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The 1998 Cheval Blanc, a blend of 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Franc, is deep garnet-brick in color and absolutely explodes with scents of exotic spices, incense, dried roses, cigar box and licorice, with a core of crème de cassis and dried cherries plus touches of black tea and dusty earth. Medium to full-bodied, it fills the mouth with rich, plushly textured fruit and then POW—it hits the mid-palate with an explosion of Chinese five spice and floral perfume sparks, leading to an epically long finish. This cannot fail to impress and can easily cellar for another 30 years or more.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPAnother perfect wine is the 1998 Chateau Cheval Blanc, which is the usual blend of 55/45 Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Possessing an utterly captivating bouquet of sweet red and black fruits, forest floor, spice and dried flowers, it packs plenty of muscle and depth on the palate, yet is also expansive, elegant and seamless, with no hard edges. Just singing, with everything you could want; complexity, richness, elegance, depth, and length, drink this sensational beauty any time over the coming two decades. I’m sure it will keep longer, but why in the world would you wait.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDThe reference chateau of the vintage, this wine is showing its class here and then some. It was the first year with Bernard Arnault and Albert Frère as owners, with Pierre Lurton coming onboard from his former role at Clos Fourtet. 10% press wine was used, whereas today they use no press wine in the grand vin. It was aged in 100% new oak. The 36ha of vines yielded 32hl/ha, closer to their average than the relatively abundant 1989). The holdings have since expanded to 39ha with the addition of 3ha from Tour du Pin Figeac. 67% of production went in to the grand vin, the rest into Petit Cheval. This is seductive and rich but with a purity and precision. There’s more Merlot in the blend than is typical because the clay soils produced the best quality grapes, and you can see its impact in the textural density - the proximity to Pomerol comes through. Drinking Window 2019 - 2036Decanter | 100 DECAromas of blueberry, sweet tobacco, leather and pipe tobacco turning to raisins and Christmas cake. What a wine. Full-bodied, with chewy tannins and a very well-integrated palate. Dark color. A big and powerful wine still. Blockbuster. Massive. Just a baby.—’88/’98 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2008). Best after 2013. 8,330 cases made, 1,600 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 98 WSAromas of rose petal and hints of fresh herbs such currant leaf. Tobacco, too. Medium body, very fine tannins and a balanced fruit. Extremely refined and polished. A beautiful harmony. So lovely now.James Suckling | 96 JSThe 1998 Cheval Blanc has been a lauded wine ever since release. I have often, quite controversially felt that it never quite matched its startling performances in its first ten years, though it remains and excellent wine. Now at 20-years old it offers opulent, high-toned scents of maraschino cherry, iodine, crème de cassis, dried blood and a subtle, almost Provençal herb-like scent courtesy of the Cabernet Franc. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grip, showy compared to other vintages of Cheval Blanc with sappy red fruit and a fine structured that lends this 1998 focus. Perhaps this bottle did not quite deliver the intensity on the finish that I was expecting, "jogging" instead of "sprinting" over the finish line. That said, it is a very impressive wine, even if personally I would not put it amongst the very best wines that Pierre Lurton has overseen. Tasted at Cheval Blanc.Vinous Media | 95+ VMNo written review provided. | 95 W&S

Truly great stuff, this wine performed at a three-digit level both in the horizontal tasting of 2005s in Baltimore, as well as in Montreal at this mini-vertical. This sensational, opaque, bluish/purple wine offers up notes of vanillin, spring flowers, blueberry and blackberry liqueur, plus a touch of licorice. The wine hits the palate with a thunderous cascade of ripe, rich, concentrated fruit. It is full-bodied, multidimensional and layered. The tannins are beautifully integrated but still present, and the wood, acidity, alcohol, etc., are all beautifully assimilated in this magnificent, majestic vintage of Angelus. It can be drunk now, but it is still an adolescent and that suggests it has at least another 25-35 years of longevity.Robert Parker | 100 RPThe 2005 Angelus is as good as it gets, and despite having 2-3 decades of prime drinking ahead of it, is as profound a drinking experience as money can buy even today. Offering off the hook notes of blackcurrants, smoked herbs, blackberries, toasted spice, espresso and scorched earth, this beauty is unctuous and opulent on the palate, with incredible depth, yet never seems heavy, cumbersome or over the top. It has more depth and concentration than the 1990 (and I suspect any vintage in the 1990s or 2000s) and will keep for another 30 years or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDThe 2005 Angélus is a gorgeous wine. Inky red fruit, mocha, espresso, dried flowers and iron give this potent, explosive Saint-Émilion tons of richness. The style is dense and heavily extracted - as was the norm at the time - and yet the 2005 is impeccably balanced. This is a magnificent showing from Hubert de Boüard, who has done so much to elevate the status of this once under-achieving property.Antonio Galloni | 98 AGBeautifully focused notes of figs and ripe fruit on the nose, this is very perfumed. A lot of material in this wine, the center palate is incredible, lasting for minutes. This is full-bodied and super silky with fine tannins. A pinpointed ball of fruit, think lychee, and hints of chocolate on the finish. Leave this for six to eight years, should be about right in 2018.James Suckling | 97 JSBlack purple in color, with coffee, blackberry and currant on the nose. Full-bodied, with supervelvety tannins and a long aftertaste of toasty oak and ripe fruit. Very close to the 2000. Superb. Best after 2018. 7,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSAngélus has both beautiful richness and shape in 2005, the sensual touch people hope to find in merlot that it so rarely and exquisitely delivers. The spice, the beeswax, the chocolate and black fruit are all there, but the focus is on the wine’s subtle power, not any particular flavor. This had appeared black and superripe en primeur. Now there’s a dark, earthy vibration in the tannin, a reverberation in the middle that touches senses beyond taste. This should live for decades. Diageo Château & Estate Wines, NYWine & Spirits | 96 W&SA spicy, densely sweet wine, all ripe purple fruits bursting out of a straitjacket of tannins, with the wood flavors quite dominant at this stage. The wine is firm, but the fruit is so big that the dryness is lost.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEThis blend of 62% Merlot and 38% Cabernet Franc fermented to 14.5% alcohol and was matured in new casks. The result is arresting, with a dark blackberry, plum and fig fruit accented with hints of leather, smoke and earth. The texture on the palate is dense and full-bodied, with plenty of tannic grip and impressive length. It is a brooding, somewhat reserved wine that won many admirers, although the weight and heft could be daunting to others—a bit rich for my taste. (Drink between 2021-2040)Decanter | 92 DEC

A blend of 77% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2009 Beausejour Duffau-Lagarrosse has a deep garnet color. It storms out of the glass with powerful notes of baked plums, boysenberry preserves, and licorice, giving way to nuances of black truffles, candied violets, and mossy tree bark, with a fragrant touch of sandalwood. The full-bodied palate is rich and impactful, delivering perfumed black fruits with a firm frame of velvety tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and opulent. A gorgeous wine.The Wine Palate | 100 TWPThis big wine (nearly 15% natural alcohol) is a blend of 77% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon. It boasts an opaque blue/purple color along with a gorgeous bouquet of charcoal, incense, truffles, blackberry jam, black currants, raspberries and flowers. While enormous in the mouth, the limestone soils in which the grapes are grown give the wine good freshness as well as laser-like clarity and precision. Amazing to taste, this massive, super-concentrated powerhouse comes across as ethereal and almost feminine despite its extravagant fruit, density and richness. It is a modern day legend for sure! Anticipated maturity: 2025-2050+As I wrote after I tasted this cuvee from barrel, it is clearly the greatest Beausejour-Duffau since the immortal 1990. Under new management, the brilliant duo of Nicolas Thienpont and Stephane Derenoncourt is in the process of developing what is one of the great hillside terroirs of Bordeaux and St.-Emilion.Robert Parker | 100 RPA blend of 77% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2009 Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse) is utter perfection, and man, what a wine. Deep, inky, incredibly concentrated, yet also silky and weightless, it delivers that rare mix of intensity and weightlessness on the palate. Offering layers of blackcurrants, crushed flowers, lead pencil, incense and loads of spice-box, it shows the intensity and rich of the 2009 vintage yet is perfectly balanced, has building tannins, and a huge finish. It’s as good as it gets. Give bottles another 4-5 years and enjoy over the following 2-3 decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDA blend of 77% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2009 Beausejour Duffau-Lagarrosse has a deep garnet color. It storms out of the glass with powerful notes of baked plums, boysenberry preserves, and licorice, giving way to nuances of black truffles, candied violets, and mossy tree bark, with a fragrant touch of sandalwood. The full-bodied palate is rich and impactful, delivering perfumed black fruits with a firm frame of velvety tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and opulent. A gorgeous wine.The Wine Independent | 100 TWIFocused power. This muscular red shows drive, yet remains graceful, with fresh plum and currant flavors, backed by mineral, tar and floral notes. The dense texture stays fresh through the sweet, spicy finish. Best from 2014 through 2030. 