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The 2009 Calon-Ségur is deep garnet in color and opens with a beautiful fragrance of redcurrant preserves, cassis, black cherry compote and red roses plus nuances of cigar box and cinnamon stick. Medium-bodied and wonderfully elegant in the mouth, it has a compelling line of very ripe, fine-grained tannins and oodles of freshness supporting the fragrant layers, finishing long and perfumed.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPDelivers gorgeous aromas of blackberry, blueberry and licorice, with hints of tobacco and spice. Full-bodied, offering a lovely texture and refinement. Very long and beautiful, with tangy acidity and lively fruit. A rich, yet very balanced, Calon. This is almost all Cabernet Sauvignon instead of the normal blend with 40 percent Merlot. The château is now using 100 percent new wood. Like the changes.Wine Spectator | 96 WSThis strikes exactly the right note aromatically: it’s wonderfully sexy, smoky, intriguing and tantalising. On the palate it follows up these aromatics perfectly with silky-smooth tannins and well brushed damson and black cherry fruits. It’s fully ripe but still with give and subtlety. Great stuff! 2009 saw the highest percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon ever included in this wine. Drinking Window 2020 - 2044Decanter | 96 DECA big step up over the 2008 and, I suspect, the finest wine from this estate in the 2000s, the 2009 Château Calon Ségur reveals a healthy ruby hue to go with textbook notes of red and black currants, tobacco leaf, damp earth, gamey meats, and Asian-like spices. This is classic, traditionally made Bordeaux, with full-bodied richness, a layered, structure mouthfeel, wonderful sweetness of fruit, and a great finish. A wine that starts out tight and reserved yet builds with air, don’t be afraid to give bottles plenty of air if drinking any time soon. It’s certainly in its drink window, yet also has another 30-40 years of longevity ahead of it.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDWith a lot of fennel and earth character this is a classic St.-Estèphe, but on the palate it has a suppleness that’s modern in the best sense. Needs time to soften. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 95 JS(Château Calon-Ségur) Our vertical tasting in Washington was again the first time I had seen the 2009 Calon- Ségur, as I had not tasted the wine during En Primeur, and I was very, very impressed with the quality and style of this wine. The cépages is fully ninety percent cabernet sauvignon in this vintage, and the perfectly ripe, but not overripe cabernet has made this an instant classic. The beautifully ripe and pure nose wafts from the glass in a vibrant blend of black cherries, sweet dark berries, cigar smoke, dark soil tones, pungent violets and a suave base of nutty new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very classy on the attack, with a rock solid core of pure fruit, superb soil inflection, impeccable focus and balance, ripe, fine-grained tannins and outstanding length and grip on the seamless and youthfully complex finish. This is a great vintage of Calon-Ségur in the making! (Drink between 2022-2065)John Gilman | 94+ JGThe 2009 Calon-Ségur has a classic Saint-Estèphe bouquet with pencil box and freshly tilled earth on the nose, beautifully defined if not with quite the same pedigree that François Millet imparts into the Grand Vin nowadays. (Less Merlot here than other examples.) The palate is medium-bodied, masculine in style, a little closed at first, strict and detailed yet missing some flesh and density on the finish. Unlike the bottle poured blind a week later that was much more exuberant and higher-toned. It is a fine Calon-Ségur but it is shaded by say the 2014, 2015 and 2016. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits’ Ten Year On tasting.Vinous Media | 93 VM

One of my favorite vintages from this incredible terroir located on the upper plateau of Saint-Emilion, the 2009 Château Canon is just about pure perfection in a glass. It delivers a monster bouquet of blackberries, raspberries, white truffle, and flowery incense that develops beautifully with time in the glass. Rich, full-bodied, and powerful, it’s still classic Saint-Emilon, offering incredible minerality as well as structure. This brilliant wine can be drunk any time over the coming two decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDMedium to deep garnet colored, the 2009 Canon is a little reticent to begin, opening out to notions of rare beef, cast iron pan, cigar boxes and cloves with a core of baked plums and mulberries plus a waft of dried lavender. Full, richly fruited and sill quite youthful, the palate has a firm yet velvety texture and seamless freshness supporting the generous fruit, finishing long and mineral laced.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97+ RPA fleshy and generous St.-Emilion with a great interplay of fresh and super-ripe plum aromas. Behind this is quite a major tannin structure and plenty of chalky minerality that carries the bold finish beautifully. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019).James Suckling | 95 JSHugely dense, foursquare wine with great fruit and the purest tannins. Chocolate and coffee predominate at the same time as sweet tannins and acidity. A wine that combines charm with great power.