slipping seductively from the glass plus nuances of rose hip tea, baking spices, fragrant soil and fallen leaves. Medium to full-bodied, it’s wonderfully elegant in the mouth with fantastically plush tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long and very perfumed. Beautiful!Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPThe 2016 L’Eglise-Clinet was matured in 80% new oak and bottled in mid-April 2018. Crystal clear in color, it has an equally crystal clear bouquet that is utterly seductive, featuring red cherries, wild strawberry, peony and iris flowers and a hint of bay leaf. You could sit and nose this all day. The balanced palate is medium-bodied and grippy in the mouth, displaying supple tannin and a perfect line of acidity. Again, there is a symmetry about this Pomerol that is utterly beguiling, and the persistence is up there with the very best. Simply put, this is one of the best L’Eglise-Clinet wines I have tasted in recent years. Stunning.Antonio Galloni | 98 AGThis pulls it all together, with a gorgeous core of creamed plum, blackberry and boysenberry confiture notes, laced with singed anise and incense accents and backed by long echoes of anise and black tea. Delivers ample flesh from start to finish, and should easily finish soaking up its toast with some time in the cellar. Best from 2023 through 2038.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

The 2018 La Conseillante is composed of 83% Merlot and 17% Cabernet Franc, with a 3.65 pH and 14% alcohol. Deep garnet-purple colored, it needs a lot of swirling and coaxing to lure out the youthfully shy, incredible perfume of black raspberries, boysenberries, ripe plums and cinnamon toast, leading to notions of lilacs, clove oil and forest floor, plus a waft of iron ore. The medium to full-bodied palate is a jaw-dropping exercise in finesse, slowly unfurling in the mouth to reveal layer upon layer of bright, crunchy red and black fruits, supported by a rock-solid frame of firm, fine-grained tannins and tons of freshness, finishing long and with an impressive mineral and exotic spice firework display. It’s an incredible expression of Pomerol that cannot fail to inspire a resounding "WOW" from whoever is fortunate to drink it. Tempting to broach now (albeit with a lot of air), try to keep your hands off it for a good 5 years and then drink it over the next 30 years or more.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPThe 2018 La Conseillante is a regal and utterly exquisite Pomerol from the very first taste. Technical Director Marielle Cazaux and her team turned out a jewel of a wine. Silky tannins and lifted, precise aromatics make a strong first impression. Inky dark fruit, pain grillé, lavender, spice, menthol and a kiss of new French oak all flesh out over time. More than anything else, what comes through is the new emphasis at La Conseillante on freshness and verve. The 2018 is a Pomerol of tremendous precision. It is, in a word: dynamite!Antonio Galloni | 98 AGA dense, layered Pomerol with lots of chocolate, walnut, and plum character. Some coffee undertones. It’s full-bodied with chewy, polished tannins and a structured, muscular finish. Solid. Elegance with power. 2018. Try after 2025.James Suckling | 97 JSA beautiful expression of this terroir, which always seems to yield a more elegant, complex style of wine, the 2018 Château La Conseillante is based on 83% Merlot and 17% Cabernet Franc that saw 70% new French oak. A brilliant perfume of blueberries, currants, spring flowers, violets, and graphite gives way to a medium to full-bodied Pomerol with flawless balance, ultra-fine tannins, and a great finish. It closes down rather quickly with time in the glass (I followed the bottle for multiple days), and it isn’t for the instant gratification crowd, but it’s unquestionably a gorgeous Pomerol. Give bottles a solid 8-10 years of bottle age, and it’s going to evolve for 25-30 years in cold cellars.Jeb Dunnuck | 97+ JDThis is beautiful and powers through the palate showing depth and concentration to the brambled fruit. It has an excellent mid palate, the truffle of Pomerol comes through at this young stage in a way that was not evident in the 2015 even, but here has a lovely seductive kick. Spicy vanilla bean and black pepper alongside touches of cinnamon, this is very good quality. A yield of 32hl/ha. 70% new oak, 3% in amphora for the first time. Drinking Window 2025 - 2045.Decanter | 96 DECThe elegant structure that backs up this wine is impressive in its restraint. While the wine has plenty of black fruits and dark tannins, it conveys a calm character that sees long-term aging as its goal.The wine will take its time. Drink from 2026.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WENicely packed, with a mix of dark plum and black currant preserve flavors wrapped with licorice root and warm earth notes. Tobacco and bay fill in on the finish, adding energy and cut. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Drink now through 2034. 3,299 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

Incredible purity of fruit here with blackberry, black olive, concrete, stone and violet in the nose. It’s full-bodied with a powerful palate of fruit that shows a wet-earth and black-truffle undertone. The tannins are intense and chewy, yet wonderfully polished and poised. Superb length in the finish. One built for long cellaring. Try after 2027.James Suckling | 99 JSOne of the blockbusters in the vintage is Denis Durantou’s 2018 Château L’Eglise Clinet, which is a normal blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc brought up in 70% new French oak. This deep purple-hued beauty boasts an awesome, full-bodied, opulent personality as well as classic Pomerol notes of blackcurrants, black cherries, damp earth, chocolate, tobacco, and flowers. Rich, concentrated, and sexy, yet not over the top in any way, it expands on the palate, has sweet tannins, background oak, and a great, great finish. It already offers pleasure yet won’t hit prime time for another 7-8 years and is going to evolve for 25-30 years or more, and probably have a gradual decline after that.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDA blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 L’Eglise Clinet has a 3.63 pH and 14.5% alcohol. It was aged in 70% new barriques. Deep garnet-purple in color, it opens with a stunning fragrant-earth perfume, accented by notions of wild mushrooms, mossy tree bark and crushed rocks, giving way to a core of black raspberries, plum preserves and fresh blueberries, plus wafts of lavender and clove oil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate shimmers with energy, delivering slow-releasing black fruit and earthy layers, framed by very ripe, finely grained tannins and fantastic tension. It finishes with epic length and subtlety. It is already so evocative and beautifully expressed at this youthful stage that is tempting to broach straight away, but give it another 5-6 years to really fan its feathers, and drink it over the next 40 or more years.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPThe 2018 L’Eglise-Clinet is insanely beautiful and vivid, not to mention one of the wines of the vintage on the Right Bank. Vertical and explosive in feel, the 2018 is rapturous from the very first taste. Inky dark red and purplish fruit, mocha, lavender, crushed rocks and rose petal are some of the many aromas and flavors that build through to the exceptionally long, vibrant finish. But L’Eglise-Clinet is so much more than that. It’s a Pomerol of tremendous distinction and class. Give it a few years in bottle and then enjoy over the next several decades.Antonio Galloni | 98 AGLush in feel, with boysenberry reduction and crushed plum flavors, carried by a polished, solid structure. A mineral hint filters through on the finish, adding length and cut. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Score rangeWine Spectator | 95-98 WSThis is plush, with touches of chocolate shavings, olive paste, clove, rosemary and sage right from the opening beats. Blackberry and raspberry layer up flavours that lift out of the glass, then the aromatics take over with soft smoke and grilled almonds. Seductive, a reminder of Durantou’s ability to tease layers and nuances out of even warm vintages. Austere on the finish, with chalky tannins at this stage - this is knitted down and will reward patience. Low temperature fermentation at around 22C. A yield of 45hl/ha. Drinking Window 2027 - 2044.Decanter | 97 DEC