Shop Wine

wines

What you'd expect from such a legendary estate. Wonderful palate impression with silky, rich fruit. Plenty of blackberry and chocolate character, has a full body and medium finish. Needs time. Try after 1997.--The Bordeaux 50.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

There is no other wine in the world like it, and there is no other luxury wine that can possibly justify its price as much as Yquem. The remarkable amount of painstaking labor necessary to produce the nectar known as Yquem is almost impossible to comprehend. This is a fascinating effort. With greater evidence of botrytis than the colossal 1983, but less power and alcohol, the 1986 Yquem tastes reminiscent of the 1975, only more precocious, as well as more concentrated. Several highly respected Bordeaux negociants who are Yquem enthusiasts claim the 1986 Yquem is the greatest wine produced at the property since the legendary 1937. Its enthralling bouquet of pineapples, sauteed hazelnuts, vanillin, and ripe apricots is breathtaking. Compellingly concentrated, the breadth as well as depth of flavor seemingly know no limits. This full-bodied, powerful, yet impeccably balanced Yquem should provide memorable drinking for 40-55 more years. Like the 1983, this is another winemaking tour de force. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2040. Last tasted, 4/91.Robert Parker | 98 RP

Intense, almost harsh with zingy flavors. Showing more wood than the 1989, and less elegance, but it’s powerful and sharply focused.--Haut-Brion vertical. 800 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

The 1995 Brut Blanc de Noirs Clos d’Ambonnay is simply profound from the very first sip. All of the classic Krug elements are there; the signature bouquet, the finesse of the best Clos du Mesnils, but with the broader shoulders of Pinot from Ambonnay. The fruit is intricately layered in sublime, graceful notes of mineral-infused, perfumed berries that linger on the eternal finish. Totally rich and seductive, the 1995 Clos d’Ambonnay is a wine that will stimulate the intellectual and hedonistic senses to the maximum. In a word, it is divine. The 1995 Clos d’Ambonnay is hard to resist today, but it should continue to develop positively in bottle for a number of years. The only problem is the $3,500 price tag, which means the wine will only be enjoyed by an elite few. No disgorgement date provided. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2020.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPThrown in as a ringer, the 1995 Clos d’Ambonnay is a real treat to taste next to the 1996. In particular, tasting both vintages together shows that that 1995 is the more complete of these two first releases of Krug’s single-vineyard Champagne from Ambonnay. Finely-cut fruit, expressive aromatics and exceptional textural finesse are the signatures. This is another fabulous showing from the 1995 Clos d’Ambonnay.Antonio Galloni | 98 AGThe 1995 Clos d’Ambonnay is an utterly refined and supremely elegant wine that is still fairly youthful at age twenty. The very complex and elegant bouquet delivers a marvelous constellation of white peach, apple, stony minerality, plenty of smokiness, fresh-baked bread, orange zest, gentle spice tones and a very delicate floral topnote of orange blossoms. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and laser-like in its focus, with a superb core, great mineral drive, and glorious length and grip on the impeccably balanced, refined and electric finish. A brilliant wine. (Drink between 2015-2045)John Gilman | 98 JGFull-bodied and deep, featuring graphite, toast, leather and spice notes augmented by citrus and mineral. This is dry and backed by a racy structure, with a long, structure-driven finish, replete with spice and citrus accents. A Champagne for food or contemplation. Drink now through 2025.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

I have drunk this a half dozen times in the last six months and it always amazes me. The Recently Disgorged Bolly is ultra rich with yeast and spice and bread. It's tight and in reserve, but gives lots of lemon rind and apricot character as well. It's full and very racy. Layered palate. An aftertaste that lasts for minutes. What a Champagne.James Suckling | 97 JSThe Bollinger R.D. (recently disgorged) is Bollinger's answer to a prestige cuvée. Keeping the wine long on its lees (this was disgorged in June 2006) yields a wine that is very much in the rich Bollinger style. This is a beautifully balanced wine, with acidity, intensity and structure in perfect harmony. It is still so young, and certainly could age for years.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe 1996 R.D. from Bollinger is another superb wine from this vintage. An expressive bouquet of spices, acacia blossoms and perfumed fruit emerges from the wine's silky-textured frame. This generous R.D. is drinking well today, but also has enough freshness to age well for years. It is a great version of one of Champagne's legendary wines.Antonio Galloni | 96 AGA monumental R.D., the 70% Pinot Noir here is ageing very slowly in the late-disgorged format. The aromatic palate is almost shockingly youthful. There is still plenty of primary bright apple fruit with the spice and toast of the initial fermentation – the overall impression is lovely, lively, and still fruity, with the more developed notes very discreet. The texture is enlivened by the same super-charged acidity we see in the Grande Année from this year, and the finish is intensely long. Marvellous ageing potential. (Drink between 2021-2051)Decanter | 95 DECIf you breed pit bulls, then you know how gentle they can be, trained and treated right. This wine requires the same level of care, or, at least, the respect not to approach without a large decanter. Taste it now without plenty of air and the acidity is punishing, yet the flavors it leaves behind are lovely. A minute afterwards, the taste of red apple lingers as if a repressed memory of grand cru Pinot Noir. Bollinger's program of 'recent disgorgement' often amplifies the power of a vintage, which, in the case of 1996, has made this wine downright fierce. It mellows with air, but remains vast and irrepressible. Long aging is the responsible course of action.Wine & Spirits | 94 W&SA powerhouse. Big and sophisticated, combining lemon and grapefruit notes with candied fruits, roasted nuts and coffee. Fresh, dry and finely detailed, with finesse and a lingering finish driven by acidity.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

It’s hard to imagine how a wine of this power can sustain perfect balance. What is now a more nonchalant intensity in the aroma was, in fact, too much to handle when we tasted this last year, as if the wine had no time for mere humans with their limited sense receptors. If you stop to taste ripe pear, ginger spice, apple blossom and butterscotch the wine leaves you lost in random flavor descriptors as it soars off into a vinous glow that lasts for minutes. This may well be the greatest vintage wine of Henri Krug’s career (unless it is challenged by the 2002). It is impossible to predict how long this wine will thrive in bottle, though considering the current fine condition of the 1959 Krug, the first 50 years are a given.Wine & Spirits | 100 W&SA powerful, majestic Champagne. Deep and compelling, with aromas of whole-grain toast, coconut and dried citrus that draw you in. Lean and racy on the palate, with a creaminess that’s yet to be integrated. A classic ’96, with ripe, exotic aromas and a steely structure. Still a baby, with the long, resonant finish confirming its potential. Best from 2009 through 2040. 10,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 99 WSThe real surprise among Krug’s 1996s is the 1996 Vintage, which is drinking beautifully, even among this rarified air of single-vineyard Champagnes. The 1996 Vintage is explosive and creamy, with just the right balance of power, richness and freshness. The mousse is perhaps just a touch less refined than in the 1996 Clos du Mesnil and Clos d’Ambonnay, but it is also perfectly measured with the wine’s exuberant personality. This multi-dimensional, textured Champagne is at the early part of its drinking window and promises to deliver an incredible drinking experience over the coming decades. The take-away from this flight of 1996s from Krug is simple. Although the 1996 Vintage can’t possibly be described as inexpensive, it shows exceptionally well next to its much more expensive brethren and clearly delivers a similar level of quality. Readers who have the opportunity to pick up this wine should not hesitate. It is a gem. No disgorgement date provided. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2036.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPThe 1996 Vintage is magnificent. A towering, explosive Champagne, the 1996 delivers the house’s signature breadth in a full-bodied, structured Champagne with enough pure density and acidity to age well for decades. Warm nutty and spiced overtones add nuance on the finish. The 1996 is just beginning to enter the early part of its mature stage, where it is sure to remain for several decades. Krug’s Vintage is one of the truly epic wines of the year.Antonio Galloni | 98 AG(Krug Vintage Brut (Reims)) I had not drunk a bottle of the 1996 Krug in several years, as I had deemed the wine still in climbing mode and I am not generally in the business of drinking Krug before its time. But, a friend recently opened a bottle and I was very impressed with how the wine is evolving in the bottle since its release. The bouquet is now starting to show some lovely secondary layering of complexity in its blend of apple, peach, a touch of sweet walnut, patissière, a refined base of minerality, caraway seed and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine flavors on the attack echo the nose nicely, with the wine’s full-bodied format sporting excellent depth at the core, still plenty of the vintage’s snappy acidity, great focus and grip and a very, very long and utterly refined finish. Though this remains quite racy structurally, I really like the point it has reached in terms of aromatic and flavor complexity and it is really not a crime to be opening bottles up at this point in its evolution, though it still has room to grow with further bottle age. A great, great vintage of Krug. (Drink between 2019-2060).John Gilman | 98 JGThis is a handsome yellow-gold colour with hints of bronze. Still fresh and vigorous yet with a ripe acidity. Wow, this is something else in the mouth! There is a lot going on - firm and tight one moment, then a panoply of sensuous flavours. Williams pears and glace à l’orange evolve into lemon and prunes. A splendid finale of great length and vigour demonstrates that this ’96 still has years of life ahead of it. Drinking Window 2017 - 2030.Decanter | 96 DEC

