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A typical Palmer showing finesse alongside strength. I love the blackberry, plum, chocolate and cedar character. It’s very long and beautiful. The velvety, textured tannins are impressive.James Suckling | 97 JSThis has turned out to be a prodigious Palmer. The saturated purple color offers up sexy, full-bodied, almost masculine notes of roasted meats, blackberries, and creme de cassis intermixed with notions of toast, smoke, and camphor. Only 50% of the production made it into the 2000, a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 47% Merlot. The wine is opulent, rich, and full-bodied, with tannin that has become sweeter with age. Its best showing yet, most importantly, has been from bottle. This is a great Palmer that should rival the best of recent vintages, which have all been stunning, as this estate continues to go from strength to strength. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2030.Robert Parker | 96 RPStill tight, with a core of black currant, blackberry and plum fruit flavors that is quite youthful, while hints of dried anise, tobacco and singed alder are starting to peek through on the finish. There’s a really vibrant iron note cutting through the finish too. Hold off for now.--Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Best from 2018 through 2028.Wine Spectator | 96 WSNow at 20 years old, and absolutely singing, after a sometimes frustratingly slow start to its life. The tannins are ripe but rich and still broad-shouldered, and it will probably still show at its best with a good plate of food to draw out the mouthwatering acidities. Dense, powerful, complex, with a menthol-laced finish, no signs of going anywhere yet. No Petit Verdot in the blend in this vintage, because the then director Bouteiller didn’t feel it was adding to the overall balance achieved by the already rich and concentrated Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Harvest September 21 to October 7. Drinking Window 2020 - 2043.Decanter | 96 DECThe 2000 Palmer is a very different “beast” than the 2001, and I use that word intentionally. This is much more feral on the nose, and quite ferrous, presenting leather and dried herbs, smudged red berry fruit, and a hint of fig that emerges with time. The brettanomyces sticks out a bit here. The palate is medium-bodied with dry tannins and good density, very earthy in style and certainly more evolved than the succeeding vintage, yet you cannot help falling for its charms. It evolves wonderfully in the glass, actually closing in a little toward the finish, and suggesting that contrary to what the nose suggests, it will repay further cellaring. Excellent.Vinous Media | 94 VMAt this stage, this is very closed, very tight, giving little. But it is possible to discern that this is going to be a beautiful wine. There are flavors of sweet raisins and the fruit has a new world richness, but the structure of dry tannins is always present. It looks as though it has a good, long life.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WE

