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This is amazing for the vintage. Full and silky, with velvety tannins. Long and rich, with a bright fruit character -- think black figs. The Cabernet Sauvignon gets to 35% of the blend in this vintage. This is delicious now, but it will be much better in five years. Pull the cork in 2015.James Suckling | 94 JSThis has a roasted, grippy-edged feel, with plum skin and licorice root notes framing the core of blackberry, fig and black currant confiture flavors. A touch chewy, but a strong tobacco accent lends this a hint of freshness. Shows the teetering balancing act of the vintage.—Blind '01/'03/'05 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2017). Drink now through 2032. 8,333 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSThe famously hot vintage, and a wine I have been lucky enough to try many times. It is still holding up, showing deeply spiced and exotic notes - more furniture polish and dried herbs than in many vintages, but strangely sexy because of it. The relatively low alcohol suggests impact of the Cabernets as well perhaps as some blocking because of the heat, but this is a great wine for drinking today, full of generosity and pleasure. Drinking Window 2017 - 2030Decanter | 92 DEC(Château Figeac (St. Émilion)) I have only tasted the 2003 vintage at Figeac on a single occasion, which was as part of a vertical back at the property on one of my last trips to the region to taste en primeur. While the note is a bit out of date now, I was quite favorably impressed with the wine and include the note here, as I have never written this wine up previously. The bouquet back in the spring of 2012 was really quite good, offering up a deep and fairly exotic blend of mint, sappy black cherries, dark plum, singed tobacco, chocolate and nutty new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and quite plush on the attack, with very low acids, a very good, sappy core and a long, slightly chewy and quite smoky finish. There is a slightly dry edge to the tannins here that will probably always be part of the equation to some extent (as is the case with many 2003 Burgundies for instance), but this is a very good example of the vintage and one of the few 2003 clarets that I would be happy to drink any time. It was still a few years away from really drinking well back in March of 2012, but should be softened up nicely by now. (Drink between 2018-2040)John Gilman | 91 JG

A hold onto your hat wine, the 2015 Château Figeac is pure perfection and one of the wines of this terrific vintage. A blend of 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and 28% Cabernet Franc, its deep purple color is followed by a huge nose of crème de cassis, black raspberries, smoked earth, and graphite. This is followed by a full-bodied, opulent and incredibly concentrated Saint-Emilion that has everything in the right places, no hard edges, thrilling purity of fruit, and a great, great finish. This is one of those rare gems that carries huge intensity and richness, yet still glides across the palate with no sense of weight or heaviness. Winemaker Frédéric Faye thinks the 2016 is even better but that certainly isn’t stopping me from giving this crazy good wine a triple digit score. Everyone owes it to themselves to try and taste this wine at least once!Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDIntense, yet extremely precise nose of red fruit with hints of pomegranate and vanilla. Stunning balance of great ripeness and very fine tannins that give this a wonderfully rich and plush texture at the very long and lingering finish, which gives you so much to think about. Drink or hold. Château Quintus vertical tasting.James Suckling | 99 JSDominated by the two Cabernets—Sauvignon and Franc—this is a beautifully structured wine. Firm tannins and ripe black currants give a perfumed character that is ripe, dense and impressive. The wine has enormous potential, with great tannins and fruit. Drink from 2027.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEThe recent leaps and bounds in improvements that have occurred at this great estate, equating to a dramatic increase in intensity and complexity—without compromising the husky, soft-spoken, sultry voice that is Figeac—is a monumental achievement. Kudos to Frederic Faye and his team for so beautifully expressing what was clearly an extraordinary vintage at Chateau Figeac! Blended of 29% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon and 28% Cabernet Franc, the deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Figeac reveals vibrant black cherries, cassis, red currants, black plums and licorice notes with touches of cigar boxes, bouquet garni, potpourri, damp soil and black pepper. Medium-bodied, delicately crafted and with nuanced, quietly intense layers of vivacious red and black fruits, the palate features a solid frame of polished, rounded tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and minerally.