(Krug Vintage Brut (Reims)) It had been three years since I last crossed paths with a bottle of the 1998 Krug Vintage and the wine was just starting to blossom when I had it back in the summer of 2013. Three more years of bottle age have really done justice to this excellent wine and this most recent bottle was absolutely wide open and singing on both the nose and palate. The bouquet is deep, pure and shows a lovely, almost exotic sheen of fresh nutmeg and fresh coconut to augment more classic Krug notes of peach, tangerine, patissière, caraway seed and a glorious base of soil tones. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, crisp and inviting on the attack, with a rock solid core, great transparency, refined mousse and exceptional length and grip on the very long and focused finish. Just a beautiful vintage of Krug that is now reaching its apogee and promises to dazzle for the next several decades. (Drink between 2016-2045)John Gilman | 95 JG(LLLLPK 00178): Bright gold. Ripe orchard fruits, peach pit, toffee, marzipan and dried flowers on the pungent, smoky nose. Broad and fleshy on entry, then tighter in the mid-palate, offering palate-staining pit fruit nectar, apple pie and brioche flavors, enhanced by a toffeed quality. Closes spicy and very long, with resonating smoke and toasted hazlenut qualities.Vinous Media | 94 VM

Things were more difficult in Sauternes than in the rest of Bordeaux in the 2000 vintage, with a brilliant first picking in early October that showed all the promise of the vintage, but with the later crop ruined by heavy rain. In the end Yquem made 20% of its usual yield, but the success of the earlier growing season comes through with luxuriously concentrated apricot and marmalade flavours, laced with bitter orange, lime zest, butterscotch, saffron and white truffles. 128g/l of residual sugar, with total acidity of 4.5. The team behind this wine included current winemaking director Sandrine Garbay, who had begun two years earlier in 1998, with the château already partly owned by Bernard Arnault of LVMH (he bought his first shares in 1996) but still headed up by director Alexandre de Lur Saluces, whose family had been at Yquem since 1875. Drinking Window 2020 - 2050.Decanter | 96 DECForward and flattering, with unctuous marmalade, blood orange, apricot chutney and ginger notes. Juicy and engaging, but without the finely beaded acidity to stretch out fully.—Non-blind Yquem vertical (July 2014). Drink now through 2035.Wine Spectator | 92 WSA rich Yquem, with coffee, dried orange skin, and dried apples. Full and sweet, with a round body and very yummy. A touch of bitterness on the palate.James Suckling | 91 JSServed from an ex-chateau bottle. The millennial 2000 Chateau d’Yquem is a valiant effort in one of the most challenging Sauternes vintages in recent memory. The 2000 is quite deep in color. The nose is crisp and well-defined but not the most complex, as you would expect from a truly challenging growing season in Sauternes. It is pleasant in its own way with delicate scents of tangerine, yellow flowers and Mirabelle. The palate is well-balanced with marmalade tinged opening. I like the acidity here, an Yquem with good race, although it does feel a little tapered toward the finish. Drink now-2025. Tasted March 2014.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 90 RP-NM

From a difficult vintage with destructive hailstorms and botrytis, the 2000 Cristal opens with an elegant and delicate bouquet with brioche, ripe apple, green olive and iodine aromas. Complex and very salty, with oyster and umami flavors, this is a generous and very long Cristal that is excellent with Japanese food, such as sashimi for example, as chef de cave Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon said during the tasting in New York in November 2018.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPSadly now in something of a lacklustre phase, but on first tasting this was delightfully sensual, seductively mellow and silkily replete with honey-toffee notes. At that stage the fruit was young and bursting with energy, with tones of spring flowers, gooseberries, papaya, redcurrants, pineapple and mango.Decanter | 95 DECRiper and richer than the 2002 Cristal, this wine has a substantial structure to hold its sensuous, pearlike fruit in place. Tropical notes of guava contribute to the vinous impression, as does the foresty mushroom savor. Haute couture to drink now, this will develop deeper complexities with age.Wine & Spirits Magazine | 94 W&SBright gold. Deep, subtly smoky nectarine and musky yellow plum aromas are energized by a suave mineral quality. Broad and fleshy, with deep, chewy pear, pit fruit and buttered toast flavors. A serious style, with velvety texture and excellent finishing punch. This has the concentration to repay cellaring but is open-knit enough to enjoy on the young side.Vinous Media | 92 VMThis is a lightweight Cristal, floating and fresh, without the punch this great wine can have from Pinot Noir. It is also way too young. To taste, there is good balance, but the persistent grapefruit flavor shows the wine’s youth.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEThis goes for personality and finesse. An assertive, honeyed style, with plenty of citrus flavors. Mature coffee and roasted nut accents are peeking through, with a robust structure and a dried citrus aftertaste. Drink now through 2025. 32,000 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

(Krug Brut Millésime (ID# 415064)) It is hard to believe that two and a half years have now passed since Champagne Krug unveiled its long-awaited 2002 Vintage Brut. I do not know if there have been different disgorgements of this bottling, but this one is the same as the last bottle that swept me off of my feet back in the spring of last year, having been disgorged in the autumn of 2015. The wine is a blend of forty percent pinot noir, thirty-nine percent chardonnay and twenty-one percent pinot meunier in 2002 and is already one of the legendary vintages of Krug ever produced. The bouquet is deep, pure, ripe and vibrant, wafting from the glass in a marvelous blend of pear, apple, almond, a stunningly beautiful base of soil tones, subtle spice shading, patissière, a touch of citrus blossoms and that signature Krug smokiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine rock solid, mineral-driven and shows off stellar purity, with its full-bodied format seamlessly supported by great structure and grip. The mousse is impeccable, the complexity still youthful and growing with each visit and the finish, long, refined and absolutely perfect. This will last almost forever and I suspect at age fifty-seven, I will never drink it at its absolute zenith of evolutionary perfection. But, I admit very much enjoying my occasional visits as the wine is in climbing mode to that future peak! (Drink between 2022-2095)John Gilman | 100 JGExotic and opulent with dried peaches and apricots, yet wild with croissant and pie crust. Full body. Layered and energetic. So complex with nutmeg and cinnamon. Perfect Champagne. ID415065James Suckling | 100 JSThis is a fabulous wine from the greatest Champagne vintage so far this century. Still young, it blends almost equal amounts of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay fleshed out with Pinot Meunier. The minerality and the rich apple and green fruits are balanced, and acidity cuts into the wine with a pure, perfumed line of freshness. The wine could be drunk now, but it will age well into the the 2020s.Wine Enthusiast | 100 WEThis has the stamina of the 2002 vintage from the first scent, a fragrance like pear skin and butterscotch, and something fresher, like meadow flowers. All of that fragrance comes in a wine that’s expansive and dry, almost austere in the power of its acidity. Over the course of several days, the wine remains impervious to the fraying of oxidation, instead building on its flavors, deepening to scents of white truffles. Initially, the power of the acidity not only cleans up after the wine’s substantial flavor, but also seems to lash all those notes together and rocket them through a buzz of energy that lasts for minutes. That energy, undiminished four days later, when the bubbles have finally gone, takes on a gentler power, presenting the harmony and elegance at the center of the wine. The 2002 may well be the greatest vintage wine Henri Krug produced during his four-decade career. Wine & Spirits | 100 W&S(Krug, Champagne, France, White) Without question one of the most perfect vintages in Champagne, in which Krug has once again excelled. Released after the 2003 (as with the ’89 and ’88), this is a sumptuously magnificent 2002 which manages to eloquently express both the vintage and the maison’s unique savoir-faire. To my palate, this majestic effort is drinking exquisitely now, but will keep and improve for many more years. It is dense, exotic and powerful, underpinned and framed by a firm spine of acidity. There are so many hedonistic sensations to tease the supply textured palate, including honey, roasted almonds, cream, minerals, stone fruits and hazelnuts. Superbly constructed, this is a symphony of flavours that linger effortlessly on the palate for minutes, it is pure pleasure. Sixteen years on, this is just hitting its stride. (Drink between 2017-2045)Decanter | 99 DECKrug’s 2002 Brut (ID 415064 – disgorged IV/2015) has an intense citrus color and opens with a generous, intense yet fine and precise bouquet that indicates great depth and elegance. Red fruit flavors on the nose lead to a generously rich yet pure, highly refined and elegant palate, with lots of ripe cherry fruits and delicious yeasty flavors. This is a highly complex and tensioned but beautifully balanced 2002 with a charming dosage that gives perfect roundness. The finish, however, is clear, fresh and well-structured, if not taut, and very mineral. Tasted in Reims in April 2018.Robert Parker | 97+ RP(Krug Brut Red) There is a subtle phenolic character to the secondary-tinged yet super-fresh nose reflects notes of baked bread, yeast, pear, baked apple, spice and a hint of citrus. The bold and full-bodied flavors possess superb complexity while being underpinned by a notably fine but dense mousse, all wrapped in a gorgeously persistent finish. This full-bodied effort is seriously impressive and one that is aging effortlessly though for my taste, it could certainly be enjoyed now. (Drink starting 2020)Burghound | 96 BHBeautifully aromatic, this leads with aromas of ground clove, coffee liqueur and mandarin orange peel, adding crystallized honey, dried cherry, acacia blossom and toasted brioche notes on the expansive palate. Rich in flavor and broad in structure, with verve driving this through to the long, satiny finish.Wine Spectator | 96 WSThis is perhaps the best bottle of Krug’s 2002 Vintage I have tasted. Expansive and creamy on the palate, with lovely finesse and brightness, the 2002 is quite expressive today. I don’t see the depth or pedigree that might place this wine among the best examples of the year. Instead, the 2002 Vintage continues to be an underwhelming wine by Krug standards.Antonio Galloni | 94 AG