Still a bit of a brick house, with very solid charcoal and loam notes forming the base while the core of dense fig, blackberry and black currant confiture flavors settles in. This is seriously long, and the smoldering tobacco and roasted alder notes just keep going and going through the finish. This hasn’t really started to unwind yet.--Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Best from 2020 through 2035. 2,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WSThis is likely to be one of the most long-lived Pomerol from 2000. It has hugely rich fruit, it is has great density. But what will give it its longevity is the layer of tannin that sits, brooding, in the middle of the wine. Don’t even attempt to drink before 2012.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE(Château Trotanoy) I have had some rather sulking, desultory showings of big name 2000 claret in the last couple of years (a very grumpy bottle of Cheval Blanc immediately comes to mind), and this is a vintage that seems likely to be eventually consigned to the “vastly overrated” camp in the decades to come. That said, the 2000 Trotanoy showed brilliant potential at our tasting and is a wine that fully embodied the hope engendered by all of the early hype surrounding the vintage. The deep, classic and still youthful nose wafts from the glass in superb blend of cherries, red plums, nutskins, tobacco leaf, gravelly soil tones, menthol and a lovely base of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, young and tightly-knit, with a lovely core, outstanding focus and balance, ripe, very well-integrated tannins and simply stunning length and grip on the primary and oh, so promising finish. This will be another legendary vintage of Trotanoy in the fullness of time. (Drink between 2025-2075)John Gilman | 95 JGThis starts off with fabulous aromas of milk chocolate, plums and subtle spices. Full bodied, with super silky tannins and a long, long finish. Tight but just starting to open up. I’m loving the fresh acidity at the end. Needs another five to six years bottle age. Pull the cork in 2016.James Suckling | 95 JSTasted at the Trotanoy vertical in Hong Kong, the 2000 Trotanoy seems to be improving with age. It has an outstanding bouquet with far more fruit intensity than I anticipated: mulberry, blackberry, briary, broom and white pepper all mingling together with superb delineation. The palate displays exquisite balance, fresh and focused with a clean and precise finish that is only just beginning to show what it can do. Like so many millennial Bordeaux it has matured at its own pace, however, on this showing it seems determined to reward those with the greatest patience. Tasted November 2016.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 95 RP-NM95% merlot and 5% cabernet franc): Deep, saturated red. Highly perfumed nose of black plum, lavender, cedar, chocolate and Oriental spices. Enters sweet, round and broad, then turns a bit tougher, with hints of earth and game complicating bright cassis and mocha flavors. There is an amazing freshness to this wine that helps extend the fruit flavors at the back, and the finish is long and smooth. In this vintage’s early days it was tightly wound and austere, but it’s now beginning to slowly blossom and become more expressive. This is often the case with Trotanoy, which usually needs a good ten years from the vintage to really come into its own. A very successful 2000.Vinous Media | 94+ VMThe summer in 2000 was not as warm as 1998 but it was drier, as a result the wine is less opulent. This majors more on aromatic complexity and seems a little more approachable than the 1998, even if it still displays the clear muscularity of Trotanoy and promises plenty of time ahead of it. There is an appealing menthol edge to the nose here, with fresh mint leaf that also plays through the palate, suggesting that maturity levels were not quite as high as in 1998, although it’s hard not to see that this gives the wine a fresh edge today, and adds complexity as well as a touch of grace. Drinking Window 2019 - 2030Decanter | 93 DECNo written review provided | 91 W&S

As with the 2000, this is still extremely young, barely out of the starting gates, and it needs time to open in the glass. It inches forward, rewarding patience with one of the most aromatically complex wines that you'll find in Bordeaux. Deep in colour, it has great aromatic balance of spice, swirled cinnamon and liquorice. Mouthwateringly good. A high yield of 52hl/ha, with 50% of the crop going to the grand vin. 75% new oak. Drinking Window 2018 - 2038Decanter | 97 DECThe 2001 Haut-Brion has a very refined bouquet of pure black cherries, wild strawberry, iodine and crushed violet scents. Hints of potpourri and incense emerge with time, but it does not quite slip into fifth gear. The palate is medium-bodied with Seville orange marmalade, tangy and lively, and expands gently toward the sensual Bing cherry and orange zest finish. Wonderful. 13.2° alcohol.Vinous Media | 95 VMNo written review provided | 95 W&SIntense aromas of violets, berries and spices follow through to a full-bodied palate, with layers of supersilky tannins and a long, long finish. Very classic in style. All in elegance and length. I like it better than the 2000. Best after 2009. 1,000 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 95 WSHaut-Brion’s 2001, which was bottled late (the end of September, 2003), possesses an unmistakable nobility as well as a burgeoning complexity. Plum/purple to the rim, this blend of 52% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 12% Cabernet Franc is playing it close to the vest, having closed down considerably after bottling. Nevertheless, it reveals pure notes of sweet and sour cherries, black currants, licorice, smoke, and crushed stones. Medium-bodied with excellent purity, firm tannin, and an angular, structured finish, it requires 5-7 years of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2020+.Robert Parker | 94 RP

Performing better from bottle than at any time in cask (which of course is the objective of great winemaking, isn’t it?), this wine reveals a dense ruby/purple color in a style somewhat reminiscent of the 1988 but with more power, concentration, and volume. It has a beautifully elegant nose of black fruits intermixed with truffle, flower, and oak. The wine is medium to full-bodied, dense, with wonderful precision, freshness, and a long, full-bodied finish with impressive levels of concentration. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2030.Robert Parker | 93 RPBright, deep red. Classic aromas of boysenberry, black cherry, minerals and lead pencil. Then juicy and penetrating, with cabernet-dominated berry and mineral flavors (there’s a very low 8% merlot in the blend). Finishes with very firm, youthfully tough tannins that will require a good decade of patience. Quite tight today and difficult to assess. "We had a gorgeous September, but it came too late for the merlot," said Pontallier.Vinous Media | 92+ VMThis is beautiful on the nose with currants, berries and flowers. Full-bodied, with silky tannins and pretty fruit. Needs a bit more fruit on the midpalate to be a classic Margaux, but clearly outstanding. Best after 2007.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

