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This is pure pleasure, with tiny pulses of electricity, brushed leather, sulphur, loam, truffle, blackberry, black cherry, with touches of silky tannins, smoked caramel and black chocolate. A wine that makes you smile, so much depth and power, barely out of its primary phase, but we are starting now to get the whole picture of what it will become. There is a lush edge to the tannins now that was not the case even two years ago. Such a different expression from the 2009 and 2010 Mouton, with this a little more old school in its charms, and for me you can now project yourself foraward, more like the 1986, a little dry and strict at first, but finessed and gorgeous, delivering grip, punch and magic. Eric Tourbier and Philippe Dhalluin on the technical team. 63% first wine, extremely low for the time (lowest since 1975, whereas today they are regularly below 50%). If you are going to open this anytime soon, think of it as a bottle to enjoy very slowly over four or five hours seeing the nuances develop. 100% new oak.Jane Anson | 100 JAThe 2005 Mouton-Rothschild has developed magnificently, and is even better than I remember. The final blend was 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc. Stunning notes of crème de cassis, melted asphalt, roasted espresso and cedarwood are present in this young, full-bodied, powerful, concentrated Mouton. Just beginning to enter its adolescence, it should hit full maturity in 10-15 years and last for 50 or more. The greatness of this vintage is increasingly apparent as the wines throw off their cloaks of tannin.Robert Parker | 99+ RPThis accelerates on the palate with incredibly ripe tannins and finesse. Full body, roasted fruit, leather and grilled meat. Dried flowers, too. It shows superb tannin backbone and polish. Tight and youthful. Just starting to open. Currant and berry undertones with lead pencil are impressive. Better in 2018 but so delicious now.James Suckling | 98 JSOne of the real highlights on the Left Bank, the 2005 Mouton Rothschild is a dark, potent Pauillac. Black cherry, plum, chocolate, spice and leather all take shape in the glass. The 2005 is a dense, powerful and explosive wine endowed with tremendous energy and pure power. The fruit is just starting to emerge, but Mouton remains a very tight, super-classic wine. With time in the glass, some of the natural richness and radiance of the year starts to emerge. Even so, the 2005 is still very young and closed. A few more years in bottle will only be beneficial. Impressive. Tasted two times.Antonio Galloni | 98 AG(Château Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, Red) Mouton was voluptuous and immediately appealing, with spicy ripe cassis and plum fruit that poured from the glass, surrounded by liquorice, coconut, and toasted cedar. The texture was not abrasive but very full-bodied and round. The tannins initially appeared fine-grained and silky, but with a bit of time, one realised the immense structure of this wine. Impressively concentrated and very long on the finish, this is still youthful and should age for decades to come. The blend is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon with 14% Merlot, with a touch of Cabernet Franc. The picking for the grand vin started on 21 September for the Merlot and finished with the Cabernets on 3 October. (Drink between 2021-2040)Decanter | 98 DECGorgeous, with singed alder and juniper notes starting to strut their stuff, while the immense core of steeped red currant, blackberry and plum fruit continues to wait in reserve. A light sanguine thread weaves in on the back end, which is driven by a serious bolt of iron. Shows terrific grip, length and cut. A brick-house Pauillac built for the long haul.--Non-blind Mouton-Rothschild vertical (March 2017). Best from 2020 through 2050.Wine Spectator | 98 WSIf 2005 was a rich year, Mouton reaches the heights of richness. Almost too rich, too New World, but you have to be impressed by the aromatic intensity of the black fruits, the dense, firm tannins, and the superripe black juice and licorice flavors. The wood is still too overpowering and needs time to settle in.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WE

Colour still tight and inky at 10 years old. Smooth, silky, very expressive; this is so powerful it almost lulls you into a false sense of security with the tannin integration on the first attack. Deceptively concentrated, this has persistency and freshness, plus layers of crushed black fruits, tar, cigar smoke and saffron. Right up there with the best wines of the tasting. Drinking Window 2017 - 2036Decanter | 97 DECWonderful sweet fruit, velvet in texture, with concentrated ripe fruits and red berries. This is a wine that rolls sumptuously around the mouth, the tannins certainly dense but full of the same sweetness as the fruit. The final flavor is perfumed and fresh. Deceptively attractive, it will profit from many years’ aging.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEThe 2006 La Mission Haut-Brion is showing very well at age 15, and even though it’s still five or six years away from the beginning of its plateau of maturity, it is already quite expressive, wafting from the glass with aromas of blackberries and blackcurrants mingled with notions of smoke, cigar wrapper, black truffle and loamy soil. Full-bodied, fleshy and muscular, with a richly layered core of fruit framed by an abundance of ripe, powdery tannin, in a blind tasting I suspect many would confuse it with a 2005.Robert Parker | 95 RPAlmost jammy, with vanilla bean and coffee undertones. Full-bodied and very powerful, with big, juicy tannins and a long finish. Very big and generous for the vintage, showing exceptional quality. Best after 2015. 6,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSBright red-ruby. Redcurrant, cherry, iron, brown spices and licorice on the nose. Begins lush, full and generous if not overly sweet, then tightens up with air, showing its rather powerful underlying structure. This sharply delineated wine will need a good seven or eight years in bottle to reveal itself.Vinous Media | 92+ VMA vibrantly fruited, dark, herbal style of cabernet, the aristocratic pedigree of this wine’s terroir is immediately apparent in its length of flavor. But its depth is inaccessible for now, buried under a tough, earthy surface of root vegetable and smoky scents. The power of the fruit becomes more apparent with air, as it will after ten to 12 years in the cellar.Wine & Spirits | 92 W&S