(Krug, Clos du Mesnil, Champagne, France, White) Singly and emphatically the greatest Champagne release of recent years. Grand malic acidity of dizzyingly heightened proportions is swept up in an immense, all-consuming tidal wave of frothing, sea-salt minerality, crashing with such structure that any mortal wine would collapse breathless in its wake. Yet herein lies the triumph of 2002, the vintage that more than any other reverberates with looming structure, yet meets it commandingly with awe-inspiring fruit presence. This sets it with a life expectancy of a century, no less. (Drink between 2022-2102)Decanter | 100 DEThis is a wine with staggering length and immense purity. It’s as powerful as chardonnay can be, showcasing an incredible depth of pure fresh lemons, yellow grapefruit, honey and dried white and yellow flowers. The concentration and complexity of primary fruits are outstanding, and there are some more exotic flavors here too in the peach and green-mango spectrum. The texture is ultra-fine and creamy through the mid-palate, its majestic curves sweeping long around a sturdy mineral core. This is very silky and focused, offering gently creamy moments before twisting towards a composed, restricted and compressed chalk-like finish. It delivers an impression of chardonnay that captures incredible richness, fleshiness, persistence and power. Yet the acidity is staggering while being simultaneously perfectly balanced. Drink now but this will have a lot more to come after 2020.James Suckling | 100 JS(Krug “Clos du Mesnil” Blanc de Blancs Brut Millésime (Reims) ID #415068) I have been waiting the release of the 2002 Clos du Mesnil bottling from Krug since soon after the quality of this exceptional vintage was confirmed. Like all wines from the house of Krug, patience has been required, as the team here is not about to let a legend out of the cellars until it has had its proper and relaxed elevage, but at age fifteen, the wait is over and this monument to this great and unique terroir is now hitting the market. The wine aged thirteen years sur latte in the Krug cellars in Reims, prior to disgorgement in the winter of 2015. The wine offers up a deep, pure and youthful bouquet of fresh apricot, pear, a marvelously complex base of chalky soil tones, hints of the crème patissière to come, a dollop of fresh nutmeg and a nice touch of citrus zest in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and seamless, with the inherent power of the 2002 vintage very much in evidence in its bottomless core, but with the overall profile of the wine one of unrepentant refinement. As stunningly beautiful as the fruit component is here, the wine is more defined by its brilliant mineral drive on the palate, with its elegant mousse, perfect balance and very, very long, nascently complex and laser-like finish the stuff of legends. The wine seems to attain its lift and backend energy from its limestone mineral drive, rather than the bright, zesty acidity and the overall impression is of almost otherworldly perfection. I have been fortunate to taste every single vintage of Clos du Mesnil since the inaugural vintage of 1979, but the 2002 is the finest I have ever come across in the first blush of youth. It will live for more than half a century and really deserves many more years in the cellar to allow it to completely blossom, but it is going to be no easy task to defer gratification, as the wine is pure magic already! (Drink between 2025-2085)John Gilman | 100 JGPure Chardonnay from the walled vineyard in the heart of Le Mesnil, this intense wine from a great vintage is tight and mineral, still showing hints of toast from its barrel fermentation. With its taut texture, complex acidity and crisp citrus, it’s very young, but will age indefinitely. Showing the beauty of Chardonnay in Champagne at its best, it will certainly still be impressive come 2030.Wine Enthusiast | 99 WEKrug’s beautifully citrus colored 2002 Blanc de Blancs Brut Clos du Mesnil (ID 415068 - disgorged IV/2015) shows a deep, complex, very clear and precise if not etherial bouquet with citrus aromas intertwined with chalk and noble brioche notes in the background. Pure, profound and vibrantly fresh on the palate, this is a straight, athletic, very intense and expressive yet highly elegant and finessed Clos du Mesnil with a unique fresh fruit character! The 2002 reveals a great mineral structure and chalky texture on the palate. The highly complex, energetic finish reveals bracing freshness and vitality as well as the charm and creaminess from the vinification in barrels and possibly the dosage wine that seems to boost the Krug style. While terroir wine is the result of hands-off winemaking, Krug’s Clos du Mesnil is perhaps a very particular Krug Champagne—it has great quality, style and complexity that is the result of the winemaking and the addition of the dosage wine. How the Clos du Mesnil would taste if farmed biodynamically, picked later and dosed with nothing but itself is a pointless question, but it hasn’t left my mind since I tasted the paradoxical 2002, which is terribly fresh on one hand and also has this unique Krug reserve style. Notabene: This doesn’t include the hypothesis that the wine could be any better. It would just be different and surely less "Krug," which is not what we really want, do we? Tasted April 2018.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98+ RPA lovely, lacy Champagne, with ripe apricot, fennel seed and espresso aromas. This caresses the palate with a finely detailed mousse and expansive flavors of pineapple pâte de fruit, toasted brioche, fleur de sel and grated ginger. Long and chalky on the finish, this is a prima ballerina, showing power cloaked in grace. Disgorged winter 2015. Drink now through 2032. — ANWine Spectator | 98 WSNo written review provided. | 98 W&SThe 2002 Clos du Mesnil is brilliant right out of the gate. Vibrant, focused and crystalline, the 2002 hits all the right notes. Lemon peel, grapefruit, slate and white flowers give the 2002 its high-toned personality. The ripeness of the vintage has softened some of the typically angular young Clos du Mesnil contours. Best of all the 2002 is a rare Clos du Mesnil that drinks well right out of the gate, even if it will surely be more complex with more time in bottle. The 2002 has been absolutely stellar on both occasions I have tasted it so far. The 2002 was vinified by Nicolas Audebert, who is now making the wines at Rauzan-Ségla and Canon.Antonio Galloni | 96 AG