Unfortunately there is only one new release from Dom Perignon on the market, but what a wine it is! The 2002 Brut Rose explodes from the glass with endless layers of huge, voluptuous fruit, A big, full-bodied wine, the 2002 is probably the most overly vinous, intense Rose ever made by long-time Chef de Caves Richard Geoffroy. Layers of cool, insistent minerality balance the fruit beautifully on the crystalline, vivid finish. The 2002 will be nearly impossible to resist young, but take my word for it; the wine is extremely closed right now. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2032.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPThe 2002 Dom Pérignon Rosé is a tremendous example of this vintage at its very best. A Champagne of vertical thrust and intensity, the 2002 is rich, opulent and hedonistic from the very first taste. Readers should expect a Rosé built on a huge core of fruit. Rose petal, passion fruit and exotic flowers add shades of dimension to the wine’s decidedly flamboyant personality. What a wine!Vinous Media | 98 VM(Dom Pérignon, Rosé, Champagne, France, Rosé) Extraordinarily powerful yet astonishingly beautifully constructed, the 2002 rosé is subtly different to its siblings, yet still seamless of architecture and impressive of length. Beyond the herbs and mellow autumnal berries there’s salinity at the back of the mouth. It’s perhaps a little unexpected from a rosé, but undeniably adds further layers to an already multi-faceted persona. Youthful yet wise beyond its years, this makes a wonderful pairing with the final wine, the 1990 P2 rosé. Drink with the most lavish crustacean dishes. Served from magnum. (Drink between 2019-2040)Decanter | 97 DE(Moët & Chandon Brut - Dom Perignon Rosé (magnum) Rosé) As it often is, this is quite aromatically discreet with its elegant and beautifully layered blend of soft yeast, cherry, raspberry, apple and rose petal. The still tightly coiled, intense and beautifully textured medium weight flavors possess an extremely fine effervescence before terminating in a clean, delineated and sneaky long finish that is markedly dry but not really austere. While the 750 ml version is drinking perfectly well now, in magnum format this striking beauty could still benefit from a few more years of keeping. (Drink starting 2027)Burghound | 95 BH

Of the pair of châteaux, La Mission Haut-Brion and Haut-Brion (both owned by the Dillon banking family) that face each other across the crowded streets of Pessac, Haut-Brion is the one with the structure, the darkness, the brooding character. This is so true of 2004, with its hugely firm structure underlying the initial supple fruit. At the end, the acidity is an enticing surprise, lifting the aftertaste.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEOpen the bottle and you’ll find harmony in the glass, but the wine remains subtle, stony and mute, as if the flavors lie behind a closed door. Over the course of several days, that door begins to open, the stoniness transforms into sleek fruit, as if to mirror the complexity of the multicolored pebbles that sustain Haut-Brion’s vines, a range of flavors from red to purple to black. The structure grows increasingly substantial, while the harmony remains, lending the wine mysterious power. Twenty years from now, this will just begin to reach a plateau and should sustain itself long after.Wine and Spirits | 96 W&SWonderful aromas of dried flowers, currant, berries and mineral. Full-bodied, yet reserved and refined. Lovely texture, with a pure silk feel. Seamless and beautiful. Great length. Even better than from barrel. Best after 2012. 12,500 cases made..Wine Spectator | 95 WSIt has been a few years since I last tasted the 2004 Haut-Brion. Now at 12 years of age, it retains its deep color. The bouquet is "pleasant" if not as complex as the 2004 Latour, yet it’s possibly just biding its time as it gradually opens with black fruit, black olive, even a touch of mint that might dupe you into thinking Pauillac. The palate is medium-bodied and very harmonious, almost caressing thanks to the Merlot lending that velvety texture. The second half changes tack, the Cabernet nudging the Merlot off the stage and delivering a more structured, possibly foursquare finish that is linear and correct. It is an excellent wine for the vintage although it will always be overshadowed by the 2005 inter alia. Maybe more personality just needs to develop? Tasted September 2016.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 93 RP-NMGood deep ruby-red. Reticent nose showed some dark cherry with aeration. Densely packed but youthfully closed, even a bit austere today, offering hints of black raspberry and minerals. This is fairly tannic wine (the IPT is 72) but there’s nothing hard about it. My sample gained in sweetness and texture with aeration, although its fruit character remained tightly wound. Give this time in a carafe if you plan to try it anytime soon. At this tasting, the ’04 La Mission was showing much more personality.Vinous Media | 91+ VM