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97+ RPThe 2015 Figeac is a step up from the 2014 with exquisite scents of red berry fruit, incense, rose petal and crush stone. Pixelated with wonderful precision. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, wonderful backbone allied with a sense of symmetry. It is more saline than previous vintages, with saliva flowing after the wine has exited. One of the standouts from the Right Bank in this vintage. Tasted at the château.Vinous Media | 97 VMThis is rich and exuberant, showcasing the warmth of the vintage. It’s still basically a primeur wine with beautiful blue-violet reflections, although it was bottled in April and will stay at the estate until January 2018. With silky-smooth tannins, this is a seriously elegant and delicious wine. The coffee stained palate is full of rich black cherries, tight cassis and finely grained tannins. The 2016 has just a touch more focus but that is splitting hairs, as both are exceptional vintages at Figeac. This has real persistence and a mouthwatering quality on the finish, a seriously enjoyable wine that never tries to overpower or show off.Decanter | 97 DECDensely packed, with crème de cassis, raspberry reduction and plum sauce flavors allied to notes of loam, warm cast iron and roasted apple wood. Shows terrific cut and energy, with the iron element helping to push the finish along and letting the fruit linger. Among the more backward wines of the vintage, so patience is required. Best from 2028 through 2045. 8,333 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WS

The 2015 Haut Brion is a perfect wine that couldn’t be any better and is certainly at the top of this great vintage. A blend of 50% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the balance Cabernet Franc, this full-bodied, concentrated, backward, yet sensationally pure 2015 boast knockout notes of blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, ground herbs, and graphite, with a terrific damp earth/minerality quality emerging with time in the glass. Straight, focused, and built like a skyscraper, with a stacked mid-palate, forget bottles for 7-8 years and enjoy over the following three to four decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDA blend of 50% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, the medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Haut-Brion is reticent to begin, languidly revealing crushed black cherries, ripe black plums and wild blueberries with sparks of cinnamon stick, cloves, nutmeg, espresso, unsmoked cigars, tapenade, crushed rocks and lavender. The full-bodied palate possesses wonderfully complementary contrasts of bold black and blue fruit richness and delicately nuanced cherry fruit, baking spices and floral accents, strutting ripe, finely pixelated tannins and seamless acidity that is placed firmly in the background, finishing very long and with plenty of attitude. This impeccably poised, exquisitely perfumed 2015 Haut-Brion possesses the most alluring yet seemingly effortless beauty. While it bears only a passing resemblance in its opulent personality to the now legendary 1989, like that vintage the 2015 cannot fail to hedonically satiate and intellectually edify all lovers of great Bordeaux who drink it. What’s more, it also has the blue-blooded tenaciousness to remain this jaw-droppingly impressive, throughout its many guises over time, and for a very, very long time.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPRich and sumptuous on the palate with huge depth of fruit yet reined in by fresh acidity, with masses of tight tannins. It’s already appealing to drink (as are many 2015s) this really needs a decade or more to allow it to fully develop. The 15% alcohol is carried so easily here, with the crushed rock, sage, lavender and warm earth characters making it a standout First growth. Rated as a 100-point wine by many influential judges and undoubtedly one of the wines of the vintage. Drinking Window 2024 - 2060.Decanter | 99 DECA brick house of a wine, loaded with roasted fig, warmed currant compote and plum reduction flavors that are as broad as they are deep, carried by warm tar, ganache and smoldering bay leaf and charcoal notes. A swath of tobacco through the finish pulls everything together and ties it up with a bow of roasted mesquite. The core shows lean, muscular strength in spades. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2025 through 2045. 11,250 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSA huge, dramatic wine, the 2015 Haut-Brion is magnificent. Vertical in its construction and towering in its reach, the 2015 is going to need a good decade-plus to even start becoming approachable, as it needs to lose baby fat and develop the full range of its aromatics. Even at this early stage, though, it is wonderfully complete and positively stunning.Antonio Galloni | 98 AGThis is all about seduction and beauty with tobacco, berries, tea and wet earth. Full-bodied, round and sexy. Love the polished and beautiful tannins. Racy and refined. Try in 2023.James Suckling | 98 JSDirect and concentrated, this wine is powered by tannins and a firm texture. Dense, it has the potential for plenty of fruit as it matures. That will take time, because this impressive wine is powered by its structure. Wait until 2028. Wine Enthusiast | 97 WE