Roederer’s 2002 Cristal, from magnum, is just off the charts. What else is there to say? The magnum format is so well-suited to Champagne. As opposed to still wines, which are just aged in glass, for Champagne, the secondary fermentation takes place in the glass. I am convinced that is a major part of what makes Champagne from magnum (or larger) often so compelling. The texture, breadth and overall pedigree here is just remarkable, with layers of apricot, spice, dried flowers and citrus confit that continue to build over time. The 2002 is neither old nor young; it is quite simply eternal. What a great way to start the night. Wow!Antonio Galloni | 100 AGIf a wine could ever make you want to pull the top down on your ’68 Ferrari convertible, rip off the rearview mirror and take off, this is it. It has a different kind of energy than the ’02 Cristal Rosé, which is more ethereal, like strawberries at the right hand of some ancient Gallic god. This is more insolent, brash, earth bound. All the scents and flavors seem to emanate from limestone, as does the acidity, which hits at the front of the mouth and powers through the wine with the kind of solar energy that lifts mist off the white chalk on a cool morning in Cramant. The wine goes on for miles. It’s already irresistible, and will only improve with ten, 20, 30 and 40 years of age.Wine and Spirits | 100 W&SA re-release of the original 2010 disgorgement. Super fine, super fresh and super savory aromas of chalky stones with hints of flowers, white almonds, lemon peel and grapefruit. The palate has intense, mouth-filling, lemon-curd flavor. Very powerful, very concentrated and very expressive. Smooth finish that’s full of life, leaving a bright, white cherry note. Drink in 2022.James Suckling | 98 JSThis is an exceptional wine, as is the vintage. The fruits—grapefruit, crisp red apple—balance with a fine yeasty character. There is a great depth of flavor, the fruits going in a pure line of freshness. The one problem is that it is much too young, the result of the demand from the market for the next vintage. Age this wine for at least four years.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WE(Louis Roederer Cristal Brut) I last tasted the 2002 Cristal back in the autumn of 2013, when the wine was still a bit on the young side, but it has now started to really blossom beautifully and is really entering its plateau of maturity in 2018. The 2002 Cristal is composed of a blend of fifty-five percent pinot noir and forty-five percent chardonnay, with none of the vins clairs having gone through malo and the finishing dosage ten grams per liter in this vintage. This has been a brilliant vintage of Cristal since its inception and at age sixteen, the wine is just beginning to properly blossom and show some of its secondary layers of complexity, The nose jumps from the glass in a refined blend of pear, apple, fresh almond, gentle smokiness, a touch of the tangerine to come, chalky soil tones and brioche in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and a powerfully-built vintage of Cristal, with a great core, elegant mousse, bright, racy and well-integrated acids and stunning mineral drive on the very long, complex and perfectly balanced finish. This is a great vintage of Cristal, and though it is now beginning to show some lovely generosity and secondary layering, a bit more cellaring would still be richly rewarded. (Drink between 2018-2075)John Gilman | 97+ JG(Louis Roederer, Cristal (Magnum), Champagne, France, White) From one of the true landmark vintages of Champagne, this is a titanic Cristal which pulsates with energy and verve. Though already fifteen years of age, it is still remarkably young and taut with tensile mineral strength. The stone and citrus-laden fruit is still in its infancy with just a developing hint of toasty brioche, vanilla and almond. Its purity, depth, weight and mouthfeel is balanced by a great arc of acidity, which will frame the wine for the long haul. A hugely impressive Cristal, but this is still not ready. (Drink between 2022-2050)Decanter | 97 DECThe 2002 Cristal is one seriously big, huge even, Champagne, and while this cuvee normally shows a seamless, elegant style, the 2002 vintage’s fruit profile dominates this wine. Toasted bread, oak spice, orchard fruits and toasted nuts give way to a full-bodied, mouthfilling, rich 2002 that stays light, graceful and elegant on the palate, with good to moderate acidity. It’s beautiful today, yet has two more decades of longevity.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDTasted from the original 2009 disgorgement, the 2002 Cristal is a broad, vinous wine, bursting with aromas of honeyed yellow orchard fruit, warm butter, brioche and fresh peaches. On the palate, it’s full-bodied, textural and mouthfilling, rendering the fine-boned chalky structure and textural finesse that distinguish this quintessentially elegant style of this cuvée in a broader-shouldered, more enveloping register. The 2002 is beginning to enter its plateau of maturity and is drinking beautifully today, though it still has many years ahead of it.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPA suave customer, with hints of citrus, berry and coffee. Harmonious and refined, with freshness and a bright structure. The finish shows a lot of potential, with a mouthwatering aftertaste. Better than previously reviewed. Drink now through 2030. Wine Spectator | 92 WS

(Philipponnat Clos des Goisses Brut) These most recent two bottles of the 2002 Clos des Goisses were both magnificent. The wine is starting to really drink with great style at age twelve, and though it remains early days in the evolution of this wine, it is really already getting irresistible. The deep, pure and wide open bouquet shows quite a bit of the exotica that defines this wine at full maturity, as it soars from the glass in a mélange of ripe pears, musky floral tones, kaleidoscopic minerality, brioche and plenty of smokiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and magically complex, with bottomless depth at the core, laser-like focus, bright, zesty acids, pinpoint bubbles and simply stunning length and grip on the impeccably balanced and wide open finish. Intuitively, I know this is still early days for the 2002 Clos des Goisses, but for those wise enough to have a substantial cache of this wine in the cellar, it is a far cry from a crime to be opening bottles now! Sheer brilliance. (Drink between 2014-2050)John Gilman | 97 JGThe flagship 2002 Brut Clos des Goisses is simply stunning in this vintage. Seamless, ripe and beguiling, the 2002 is pure harmony in the glass. Dried pears, apricots, flowers, red berries and spices are some of the many notes that inform this towering, aristocratic wine. At once vertical yet endowed with serious length, the 2002 stands out for its breathtaking balance and overall sense of harmony. Layers of fruit built to the huge, creamy finish. This is a great showing from Philipponnat. The 2002 was disgorged in June 2011. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2032.I tasted a wide range of fabulous wines with Charles Philipponnat this year. Over the years, the knock on Philipponnat was that few of the entry and mid-level wines were consistent in quality with the flagship Clos des Goisses, one of the true icons of Champagne. I find that much less of an issue these days. One criticism I do have with Philipponnat is with the roses, which generally are made by adding still red wine to the blanc versions of those same Champagnes. While this method, called ‘assemblage,’ is quite common in Champagne, it is much less typical of estates that aspire to make world-class Champagnes, as Philipponnat does. At most of the top houses, the roses are made as stand alone wines, in other words, conceived and executed from the bottom up as their own entities rather than based off another wine.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPThe 2002 Clos des Goisses dazzles from start to finish. A huge, tropical Goisses, the 2002 pulses with exotic, tropical fruit wedded to a real sense of textural vinosity. Honey, almonds and yellow stone fruits are some of the many notes that blossom in the glass. The 2002 is just entering the very early part of its plateau of maturity, but it will continue to develop further nuance over the next 20-30 years. The level of complexity and overall sumptuousness make the 2002 nearly impossible to resist today. Disgorged November 2011.Antonio Galloni | 96 AGTightly knit and firm, this is lightly chalky in texture, but shows a sense of finesse overall, offering notes of ripe poached apple and pear, black currant, blanched almond, licorice and ground anise. Disgorged February 2012. Drink now through 2025. 1,000 cases made, 85 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

Taittinger’s 2002 Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne is off the charts. I have tasted the 2002 now many times, and it has never been less than thrilling. A vivid kaleidoscope of pure Chardonnay aromas and flavors opens up in the glass. The 2002 is at once incredibly rich yet also totally weightless and impeccable in its balance. All the classic Comtes notes are there, but with a level of detail and nuance I don’t think I have ever seen before. The 2002 is breathtakingly beautiful today, but also appears to have the stuffing to age for decades. Personally, I would be looking to buy the 2002 in magnums if at all possible. Sadly, there is little wine to go around as 2002 was a very short crop. Readers who can track down the 2002 are in store for something truly great. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2042.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPTaittinger’s 2002 Comtes de Champagne (magnum) is one of the greatest Champagnes ever made. In magnum, it is especially explosive and heady, not to mention superb alongside Daniel Humm’s hors d’oeuvres, where the brilliance of the wine plays off the flavors and textures of the food brilliantly. What a great way to start this dinner.Vinous Media | 98 VM(Taittinger Comte de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut) The 2002 Comtes has been a legend in the making since its first release, and at age twelve, the wine is starting to really stretch its wings and aim for the stars. The utterly brilliant nose is still a tad on the reticent side, but as the wine warms up in the glass, it offers up a stellar constellation of pear, delicious apples, complex chalkiness, brioche, apple blossoms, incipient notes of pastry cream, plenty of smokiness and a topnote of lemon peel. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and utterly seamless, with stunning focus and balance, unrepentant refinement, elegant mousse, zesty acids and stunning cut and grip on the endless and dancing finish. I am hard-pressed to think of a finer young vintage of Comtes de Champagne that has ever crossed my path! It seems to me that it is still infanticide to be drinking this wine today, as there is so much more to unfold with more bottle age, and I would not touch a bottle until it starts to close in on its twentieth birthday. Chapeau! (Drink between 2020-2075)John Gilman | 98 JGA rich base of toasted brioche and briny mineral supports flavors of poached quince, white peach puree, fleur de sel, pastry and smoked almond. There’s a quiet verve to this wine, with a fine, silky texture throughout. Drink now through 2025. 150 cases imported. — ANWine Spectator | 94 WS(Taittinger Brut - Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Red) A beautifully elegant and ultra-pure nose serves up attractively layered and mature aromas of spiced pear, white rose, citrus, brioche and hints of green apple. There is very good if not stunning complexity to the moderately vibrant flavors that are supported by an impressively refined effervescence before terminating in a balanced, dry, clean and lingering finish. For my taste this has arrived at its apogee though it should have no trouble holding for at least another decade. (Drink starting 2020)Burghound | 94 BHThe latest release of the legendary Comtes de Champagne comes from a great vintage. It has full, toasty bottle-age notes that give the wine depth of flavor, with a ripe, rounded mouthfeel and taut acidity. An almond note combines with the citrus-driven acidity on the finish.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WE(Taittinger, Comtes de Champagne, Champagne, France, White) From a warmer year, which is also transcribed into the glass. It’s richer and more concentrated, with some dried apricot and brioche aromas. It’s complex on the palate, with intensity and focus, showing a hint of vanilla alongside generous brioche and leesy characters. It has power and concentration, with some fruit development apparent, and a long-lasting finish. It was one of the favourites at the tasting, but I favoured the more elegant styles. (Drink between 2018-2030)Decanter | 93 DE