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEThis is a creamy, lush, hedonist’s wine, with suave, textured layers of fig sauce, puréed plum and cassis woven with hints of mocha and pain d’épices. Picks up grip though, joined by a roasted mesquite hint on the finish for added length. Best from 2014 through 2025. 4,415 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSThe director of Canon in 2009 was John Kolasa, a less deft touch perhaps than Nicolas Audebert today, but still making some great wines. This has ripe fruits and a generous attack. It’s still very young but there are hints of a wine that’s starting to evolve, with moments of tobacco and leather. The mouthwatering juiciness through the back half of the palate is really appetising, and although it’s less precise than a Canon of today, you can certainly see all the building blocks here. It has a slightly savoury quality to the fruit, not displaying the excess of some St-Emilions in this vintage. A good quality wine, this is entering its drinking window but has plenty of time left. Drinking Window 2019 - 2038.Decanter | 93 DEC(Château Canon) The 2009 Canon is an unequivocally great wine in the making and will probably end up resembling the 1982 Canon in style, but prove to be superior to that fine bottle. As is the style of classically made wines such as this, today the ’09 Canon is tight, structured and only hinting at the superb complexity to come, but with its superb quality clearly evident. The bouquet offers up an excellent aromatic mélange of black cherries, dark berries, espresso, woodsmoke, herb tones, tobacco leaf, lovely soil tones and a touch of new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, ripe and rock solid at the core, with impeccable balance, firm, ripe tannins and great focus and grip on the long, properly reserved and chewy finish. A great classic in the making. (Drink between 2020-2070).John Gilman | 93-94+ JGThe 2009 Canon has a surprisingly muted bouquet despite rigorous aeration, reluctantly offering black fruit, meat juices and light garrigues-like aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy, slightly coarse tannin, quite spicy but overall, rather overbearing and lacking tension on the finish. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 91 VM

Deep garnet colored, the 2009 Cheval Blanc offers up profound notions of baked blueberries, blackberry compote and crème de cassis with suggestions of chocolate mint, new leather and cloves plus a waft of candied violets. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is an exercise in elegance with very classy, super fine-grained tannins, beautiful freshness and layer upon layer of mineral-laced blue and black fruits, finishing long and perfumed.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPThe 2009 Château Cheval Blanc continues to just blow me away every time I’m lucky enough to taste a bottle. It has that rare mix of elegance and power that can be hard to describe. Offering a massive bouquet of black cherry liqueur, flowery incense, crème de cassis, toasted spices, and forest floor, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a magical, seamless texture, and a great, great finish. Its tannins and structure are just now starting to emerge from under ample baby fat, but it still has incredible opulence and richness as well as flawless balance. Enjoy this masterpiece any time over the coming 20-30 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDA profoundly generous wine with coffee grounds and patisserie notes revealing grilled oak that’s subtle but extremely pleasing. The quality of the tannins is exceptional - they are drawn out, elongated and shrouded in smoke. Layer upon layer of complexity unfurls in the mouth, getting better and better, with tons of juicy black fruit. The liquorice is black and tight on the perfectly balanced finish right now, with sprinkles of star anise and a gentle lift of fresh mint. Give it a good few years before opening. Drinking Window 2022 - 2046Decanter | 100 DECSuper-spicy, this is an extremely elegant 2009 with enormous concentration and finesse. The complex finish lights up the sky and you wonder how this spectacular ripeness could have been more perfectly expressed. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019).James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2009 Cheval Blanc has a rambunctious nose with copious red fruit, meat juices, sage and crushed stone aromas, ineffably complex. This is so refined, constantly mutating in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, saturated tannin. There is a mixture of red and black fruit, hints of cassis, cardamom and allspice. Immense depth and grip towards the finish expresses ripe Cabernet Franc. This is an outstanding 2009 destined for long-term ageing. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 98 VMDense, brooding and richly coated, with a well of steeped black currant, fig paste and roasted plum fruit to draw on while the layers of charcoal, Kenya AA coffee and loam resolve themselves. This displays both breadth and depth, offering a great undercurrent of acidity to match its heft. Should be among the most long-lived wines of the vintage. Best from 2017 through 2035. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 7,330 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSAn impressive wine, a true return to form for Cheval Blanc. The fruit is enormous, packed with sweet black berry juice, and with a brilliant freshness. There is a lovely smoky character, topped by ripe figs.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WE(Château Cheval Blanc) The 2009 Cheval Blanc really is stunning. The wine is probably the most serious contender to Lafite-Rothschild’s crown as the ultimate luxury cuvée amongst the red wines in Bordeaux this year, as it is clearly cut from the same cloth. The bouquet is deep, pure and very sophisticated, as it offers up scents of dark berries, cassis, coffee bean, sappy black cherries, menthol, tobacco leaf, smoky soil tones and a generous dollop of smoky, luxurious new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and seamless, with beautiful focus and mid-palate depth, fine-grained tannins, superb focus and a very, very long, suave and complex finish. Like Lafite, Cheval Blanc wears its luxurious gloss very well in 2009, and it will clearly make a lot of friends amongst the jet set and should make some serious inroads into the Chinese high end luxury market, which seemed to be the obsession of every non-Lafite executive at the top estates on this trip. The wine will really need at least fifteen years to fully blossom, but is so finely crafted that it will provide plenty of pleasure early on and is likely to fall prey to infanticide in many circles. But as brilliant as the Cheval Blanc undoubtedly is this year, I would rather have the old-fashioned beauty of 2009 Bélair-Monange in my own personal cellar. (Drink between 2025-2075)John Gilman | 95-96+ JG

The Dal Forno family considered the idea of releasing their Amarone ten years after the harvest. If that plan had been implemented, this would be the vintage on the market now. The 2009 Amarone della Valpolicella Monte Lodoletta is a full and generous expression that delivers thick lines and robust flavors of dried blackberry, camphor ash, exotic cedar wood, licorice and tarry road pavement. This vintage saw average temperatures throughout the growing season with a few hailstorms along the way. Very dry weather led to some mild drought in July and August, with ensuing ripening and concentration of the clusters. I found this monumental wine to be irresistible when I first tasted it five years ago, and I consider it to have improved since then. This is one of the most complete and comprehensive vintages produced at Dal Forno, and it gives us an ample 360-degree view onto the might, brawn and potential of this icon wine from the Veneto. Its evolutionary track shows no sign of slowing down.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 99 RPThis is powerful and very rich with blueberries, flowers and hints of spices. Full body with velvety tannins and ripe fruits. Very beautiful and generous but not overdone. SuperJames Suckling | 98 JSThe 2009 Amarone della Valpolicella is one of the most sexy, open-knit young Dal Forno Amarones I can remember tasting. An enticing mélange of mocha, black cherry, bittersweet chocolate and leather captivates the senses. Incredibly open today, the 2009 can be enjoyed with minimal cellaring or aged for twenty years, perhaps beyond. Although the 2009 doesn’t quite reach the heights of the truly epic vintages here, it comes very close and will provide considerable pleasure sooner than many of those wines. I don’t think I have ever tasted a young Dal Forno Amarone with this much allure.Decanter | 97 DECThe 2009 Amarone della Valpolicella is one of the most sexy, open-knit young Dal Forno Amarones I can remember tasting. An enticing mélange of mocha, black cherry, bittersweet chocolate and leather captivates the senses. Incredibly open today, the 2009 can be enjoyed with minimal cellaring or aged for twenty years, perhaps beyond. Although the 2009 doesn’t quite reach the heights of the truly epic vintages here, it comes very close and will provide considerable pleasure sooner than many of those wines. I don’t think I have ever tasted a young Dal Forno Amarone with this much allure.Vinous Media | 95 VMRich, with aromatic herb and tarry smoke notes, this silky, supple red is framed by mouthwatering acidity and dusty tannins. Shows ripe and concentrated flavors of date, sun-dried cherry, forest floor and ground spice, displaying a sense of harmony and density that suggests a long future. The finish echoes the spice and sweet fruit character. Drink now through 2029. 1,830 cases made, 450 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