A sensational effort, the 2006 Mouton Rothschild exhibits an opaque purple color as well as a classic Mouton perfume of creme de cassis, flowers, blueberries, and only a hint of oak. Dalhuin told me that in whisky barrel-tasting vintages such as 1989 and 1990, Mouton was aged in heavily-toasted barrels, and they have backed off to a much lighter toast for the barrels’ interior. I think this has worked fabulously well with the cassis quality fruit they get from their Cabernet Sauvignon. The full-bodied, powerful 2006 possesses extraordinary purity and clarity. A large-scaled, massive Mouton Rothschild that ranks as one of the top four or five wines of the vintage, it may turn out to be the longest-lived wine of the vintage by a landslide. The label will undoubtedly be controversial as a relative of Sigmund Freud, Lucian Freud, has painted a rather comical Zebra staring aimlessly at what appears to be a palm tree in the middle of a stark courtyard. I suppose a psychiatrist could figure out the relationship between that artwork and wine, but I couldn’t see one. This utterly profound Mouton will need to sleep for 15+ years before it will reveal any secondary nuances, but it is a packed and stacked first-growth Pauillac of enormous potential. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2060+.Ever since owner Philippine de Rothschild put Philippe Dalhuin in charge at Mouton in 2004 there has been a dramatic reduction in the amount of wine produced under the Mouton Rothschild label. The selection process has been ratcheted up to the level of other first-growths, and that is reflected in what is clearly the greatest Mouton produced since 1982 and 1986. As I indicated in my barrel tasting notes, only 44% of the crop made it into the 2006 grand vin, which is the lowest percentage in more than fifty years. The final blend includes a high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon (87%) and the rest Merlot (13%). No Cabernet Franc was utilized in 2006, and purchasers will have a long wait until this wine reaches full maturity. Keep in mind that, where well-stored, the 1986 currently tastes like a 4-5 year old wine, and the 1982 is just beginning to enter early adolescence. If you extrapolate from that, the 2006 will need at least twenty years to reach a teen-age status, and probably will not hit its plateau of maturity for three decades.Robert Parker | 98+ RPAt the time it was shown as a barrel sample in early 2007, this was the best wine of 2006. That accolade remains. It has all the power of the Cabernet Sauvignon in Pauillac, which was the greatest success of the vintage. That power comes from the dense tannins as well as the black plum and spice flavors and minerality. The texture becomes velvet, giving a final richness, but never losing its long aging potential. In a year that is good, but not at the top, Mouton has made a great wine.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThis is in an interesting spot right now, still sporting some youthful blackberry, cassis and plum fruit, with only secondary hints starting to emerge. Yet those secondary hints are very tantalizing, with well-worn cedar, tobacco and sanguine notes adding range and cut. There’s a freshness throughout, yet also a supple edge, which allows the fruit to drape prettily on the finish.--Non-blind Mouton-Rothschild vertical (March 2017). Drink now through 2034. 15,830 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThe breadth and depth of this wine is impossible to ignore. Tobacco notes blend with cappuccino, cedar and grilled almonds. This is classy, with just the right amount of abandon. Grilled black fruits are very Mouton, but with the touch of austerity and pulled-in, pared-down tannins that tell you it’s 2006. Complex and complete. Drinking Window 2018 - 2040Decanter | 95 DECThis is an eye-opener with a tight core of complex fruit character as well as subtle chocolate and spices. Full body, firm tannins and a classy finish. Holding back. Much better than expected. A vintage forgotten. Better in 2018.James Suckling | 95 JSThe 2006 Mouton Rothschild is dark, powerful and intense, with firm tannins that need time to soften. This is an especially dark, somber Mouton. Dark black fruit, smoke, menthol gravel and cured meats are some of the signatures. Slight vegetal notes underpin the fruit. I am not sure the 2006 has enough freshness to be a long-term ager or the depth of fruit to outlast the tannins. The blend is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Merlot, harvested between September 20 and October 5.Antonio Galloni | 92 AG

The 2006 Sassicaia may very well go down as one of the all-time great recent vintages for this Tuscan thoroughbred. The year started off very warm but by August evening temperatures had moderated, leaving the fruit with a stunning combination of ripeness, perfume, acidity and tannin. The wine is simply glorious, that’s all there is to it. Layers of dark fruit meld into smoke, leather, violets, menthol, earthiness and tar as this profound wine opens up in the glass. The creamy, silky finish lasts an eternity, as waves of fruit caress the tannins with breathtaking elegance. Everything is in the right place in this magical Sassicaia. This is one for the ages. In a word: Awesome.Antonio Galloni | 97 AGThe Tenuta San Guido 2006 Bolgheri Sassicaia is a timeless classic. This might just be the vintage to photograph in an encyclopedia entry for Sassicaia. This is especially true at this exact moment in its long and promising drinking window. The wine shows less volume compared to some of the more opulent vintages, but it absolutely excels in terms of length and finish. It offers amazing drive and momentum that are fueled by the extremely fine nature of the wine’s texture and the seamless unity of its flavors. It treads in light and delicate footsteps that will carry it far into the future. As they say in Italian: "Piano piano si va lontano" (slowly slowly you go far).Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RP(Tenuta San Guido, Sassicaia, Cabernet Sauvignon, Bolgheri, Sassicaia, Tuscany, Italy, Red) The 2006 Sassicaia still has a dark garnet colour while nose has an impression of smoke and crushed dried flowers and some subtle, charred toast notes of oak. On the palate there is a lovely, soft, velvety texture together with dark, bramble fruit flavours. The fruit feels cooler in nature with leafy blackberry notes and again a thrilling spine of acidity. For Priscilla Incisa Della Rocchetta and the Tenuta San Guido team the 2006 was ’a rather fresher vintage … an elegant wine with good structure, the classic Sassicaia style with notes of juniper, myrtle, and Mediterranean forest, characteristic of this wine and the terroir where it is produced.’ (Drink between 2022-2033)Decanter | 96 DECSweet tobacco and berry with hints of currants. Full, soft and silky. Lots of fruit and a long finish. It’s subtle, dense and sophisticated. Please give this another five years to really show what it has.James Suckling | 95 JSDisplays sweet tobacco, plum and berry aromas, with a jammy undertone, turning to licorice on the palate. Full-bodied and balanced, with silky tannins, a lovely texture and plenty of fruit. Outstanding Sassicaia, with structure and finesse. 85 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 15 percent Cabernet Franc. Best after 2013. 20,000 cases made, 3,000 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 94 WSThis landmark wine (85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc) shows herbal notes of chopped mint, wild berry, licorice, bramble and forest floor. Tasted young, Sassicaia never has the same impact it will 10 or 15 years from now when all those luscious aromas become more penetrating and warm. Built to age, the wine boasts drying tannins, good acidity and firm structure.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WENo written review provided. | 92 W&S

The 2007 Sassicaia (Cabernet Sauvignon) explodes onto the palate with masses of rich, opulent fruit that caress the palate with gorgeous length and a seamless beauty that is hard to fully capture. Dark wild cherries, plums, spices, minerals and herbs develop in the glass. This is an especially bold, perhaps slightly uncharacteristic Sassicaia in its extroverted personality, but it is beautiful all the same. The inner perfume and sweetness carries through the long finish, where the sheer weight and glycerol of the fruit leaves a lasting impression. The 2007 is more than a worthy follow-up to the profound 2006. While it may lack that wine’s freshness, structure and potential longevity, the 2007 is immensely appealing today, and should drink beautifully pretty much out of the gate. That said, Sassicaia is always the most restrained of Bolgheri’s heavy hitters. This is a superb effort from Tenuta San Guido.Antonio Galloni | 95 AGThis iconic Italian wine from Bolgheri’s landmark Sassicaia vineyard (characterized by little rocks, or “sassi”) offers an elegant bouquet comprised in equal measure by mineral, fruit and spice nuances. The wine consists of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc and the finish is long, smooth and very fine. This is an ageworthy wine that should not be opened before 2018.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEHere’s a wine of power, determination and confidence—as far as first impressions go. The 2007 Bolgheri Sassicaia leaves little hidden behind the curtain. It presents a frank and straightforward array of bold fruit, spice, leather and tobacco-like aromas that emerge from the bouquet with energy and force. The aromas are complete and genuine. The palate, however, offers more space for interpretation and review. It is finessed and nuanced, thus requiring more time to fully comprehend and appreciate. Silky tannins are followed by fine textural smoothness and a long finish. The outgoing nature of the aromas make for a fascinating contrast against the inward and reticent nature of the mouthfeel.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPVery enticing aromas of spices, meat and berries. Full-bodied and juicy, soft and velvety, with a long, succulent finish. Best after 2011. 20,000 cases made, 3,000 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WSThis is classy on the nose with subtle currant, sweet tobacco, cigar box and dried flowers. Cassis too. Full body, with refined tannins and a solid core of fruit. Polished and very pretty. Long and delicious already. But you have to wait on this. It has so much more to give. Try after 2015.James Suckling | 93 JSThere’s tension in this vintage of Sassicaia, its rich, generous fruit held within a tight, lean structure. Fresh scents of flowers and herbs come up from under the ripe fruit, tamped down again by a meaty smokiness that hints at Brett. Youthful and inaccessible, this gains clarity with air, as it will in the cellar. One of Italy’s most sought-after collectibles, this is suited to aging ten years or more. Kobrand, Purchase, NYWine & Spirits | 92 W&SA splash of sweet strawberry purée just slightly indicating the age of this wine, and it is a vintage that is already drinking well. Beautiful, dancing acidity and some attractive red fruits. But it doesn’t have the full complexity of the 2008 vintage. It has a complex array of tertiary aromatics and flavours, with full leather and soft black truffle. Gentle, with softly lingering flavours.Decanter | 91 DEC

The 2008 La Mission Haut-Brion has an open, feisty, lively bouquet with blackberry, briary, cedar, black olive and a light seaweed (Japanese nori) aroma. This is wonderful, an intoxicating bouquet. The palate is beautifully balanced with a fine bead of acidity, very focused with good weight and structure. This is a very convincing showing, at the moment more pleasurable than the 2008 Haut-Brion, just so fresh and complex, offering a discrete tertiary, smoke-tinged finish that goes on and on. One of the best 2008s out there. (Tasted at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual 10-Year On tasting).Vinous Media | 96+ VMA muscular wine, with well-defined tannins. The acidity is high, hiding the power and richness of the fruit behind. Then dark tannins come through, with other ripe fruits, finishing with a mineral character.