Light yellow. Powerful, complex bouquet evokes fresh peach, pear, floral honey, green almond and smoky minerals. Deep, palate-staining citrus and orchard fruit flavors show outstanding vivacity for a hot vintage, picking up ginger and talc notes with air. The strikingly long, sappy finish features zesty orange pith, smoky minerals and an echo of honeysuckle. I’d be in no rush to drink this one. Speaking of waiting, I had the chance to revisit the 2000 Vintage Krug and it has begun to pick up the smoky, weighty and nutty character that long-time fans of this producer crave. It’s still plenty young but already unmistakably Krug, with a chewy texture and a sexy floral nuance dominating right now.Vinous Media | 95 VM Like taffeta in texture, this harmonious Champagne is finely honed and fresh. A wonderfully expressive version, with ample spice and graphite accents to the blackberry pâte de fruit, coffee liqueur, dried apricot, singed orange peel and crystallized honey notes. Hard to stop sipping. Disgorged spring 2014. Drink now through 2028.Wine Spectator | 95 WSTasted this year with Chef de Cave, Eric Lebel, it is exactly the same edition (ID) as tasted in 2016. This shows a rich nose featuring deep and ripe chardonnay and pinot noir. Red fruits, some dark mushrooms, plenty of grilled nuts, caramel, some deep spices, dried citrus, lemon peel and bready aromas are all there. The trademark complexity is here, too, and this freshens with air. The palate is intricately detailed and stitched together like needlework. It is extremely precise and even, and the acidity is articulated with some finesse, even if this has much more in terms of phenolics as the leading structural component. The phenolics are rich and ripe, and they sit polished and even around immensely concentrated fruits such as peaches, nectarines and white cherries. The finish is deep, even and resonant. Drink now but rest assured that this will hold for a very long time – just as Krug has proven in other warm years such as ’76. Krug ID 115023.James Suckling | 95 JSWhen Krug announced they were producing a 2003 vintage there was universal surprise, given what a hot year it was in France. Yet the end result is very pleasant and impressive surprise. Indeed, having tasted this on two or three previous occasions, I noted an astonishing freshness and vivacity which was not remotely anticipated. However, this particular bottle was not as zingy as the ones I had previously encountered - instead, it was somewhat softer, fatter, rounder and more savoury in style. If the acidity was less prominent, it certainly wasn’t lacking in flavour, presence or expression with its fresh cut hay and biscuit nose. The rich palate comprises cream, cashew nut, spice and brioche with sweet pear, quince and dried fruit. Deliciously long, gourmandise cappuccino finish. (Drink between 2017-2025)Decanter | 94 DEC(Krug Brut Millésime (Reims) ID# 214029) It had been nearly two years since I last tasted a bottle of the 2003 Krug and I was very impressed to see how time has barely touched the wine structurally, as it remains every bit as fresh and vibrant on the palate as it was upon release. On the nose, the wine is now starting to show some lovely secondary elements in its bouquet of apple, fresh apricot, lovely, Indian spice tones (cardamom is quite prevalent today), superb minerality, fresh-baked bread and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and wide open on the attack, with a fine core, elegant mousse and lovely backend mineral drive on the focused, vibrant and zesty finish. As I noted back in May of 2014, this is quite low in chardonnay in this vintage (only twenty-nine percent) and relies heavily on pinot meunier (twenty-five percent of the blend), which gives it a unique character in the pantheon of Vintage Krug. The 2003 is cruising along beautifully and is now into its plateau of peak drinkability, but will also continue to age very well. (Drink between 2016-2035)John Gilman | 94 JGModerate golden color. A ripe, complex and mildly exotic nose combines notes of apricot and peach with plenty of yeast and baked bread nuances. There is real volume and concentration to the exceptionally rich, even heady flavors that possess outstanding depth on the palate coating finish that is supported by just enough effervescence to keep the balance. This is one of those distinctly particular wines that one either admires for being exceptional in every sense or that one finds "just too much". While it is not what I usually search for in fine Champagne it is unquestionably well made and despite very definitely being a creature of its vintage, it retains its "Krugness". For my taste it is ready as I would rather drink it now while it is still fresh, but the underlying material is indisputably present to allow for much depth to develop with time. (Drink starting 2014)Burghound | 93 BHThis 2003 offers beautiful ripeness in its flavors of apples and pears bursting out of their skins, yet maintains a sense of elegance in the context of what is often a rustic vintage. Krug captured enough cool to contrast the heat of the season, and though the wine is heavier than a classic vintage, it is rich and integrated, with complex, smoky flavors that last.Wine & Spirits | 92 W&S