This is the point at which Opus becomes a fully independent estate, with its own vineyard crew so able to react when needed throughout the growing season. And this first vintage under their entire control, with floral notes coming through on the attack that expand through the mid-palate into full on smoked caramel, black chocolate and rich cassis puree. Still inky in colour with firm confident tannins, a long life ahead, this is intense and impressive. 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec completes the blend. 25 days skin contact, early short harvest, lowest yield since 1987.Drinking Window 2019 - 2034.Decanter | 97 DECAged in 100% new French oak for 17 months and in bottle for 14 months prior to release, the 2004 Opus One is a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and the rest Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. It boasts a dense ruby/purple color along with a sweet bouquet of lead pencil shavings, black currants and a hint of toasty oak. More evolved than usual, this full-bodied, opulent 2004 is part of the new wave of Opus Ones made under the administration of Philippe Dhalluin, the administrator of Mouton Rothschild, who has begun to exploit this estate’s enormous potential. This beauty can be drunk now or cellared for another 20 years.Robert Parker | 96 RPThe 2004 Opus One is the first wine in this vertical that is still completely primary. Juicy, layered and expressive, the 2004 needs at least five more years in the cellar to shed some of its youthful exuberance, but frankly that may not be enough. There is a lot of promise here. The blend is 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Malbec.Vinous Media | 93 VMDeftly balanced and medium-bodied, this is a wine of finesse and refinement, highlighted by pure, rich flavors of blackberry and blueberry, with hints of cedar and mocha. Maintains an elegant core.Wine Spectator | 93 WSThis is very aromatic, with notes of lavender, cedar, black olives, almonds, and hints of currant bush. Full bodied with nice fruit, with creme de cassis and light coffee notes. This is delicious now.James Suckling | 92 JS

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

(Rossignol-Trapet Chambertin Grand Cru Red) This is backward, primary and almost shut down with its ultra cool and serious nose of mostly dark berry fruit aromas that also offer up notes of spice, pepper earth, animale, smoke and underbrush, all of which resurface on the structured, minerally and firm to the point of being strict on the palate staining and hugely long finish. Wow, this makes an impression as it’s a big and very bad boy that will require plenty of time to harmonize and round out as the tannins are prominent. (Drink starting 2018)Burghound | 91-94 BH(Domaine Rossignol-Trapet Chambertin) The Rossignol-Trapet 2006 Chambertin was also still retaining a bit of its gas post-malo, and so was not as on form to taste as the Latricières. Nevertheless, this is clearly going to be a fine example of the vintage, as the wine offers up a complex bouquet of dark plums, black cherries, lovely minerality, coffee, woodsmoke, a bit of grilled meat, and new oak. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, deep and quite powerfully built, with excellent purity, a rock solid core, firm tannins and a very long, primary and soil-driven finish. This was probably the toughest wines to taste in the cellars in November, but it clearly possesses the raw materials to be quite special. (Drink between 2018-2060)John Gilman | 93-94 JGGood full red. Complex nose melds wild raspberry, tobacco and earth. Suave and fine-grained but youthfully subdued, with ripe balancing acidity giving the broad red fruit and soil flavors a sappy quality and very good snap. Best today on the rising finish, where the tannins are firm but fine and arrive late. A powerful wine but not hard.Vinous Media | 92+ VM