Wild nose. Impressive, deep hue and a wealth of fresh, violet-like aromas, as well as cassis, graphite and dark cherries. The palate has a very sleek, fine, powerful core of tannins that bring a lot of depth and deliver rich dark-fruit flavor. A classic Meyney. Best since 1961! Try from 2023.James Suckling | 96 JSThe 2016 Meyney has a very deep color. The bouquet is a stunner, delivering intense, mineral-rich black fruit pixelated to the nth degree. This is extremely focused and conveys the energy of a tightly coiled spring. The extremely well-balanced palate offers fine-grained tannins and superb acidity. Very pure and focused, with a harmonious, vibrant finish that lingers in the mouth. You can feel this lingering 45–60 seconds after the wine has exited. Wonderful. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting.Vinous Media | 95 VM(Château Meyney, St-Estèphe, Red) Rich and full, this is very St-Estèphe: round through the mid-palate, with an amazingly tasty balance of richness and freshness leading to salinity and minerality on the finish. It will need another five to eight years before being ready to drink, but it has to be one of the value picks of the vintage. (Drink between 2021-2036)Decanter | 94 DECSolidly built, with a dark and juicy core of currant, plum and blackberry reduction flavors, inlaid with charcoal and smoldering tobacco notes. Offers a pleasant loamy tug through the finish. Gutsy wine. The better of two bottles tasted. Best from 2022 through 2032. 15,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

A seriously impressive Petrus in 2020. Less hedonistic and instantly emotional than 2019, more sultry, almost shy and reserved but with definition, weight, succulence and suppleness that shines through. It has a silky tannic tension and clear power but not heft, only a soft muscular expansion that comes with a grip and chew to the black fruits with medicinal, liquorice edges and mouthwatering acidity. Understated yet utterly captivating, it takes its time to come out of its shell - a little serious right now but at the same time it’s stylish with a bright, lifted finish reminding you of the juicy freshness that’s possible even in such warm vintages. A shining star that will be magnificent in time.Decanter | 100 DECAs I observed to Olivier Berrouet, it’s hardly very original to find a wine critic extolling the virtues of this Pomerol reference point; and yet, whether one likes it or not, there’s no denying that the 2020 Pétrus is a brilliant achievement and indeed one of the very finest vintages at this address over the last two decades. Unwinding in the glass with a deep bouquet of dark berries, cherries and cassis mingled with hints of exotic spices, violets and vine smoke, it’s full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with huge depth at the core, exquisitely refined tannins and a youthfully reserved, even restrained profile despite its power and size. This serious, classically proportioned Pétrus is a monument in the making.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPThe transparency and complexity in the nose is wonderful, with so much floral character like violets and roses with some fresh spices. Dark berries, too. Sandalwood. It’s medium-bodied but then it just opens and unfolds with incredible depth of fine tannins and great length. It goes on for minutes. It opens like butterfly wings. What a wine. Superb. Drink after 2028.James Suckling | 100 JSThe 2020 Pétrus is a wine of pure and total sensuality. Silky, creamy tannins wrap around a core of dark red and black fruit. A wine with explosive depth but no hard edges and mind-blowing balance, the 2020 is so alluring, even in the early going. Time in the glass brings out lifted floral top notes that add freshness. What strikes most is the elegance of the tannins. I don’t think I have ever tasted a young Pétrus like the 2020. Technical Director Olivier Berrouet gave the 2020 a bit more time on the skins than is normal. Aging was 17-18 months in oak. Let’s cut to the chase. The 2020 Pétrus is profoundly great.Vinous Media | 99 VMWonderfully aromatic, this wine offers ripe tannins that give the appearance of softness. That’s deceptive because the wine’s structure is massive and concentrated. Velvet black fruits are embedded in the texture, superripe without losing freshness. Drink from 2027.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEDelivers a fairly gorgeous beam of ripe, lush, unadulterated raspberry fruit flecked with light anise, apple wood and sweet tobacco hints along the way, but this is driven from start to finish primarily by the fruit. Showing a subtle mineral edge that adds detail on the finish, this has impressive poise for the vintage. Finishes with a burnish leather feel rather than succulence, but that’s the vintage’s fault in the end. Best from 2026 through 2040.Wine Spectator | 96 WS