Proprietor Denis Durantou has produced a blockbuster Pomerol from a blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, tipping the scales at just over 14.5% natural alcohol. A riveting wine, pure, elegant, but at the same time, extremely powerful and concentrated, with stunning texture, opulence and density, the tannins are abundant, and the wine certainly in need of a decade of cellaring. Fabulous creme de cassis and cherry liqueur notes are intertwined with hints of licorice, truffle, and graphite. Full and rich, but still in an infantile state of development, this wine needs to be cellared for 10 years but should keep for five decades or more. This 2009 is absolutely profound.Robert Parker | 99+ RPThe 2009 l’Eglise-Clinet was picked 14 to 28 September and matured in 80% new oak. It remains remarkably youthful on the nose, rendering the brilliant 2010 a bit introverted by comparison. This comes racing out of the blocks with ebullient red cherries, crushed strawberry and raspberry fruit, touches of dried rose petal and melted tar. With aeration there is just a touch of liquorish. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin that belies the arching structure underneath. It manages to retain awesome power and yet deliver a refined finish that feels long and tender. Stunning. Tasted at the l’Eglise-Clinet vertical at the château in April 2018.Vinous Media | 97 VMThe nose on this already suggests a deep and contemplative wine with blackberry, dried flowers and sweet berries. Evolves to black olive and hints of asphalt. Full-bodied, with supersilky tannins and tangy, rich fruit. It really grabs hold of you and wants to tell you it’s special. Loads of ripe tannins too. Big and structured. Turns to tapenade.Wine Spectator | 97-100 WSAromas of dark fruits, hazelnut and dark chocolate, follow through to a full body, with velvety tannins that are polished and refined. Beautiful depth of fruit to this. Best in 2018.James Suckling | 96 JS

This is a crazy nose of tangerines and blueberries, with raspberries and mushroom and berries. Full-bodied, with ultra fine tannins. This wine is all about texture, with phenomenal tannins and subtle fruits that just make you think. Evocative. It is layered, yet changes all the time. I can’t believe it really. Speechless. Amazes me. Try in 2020.James Suckling | 100 JSAn absolutely prodigious blend of 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot, the 2009 Lafleur displays the tell-tale characteristics of this great estate. Kirsch liqueur, licorice and floral notes are intermixed with raspberry in a very full-bodied, super-intense, opulent and multi-dimensional style. Extraordinarily dense and pure, but not heavy by any means, the intensity, texture, and richness of the 2009 Lafleur are reminiscent of the perfect 1982. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2040.Robert Parker | 99 RPThe 2009 Lafleur (55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot) is an incredible wine in the vintage, not due to its concentration or richness, but due to its purity, finesse, and elegance! Revealing a deep ruby/purple color and perfumed notes of black raspberries, violets, forest floor, and spring flowers, this seamless Pomerol hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a layered, multi-dimensional, weightless texture, and ultra-fine tannin. With perfectly integrated oak, a perfumed, complex style, and no hard edges, it’s as sexy and seamless as it gets. If this wine doesn’t put a smile on your face, I can’t imagine what would. It’s already impossible to resist (it blossoms with time in the glass) but I suspect it will cruise in the cellar for another 2-3 decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDThe 2009 Lafleur is intense on the nose with darker fruit than the 2009 Ausone: freshly tilled earth, touches of pressed rose petals and a subtle ferrous scent, involving and quite mercurial. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannin, velvety smooth and a cashmere texture. A mixture of blue and black fruit laced with spice leads to a very composed but powerful finish that lingers for 60+ seconds. This is only just beginning to show what it can do. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 97+ VMThis gushes with mouthwatering blueberry, boysenberry and blackberry fruit, leading to a long black tea– and incense-filled finish. Darkens up considerably as it airs, with layers of extra flesh, Kenya AA coffee and charcoal notes striding through the finish. Shows an exotic side, and gorgeous mouthfeel. Best from 2015 through 2030. 950 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 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

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

The 2009 Mouton-Rothschild is as concentrated as the 2010, but it presents itself in a more consumer-friendly, seductive style. Opulently textured and full-bodied with gorgeous levels of crème de cassis, melted licorice, espresso roast and chocolate, it possesses high but sweet, velvety tannins, massive body, and fabulous purity as well as length. This could turn out to be a candidate for perfection in another 8-10 years. It will drink well for 30-50 years, but will always be much more approachable and charming than its 2010 counterpart.Robert Parker | 99 RPOpulent, luscious and rich Mouton at it’s exotic, showy best. Multi-layered and complex, with wave after wave of ripe red and dark berry aromas and flavours, complicated by sweet spices, violet, and cigar box. Rich and ripe but marvellously precise and light on its feet. Tasted at the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter Shanghai, November 2015. Drinking Window 2017 - 2060.Decanter | 99 DECThe 2009 Mouton Rothschild is exceptionally beautiful. A huge, powerful wine, the 2009 possesses stunning richness and radiance, with plenty