Red Wines

wines

An enticing mix of incense, black tea, cracked pepper and red wild berries emanate from the 2016 Valpolicella Superiore. This is undeniably elegant, with its silky textures that seem to coat the entire palate in a seductive layer of violet-tinged fruits and suave lavender and chocolate notes. That said, this is not sweet nor overly rich; in fact, the 2016 is truly harmonious and poised, boasting tremendous concentration that‘s lifted by saline-infused acids. It leaves the palate completely saturated with cloves and allspice, as it tapers off structured and long. This is next-level Valpolicella Superiore, and it may even one day warrant a higher score. Marco Sartori uses 30% appassimento grapes in his Valpolicella, which are dried for twenty days. The wine is refined in a 50% - 50% mix of large oak cask and barrique, of which only about 20% are new.Vinous Media | 94+ VMThe oak-aged Roccolo Grassi 2016 Valpolicella Superiore is a sharp and tight red wine with candied aromas of cherry and plum. The wine is dark and rich at its core with big fruit weight that wraps over the palate. Mild tannins and balanced acidity give the wine immediate drinking appeal. There is some dusty spice on the close. Production is 33,000 bottles.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RPEarthy and peppery nose with very ripe red and black cherry nuances. Cedary on the palate, soft, with a crisp acidity.Decanter | 91 DEC

Very attractive, plush and rich red and dark-fruit aromas with beautifully integrated oak and youthful, spicy complexity. The palate has lush, seamless and velvety tannins that are elegant yet powerful and deliver a silky build of ripe dark-berry flavors into a long, seamless finish. Greatest Siran ever! Try from 2023.James Suckling | 96 JSNow with more Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend than in the past, this wine has elegant black-currant fruits and tannins allied to a lift of acidity. Showing the continued improvements at this southern Margaux estate, the wine is joyful and ripe. Drink from 2025. Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEMore aromatically expressive than some, with succulent red and black fruit. While a touch of heft from the 14% alcohol is discernible, it’s a very pleasing wine to enjoy now – and for another 15 years. Its creamy, almost soft texture, with plum-like roundness from the Merlot, also endears. The wine seems more balanced than its 2009 counterpart, a result of the hard work in recent years to make Château Siran better than ever.Decanter | 93 DECThe 2016 Siran has a well-defined bouquet of blackberry, raspberry, rose petal and crushed violet aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, and quite saline in the mouth. The nicely proportioned finish displays very well-integrated oak. This is a gorgeous, sensual Margaux that should offer 20–30 years of drinking pleasure. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting.Vinous Media | 92 VMThe 2016 Siran has a deep garnet-purple color and nose of cassis and chocolate-covered cherries with wafts of black soil, licorice and violets. The medium-bodied palate is lively with grainy tannins and a good fruit core.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90 RPThe deeply colored 2016 Château Siran is a chewy, rich, powerful effort that needs short-term cellaring to come together. Loads of black fruits, smoked meat, leather, and graphite notes all flow to a medium to full-bodied Margaux that takes some time to unwind, yet it’s going to be better with 4-5 years of bottle age and keep for 15+. It’s a solid, promising effort.Jeb Dunnuck | 90+ JD

Moving to the grand vin, the 2016 Proprietary Red is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon with the balance Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. Tasting like a mix of the 2013 and 2014 with its incredible elegance and power, it reveals a deep purple hue as well as extraordinary notes of crème de cassis, crushed violets, lead pencil, and unsmoked tobacco. Ethereally textured, seamless, and full-bodied, it builds incrementally on the palate and is a monster of a wine that somehow stays light, graceful and elegant. It should hit maturity after a decade of cellaring and be a 40- to 50-year wine.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDThis is a barrel sample blended of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, to be bottled the first week of February 2019. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Proprietary Red opens with fragrant notions of candied violets, chocolate box and baking spices with a core of blackcurrant cordial, preserved plums and blackberry compote with touches of garrigue and menthol. Full-bodied, rich and packed with black fruits sparked by tons of cinnamon and cloves accents, it has a firm, velvety-textured frame and great freshness, finishing with epic persistence.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97-100 RPThe 2016 Sloan is dazzling. Soft and unctuous with no hard edges, the 2016 Sloan is just as impressive from bottle as it was from barrel. Sweet red plum, blood orange, spice, menthol and licorice are all melded together in a gorgeous, racy Cabernet Sauvignon that hits all the right notes. Unlike most top 2016s, Sloan can be enjoyed with minimal cellaring, although its true potential will only be unlocked with at least a few years in bottle. Spice, star anise, pomegranate and sweet red cherry overtones add an exotic flair.Vinous Media | 97 VMEnormously deep nose with an entire spectrum of black and blue fruit, plus notes of second-flush Darjeeling and mint. Widescreen Napa cabernet with a pronounced licorice note that’s not in the nose. Beautifully integrated, powdery tannins that almost perfectly support the lavish body. Long, plush and graceful finish. You could drink it on release, but this has great aging potential.James Suckling | 97-98 JS