Combining subtleness with complexity, the coolish Krug 2004 Brut opens with a highly elegant, fascinatingly clear, bright and refreshing bouquet of ripe (apple) fruits. Dense and round, with a delicate mineral soul, the pure but perfectly balanced 2004 reveals great finesse and weightless elegance with a long and round finish. This is a gorgeous Krug vintage that is 14 years old but still on the rise. Tasted from ID 316034 in New York in November 2018.At the beginning of November 2018 I met Olivier Krug early on a Friday morning (even before breakfast) in New York’s beautiful Simon & The Whale hotel. If you get the chance to have some Krug cuvées, you will not miss your breakfast too, I suppose. Olivier insisted on naming the 166th edition of the Krug Grande Cuvée as "166ème Édition" and not as "Number 166" or just "Krug 166." Olivier said that "the cuvée represents the history of Krug and is the result of blending potentially 250 base wines from a time span of 20 or 25 years." He also doesn’t like to speak of the 2004 as a vintage Champagne or of the two Clos as single-vineyard wines. "Single-vineyard wines are not our objective, nor are vintage Champagnes," he explains. "We produce Krug, and only the repeated blind tastings of all our 250 or so base wines by five to seven tasters decides which cuvées we are going to produce. If the vintage doesn’t reflect the soul of the vintage, we will not produce it. If we don’t detect the extraordinary quality and singularity of the one or the other Clos, we will not produce it. The two Clos exist because of Krug. There wouldn’t be any Clos without Krug," Olivier added, underlining that there is no hierarchy in the Krug offerings. The tastings of the 2004 vins clairs, however, crystallized the 2004 Brut because it represents the "luminous freshness" of the vintage, as Olivier describes it. Our morning tasting started with the still very young and uneasy or somewhat restless Krug Grande Cuvée 166ème Édition, which was followed by the 2004 Krug. In turn, the 20014 Krug was followed by the outstanding Grande Cuvée 160ème Édition, which is predominantly based on the 2004 harvest and shows the complexity of the cuvée combined with the purity and freshness of the 2004 vintage. Krug fans should download the Krug App, as it includes detailed information about the cuvée, the vintage and the blending partners that can be found by entering the ID code. The first three digits of the ID code represent the date of disgorgement, so that ID316 translates to the third quarter of 2016Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPKrug’s 2004 Vintage is absolutely mesmerizing. Layers of bright, chiseled fruit open up effortlessly as the wine fleshes out with time in the glass. Persistent and beautifully focused, with a translucent sense of energy, the 2004 captures all the best qualities of the year. Moreover, the 2004 is clearly superior to the consistently underwhelming 2002 and the best Krug Vintage since 1996. Readers who can find it should not hesitate, as it is a magical bottle.Antonio Galloni | 97+ AGID: 214041 This is an extremely fresh edition and remains in a restrained mode with an intense serve of chardonnay’s lemon citrus dominating the nose alongside lime zest, bright florals, grassy elements, fresh dough, white stones and very subtle background spice. The palate has a svelte and elegant shape. Smoother than the 2002, it shares the same quality of precision but not the raging power of that vintage. The poise is unquestionable, the wine very reserved, with plenty of lemon-infused citrus flavors, hints of fresh cashew and a lot of potential. Acidity holds superbly, the dosage is exactly where it should be. This is a classic release. It’s all about chardonnay. Best from 2022 and will mature gracefully in linear style in bottle for several decades.James Suckling | 97 JS2004 was a late harvest year, and this vintage Krug, composed of 39% Chardonnay, 37% Pinot Noir and 24% Pinot Meunier, possesses an impressive aromatic richness of hazelnuts, white fruit and spring flowers. There’s both density and freshness on the palate, and an engaging counterpoint between vinosity and tension achieves a compelling, harmonious balance. Worthy of an audacious match with sea urchins! Drinking Window 2018 - 2030Decanter | 96 DEC(Krug Brut Millésime (Reims)) The 2004 Krug Brut Millésime is a superb example of the vintage. The cépages this year is thirty-nine percent chardonnay, thirty-seven percent pinot noir and twenty-four percent pinot meunier. It was aged twelve years sur latte prior to disgorgement and preparation for market. The wine has been out now for more than a year and is really starting to blossom nicely, offering up a deep and complex bouquet of apple, pear, sourdough bread, a superb foundation of minerality, caraway seed and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and impeccably balanced, with a superb core of fruit, fine mineral drive and grip, elegant mousse and a long, vibrant and complex finish. Some 2004s are in a slightly leaner phase of their development right now, but this is most emphatically not the case with the 2004 Krug, which is drinking very well indeed, despite it still being early on in its journey to complete maturity. (Drink between 2020-2085).John Gilman | 96 JGA graceful Champagne, wowing more for its elegance and fine integration than the underlying power and tension. The delicate mousse caresses the palate, carrying flavors of blackberry, candied kumquat and lemon sorbet with rich accents of espresso crema, pastry cream and chopped almond. Fresh and focused on the lasting, spiced finish. Disgorged autumn 2017. Drink now through 2030.Wine Spectator | 95 WSPrecision sets this wine apart, as if the flavors had diamond-cut clarity. Whatever cool earthiness or spicy-lees broadness there may be is focused and lifted by the structure, so that the wine’s flavors feel restrained and elegant. Deliciously fresh, with an undercurrent of chalky tension and a citrus sting, this would be a great partner to Cantonese dim sum. Moët Hennessy USA, NYWine & Spirits | 94 W&S

The 2004 Dom Pérignon P2 is precise and wonderfully refined, just like the first release. There’s a hint of reduction from extended time on the cork as well as a feeling of effusiveness that is so appealing. Readers will find a super-classic DP. Dried flowers, brioche, apricot preserves, sage, mint and chamomile are seamless in the glass. The 2004 can be enjoyed now or cellared for another decade plus. Some editions of the P2 series have been pretty austere in the early going; the 2004 is not among them.Vinous Media | 97 VMMandarin orange, ripe cherry, raspberry and apricot fruit notes offer an exuberant burst of flavor at the entry point of this otherwise refined and subtle Champagne. The expressive fruit is joined on the lacy mousse by hints of toast, pastry cream and Earl Grey tea leaf, with an underpinning of minerally chalk and smoke. Lithe and graceful on the palate, but with a dancer’s sense of restrained power. Drink now through 2037.Wine Spectator | 97 WSThe 2004 Champagne Plentitudes 2 is a stark contrast to the 2003 vintage and offers a more compact and linear expression, with energetic tension and persistence. Composed of 38% Chardonnay and the rest Pinot Noir, the nose is flush with wet stone reminiscent of great Chablis, along with white nectarine and white flowers. The palate runs seamless with a super-fine mousse, vibrant peach orchard fruit, and a silky mineral texture. This may well prove to be the longer-lived of the two wines. Drink 2024-2044.Jeb Dunnuck | 97+ JDStructured, tight and mineral with so much tension. White grapefruit, lemon rind, dried apple, seashell, iodine, biscuit and blanched almond. Vibrant. Fantastic focus and verticality. Disgorged July 2021. Will be released October 2022. Drink on release or hold.James Suckling | 97 JSP2 is the acronym for the Plénitude 2 series, Dom Pérignon’s second life. It indicates that bottles are kept by the house to let them age on the lees and to obtain different expressions of the same wine throughout its life, letting time work its magic and thus acquiring additional complexity. This year, Dom Pérignon’s cellar master, Vincent Chaperon, decided to release the 2004 vintage. ‘2004 was a contrast to 2003,’ he said. After rain in January, the spring was hot and sunny, like the beginning of summer. But the summer was wet, with 50% more rain than in an average year. Despite this, the health of the grapes was stable and the crop was abundant. ‘This is quite a perfect vintage,’ he added. The bouquet impresses with its finesse and elegance, its delicate aromas of pastry, orchard fruit, nuts, and lemon oil, and both iodine and chalky hints with air. The palate is medium- to full-bodied, very charming, with a sappy texture, racy acids, and a long and lingering finish. This is a very harmonious and rather chalky Dom Pérignon, which must be approached in its singularity. Time is a real asset here. Dosage: 5g/L.Decanter | 96 DECThe 2004 Dom Pérignon P2 is drinking beautifully on release, wafting from the glass with aromas of sweet orchard fruit, fresh peach, pastry cream, buttered toast and cotton candy that display a less reductive profile than the original disgorgement. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and charming, with an ample, enveloping core of fruit, succulent acids and a pretty pinpoint mousse, it concludes with a long, sapid finish. Forward and giving, there’s no obvious reason to defer gratification.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RP

(Louis Roederer Cristal Brut) The 2005 Cristal is a legend in the making, but this wine is still very young and closed and some extended bottle age will be necessary to really allow all of the multi-faceted elements here to blossom and come to the fore. The cépages is the same as for the 2006, fifty-five percent pinot noir and forty-five percent chardonnay, but this does not mean that Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon selected vins clairs from the same crus for the two vintages! The 2005 vintage was considered strongest for chardonnay, so careful selection of pinot noir vins clairs for the Cristal in this vintage was of paramount importance, though the domaine’s superb holdings in Verzenay and Verzy certainly made the selection process a bit easier. The 2005 Cristal offers up a deep, extremely primary and very promising bouquet of apple, pear, a gorgeously complex base of chalky soil tones, incipient nuttiness, citrus peel, smoke, a touch of lavender and a topnote of peach blossoms. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and absolutely rock solid at the core, with great focus and finesse, very refined mousse, a crisp girdle of acidity and great length and laser-like focus on the poised, primary and utterly refined finish. The 2005 is an utterly brilliant Cristal in the making, but give it time to blossom in the cellar! (Drink between 2019-2060)John Gilman | 97 JGThe iconic Roederer Champagne, Cristal’s latest release, brings a perfect balance of richness and age worthiness. It is full of apple flavor, and the mousse is very fine and almost imperceptible. As so often with a beautifully blended wine like this, a few minutes breathing brings out extra complex flavors. It certainly should age over five years and more.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe complexity and youthful freshness here makes a striking Champagne that offers immense pleasure and a certain richness and depth that reflects the style of the vintage with some warmth reflected in the wine. The nose has rich citrus and stone fruits, some white flowers, light creamy honey notes and fresh sweet pastry, it has a toasty thread that has built quickly in the wine. Plenty of body on the palate, it has a wealth of assertive citrus and more exotic fruits too, the power and concentration undeniable, the length impressive and the balance impeccable. Already great drinking here. Slightly higher chardonnay component at around 45%. -NSJames Suckling | 96 JSEvery vintage can’t be 2002, or even 2004. Even so, this is pretty great, an open, airy, whip-smart delivery of Cristal’s spark, a wine of formidable delicacy. The undertow is there, drawing down a wave of spicy oak notes and heady crème caramel to reveal glints of limestone, the bright shimmer of acidity sustained by the cool rootedness in the soil. In 45 words of my notes on this wine, there’s not a single mention of fruit. Instead, they focus on brightness, subtlety, lusty juiciness, balance and mouthwatering complexity.Wine & Spirits | 95 W&S(L036332A109909): Bright yellow-gold. Heady floral-accented citrus and orchard fruits on the nose, with smoky mineral and floral overtones adding complexity. Velvety and chewy in texture, offering deep, juicy orange and poached pear flavors and suave honey and chamomile nuances. Blends precision with power, finishing with a distinct mineral quality and excellent persistence.Vinous Media | 94 VMVibrant and mouthwatering, this offers a range of patisserie pear and apple fruit, candied lemon zest, pastry dough and marzipan notes set on a finely detailed texture, which imparts a great deal of finesse. The lasting finish echoes a smoky mineral note. Drink now through 2025. 20,000 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 94 WS(Louis Roederer Brut - Cristal Champagne/Sparkling) Like the 2006 this is notably ripe with plenty of yeast, brioche and orchard fruit characters but in this case there is no tropicality. There is fine mid-palate density to the relatively powerful and very rich flavors that possess excellent complexity on the lingering finish that really fans out as it sits in the mouth. Like many 2005s this is not an especially refined vintage for Cristal nor does it possess the effervescent punch it usually does. Those aspects duly noted, this certainly cannot be faulted in terms of richness and complexity and for my taste, this is probably drinking about as well as it’s going to though I underscore that it should drink well for many years to come. (Drink starting 2015)Burghound | 93 BHThe 2005 Cristal stands out for its exceptional inner perfume and elegance. Soft, delicate and pretty, the 2005 is a relatively immediate Cristal with all of the signatures very much in the right place. The 2005 doesn’t have the opulence of the 2002 nor the focus of the 2004, but it is a very pretty, if somewhat small-scaled version of this iconic Champagne. I would drink the 2005 while the 2002 and 2004 age. Although Cristal has an impeccable track record when it comes to aging, personally I would not push it with the 2005. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2020.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RP