of underlying structure to support all of that exuberance. Smoke, grilled herbs, tobacco and incense give the 2009 much of its exotic, captivating personality. Seamless, opulent, yet with terrific freshness, the 2009 is sure to thrill those fortunate to own it for several decades. In a word: dazzling. The blend is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Merlot. Harvest took place between September 23 and October 6 in a year marked with dry weather, higher than average temperatures and generous sunshine.Antonio Galloni | 98+ AGThis will always be a great contrast to the dark power of the 2010, sporting lush layers of fig, boysenberry and blackberry confiture, carried by velvety tannins, flowing through a long, anise-, tobacco- and cocoa-fueled finish. Not shy on grip, but much rounder and plusher in feel. Hard to resist now, but there’s absolutely no rush.--Non-blind Mouton-Rothschild vertical (March 2017). Best from 2020 through 2050. 16,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSWith a ton of ripe blackcurrant and some bitter chocolate this is a rich and rather opulent wine that still retains a delightful freshness and has a long, positively dry finish. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)James Suckling | 98 JSThe purest Cabernet Sauvignon fruit, with dark chocolate and intense dark berry flavors. The tannins are so enveloped by the fruit and yet they promise great aging. At this stage, wood shows through the fruit, but the texture is so rich and opulent that it should easily become integrated.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE(Château Mouton-Rothschild) The 2009 Mouton is clearly cut from the same cloth as the ’09 Lafite this year, rather than from the more structured style of Latour. The bouquet is deep, suave and quite “luxe” in its aromatic profile of black cherries, a touch of raspberry, coffee, Cuban tobacco, lovely soil tones and plenty of suave, nutty new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, very refined and polished, with a rock solid core of fruit, plenty of ripe tannins and impeccable focus and balance on the very long, suave and intensely flavored finish. A fine, fine Mouton. (Drink between 2019-2050)John Gilman | 93-94 JG

Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2009 Pape Clement struts flamboyantly out of the glass, featuring beautifully opulent preserved black fruits, Morello cherries and Chinese five spice with underlying notions of truffles, iron ore and tobacco plus a waft of sandalwood. Full-bodied, the voluptuous fruit has a firm foundation of super ripe, grainy tannins and bags of freshness supporting layer upon layer of black fruit, exotic spices and earth-laced flavors, finishing very long.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 99 RPWonderful aromas of plums and blueberries and flowers. Full-bodied with plums, stones, hazelnuts and milk chocolate, and a long, long finish. Marvelous. Best ever. Try in 2017.James Suckling | 98 JSContinuing to drink beautifully (my last bottle was a handful of years ago), the 2009 Château Pape Clément offers mature notes of blackcurrants, chocolate, cedar pencil, and loamy earth. It shows the ripe, sexy style of the vintage, yet most of its baby fat has melted away and it’s showing a beautiful sense of elegance as well as classic Graves smoky, tobacco, and earthy aromas and flavors. Enjoy this beautiful, elegant wine any time over the coming 25+ years.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDRich and muscular, with exotic roasted spice, braised fig and warm raspberry confiture notes that are supported by a broad baseline of dark cocoa, tar and freshly brewed espresso. Not shy about its modernity, but everything is in place. Just needs to settle in with cellaring. Best from 2015 through 2030. 7,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSAn early-ripening and generous wine in an early-ripening and generous year, this is full of the exuberance that it demonstrated when young. The terroir is starting to exert its influence now, with a lovely pull back on the finish as the tannins step up. It’s still youthful and buttoned down but the fruit is exotically ripe and really starting to come into its prime, with traces of heavy black pepper spice. Extremely good quality, if vintage led. Drinking Window 2019 - 2040Decanter | 95 DECThis is a richly structured wine with beautiful perfumes emanating from the bouquet. The rich, stalky texture is balanced by the flavors of dark chocolate and black currant jelly. It’s big, ripe and full of potential, a fine balance between opulence and ageworthiness.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEThe 2009 Pape-Clément has a very intense, slightly smudged bouquet with heady red fruit laced with smoke, hickory and light earthenware scents. It takes time to settle although, it does gain clarity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin, well balanced with a fine bead of acidity. I find the finish just missing the tension of precision conveyed by say, the 2010 or 2016, to name but two superior vintages. This is a very fine Pape-Clément, but they have produced even greater examples in recent years. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits’ Ten Year On tasting.Vinous Media | 94 VM