This is the debut vintage of this wine from the esteemed Bordeaux owner, Alfred Tesseron, who bought the property in the Napa mountains in 2016. Aromas of plums, wet earth, fresh herbs and tobacco. Some green olives. Turns to blueberries and blackberries. Full-bodied, yet reserved and layered with chocolate, walnuts and plums. Firm yet polished tannins give a framed sense to the wine. Savory. Racy and beautifully structured, it’s extremely drinkable already. Real wine.James Suckling | 98 JSA blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Pym-Rae displays a deep garnet-purple color and reveals wonderfully fragrant notes of candied violets, wilted roses, damp soil and black tea over a core of red and black currants, black cherries and warm blackberries plus touches of cigar box and camphor. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is evocatively singular, offering that rock-solid structure of mountain fruit, yet these are wonderfully ripe, silt-like tannins that beautifully support the elegant red and black fruit layers, finishing very long and very perfumed.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RP(Tesseron Estate Pym-Rae) The 2016 Pym-Rae continues to show well, with a rich, meaty, powerful style as well as loads of chocolaty black fruits, tobacco, black olive tapenade, and leather-like aromas and flavors. It’s beautiful on the palate, with massive concentration and depth as well as terrific balance. This gorgeous, deep, opulent beauty is going to benefit from another 4-6 years of bottle age and live for 3-4 decades. (Drink between 2025-2067)Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JD

This has a rich and ripe dark-fruit nose with a wealth of stony attraction and a lighter, floral edge. The palate has a very rich core of deeply ripe, fleshy fruit, framed in cedary oak. Really impressive clarity and web-like tannins. Superb finish. Try from 2023.James Suckling | 96 JSThe 2016 Tour Saint-Christophe is made up of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. It was aged in 40% new, 40% one-year-old and 20% two-year-old oak for 18 months. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it sings of roses, chocolate-covered cherries, redcurrant jelly and cinnamon stick with touches of cigar box and forest floor. Big, full-bodied and richly fruited yet with great tension, it has a compellingly perfumed palate and gorgeous velvety texture with great persistence. 5,000 cases produced.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPThe same blend and élevage as the 2015, the 2016 Chateau Tour Saint Christophe is another ripe, powerful wine that does everything right. Dense purple/blue, with a powerful bouquet of bloody blue fruits, iron, violets, and spring flowers, it’s full-bodied and concentrated on the palate and has opened up and put on weight since I tasted it on release. I think it has a touch more mid-palate depth and concentration than the 2015, yet both wines are fabulously balanced. The 2016 is more in the mold of the 2010, with the 2015 showing a more 2009 vibe. You can’t go wrong with either of these!Jeb Dunnuck | 94+ JDThe 2016 Tour St. Christophe conveys a sense of joie-de-vivre on the nose, courtesy of vibrant cassis and raspberry preserve aromas that burst from the glass. The palate is well balanced with grippy tannins. There is real density and backbone to this Saint-Émilion, and yet there is plenty of freshness on the finish. But it will need considerable time in the cellar. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.Vinous Media | 93 VMRipe, almost jammy nose but falls shy of overripe. Palate suave and opulent – big tannic frame coated in generous fruit. Energy and tension helps to provide a persistent finish. Drinking Window 2023 - 2035.Decanter | 92 DECThis is filled with dark, juicy black currant and blackberry preserve flavors laced liberally with bramble and wood spice accents. The fruit kicks into a second gear through the finish, where a roasted apple wood note adds texture and more energy. Rock-solid. Best from 2021 through 2030.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