It is worth noting that when the bottled 2006 Chateau Margaux, which appeared closed and less impressive than I had predicted from barrel, was retasted alongside the remarkable 2008, I elevated my score to 94+. It does not possess the size or power of the 2008 or 2005, but the 2006 exhibits impressive density, a deeper color, and the beautifully textured, pure style that is a hallmark of this estate. Moreover, it is relatively precocious, and can be drunk now or cellared for 25+ years.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RP(Château Margaux, Margaux, Bordeaux, France, Red) Plenty of tannins still in play, and it is dense, powerful and reserved even at 15 years old. The tertiary notes of cedar, charcoal and crushed mint are just hints at this point, with the purity of Cabernet Sauvignon’s cassis and bilberry fruits very much in the lead. First time that so little Merlot made it into the final blend, which no doubt also explains why the overall construction of the wine is so architectural and firm. Long drawn out finish, with higher acidity than the other wines in this lineup, with brilliant estate signature of precise peony and violet aromatics. You could begin drinking this with a long carafe beforehand, but it will still improve with another five years in bottle; and then go for decades. 100% new oak, 2% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. (Drink between 2023-2042)Decanter | 95 DECThis is not a big Château Margaux, its style showing more elegance and discretion. The tannins are soft, although producing a dense web that lies underneath the black currant and plum fruit flavors. It is a wine that envelops the mouth, an edge of firmness over velvet fruit textures. The wine floats away slowly on the close.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEA sexy vintage of Margaux, this is heady and seductive right from the start. Floral strawberry and red currant flavors back the wine’s gentle sweetness, while floral acidity gives it a sting. Black tannins hint at more serious, long-term prospects, though much of the vintage may get drunk before it has a chance to reach any deeper, more essential terroir expression.Wine & Spirits | 94 W&SGood deep red-ruby. Deep but reticent aromas of redcurrant, tobacco leaf, licorice and loam; I don’t find the typical floral high notes of Margaux. Juicy, fine-grained and suave, with good definition and a seamless, spherical texture to the currant and soil flavors. Finishes with a fine dusting of tannins, but not the grip or power of earlier barrel samples of this wine.Vinous Media | 93 VMOn the taut, sinewy side, with cedar and sandalwood notes framing the core of red currant, bitter cherry and damson plum fruit. Offers a lovely singed feel through the finish, with a gentle perfumy edge. Despite the tannic profile of the vintage in general, this is all charm and hitting its stride now.--Non-blind Château Margaux vertical (December 2013). Drink now through 2022.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

While there is certainly plenty of wood here, the wine has weight and impressive concentration for the year. The tannins are still brooding away, giving a dark firm character to the wine. Blackberry fruits and acidity are there, but still well buried in the tannins.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEThe 2007 Ausone is a candidate for one of the wines of the vintage, rivaling Pavie and Lafite Rothschild. Its deep ruby/purple hue is accompanied by a beautiful nose of spring flowers, raspberries, black currants, and crushed rocks. The wine is dense, medium to full-bodied, and pure with sweet tannin as well as a surprisingly evolved, forward style. It is one of the few Ausones I have tasted that can be drunk with great pleasure at this stage, yet it promises to evolve for two decades.Robert Parker | 94 RPFull red-ruby color. Inky black cherry, blueberry, licorice and bitter chocolate on the nose, plus a whiff of roasted meat that quickly dissipated. Dense and chewy on the palate, with very good intensity to its dark fruit, leather and chocolate flavors and a pronounced rocky quality. Showed increasing vibrancy with aeration but there's no easy sweetness to this soil-driven wine. Struck me as a bit energetically extracted. Finishes broad and long, with substantial dusty tannins. I'd forget about this for at least a few years.Vinous Media | 92 VMBerry and milk chocolate aromas, with hints of flowers, follow through to a medium-to-full body, with very silky tannins and a delicious, fruity finish. Subtle and pretty, balanced and gorgeous. So refined and caressing. Best after 2013. 1,635 cases made.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