1,540 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSAromas of sliced fresh mushrooms, with dark berries and hints of lemons. Full-bodied, with tight and chewy tannins that are very polished and rich. A finish of dark berries and polished tannins. Serious austerity to this. Try in 2018.James Suckling | 94 JSFresh blackberry fruits give a smooth wine, rich and with an immediately attractive fresh acidity. It does have the density of fruit along with relatively soft tannins. At the back there is a more chocolate character.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEThe 2009 Beauséjour Duffau-Lagarrosse has a very composed and focused bouquet with brambly red fruit, mulberry, loam and cedar aromas, maybe just a little new oak still waiting to be fully subsumed after 10 years. The palate is well balanced with a medicinal, honey textured opening, plenty of cough candy infusing the red fruit, good depth but just missing some grip and density on the rather one-dimensional finish. This has not aged as well as some of the others from Nicolas Thienpont’s stable, such as Larcis Ducasse and this is one example where I prefer the preceding vintage. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 91 VM

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

Sadly, there's not a whole lot of production to this microscopic estate in Pomerol, but the name says it all. The awesome aromatics include not only raspberries, black cherries, and blackberry, but also the floral perfume of an haute couture house. Its terrific aromatics are followed by a wine with quintessential elegance married to almost unbridled density of fruit, all presented in a flawless and seamless concoction of full-bodied power, elegance and purity. This is a riveting wine and certainly one of the great classics to ever be produced by this tiny estate. Kudos to proprietress Catherine Pere-Verge. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2035.Robert Parker | 100 RPThe 2010 La Violette has a well-defined bouquet with predominantly red fruit laced with scorched earth, leather and just a touch of cassis in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with a grippy entry. This has fine backbone, perhaps a good deal of Cabernet Franc in the blend. Very expressive towards the finish and extremely persistent. A class act that is just beginning to show what it is capable of. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.Vinous Media | 96 VMSports lush, heady fig, boysenberry and plum jam aromas and flavors, with a creamy mouthfeel and lots of licorice, fruitcake and ganache notes showing on the finish. Not shy and plenty dense, but retains a velvety feel and solid focus. For fans of the flashier style. Best from 2014 through 2030.Wine Spectator | 94 WSCharming floral nose with violet and fragrant wild strawberries. Equally fine on the palate with wonderfully textured fine fruit and silky tannins. Racy and well balanced. So drinkable now but better in 2016.James Suckling | 92 JS

This is considered to be among the greatest vintages ever made in Montrose, right up with the 1929, 1945, 1947, 1959, 1961, 1989, 1990 and 2009. Harvest was October 15 to 17. The wine has really come on since I last tasted it, and it needs at least another 10 years of cellaring. The blend was 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. The wine is opaque black/blue, with an incredible nose of blueberry and blackberry liqueur, with hints of incense, licorice, and acacia flowers. Tannins are incredibly sweet and very present. The wine is full-bodied, even massive, with great purity, depth and a finish that goes on close to a minute. This is a 50- to 75-year-old wine that will repay handsomely those with good aging genes. (Note: The Chateau Montrose website gives an aging potential of 2020-2100.Robert Parker | 100 RPThe 2010 Montrose is insanely beautiful. A vivid, eternal wine, the 2010 dazzles right out of the gate with its explosive energy. Soaring floral and mineral notes are immediately captivating on the bouquet. All that carries through to the palate, where the wine is dense and expansive. Readers lucky enough to own it should be thrilled. This really benefits from aeration. What a wine! Vinous Media | 100 VM...the 2010 Château Montrose is an undeniably great wine that has everything you could want from this terroir...rocking levels of cassis, graphite, spring flowers, crushed stone, and spicy leather. Full-bodied, incredibly pure, and balanced, it has a seamless mouthfeel, tons of ripe tannins, and a gorgeous, layered finish. It’s a riveting, multi-dimensional Montrose that ranks with the true greats of the vintage.