Aromas of sweet berries, fresh herbs, currant bush and licorice. Terracotta. Full body, layered and soft, velvety and focused tannins. Breathtaking texture. The focus ad polished is phenomenal. Harmonious. Enticing. Fascinating and thoughtful. A blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and petit verdot. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon is fabulous. Bright, powerful and pulsing with energy, the 2016 possesses stunning textural depth allied to a real sense of drive. Black cherry, tobacco, menthol, sage and licorice give this Cabernet from southern Oakville much of its distinctive personality. In this tasting, the 2016 Ulysses simply towers with pedigree and character. I loved it. Although the track record is short, the 2016 is the finest wine Christian Moueix and Tod Mostero have made at Ulysses.Vinous Media | 98+ VMVery deep purple-black in color, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon leaps from the glass with exuberant notes of cassis, black cherries and blackberries with touches of bay leaves, lavender, rose hip tea and pencil shavings plus a waft of spice box developing with time. The palate is medium to full-bodied with a well-sustained mid-palate of youthful black fruit, a rock-solid structure of firm, grainy tannins and fantastic freshness lifting the perfumed fruit to a long, lively finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95+ RPThis is well-built but stays restrained in style, featuring alluring cassis and blackberry flavors, lined with black tea, minerally iron and warm tobacco accents. A late flash of warm paving stone adds depth and range through the finish. Should put on weight in the cellar. Best from 2021 through 2036. 1,300 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSThe 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon offers more cool blue fruits, violets, and damp rock-like minerality. Similarly styled on the palate, with medium to full body and a classic structure, it reminds me of a great St. Julien. Still relatively closed and backward, yet with tons of potential, hide bottles for 4-6 years and it should evolve nicely for upwards of two decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 93+ JDWith small additions of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this robust red is herbaceous and earthy in compost and forest floor. Earl Grey tea and red currant continue the savory thread of flavor amidst soft, silky tannins and well-integrated oak.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WE

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 La Muse is composed of 93% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Malbec. Wow—it comes strutting out of the glass with flamboyant crème de cassis, ripe plums and black cherries notes followed by nuances of aniseed, chocolate box, wild thyme, violets and chargrill plus a fragrant suggestion of potpourri. Full-bodied, rich and concentrated, the densely packed perfumed black fruit layers are beautifully framed by perfectly ripe, finely grained tannins and fantastically knit freshness. It finishes long with the most incredible display of mineral sparks. 2,300 cases were produced.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPIncluding the highest percentage of Merlot (at the moment anyway), the 2016 La Muse checks in as 93% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and the balance Malbec that spent 15-16 months in roughly 90% new French oak. This magical wine shows how good Merlot (and Sonoma) can be and offers extraordinary notes of crushed violets, spring flowers, scorched earth, graphite, black cherries, and crème de cassis. As elegant and seamless as they come, it’s full-bodied, perfectly balanced, has an incredible spine of acidity and tannins, and a finish that won’t quit. It has the class and purity to drink well even today, but it’s not going to hit prime time for at least another decade and will keep for 3-4 decades. Bravo!Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDThis is a fabulous, merlot-based red with blackberries, blueberries and rust. Ink, too. Medium to full body, round tannins and a juicy finish. 93 per cent merlot with the rest in cabernet franc and malbec. Drink after 2021.James Suckling | 96 JSThe most approachable of the three Verité wines right now. This is richly textured with plush raspberry and grilled damson, high floral aromatics, and plenty of tannic structure that becomes more apparent as you give it time, and the weight of the mid palate asserts itself. There is a serious side to this wine that will become clearer as it ages and the welcoming puppy fat of young fruit trims down. This is Merlot dominated, and is exceptionally successful. Drinking Window 2023 - 2040.Decanter | 95 DECThe 2016 La Muse is a brooding, somber wine, just as it was en primeur. Black cherry, gravel, savory herbs, smoke, game, licorice and incense add a real feeling of gravitas that comes through in the wine’s tannic heft. La Muse is often more showy when it is young, but the 2016 is going to require quite a bit of patience.Vinous Media | 94 VMDense, smoky and powerful, featuring notes of freshly ground coffee to the roasted plum and dried blackberry flavors. Hoisin sauce accents show on the tannic finish, with green herbal shadings. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Drink now through 2025. 2,205 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS