Red Wines

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Made in a more flamboyant, lifted style than the 2016, the 2015 Château Beychevelle offers a beautiful, medium to full-bodied, sexy yet elegant style as well as perfumed notes of black cherries, plums, incense, spices, and dried flowers. Given the sweetness in its tannins as well as its purity of fruit, it can be enjoyed today yet will keep for 20+ years.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDThis elegant estate, with its views down to the Gironde estuary, has produced an excellent 2015. It is properly firm with tannins although this structure is well balanced with the ripe, stylish black-currant fruits and acidity. A juicy finish bodes well for the future. Drink this generous wine from 2025.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEThe 2015 Beychevelle comes across as much more powerful and plush in bottle than it did as a barrel sample. The black cherry, smoke, leather, tobacco, spice and incense notes are all endowed with notable textural depth. Voluptuous but also quite tannic, the 2015 is going to need at least a few years to come into its own. Readers should expect a powerful, brooding Saint-Julien. Tasted two times.Antonio Galloni | 94 AGPerfumed red with so much presence and brightness. Flowers, currants and blueberries. Some citrus. Full body, firm and silky tannins and a long and flavorful finish. Very fine and vivid. Better in 2022.James Suckling | 94 JSThe 2015 Beychevelle is a blend of 47% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot aged 18 months in barrel, 50% of which were new and 50% second fill. Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, it’s scented of smoked meats, scorched earth, garrigue and new leather with a core of cassis, cherry cordial and plum preserves. The medium-bodied palate is a little firm but delicate, with lovely vibrancy and a bit of grip on the finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPLovely mulled plum and blackberry fruit glides along a cleanly embedded graphite edge, while violet and anise details skirt along the edges. The finish picks up a tasty ganache coating while keeping the energy up. Rock-solid. Best from 2022 through 2040. 20,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSThis really does expand outwards in the mouth, with an excellent quality of juicy black fruit on display. This has more potential than the 2014 vintage — contrary to many other wines in this part of the Médoc. 4% Petit Verdot makes up the blend. Drinking Window 2024 - 2043.Decanter | 93 DEC

A youthful, unevolved 2018 with lots of up-front blue and black fruits as well as cedary herbs, violets, and scorched earth, the 2018 Château Gloria is medium to full-bodied and has a beautifully balanced, elegant mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and both richness and freshness. The purity of fruit is spot on. It’s another brilliant wine from this estate that readers will love. It’s going to benefit from 2-4 years in the cellar and cruise for two decades in cold cellars.Jeb Dunnuck | 94 JDA full-bodied red with a dense, juicy palate of blueberries and blackcurrants. Some black tea and tree bark, too. Tight yet long and linear finish. Very structured and polished. Drink after 2024.James Suckling | 94 JSThis wine has all the structured intensity and ripe fruitiness of a Saint-Julien. At the same time, it displays a light touch with the black fruits and open texture, promising an attractive wine. Drink the wine from 2026.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEThe 2018 Gloria has turned out beautifully. Medium in body, with terrific balance and tons of class, Gloria will especially appeal to readers in search of a wine that is not super-exuberant, as so many 2018s are. Bright floral notes, blood orange and red berry fruit all run through this wonderfully expressive Saint-Julien. Give the tannins at least a few years to soften.Antonio Galloni | 93 AGFresh and energetic, with violet, licorice and cassis aromas and flavors spilling forth while bramble and graphite run underneath. Applewood streak gives the finish some spine. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2022 through 2035.Wine Spectator | 93 WSGloria is fast becoming one of the most exciting insider wines of the entire Bordeaux region, and that rare species of a non-classified St-Julien. The fruit here is brambly, textured and autumnal, and again the alcohol seems generous but balanced, with plenty of St-Julien finesse. It has a feeling of not needing to go too far to convince anyone. This is some austerity here but there’s a bounce to the tannins through the mid-palate, while the alcohol is clearly there but not dominant, helped I would expect by relatively generous yields of 46hl/ha. Very good quality. 5% Cabernet Franc makes up the blend. 50% new oak. Drinking Window 2027 - 2040.Decanter | 93 DECThe 2018 Gloria is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc, aged for approximately 14 months in oak barriques, 40% new. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it sashays out of the glass with flamboyant notes of kirsch, black raspberries and cassis, plus hints of potpourri, unsmoked cigars and star anise. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers a good amount of juicy black and red fruit flavors, backed up by slightly chewy tannins and just enough freshness, finishing spicy.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RP