The 2007 Quella performed slightly better than I predicted last year. A magical combination of blueberry liqueur intermixed with crushed rock, spring flowers (violets?), earth, pen ink and burning ember leads to a full-bodied, majestically rich wine with a multilayered texture, silky tannins and a phenomenally long finish of over 50 seconds. This sensational 2007 should drink well for 25-30+ years.Robert Parker | 97 RPThis is decadent. Layers and layers of porcini mushrooms, wet forest floor, and dark fruits. Full bodied, powerful, with everything going for it. This needs at least fiave years to show its best. Pull the cork after 2015. 15+25+24+33. Find the wineJames Suckling | 97 JSVoluptuous and racy in the glass, with terrific freshness, the 2007 Quella has it all. Raspberry jam, blood orange and sweet floral notes add brightness throughout. Silky, ripe and alluring, the 2007 is one of the many standouts in this vintage. The 2007 drinks well now but it will hold for another 10-15 years.Vinous Media | 96 VMA tremendous effort, firm, intense, dense and concentrated, offering a wonderful mix of mineral, fresh earth, dried currant and herb, with touches of tobacco and cedar. Full-bodied, yet at points supple given its youth, but the finish sails on and on. To be released spring 2011. Best from 2013 through 2024. 476 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSThis is Bond’s second vintage of Quella, from a vineyard in the eastern hills of Napa Valley. The wine’s red cherry fruit has elasticity and intriguing meatiness, though for now it’s completely cloaked in oak. The wood adds a French roast coffee spice rather than sweetness, the tannins mouthcoating and rich. This finishes with elegance and should reward several years of cellar time.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE

The palate opens slowly, offering an initial citrus character, followed by wood and then, finally, wonderfully rich, but taut fruit. There is still a toast character here, with apricots and pear on top of the citrus, but it is still only just developing. In 10–15 years, it will be a magnificent wine.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WETasted at BI Wine & Spirits' 10-Years-On tasting, the 2007 Haut Brion has a perfumed bouquet with abundant red fruit, sage, sandalwood and black olive scents that just seem to soar from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, beautifully judged acidity and a gentle build in the mouth towards the savory/meaty finish. There is class interwoven into this Haut Brion from start to finish, and the persistence is very impressive. This is just reaching its drinking plateau. Tasted February 2017.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 94 RP-NMBright ruby-red. Pure but youthfully inexpressive nose hints at raspberry and tobacco after extended aeration. Sweet, suave and pliant, with a silky texture perked up by minerality and lifted by a spicy component. Really lovely consistent ripeness here, showing neither roasted nor green qualities. Took on a more floral character with air. This superbly elegant wine really saturates the palate and lingers. Tannins are fine and sweet.Vinous Media | 94 VMThe 2007 Haut Brion is outstanding, and shows the forward, sexy, charming style of the vintage nicely. A blend of 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc, it offers loads of upfront black fruits, tar, asphalt, and tobacco leaf aromas and flavors. With medium-bodied richness, silky tannin, and beautiful balance, it’s drinking nicely today yet has 15-20 years of life ahead of it.Jeb Dunnuck | 93 JDThere's beautiful sweetness of fruit on the nose, with floral and ripe plum undertones. Very aromatic and subtle. Medium- to full-bodied, with fine tannins and a delicate fruit finish. Refined. Best after 2013.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

All of the Left Bank firsts are tasting excellent, but Margaux stands out for the tightness and clarity of its sweet cherry and cassis fruit expression, the menthol grip on the finish, and the perfume that runs through the palate. This is a vintage that could almost be ready to drink with a good carafing, but the layers of graphite and the finesse to the tannins suggest it could also go longer. A great example of the subtle crafting possible in 2007.Decanter | 95 DECBright, dark red. Knockout nose combines redcurrant, blackberry, spices, flowers, tobacco and sexy sweet oak tones; complex and aristocratic. Then sweet, suave and seamless, with lovely inner-mouth perfume and noteworthy finesse to the flavors of blackberry, cherry and flowers. Finishes long and sweet, with noble tannins for the year. Not a big wine but one of the classiest examples of the vintage.Vinous Media | 93 VMSilky wine, fresh and light, balanced with high acidity cutting through black berry fruits. The structure has some substance, but this is a light, aromatic wine, developing fast, already delicious, and only for medium-term aging.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEThe elegant 2007 Chateau Margaux’s purity, depth of fruit, and overall equilibrium are impressive. A dark ruby/purple color is accompanied by notes of spring flowers, black currants, and blackberries, a soft, lush, medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, and delicacy allied to impressive depth, texture, and length. Already drinkable, it should continue to offer exceptional pleasure for 15 or more years.Robert Parker | 92 RP