Lovely flavors of apricot, dried tangerine, pineapple and papaya rush along, supported by hazelnut, frangipane and coconut notes. Despite the depth, this is very, very pure, with filigreed acidity carrying the long, long finish. Drink now through 2037. 7,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSMedium lemon-gold colored, the 2006 d’Yquem is a little reticent at this stage, slowly revealing notes of pineapple pastry, dried apple slices, orange preserves and spice cake plus nuances of crème brûlée, preserved ginger, nutmeg and baking bread. The palate offers mouth-coating tropical fruit and baking spice layers with a seductive oiliness to the texture and loads of citrus sparks, finishing with bold freshness and amazing length. Allow it just a couple more years in bottle to get over this slightly muted hump, then drink it for the next 25+ years. For number crunchers: 13.8% alcohol, 122 grams per liter residual sugar, and total acidity is 4.2 grams per liter H2SO4.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95+ RPThis is the rich wine of the vintage. With its intensen fruit, piles of spice, but excellent balance, this promises flavors of baked apples and intense dried fruits. The botrytis layer is discreet, a hint rather than overpowering.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEThe 2006 Yquem is initially tightly-wound on the nose before revealing enticing scents of mandarin, dried honey, quince and just a very slight adhesive scent. This is well-defined yet certainly demands more coaxing than its peers. The palate is well-balanced with fine delineation, a caressing viscous texture with desiccated orange peel and a touch of bitter lemon that counterbalances the richness. I noticed this 2006 becoming spicier with aeration. Excellent. Tasted at the Yquem dinner at Rick Stein’s restaurant in Barnes.Vinous Media | 94 VM

The 2008 Brut Grand Cru Millésime was eventually disgorged with only five grams per liter dosage, as Francis Egly and I had discussed last summer, and the wine has turned out just as magically as I anticipated. I have already drunk five or six bottles, and on every occasion, the 2008 has immensely rewarded time in the glass, as it’s as tightly wound as one would expect a great Ambonnay Champagne in a great vintage to be. Blossoming with inviting aromas of orchard fruit, citrus oil, pralines and freshly baked bread, much as I observed last year, it’s full-bodied, deep and layered, with immense depth and concentration, racy acids and elegantly muscular structuring dry extract. Long and penetrating, this will really reward further aging; indeed, Egly mentioned that he intends to keep back some of the 2008 for re-release at a later date, a decision which means more consumers will have the chance to experience the wine at the true peak of its powers. But even at this early stage, it is already a monument to what Champagne’s grower revolution has achieved over the last 30 or so years.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RP(Egly-Ouriet, Montagne de Reims, Champagne, France, White) A timeless, benchmark expression of Ambonnay. Primary fermentation in barrique, no malolactic fermentation. Aged 10 years on its lees and bottled with 5g/l dosage. A stunning, complex nose of candied walnuts, cherry pits, nougat and red apples. The palate has boundless energy, leading with a punch of apricots, golden raisins, almonds and orange zest. The length of the finish is extraordinary, oscillating between airy weightlessness and muscular power. The combination of Francis Egly’s meticulous nature and the sturdy clarity of the 2008 vintage is a thing to behold. A wine to enjoy over the next four decades. (Drink between 2020-2060)Decanter | 99 DECJust being released now, the 2008 Brut Millésime Grand Cru is quite possibly the most elegant, most refined Champagne I have ever tasted at Egly-Ouriet. Francis Egly captures the freshness and verve of 2008 as expressed in his vineyards in Ambonnay. That interplay yields a Champagne that is deep, resonant and pulsing with tremendous energy. The Pinot really comes through on a finish that just expands with superb resonance. In a word: brilliant! Disgorged: July, 2019.Antonio Galloni | 96 AG

The 2008 Clos des Goisses is just as impressive today as it has always been. Rich, dense and explosive, the 2008 exists in three dimensions, with remarkable textural depth and vertical intensity to burn. Clos des Goisses is notoriously slow to develop. Readers who can be patient will be treated to a spectacular Champagne. The blend is 55% Chardonnay and 45% Pinot Noir, which makes the 2008 a rare Clos des Goisses that favors Chardonnay. About 75% of the lots were fermented in oak. Disgorged April 2017. Dosage is 4.25 grams per liter.Antonio Galloni | 98 AGFrom a cooler, fresher vintage and based on more Chardonnay than usual (55%), with 45% Pinot Noir, the Philipponnat 2008 Clos des Goisses Extra-Brut shows an exciting bouquet of bright fruits, crushed chalk, bread and iodine notes. On the palate, this is an excitingly vibrant, fresh and chalky Clos with lovely citrus and cumquat flavors on the finish. The 2008 is very complex, bright, super clear and fresh, with a tightly woven structure but still great finesse and elegance. This is a fabulous Clos for the next three decades. The dosage is 4.5 grams per liter. Disgorged in April 2017 (?), tasted at the domaine in April 2018.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96+ RPShimmering pale gold with green flecks. The slight majority of Chardonnay is a fine decision, as unlike a lot of ’08s, the wine is already a pleasure to drink - but it will continue to live a long and distinguished life. Terrific expression of a complex range of citrus scents, confit of lemon and a touch of bergamot. The palate is stunning, with a promise of burgeoning flavours into the 2030s. The fruit is ideally, subtly ripe in classic cooler conditions, but also mineral-stamped in the Clos’ tradition. The 2008 has everything - a true great. Drinking Window 2019 - 2035Decanter | 96 DECRefined and seamless, showing effortless integration of the expressive, chalk-tinged minerality, the frame of sleek acidity, and the flavors of poached apple, pastry dough, orchard blossom, ground ginger and graphite carried on a delicate mousse. Impressive for the finesse and grace it projects today, but the restrained power here suggests a long future in the cellar. Disgorged April 2017. Drink now through 2035. 2,300 cases made, 750 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 95 WS(Philipponnat Clos des Goisses Brut Millésime (Mareuil-sur-Aÿ) Magnum) I wrote about the 2008 Clos des Goisses back in June of last year, as it was part of a superb vertical tasting I had the pleasure to participate in at that time. As I mentioned, it is a pretty unique vintage of Clos des Goisses, as there is more chardonnay in the blend than pinot noir, and, to the best of my knowledge this has only happened once before back in 1964. The cépages of the 2008 is fifty-five percent chardonnay and forty-five percent pinot noir. After first tasting it last summer, I was delighted to cross paths with it out of magnum during my recent trip to Burgundy and the wine was showing beautifully. The superb bouquet offers up a youthful blend of apple, white peach, chalky soil tones, dried flowers, bread dough, a touch of citrus peel and incipient smokiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, young and nascently complex, with a great core of fruit, zesty acids, pinpoint bubbles and great cut and grip on the long and vibrant finish. This was still youthful out of regular-sized format in the summer and is even younger out of magnum! It will be a great, great vintage of Clos des Goisses, but it will need time. (Drink between 2030-2085)John Gilman | 95+ JGThe Clos des Goisses is a 13.6-acre parcel on a chalk hillside in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, a steep, 45-degree slope facing due south, planted to chardonnay (55 percent) and pinot noir. A majority of the wine ferments in oak casks...Wine & Spirits | 95 W&SVery fragrant chardonnay here, offering white flowers, sweet smelling honey, almond nougat, lemons and peaches. The palate is very crisp, very focused and long with brioche flavor and a finely layered texture. Some chalky lemons and peaches to close. Drink now or hold.James Suckling | 94 JS