Rich aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry, chocolate, tobacco and licorice. Oyster shell, too. It’s full-bodied with firm, well integrated tannins. Polished, silky layers with a long finish. Gorgeous ripe and bright fruit in the center palate. Best in a long time. Try from 2025.James Suckling | 96 JSThis is densely packed with ripe macerated fig, blackberry and plum fruit flavors supported by tar and bramble notes that meld steadily through the finish. Notes of applewood and anise flash throughout. For the cellar. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Best from 2023 through 2036. 21,665 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSClear depth right off the first nose is evident, with swirling black cherry and blackberry fruits and grilled cedar. Caramel creaminess here also, with black chocolate edging. This is excellent-quality, with bristling tannins that are just at the beginning of their life. 60% new oak. Drinking Window 2026 - 2040.Decanter | 94 DECThis balanced, stylish wine is full of a dark berry flavor and juicy acidity. The dry core of tannins is integrated and cushioned by the fruity nature. The wine is already showing its fine future.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEThe 2018 Talbot is quite the powerhouse. Inky and deep, the 2018 possesses striking textural richness from start to finish. Inky dark fruit, licorice, cloves, new leather, menthol, violet and chocolate fill out the layers effortlessly in this decidedly flashy Saint-Julien. This is a terrific effort for Technical Director Jean-Michel Laporte in his first vintage at Talbot. It will be interesting to see where the château goes in future years. This is certainly an opulent, rich style.Antonio Galloni | 93 AGReleased in an all-black bottle celebrating 100 years in the Cordier family, the 2018 Château Talbot is a beautiful, classic Saint-Julien that leads with its pure cassis and currant fruit as well as notes of tobacco leaf, violets, chocolate, damp earth, and new leather. These all carry to a medium to full-bodied, elegant 2018 with remarkable purity of fruit, a lively spine of acidity, ripe, polished tannins, and a great finish. It doesn’t have quite the level of concentration I thought from barrel, but it’s nevertheless a beautiful wine that shines for its finesse and purity, and if it picks up weight in bottle, it will certainly merit an even higher rating. Give bottles 3-5 years and enjoy over the following 15-20+. The blend is 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot, brought up in 50% new French oak.Jeb Dunnuck | 93+ JDDeep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Talbot features notions of baked blackcurrants, stewed plums and bouquet garni with hints of tilled soil, tobacco leaf and pencil lead. The medium-bodied palate is softly textured with bags of juicy black fruits supported by chewy tannins and just enough freshness, finishing savory.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91+ RP

The wine’s powerful density comes from the black-currant flavors and tannic core. Wood, leather and concentration all show in the aromas. It is a serious, powerful wine with 80% Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink from 2028.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEUtterly captivating on the nose, fragrant and floral with soft orange flecks, sweet cedar and cinnamon. Textured like heavy silk, weighty with a hold to the tannins that says ‘I’m a serious wine’, offering energy and focus. Precision and density, finessed layering that lets the wine deepen and expand over time. Not immediately as attention-seeking as some, but this is classy no doubt and ultimately calls for another sip, and then another. A gorgeous wine that is all the better for what it’s not saying at this point.Decanter | 97 DECThe 2021 Léoville Las Cases has turned out beautifully in bottle and clearly numbers among the very finest wines of the vintage. Unfurling in the glass with aromas of dark berries and cassis mingled with notions of cigar wrapper, violets and pencil shavings, it’s medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated with a deep and multidimensional core of fruit framed by beautifully refined tannins and girdled by lively acids, concluding with a long, penetrating finish. Serious and structured without being austere, it’s a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc and a mere 5% Merlot.