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDThe 2010 Montrose is composed of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, notes of baked plums, boysenberry preserves, warm cassis, and licorice, followed by hints of mocha, tapenade, crushed rocks, and cast-iron pan. The full-bodied palate has a formidable structure of very firm, grainy tannins and bold freshness supporting the voluptuous black fruit and mineral layers, finishing long, long, long.The Wine Independent | 100 TWIFabulous inky rich depths to the colour here, and right off the nose you feel it enticing you in. Spice is evident, as are the ripples of muscles and walls. This is in the Lynch Bages school of not being ready yet, the tannins are still fully standing to attention. Fruit is dark, tight, hiding its fleshier side for now, and it is extremely clear that this is a vintage with ambition and no intention of going anywhere for many decades. A great wine, needs to be opened for five to six hours if drinking soon, but my suggestion would be to put it away for another three or four years at least. Drinking Window 2022 - 2050Decanter | 98 DECRock solid, displaying a dense core of plum, steeped currant and braised fig fruit, with racy charcoal and ganache notes. Intensely chalky, offering flesh and refinement to match the bracing minerality, this shows hints of grilled savory, iron, warm paving stone and bitter orange on the riveting finish. Should age very slowly. Best from 2019 through 2038.Wine Spectator | 97 WSA perfumed and pure Montrose, with lots of currants, berries and spices that evolve to chocolate and light coffee. Full body, with super racy tannins and bright and clean finish. Very fine and structured. A balance and freshness to it all as well as beautiful form and tension. Try in 2018.James Suckling | 97 JSThis is such an elegant wine that has all the structure of the vintage. Surrounding the tannins, the wine is sweet and ripe, with smokiness from the wood. It’s powerful, elegant and sophisticated with a strong sense of poise. The tannins promise long-term aging.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE(Château Montrose) The 2010 Montrose is another very, very good example of the vintage, but I suspect it will always have to live in the long shadow of the 2008 and 2009 wines from this estate. The wine is probably a tad riper than the 2009, as it weighs in at 13.6 percent, and at this very early date, it seems to have lost just a touch of focus and delineation at this slightly higher octane level. The bouquet is certainly deep and impressively complex out of the blocks, as it offers up scents of sweet cassis, dark berries, Cuban cigar ash, espresso, gravel, lead pencil and a bit of singed earth. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and truly massive in shape, with impeccable balance, a superb core, very substantial, but well-integrated tannins, tangy acids and outstanding length and grip on the powerful finish. There is a fine spine of minerality in the 2010 Montrose that promises very fine evolution on into the future, but the ripeness here seems to have taken just a touch of backend lift away from the wine in this vintage. It is a very good wine, and it may prove that after it has fifteen or twenty years of bottle age on it, I will have underrated it a bit. But at this stage, as good as the 2010 Montrose is, I would rather own the superb 2008 or 2009 vintages from this great estate. (Drink between 2027-2100)John Gilman | 93+ JG

The 2013 La Muse, like all of the 2013s, comes about one-third from Alexander Valley vineyards, 40-plus percent from Chalk Hill, and the rest Knights Valley and Bennett Valley – all high-elevation hillside vineyards. A blend of 89% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 3% Malbec at 14.3% alcohol, the wine is amazingly like a great vintage of Petrus, with mulberry, black cherry, licorice, truffle and unctuous, thick, juicy fruit all present in this full-bodied masterpiece. The tannins are still present. The wine has purity and savory presence and is remarkable. The finish goes on for well past a minute. This wine would probably benefit from 5-8 years of bottle age and last 40-50 years.Robert Parker | 100 RPFascinating aromas of blackberries and orange peel with dried flowers. Full-bodied and very structured. Superb density and length. Just starting to open up now. Fantastic merlot.James Suckling | 98 JSAnother huge wine, the 2013 La Muse is endowed with serious power and overall structure, especially compared to the 2012 tasted alongside it. Sweet tobacco, grilled herbs, cedar and smoke add considerable nuance. There is plenty of fruit and overall richness, but the imposing tannic heft is going to demand considerable cellaring.Vinous Media | 93-96 VMNotes of black raspberry, forest floor, burnt sugar, methol and rich barrel toast are the prelude to a wine strucutred around fine, dense tannins and good acidity. 89% Merlot, with the balance Cabernet Franc and Malbec, La Muse is the richest and most opulent of the Verité wines, as well as the most marked by its barrel programme, but it retains nicely savoury definition. Drinking Window 2023 - 2045.Decanter | 93 DEC