Easily the top wine of Pessac-Léognan, the 2012 from Haut-Brion has extraordinary flesh and intensity, with an unctuousness and thickness that is almost hard to believe for a dry white wine. The high proportion of Semillon in this blend has given the wine an almost liquid mandarin orange note intermixed with caramelized citrus, honeysuckle, fig and crushed rock. This absolutely profound dry white wine is full-bodied and capable of lasting 40-50 years.Robert Parker | 98 RPThis wine encompasses all the star qualities of white Bordeaux. Lemon and grapefruit tones are balanced by ripe yellow fruit and spicy toastiness. Everything is in harmony in this wine that is sure to age well. Drink from 2019.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThis displays an impressive profile, with rich white peach, salted butter, macadamia nut, tangerine and warm brioche notes that show superior cut and definition, thanks to a terrific quinine accent that ripples on and on through the gorgeous finish. Should be rather long-lived, too. Best from 2017 through 2030. 574 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSFine lemon-yellow, floral, more white than yellow fruits with a lifted, taffeta elegance compared to La Mission white, the Chevalier to La Mission’s Batard and both of them of Montrachet standing, a beautifully expressive wine of great length and finesse. Drinking Window 2015 - 2035.Decanter | 96 DECThis is soft and round textured yet shows bright and lively acidity. It’s full-bodied, layered and beautiful. Sandalwood, dried apples and lemon rind. Layered and dense. Give it two or three years of bottle age.James Suckling | 95 JSThe 2012 Haut-Brion Blanc is utterly captivating from the very first taste. An intensely mineral-infused bouquet makes a strong opening statement. Gunpowder, graphite, lemon oil, sage and mint open up with time in the glass. Rich and expansive on the palate, the 2012 possesses remarkable depth and nuance. It should drink well for several decades. Today, the 2012 is superb, but it should be even better in another few years.Vinous Media | 94+ VM

Francis Egly has produced another profound Champagne with the 2013 Brut Grand Cru Millésime. If the monumental 2008 stands out for its power, structure and intensity, the 2013 is distinguished by its harmony, finesse and completeness; both vintages are very great wines but thus quite different in style. Wafting from the glass with scents of Anjou pear, crisp yellow apple, freshly baked bread, clear honey, iodine and fresh mint, it’s full-bodied, ample and pillowy, with a layered, concentrated and effortlessly balanced core of fruit, uniting precision and sensuality to compelling effect. Girdled by racy acids and animated by a delicate pinpoint mousse, it concludes with a long, penetrating finish. Is this the most elegant wine Egly has produced to date? It’s certainly among the most compelling that this high quality but initially underrated Champagne vintage has delivered.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPThe 2013 Millésime Grand Cru is flat-out stunning, in fact it’s one of the best vintage Champagnes I have ever tasted. What I admire most about the 2013 is the marriage of power and transparency. Plum, kirsch, ginger, spice and dried flowers all come alive in a striking, vivid Champagne that delivers so much pleasure. It’s a riveting, captivating Champagne from Egly-Ouriet. What a knock-out! Dosage is 2 grams per liter. Disgorged: July, 2022.Antonio Galloni | 98 AG

Enjoyed over dinner in Burgundy after tasting many truly lovely wines, this wine could erase your memory of anything else. It is a riveting tour-de-force, with a medium lemon-yellow colour and heady, incredibly forward aromas of ripe orchard and stone fruit with exotic spices, butter, and a bit of oak. There is fresh acidity, plenty of body and extract, and incredible finesse and elegance as well. The combination of youthful fruit, fresh acidity, and robust density carry this wine to an interminable finish.Decanter | 100 DECThe 2014 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is a wine that leaves you lost for words - never helpful in this profession. It begs the question: Why are not all Corton-Charlemagnes like this? It has a stunning bouquet with a profound mix of yellow plum, Mirabelle, Seville orange marmalade, those liquid minerals and later, scents of cold wet limestone. The palate is incredibly powerful with stunning acidity. There are multiple layers of spice-tinged citrus fruit, just a faint tinge of marzipan, wondrous umami sensation in the mouth with grilled walnut and a hint of pralines towards the finish. This represents an astonishing Corton-Charlemagne that might end up touching the imperious 2005. Readers should note that Raphael told me that the release of this will be delayed, just like the 2005 and 2010. Put it on your wish list and wait.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 99 RPThe 2014 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru was the first time I had tasted the wine in bottle after first sampling it at the domaine. It is more open than expected and displays less reduction than the 2005 tasted alongside, offering penetrating citrus peel, lanolin, crushed limestone and fragrant yellow flower scents. The palate is beautifully balanced with razor-sharp acidity and an extraordinarily saline, praline-tinged finish that electrifies the senses. It flirted with perfection in 2016 and it is still within a whisker now. Tasted at Otto’s restaurant in London.Vinous Media | 99 VMA still somewhat reticent nose grudingly speaks of discreet wood, smoky mineral reduction, petrol, green apple, white rose and spice elements. In the same vein as the nose, the dense and well-muscled broad-shouldered flavors are still moderately tightly wound while delivering an abundance of minerality on the massively persistent, highly complex and perfectly well-balanced finish that is quite dry yet not especially austere. This is sufficiently backward at present to need continued cellaring even though with say 30 or so minutes of air in a decanter, it could be approached. With that qualification duly noted, I would strongly advised holding this unicorn of a wine for another 5ish years. In a word, OK, two, absolutely brilliant.Burghound | 98 BH

There was no frost at d’Yquem in 2017, and botrytis was very regular and even this vintage. The nose opens with very pure notes of freshly sliced oranges, yuzu and lemon barley water with hints of white pepper, fresh ginger and lime cordial. The incredibly rich, unctuous sweetness (148 grams per liter of residual sugar) is beautifully marbled with bright, vivacious citrus fruit and spice flavors, while lifted by well-knit freshness, and it finishes with epic length and great depth.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97-99 RPThis is a great Yquem, delivering thrilling purity and intensity. The nose offers intense aromas of fresh and dried apricot and peach pastry, as well as freshly baked creme brulee, candied and fresh orange and kumquat. Some marmalade, too. Smooth, glossy texture with flavors of grilled orange, dried apricot and an exceptionally long finish with a powerful, driving push to the end. A flicker of toasty-oak influence arrives late, but this wine has completely consumed the oak. The 2017 Yquem is a very powerful wine from a very rich and exceptional vintage. The acidity has a big hand in balancing the richness. Pithy finish. The phenolics deliver some great depth. Rain at the beginning of September prompted an extensive infection of noble rot. The harvest lasted from September 26 to October 13. Great quality and one of the best since the legendary 2001. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2017 Yquem is destined to be one of my favourite recent vintages. It has brilliant delineation on the nose with acacia honey, saffron, white flowers and a subtle crushed stone element. So much energy is palpable. The palate is supremely well balanced, surfeit with energy, spicy and feisty and yet paradoxically beautifully controlled and pixelated towards the extended finish. It’s not unlike the brilliant 2014 in style. Tasted at the château. Vinous Media | 97 VMVery flattering and unctuous in feel, with coconut, creamed papaya, toasted hazelnut and warmed peach and tangerine cream flavors gliding along in unison, all framed by warm brioche and piecrust notes on the finish. Remarkably rich, yet poised and pure. Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Best from 2025 through 2045. 4,166 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSStill very youthful with light golden colours, showing flashes of green in the glass. Intensely aromatic with tropical fruit notes, pineapple, roasted apricot, honey and lime zest. Full-bodied and rich on the palate with plenty of botrytis notes showing through. Although unctuous and weighty, this Yquem retains plenty of acidity which freshens the palate and balances the concentrated fruit. Sandrine Garbay noted that 2019 reminded her of 2017, with the 2019 showing a little more opulence. Served with a dish of roasted pollock and smoked mussels, this was a wonderful combination, showing the sweetness and purity of Yquem. Residual Sugar: 148g/L. (Drink between 2024-2050)Decanter | 95 DEC