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WELike a lot of wines in this underrated vintage, the 2008 La Mission was one of the great bargains of recent vintages. Its healthy blue/purple color is followed by aromas of blueberries, black raspberries, licorice, truffles, underbrush and forest floor. The scorched earthy/smoky character of this estate’s terroir has not yet emerged. Medium to full-bodied and concentrated with good acidity, freshness and delineation, this is a big wine for the vintage, but also very classic in its balance of tannin, acidity and extract. It will benefit from another 5-7 years of cellaring and should keep for three decades. The final blend was 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc.Robert Parker | 95 RPA beautiful, high-class effort that offers incredible pleasure, the 2008 Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion is a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc brought up in a mix of new and used barrels. Ripe black cherries, sweet currants, cigar tobacco, and exotic spices all emerge from this medium to full-bodied effort that has beautiful concentration, sweet tannins, and again, a pleasure-bent, even sexy character that’s a joy to drink. It’s capable of lasting another 30 years or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDElegant and fresh, with beautiful crushed raspberry fruits - proof that 2008 is a vintage where terroir wins out. This all happens on the retro-olfaction: there you are thinking it’s a little under-perfumed for a Mission, but then it kicks back with a smoky swirl through the palate and the aromatics take hold. It’s very good, showing savoury black fruits on the finish and the gentlest hint of cigar box and cedar oak. Drinking Window 2020 - 2036Decanter | 94 DECFascinating aromas of crushed berry, plums, sweet tobacco and stones. Full bodied, with chewy and velvety tannins and a long, long finish. This is very structured and rich with a bright and tangy acidity. Needs time to come together, obviously. Try after 2015.James Suckling | 93 JSTangy and lightly firm, with cherry pit, pomegranate and blackberry notes, followed by sage and tobacco. There’s nice focus, with a tarry hint for added length on the finish. Rather tight now, with the edgy feel holding sway, but this should settle into itself nicely enough. Best from 2013 through 2018. 5,300 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

I continue to love the 2008 Château Latour, unquestionably in the top handful of wines in the vintage. A rich, powerful blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, this ruby/purple-hued beauty boasts a classic Latour nose of blackcurrants, spice box, saddle leather, tobacco leaf, and cedar pencil. Deep, medium to full-bodied, and perfectly balanced, give it another 2-3 years, count yourself lucky, and enjoy bottles over the following 2-3 decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDExpressive fruit aromas and wood perfumes announce this wine. With 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, this is a complex wine marked by purity of black fruits, berries, toast and tannins. It has power, richness and a lovely edge of spice to go with the acidity. The wine is firmly structured, while bursting with fruit and freshness.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEAn extraordinary wine, the classic 2008 Latour (13.5% natural alcohol) is composed of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc (40% of the production made it into the grand vin). Its dense purple color is followed by hints of espresso roast, cassis, burning embers, truffles and graphite. Rich with full-bodied power, beautiful purity and graciousness allied to a voluminous, savory, broad mouthfeel, this beauty will be drinkable in 4-5 years and will keep for three decades.Robert Parker | 95+ RPA little subdued, as with the Lafite right now, but this is built to last and is layered and structured. Liquorice, cassis and blueberry notes take the lead, with a punch of tannic power and a crushed mint leaf finish. A classic Latour, starting to be ready to drink but sure to age for decades from here. A seductive smoke note appears with time in the glass. Harvest September 29 to October 14. 40% of overall production. (Drink between 2021-2042)Decanter | 95 DECGorgeous aromas. Sandalwood and flowers, so perfumed and beautiful. Spices and currants with cassis too. Amazing nose. Such beauty and density with an iron and pure fruit character. Solid and racy.James Suckling | 95 JSThis is dense and muscular, but balanced, with the flesh to offset the sinew, as pure mulled black currant, melted fig and crushed plum fruit is caressed by substantial but fine-grained structure. The long, iron- and tobacco-filled finish has excellent focus and drive. This could rival LLC for longest-lived wine of the vintage. Best from 2013 through 2022. 9,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSThe 2008 Latour is dark, brooding and virile, with huge tannins that convey an impression of gravitas. Grilled herbs, leather, sweet pipe tobacco, iron and cedar add to the wine’s distinctive aromatic complexity. There is plenty of density and richness, but the color and slightly advanced flavor profile are a bit out of character. Ideally, at this stage Latour should exhibit more freshness and vibrancy. Of course, it is possible the 2008 might remain at this plateau for many years to come. Time will tell. The blend is 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot and drops of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.Antonio Galloni | 93 AG

One of the wines of the vintage, the 2008 Château Margaux is a beauty and has everything you could want from a wine. A huge nose of cassis, Asian spices, dried flowers, and incense all soar from the glass, and on the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied and pure, with ripe tannins and a great finish. A blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot made from an incredibly strict selection (only 36% of the production made it into the top wine), this elegant, regal, incredibly classic Chateau Margaux is thrilling today, but will drink well for another 20-30 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDThis stood out immediately among the five first growth wines for its floral hit right off the first nose. The epitome of elegance, as I found at the 10-year point, but it is now also starting to deepen and layer, with concentrated black fruits balanced by linen-textured tannins, slowing the progress of the fruit through the palate, stretching out the flavours. First suggestions of tobacco and curling woodsmoke, with a mouthwatering finish - so moreish. 1.5% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Just 36% of overall production. (Drink between 2021-2042)Decanter | 97 DECDefinite richness alongside classic elegance. It’s a stylish wine, the fruit integrated into a beautiful structure. It’s not all refinement, because there is also a weight to the black plum skin and dark berry character. A wine that will age over many decades.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEThis is a stunning Chateau Margaux, made in a sexy, up-front, elegant style, with deep creme de cassis fruit intermixed with spring flowers, a solid inner core of richness and depth, but again, very sweet tannins as well as striking minerality and elegance. One of the most seductive Chateau Margauxs given its recent bottling, this blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and the rest tiny quantities of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot should drink beautifully for the next 25-30 years. Remarkably, a mere 36% of the entire production was selected for the 2008 Chateau Margaux.Robert Parker | 94 RPThe 2008 Château Margaux has an attractive bouquet of mulberry, red plum, briary, a hint of rose petal rather than its signature note of violets. It gains intensity with aeration, but to my surprise it feels quite forward for a 10-year old First Growth. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, quite Pauillac in style thanks to that graphite seam that surfaces towards the finish. It is a precise, classic Château Margaux that really delivers its intensity in the final quarter. I came away with the impression that it just does not quite slip from fourth to fifth gear. (Tasted at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual 10-Year On tasting).Vinous Media | 94 VMThis is so subtle and refined on the nose with amazing perfumes of rose petal, blueberries and blackberries. Full but very tight and fresh with a lovely length that goes on and on. Starts off slowly with a solid core of fruit, then grows denser and denser. This is shy at first, needs at leat five years of bottle age.James Suckling | 94 JSShows a lightly sinewy edge, with coiled notes of damson plum, red currant preserves, rooibos tea, singed balsa wood and iron, lacking the vintage’s typical crisp edge. The fine-grained finish is approachable already, but this will age gracefully and should develop a more perfumed than rich profile.--Non-blind Château Margaux vertical (December 2013). Drink now through 2020.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

The 2008 Mouton Rothschild checks in as a blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Merlot brought up in mostly new barrels. Undeniably one of the top wines in the vintage, it offers a rare opulence and sexiness in its awesome bouquet of crème de cassis, Asian spices, chocolate, and crushed flowers. Deep, full-bodied, powerful, and still young, it fills the mouth with fruit, has sweet tannin, and a great finish. It’s still ruby/plum-colored, with no signs of evolution, but is far from unapproachable and is drinking incredibly well today. It will keep for another two decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDAnother hit, although this is not as glamorous as some vintages of Mouton. The expression here is just a little more Pauillac, rather than Mouton. Layers of blackberry and grilled almonds are marked by a touch of austerity in the Cabernet which I almost never find in this wine. It remains a beautiful Mouton in a vintage where you don’t always get this level of texture and expression. It’s still young - we are actually nowhere near lift off yet. Drinking Window 2022 - 2038Decanter | 96 DECA rich wine, opulent in character. There is power here, with richness of fruit and texture. It is both serious side and exuberant, with its bursting black berry fruits.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WETasted at the Mouton-Rothschild vertical in London, the 2008 Mouton Rothschild has always been in the shadow of the ensuing couple of vintages, but I was not the only person at this tasting that commented upon the class in show here. It replicated previous showings: cedar and graphite present and correct, though accompanied by something a little more exotic - eucalyptus maybe? The palate is beautifully balanced, very detailed and extremely fresh. This conveys so much energy and animation before reverting towards a more classic and structured, pencil lead finish. Those in the know will stash up on the 2008 Mouton Rothschild because it is destined to turn into one of the "dark horses" of the decade. Tasted May 2016.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 95 RP-NMAromas of roasted fruit plus hints of grilled meat and chocolate. Full body, firm and chewy tannins and bright acidity. Tangy and lively. Needs time still to come together to soften the tannins. A little hard. Better in 2018.James Suckling | 94 JSAfter the 2009 and 2010, the 2008 Mouton Rothschild comes across as a touch slender. Lavender, smoke, grilled herbs and licorice add the closing shades of nuance in this delightful, mid-weight Mouton. In 2008, the blend is 83% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Merlot harvested between October 2 and 15. Two thousand eight is remembered as a highly variable year. Overcast skies finally opened in mid-September, which allowed the growing season to conclude on a high note.Vinous Media | 94 VMThis shows the cool, leafy profile of the vintage, with fresh tobacco and bay notes standing out, while the core of plum and blackberry fruit continues to fill in behind them. Shows wet earth and singed alder elements through the finish. This has nearly dropped its angular feel and is developing well, with just a slight twinge of crisp acidity on the finish.--Non-blind Mouton-Rothschild vertical (March 2017). Drink now through 2036.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

Extravagant and exotic, but still lively, this is a super-concentrated and elegant wine that’s already breathtaking, yet has enormous aging potential. Plenty of wet earth and mushroom character alongside the cassis and blackberry aromas. Super-long, perfectly balanced finish. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)James Suckling | 100 JSWhat a blockbuster effort! Atypically powerful, one day, the 2009 Haut-Brion may be considered to be the 21st century version of the 1959. It is an extraordinarily complex, concentrated effort made from a blend of 46% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Cabernet Franc with the highest alcohol ever achieved at this estate, 14.3%. Even richer than the perfect 1989, with similar technical numbers although slightly higher extract and alcohol, it offers up a sensational perfume of subtle burning embers, unsmoked cigar tobacco, charcoal, black raspberries, wet gravel, plums, figs and blueberries. There is so much going on in the aromatics that one almost hesitates to stop smelling it. However, when it hits the palate, it is hardly a letdown. This unctuously textured, full-bodied 2009 possesses low acidity along with stunning extract and remarkable clarity for a wine with a pH close to 4.0. The good news is that there are 10,500 cases of the 2009, one of the most compelling examples of Haut-Brion ever made. It requires a decade of cellaring and should last a half century or more. Readers who have loved the complexity of Haut-Brion should be prepared for a bigger, richer, more massive wine, but one that does not lose any of its prodigious aromatic attractions.Robert Parker | 100 RPInky purple in colour, this has a rich, intense nose of damson, blackberry and olive paste. The palate is generous in texture and weight, more broad-shouldered than Château Margaux - which is already beginning to show its florality. This is balanced but well built in every inch. The warmth of the vintage coming through as fruit ripeness, liquorice, spice and punch, with the beginnings of truffle notes. There’s no question of its excellence and its bonhomie. Drinking Window 2022 - 2044Decanter | 98 DECThis enormous young wine is among the most backward of the vintage at this early stage, with iron-clad grip holding the broad, deep core of blackberry, cassis and roasted fig notes in check for now. The finish is a torrent of dense, almost compressed layers of tobacco leaf, hot paving stone, singed bay leaf and tar that will take at least a decade to massage together fully. This one is for the kids born in 2009. Best from 2020 through 2040. 10,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSThe 2009 Haut-Brion has a less precocious but more detailed bouquet, more nuanced perhaps with warm slates baking in the summer sun, tilled loam and cedar infusing the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, perfect acidity, layers of mineral-rich black fruit. This seems to have gained more complexity in recent years and is beginning to flirt with perfection. It’s not there yet, but it is moving in that direction. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits’ Ten Year On tasting.Vinous Media | 97 VMSolid, very structured, packed with dense and dry tannins. There is a core of acidity and darkness that gives the wine a brooding, powerful character. At this stage, it seems austere although it does have the weight of fruit typical of the year.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE(Château Haut Brion) I was rather surprised by the shape and style of the 2009 Haut Brion, which seemed to have at least dipped a toe in the water of the Luxury Wine camp in this vintage. Not a direction I would take if I were the Prince of Luxembourg and in charge of the greatest terroir in all of Bordeaux, but I am not the Prince of Luxembourg. The wine is less ripe than the 2009 La Mission, as it weighs in at a slightly less heady 14.3 percent in this vintage. The bouquet is deep, pure and beautiful, as it offers up a fine mélange of dark berries, cassis, espresso, plenty of soil tones, smoke and a very generous dollop of toasty new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and intensely flavored, with a rock solid core of fruit, excellent focus and a fair bit of wood tannins still in need of absorption on the long, tannic finish. Today the wine is quite marked by the Taransaud component in its oak cocktail, which I have to believe is higher than the percentage used in the second wine. There is little doubt that this wine will eventually gobble up its oak tannins and smooth out a bit on the backend, but one has to ask why there is a need for so much new wood and why so much of it has to be so damn aggressive in its wood spice? These are not the aromatics or flavors of great, traditional Haut Brion, and lest we forget, this magical terroir is really where the entire Bordeaux world as we know it today once originated. Haut Brion’s historical legacy is so deep and wide that it needs take a backseat to no one on the Gironde, so let’s dial back the new wood next year and let this hauntingly mystical terroir once again become the focal point of the grand vin. Not that the 2009 Haut Brion is not a superb wine, but it so clearly could have been even better with a bit more of a traditional focal point. (Drink between 2020-2060)John Gilman | 91-93+ JG

What a nose. You see the chocolate, orange peel, sweet tobacco. Goes to milk chocolate and dark chocolate. Full-bodied, with fine tannins and round tannin structure. Creamy texture. Like the great 1995. Sweet and beautiful. Try in 2016.James Suckling | 95 JSThe second wine, the 2009 Le Clarence de Haut-Brion, is almost as large a cuvee as the grand vin. This 7,000-case cuvee is a blend of 46% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest small quantities of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Once again the burning ember/scorched earth characteristic that often comes from Haut-Brion is found in the second wine, along with more kirsch and cassis, fewer nuances and less complexity than its bigger sibling. The wine is full-bodied with the minerality offered by this terroir as well as plenty of sweet tannins. This is the finest second wine Haut-Brion has produced since the astonishing 1989 Bahans-Haut-Brion. Enjoy it over the next two decades.Robert Parker | 92 RPThe 2009 Clarence de Haut-Brion has a refined and elegant bouquet with pure red fruit, undergrowth, clove and leather, perhaps just a little brettanomyces becoming more obvious with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, rounded in texture with truffle and leather infused red fruit. There is fine grip on the finish and it should continue to age extremely well in bottle. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 92 VMThis delivers the textbook profile of the appellation and vintage, with dense but mouthwatering tar, cassis, blackberry, bay leaf and dark cocoa notes all melded together and driving through the grippy finish. Approachable, but better with some time. Best from 2013 through 2023. 6,665 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WSThe second wine of Haut-Brion, the 2009 Le Clarence Haut Brion checks in as 46% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Offering a classic bouquet of blackcurrants, scorched earth, roasted herbs and earthy, gravely nuances, this beauty is broad, expansive and full-bodied on the palate, with ample depth, density, and structure. There’s no harm drinking bottles today, yet it has two decades of longevity ahead of it as well.Jeb Dunnuck | 92 JDA rich wine, with soft, juicy tannins, some spice, the tannins dry at the center. Good structure, touch of wood.Wine Enthusiast | 90 WE

The 2009 was not part of this vertical tasting, so I am repeating the tasting note published in issue #199 of The Wine Advocate from a tasting done in January, 2012.A candidate for the wine of the vintage, the 2009 La Mission-Haut-Brion stood out as one of the most exceptional young wines I had ever tasted from barrel, and its greatness has been confirmed in the bottle. A remarkable effort from the Dillon family, this is another large-scaled La Mission that tips the scales at 15% alcohol. A blend of equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (47% of each) and the rest Cabernet Franc, it exhibits an opaque purple color as well as a magnificent bouquet of truffles, scorched earth, blackberry and blueberry liqueur, subtle smoke and spring flowers. The wine’s remarkable concentration offers up an unctuous/viscous texture, a skyscraper-like mouthfeel, sweet, sumptuous, nearly over-the-top flavors and massive density. Perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime La Mission-Haut-Brion, the 2009 will take its place alongside the many great wines made here since the early 1920s. The good news is that there are nearly 6,000 cases of the 2009. It should last for 50-75+ years. Given the wine’s unctuosity and sweetness of the tannin, I would have no problem drinking it in about 5-6 years. The final blend was 47% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Cabernet Franc.Robert Parker | 100 RPThe 2009 La Mission Haut-Brion has a wonderful, extravagant bouquet with a slight medicinal note (not apparent on the bottle poured blind the following week) infusing the precocious red fruit, all beautifully defined with star anise and bayleaf developing. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, very well judged acidity, precocious in style with a long finish that maintains that medicinal leitmotif. Wonderful. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits’ Ten Year On tasting.Vinous Media | 97 VMAs with its sibling, Haut-Brion, you immediately get a sense of the generosity of the year here. It has a striking nose with touches of kirsch, black cherry, liquorice and dark chocolate, while the exoticism of 2009 is clear in the plush, ripe, fleshy and velvet-textured fruit. It’s gourmet and well built, with plenty of life ahead of it. On the finish, a slate character does an excellent job of lifting everything up together, bringing a sense of balance and a welcome savoury bite. Exceptionally good. Drinking Window 2020 - 2042Decanter | 97 DECDark, cool and sleek, this is a very sophisticated wine with great structure and polished tannins that’s just beginning to give its best. The cassis and blackberry fruit is brightest on the long finish and that suggests this has great aging potential. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019).James Suckling | 97 JSSuch a generous and ripe wine, with a dark core of tannins surrounded by opulent fruit. Black fruits, coffee, very concentrated flavors, a powerhouse of structure and richness. The warmth of the wine is palpable, as is the aging potential.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThis is forcefully rendered, with dark tar, espresso and chocolate up front, backed by dense layers of fig sauce, currant reduction and smoldering black tea leaves. There’s dense flesh and great drive on the finish, which has serious grip. Best from 2016 through 2035. 6,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WS

A blend of 91.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8.7% Merlot with just under 14% natural alcohol, the 2009 Latour is basically a clone of the super 2003, only more structured and potentially more massive and long lived. An elixir of momentous proportions, it boasts a dense purple color as well as an extraordinarily flamboyant bouquet of black fruits, graphite, crushed rocks, subtle oak and a notion of wet steel. It hits the palate with a thundering concoction of thick, juicy blue and black fruits, lead pencil shavings and a chalky minerality. Full-bodied, but very fresh with a finish that lasts over a minute, this is one of the most remarkable young wines I have ever tasted. Will it last one-hundred years? No doubt about it. Can it be drunk in a decade? For sure.Robert Parker | 100 RPAn incredible wine in every way, the 2009 Château Latour displays the ripe, sexy style of the vintage while still offering classic Latour power, density, and regalness. Currants, spicy wood, smoked tobacco, graphite, and ample minerality all define the bouquet, and it’s full-bodied, with incredible density, perfectly integrated, ripe, polished tannins, and a finish that leaves no doubt about the insane quality of this wine. Based on 91.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8.7% Merlot, and checking in at 13.7% alcohol, it’s drinking brilliantly today given its incredible texture and balance, and I suspect it has another 50-60 years of prime drinking. This is as good a Bordeaux as I’ve had and is as good as wine gets.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDDark and chocolatey with a lot of richness, but also a cool herbal freshness this is a very impressive Medoc wine that’s already delicious to drink. Very long, surprisingly supple finish for this château. A perfect wine. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019).James Suckling | 100 JSThe 2009 Latour is endowed with a simply magnificent nose with intense blackberry and cassis fruit laced with minerals and graphite, extremely focused to the point of overwhelming the sense. Wow. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannin, multilayered black fruit infused with crushed stone and a hint of white pepper, though it clams up towards the finish as if to say, not yet. Outstanding. This is Latour firing on all cylinders. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 99 VMThis seems to come full circle, with a blazing iron note and mouthwatering acidity up front leading to intense, vibrant cassis, blackberry and cherry skin flavors that course along, followed by the same vivacious minerality that started things off. The tobacco, ganache and espresso notes seem almost superfluous right now, but they’ll join the fray in due time. The question is, can you wait long enough? Best from 2020 through 2040. 9,580 cases made.Wine Spectator | 99 WSThis is still closed, although a softening of the tannins is apparent. It has a gorgeous nose full of Pauillac power and finesse, with brambled fruits and touches of hedgerow as the Cabernet Sauvignon count heads upwards. The fresh core is clear from start to finish, giving that high-wire feeling that makes great Médocs so thrilling. There’s a sense of drama to the cassis fruits, controlled but with impact and a sense of purpose, leading to a chewy finish. This is barely bedded down and has the shoulders and backbone to carry it for years. Don’t approach it yet. Drinking Window 2024 - 2046.Decanter | 99 DECA big, powerful wine that sums up the richness of the vintage. It is densely fruity, spicy with an enormous black plum and berry fruit character to go with the acidity. It’s concentrated while still showing such wonderfully pure fruit. The aging potential is immense.Wine Enthusiast | 99 WE(Château Latour (barrel sample)) Château Latour’s lack of graciousness this year was the talk of the journalistic circles during the week of the En Primeur tastings, as the estate was hell-bent on restraining access to tasting the 2009s here to only the best and the brightest. Naturally I was not on the short list of those allowed access (good lord, what would the world be coming to if I was on the list!), but thanks to the generous persistence of another wine writer (who shall remain nameless), I was eventually granted a brief audience with the Left Bank wine of the vintage. The 2009 Latour is a great classic and perhaps the best wine to issue forth from this great estate since the 1961. The wine offers up a fantastically complex and quite closed blend of espresso, cassis, black cherries, dark berries, tobacco leaf, a magical base of gravelly soil tones and a discreet framing of cedary new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and quite closed on the attack, with a rock solid core of fruit, ripe tannins and an absolutely stunning finish of profound focus, length and grip. There are a boatload of tannins in the 2009 Latour and it will clearly take several decades before it even considers being enjoyable to drink, but this is a great classic in the making and an uncompromisingly brilliant and traditional vintage of Latour. A seamless powerhouse from the old school. (Drink between 2030-2100).John Gilman | 96-98+ JG

The 2009 Les Forts de Latour is engaging and quite complex on the nose with blackberry, bilberry, hints of brine and freshly rolled tobacco, all very well delineated and gaining vigor with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine but firm tannin that frame layers of black fruit laced with pencil lead and tobacco, very convincing on the finish that has one of the longest lengths of any Pauillac in this flight. Excellent. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 96 VMDeep and dark with a ton of smoke and earth, the cassis fruit very much in the background, this is a concentrated and complex wine. Powerful yet racy palate with an elegant mineral finish. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)James Suckling | 96 JSPossibly the best second wine ever made at Latour (and I love how the 1982 is drinking at age 30), the 2009 Les Forts de Latour is composed of two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot blended with a tiny dollop of Petit Verdot, and finished at 13.5% alcohol. Juicy notes of creme de cassis, licorice, camphor, smoke and crushed rocks are followed by a rich, unctuously textured, thick, juicy, exceptionally pure, long wine. This beauty will be at its finest in several years and should keep for three decades.Proprietor Francois Pinault and his director, Frederic Engerer, have pulled out all the stops to produce one of the most monumental Latour’s ever made.Robert Parker | 95 RPMint aromas hint at the wood, but more important is the massive Merlot fruit that is an essential element in the blend. The result is a wine that blends richness and power with an initially severe character. Slowly it opens to reveal opulent blackberry jam flavors, immensely ripe.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEMore muscular and closed than the Petit Mouton, here the tannins are beautifully flexed, with real purity of fruit and lovely texture. It’s excellent quality, showing focus and a sense of poise and purpose. A brilliant wine, and one that will age well. These first-growth second wines in 2009 are amazing! Drinking Window 2019 - 2038Decanter | 94 DECThis has purity and precision, with mouthwatering blackberry, black currant and steeped plum fruit racing along, nicely laced with graphite and studded with enticing ganache and iron notes through the finish. Sleek, but the grip is there. Best from 2014 through 2028. 10,830 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS(Les Forts de Latour (barrel sample)) The 2009 Forts de Latour is the spitting image of the grand vin, as it is deep, pure complex, broad-shouldered and quite structured. The bouquet is a very fine, quite reserved mélange of black cherries, dark berries, tobacco leaf, a great base of complex, gravelly soil tones and cedary wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and tight, with a rock solid core of fruit, plenty of ripe tannins, very good acidity for the vintage and a very long, firm and classy finish. A superb Forts de Latour in the making (Drink between 2022-2050)John Gilman | 90-91+ JG