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96+ RPThe 2021 Léoville Las-Cases is a wine of elegance and restraint. Yes, I am writing that about a young Las-Cases. Perhaps it is the higher level of Cabernet Franc in this year’s blend that adds aromatic presence and gives the wine its refined character. Blue/purplish fruit, lavender, mint, spice and rose petal linger on the delicate, understated finish.Vinous Media | 96 VMThis is very tannic and powerful with currant and salty undertones. Inky. Blackberry and blackcurrant, too. Full-bodied with lots of power at the end. 80% cabernet sauvignon, 15% cabernet franc and 5% merlot.James Suckling | 96-97 JSUnquestionably one of the wines of the vintage, the 2021 Château Léoville Las Cases is flat-out brilliant and brings that classic Las Cases regalness and structure. Cassis, graphite, lead pencil shavings, crushed stone, and an almost bloody, salty character all define this riveting 2021, and it’s medium to full-bodied, with a great mid-palate, ripe, polished tannins, and a great finish. It has more mid-palate density and depth than just about every other wine in the vintage, and despite its structure, it’s going to be relatively accessible in just 5-7 years. It will most likely be one of the longest-lived in the vintage.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDA blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, and 15% Cabernet Franc, the 2021 Leoville Las Cases is deep garnet-purple in color. It needs a fair bit of swirling and coaxing to reveal a pronounced core of cassis, Morello cherries, and mulberries, giving way to a fragrant undercurrent of tilled soil, charcoal, violets, and cedar, plus a touch of Sichuan pepper. The medium-bodied palate delivers impressive, tightly wound layers of black fruits and minerals, framed by ripe, fine-grained tannins and wonderful tension, finishing long and perfumed. All minerals and florals - very pretty!The Wine Independent | 95 TWIShows a rare level of finesse, depth and balance in this vintage, with a stream of black currant coulis carried by a pinpoint of acidity, while charcoal and sweet tobacco accents run along the edges. The long, iron-tinged finish offers a late hint of violet and almost no grain. A terrific effort for the vintage. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2026 through 2040.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

The 2021 Ducru-Beaucaillou captures all the potential it showed from barrel. A delicate, understated wine, the 2021 impresses above all else with its finesse. All the elements are impeccably balanced throughout. Time in the glass brings out the wine’s inner sweetness and gorgeous perfume. The balance with oak, at times a challenge here, is also flawless. With lower alcohol and therefore also less extraction from oak than recent vintages, the 2021 is shaping up to be a modern-day classic. The blend is 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot, the highest amount of Cabernet Sauvignon ever here. What a wine.Vinous Media | 98 VMBeautiful and beguiling nose, perfumed blackcurrants and dark fruits; damsons, plums, raspberries and rose petals. Lovely crunchy fruit, real bite and presence in the mouth. Excellent precision, tannins are succulent and ripe they fill the mouth with a juicy, intense granular texture. There is such depth to this - perfume, tobacco, earth, violets and concentrated fruits that have a verticality to them with an unprecedented 98% of Cabernet Sauvignon providing the support and the backbone. There is a crystalline purity to the fruit giving tension to the overall frame, it’s focussed and driven all with excellent definition. This is not a wallflower of a wine - it’s charming and confident, strutting its stuff right now and giving you absolut St-Julien terroir and vintage markers in the glass with slate, graphite and liquorice salinity on show. Skilled winemaking on show.Decanter | 96 DECFirm, structured and pure with a cool and solid core of dark currants, blackberries, tar, pencil lead and bitter chocolate. Hints of tobacco, too. Firm but silky tannins. Very pure, with a long, mineral finish. Intense and very focused. 98% cabernet sauvignon and 2% merlot.James Suckling | 96-97 JSThis is a wine with enormous potential with rich tannins and dark black fruits. At the same time, it has lightness that gives it a lift of fine black currant fruits. It will age, of course.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEI was also able to retaste a barrel sample of the 2021 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, and it showed in line with my tastings last year. It’s a shockingly concentrated, medium to full-bodied, balanced Ducru Beaucaillou that I think will surpass most of the so-called petits millésimes of the past two decades, and that just goes to show the level of attention to detail and talent at this address.Jeb Dunnuck | 95-97 JDA wine that will delight Médoc purists, the 2021 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a blend of fully 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot and checks in at a mere 12.5% alcohol. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, cigar wrapper, violets, loamy soil and spices, it’s full-bodied, layered and velvety, with superb depth at the core, lively acids and powdery tannins. Complete and penetrating, it’s a true classic, reminiscent of a modern-day version of Ducru’s brilliant 1996—though today’s precision winemaking means that the 2021 is unlikely to go through so long a hibernation as that vintage.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94-96 RPThe 2021 Ducru-Beaucaillou, 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot, was tasted as a tank sample just before bottling. Deep garnet-purple in color, it opens with notes of crushed blackcurrants, fresh raspberries, and Morello cherries with touches of dried herbs, mossy tree bark, pencil lead, and damp soil. The light-bodied palate delivers mouth-filling, crunchy, black and red berry flavors with chewy tannins and a lively backbone, finishing with an herbal lift.The Wine Independent | 92-94+ TWI

Moving to the Grand Vin, it’s a slightly more Merlot-influenced blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18% Merlot, raised in new barrels. It brings the same level of concentration and structure as the La Croix but has another level of class, elegance, and purity, with sensational aromatics of crème de cassis, graphite, crushed stone, sandalwood, and graphite. The purity here is truly remarkable, and it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, perfectly integrated oak, silky tannins, and a great finish. This beauty hit 14% natural alcohol with a pH of 3.8 and an IPT of 95. Given its balance as well as its texture, it’s going to offer pleasure with just short-term cellaring yet also evolve for decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 97-99 JDBeautiful and beguiling nose, perfumed blackcurrants and dark fruits; damsons, plums, raspberries and rose petals. Lovely crunchy fruit, real bite and presence in the mouth. Excellent precision, tannins are succulent and ripe they fill the mouth with a juicy, intense granular texture. There is such depth to this - perfume, tobacco, earth, violets and concentrated fruits that have a verticality to them with an unprecedented 98% of Cabernet Sauvignon providing the support and the backbone. There is a crystalline purity to the fruit giving tension to the overall frame, it’s focused and driven all with excellent definition. This is not a wallflower of a wine - it’s charming and confident, strutting its stuff right now and giving you absolut St-Julien terroir and vintage markers in the glass with slate, graphite and liquorice salinity on show. Skilled winemaking on show.Decanter | 97 DECSome much creme de cassis and blackcurrant aromas and flavors here. Full-bodied with powerful tannins, yet fine and layered. Chewy. You can really feel the thick grape skins here. Excellent length. Tannins spread across the palate. Minerally and crushed stone.James Suckling | 97-98 JSMade from 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18% Merlot, the 2022 Ducru-Beaucaillou is deep garnet-purple in color. It comes barreling out with powerful notes of blackcurrant cordial, boysenberry preserves, and licorice with hints of mocha, graphite, and cedar. The medium to full-bodied palate is rich and super firm with ripe, grainy tannins and just enough freshness, finishing with epic length and purity.The Wine Independent | 97-99 TWIThe 2022 Ducru-Beaucaillou contains less Cabernet than last year and is closer to the normal blend of the Grand Vin, picked between 7 September and 4 October - the longest harvest in their history. The IPT is 95. Matured in 100% new oak, the bouquet bides its time in the glass, almost reluctantly unfurling with scents of blackberry, briary, cigar humidor and sous-bois. At this nascent stage, it is more backward than its peers. The palate is undoubtedly one of the most dense and muscular that I have encountered over many years tasting at the estate, full-bodied with vice-like tannins. Continuing the theme of the estate’s other cuvées, there is a lovely Pauillac-like presence throughout, with graphite/pencil lead infusing the black fruit. The finish exerts a considerable grip and feels saline, almost briny on the aftertaste. This Leviathan Ducru-Beaucaillou threatens to overwhelm the senses, uncompromising in many ways, and it will patently take many years for the tannins to soften. I feel that it is only once in bottle that one will be able to gauge its trajectory.Vinous Media | 95-97 VMOne of the Médoc’s most powerful wines this year is the 2022 Ducru-Beaucaillou, a blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18% Merlot that opens in the glass with aromas of dark cherries and berries mingled with pencils shavings, vanilla pod and spices. Full-bodied, broad-shouldered and muscular, with a core of ripe but lively fruit underpinned by a chassis of powdery, liberally extracted tannin that asserts itself on the finish, it’s a punchy, modern Saint-Julien reminiscent of a hypothetical blend of the 2018 and 2020.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94-96 RP