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of 89.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6.5% Cabernet Franc and 4.0% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs of lot of swirling to unlock the most gorgeous perfume of bright black and red cherries, fresh blueberries and blackcurrant pastilles with hints of roses, cinnamon stick and orange peel. Medium-bodied, elegant and tightly wound, the palate shimmers with SO MUCH energy, featuring layer upon layer of floral, savory and crunchy black fruit notes, finishing long and minerally. This is a remarkably poised, seemingly effortless beauty that cannot fail to make your jaw drop. Forget it in the cellar for a good 3-5 years, at least, to allow all those nuances to fully emerge and then savor it over the next 30 years+.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPThis biodynamically produced (certified from the 2020 vintage) red offers vividly bright aromas of ripe strawberry, sagebrush, coriander cream and cedar. Silken waves of red berry fruit, leather, brown spices and featherweight fine-grained tannins glide to a long finish punctuated by deep saline mineral notes. The epitome of elegance and beauty supported by such a firm backbone of juicy acidity as to age beautifully over time. Drinking Window: 2024 - 2040Decanter | 98 DECThe 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is another incredible wine from this reference point estate in the Valley. Based on 89.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6.5 % Cabernet Franc, and the balance Petit Verdot that was raised in 65% new French oak, it has that classic Spottswoode refinement and elegance as well as medium to full-bodied aromas and flavors of cassis, tobacco, sandalwood, and flowers. I don’t think this hits the heights of the 2013 or 2016, but it shines for its flawless balance, remarkable purity, and great finish. It’s going to have 30 years of prime drinking. There were 4,184 cases produced, and readers will love to have this in their cellar.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDA bright, effusive wine, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is all finesse. Bright aromatics, vibrant red berry fruit and mid-weight structure give the 2019 its charming, sensual personality. I am surprised to see how open the 2019 is at this stage. I imagine it might close down a bit post-bottling, but the 2019 has superb balance to go with a real feeling of openness, at least today. Red/purplish berry fruit, rose petal, lavender and sweet spice shape the inviting finish.Antonio Galloni | 96 AGRipe blackberries, blackcurrants, cocoa powder, dried thyme and walnut husk on the nose. It’s full-bodied, chewy and compact with firm tannins and a broad, muscular palate. Structured, polished and well balanced. From biodynamically grown grapes. Try after 2024.James Suckling | 96 JSNot shy, this throws a pretty lush and gorgeous wave of warmed cassis and mulberry puree at you, carried by very polished tannins as violet, red licorice and sweet tobacco hints fill in behind. Shows good energy through the finish, too, with a subtle mineral hint to keep everything honest. Lovely. Drink now through 2037. 4,184 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

I’m splitting hairs here, because the level is so high in the Malbecs from the Piedra Infinita vineyard that it’s difficult to say, but the coup de coeur is the 2019 Finca Piedra Infinita Supercal, the single-plot bottling from the shallower soils with lots of rocks covered in calcium carbonate (hence the name: "superlime"). In a cooler year like 2019, this wine achieved a level of precision, austerity, elegance and balance that is amazing. The wine floats in the mouth, with an ethereal quality but with the clout and power from the place. The wine is juicy and fresh with a saline twist in the finish. This is approachable now because of its gobsmacking balance and elegance, but it has all the components and the balance between them to age for a long time in bottle. Bravo! 1,400 bottles were filled in June 2020. They told me that it’s always a challenge to decide the picking date for this plot, and they feel they hit the bull’s eye in 2019. And rightly so.Robert Parker | 100 RPThe 2019 Malbec Finca Piedra Infinita Supercal from Paraje Altamira, Uco Valley was aged in concrete and made with grapes from a parcel of soils rich in calcium carbonate. It’s purple in hue. The 2019 has an austere aromatic profile in which clear fresh plum notes are accompanied by violets, lavender and bay leaf. It’s compact yet juicy in the mouth with a pure, chalky texture. The structure is linear for a Malbec, almost skeletal in fact, ensuring that the flavors at the back of the throat reverberate with a mixture of delicate aromas over the taut palate. This wine is a successfully executed statement about winemaking and the house style.Vinous Media | 98 VMDeep but scented nose of black cherries, blueberries, dried violets, graphite, ink and chalk. Very primary, and certainly all about the intrinsic side of the fruit. White pepper and fleshy, deep black cherries on the palate. The tannin is immaculate, but so powerful, with fine austerity, which is evenly distributed, but in an electric way, seeping into the naturally concentrated and succulent fruit. Violets and spices in the finish. Probably the most powerful of the three Piedra Infinita range of reds tasted. An intellectual, austere but resolved malbec. Look elsewhere if you are after oak plushness. Intrinsic and beautiful. Around 1,000 bottles made. Unique. Better after 2025.James Suckling | 98 JS