The 2008 Pluribus is a gorgeous wine laced with black fruit, menthol, minerals, spices and licorice. It shows fabulous density and richness through to the finish. This is a very typical Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2025.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPThe 2008 Pluribus is the most delicate of the Bond 2008s. Hints of pine, scorched earth, toast and licorice give the wine many of its aromatic signatures. Today, the 2008 is deceptively understated. My impression is that the best is yet to come.Vinous Media | 95 VMOffers a mix of mocha, loamy earth, espresso, dried currant, blueberry, wild berry and cedary sage-charcoal notes. Full-bodied and drying, complex and concentrated. Best from 2012 through 2022. 487 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSEucalyptus and mint and spices with dark fruits. Hints of wood too. Full-bodied, with a solid core of fruit. Thick and dense. Very soft and juicy. Very approachable. This has a little more Merlot than normal, making it very approachable.James Suckling | 92 JSGrown at a steep, seven-acre vineyard at 1,100 feet on Spring Mountain, Pluribus shows the power and extract of the 2008 vintage. It’s all about structure until the wine takes on enough air, beginning to show floral notes and deep blueberry-scented fruit. There’s a dark, classical Napa mountain red here, needing a decade in the cellar to reveal itself more completely.Wine & Spirits | 91 W&S

This shows incredible depth of fruit with strawberry, cherry and phenolics. Full-bodied and layered with an incredible, three-dimensional element to the wine. This is so transparent and dynamic with dark fruit, yet it remains vivid and bright. Refined and precise, it goes on and on. Really savory, fresh and incredibly pinot-noir-like. What a wine. 13 years of maturation in the bottle. So drinkable now, but it will age for many years ahead.James Suckling | 99 JSThe newly released 2008 Dom Pérignon Rosé is a dramatic, perfumed wine, bursting with aromas of blood orange, iodine, sweet citrus fruit, peach and pear mingled with hints of buttered toast, smoke and spices. Full-bodied, textural and enveloping, with terrific concentration, racy acids and a pillowy mousse, it concludes with a long, penetrating finish. It derives its intense hue from red wine produced from Pinot Noir grown in lieux-dits Chants de Linottes in Hautvillers and Vauzelles in Aÿ.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPThe 2008 Dom Pérignon Rosé is magnificent. Rich and deep in the glass, the 2008 offers up an exotic mélange of aromas and flavors. Sweet red cherry, mint, orange peel and rose petal all grace this beguiling beauty. Bright acids and a little less still red Pinot (21%) than in most recent editions yields a Rosé that is delicate and light on its feet, with less of the vinous intensity that marked vintages such as 2006. There is a classic feeling of austerity in the 2018 that is mesmerizing. (Originally published in May 2021)Antonio Galloni | 97 AGAn impeccably balanced and graceful sparkling rosé, with a plushly creamy mousse. It’s hard to tell where the firm spine of well-honed acidity and the expressive range of pureed raspberry, candied ginger, tangerine and lemon thyme flavors begin or end. A rich hint of smoky toasted brioche plays on the finish. Drink now through 2033.Wine Spectator | 97 WSThe 2008 Champagne Rosé is another elegant expression, offering notes of cardamom, strawberry, and dried flowers. The palate is dry and well-structured and is balanced and long on the finish, with notes of dried orange peel, redcurrant, and fantastic salinity. It has a great application at the table and should continue to improve over the next 15-20 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDOffering up aromas of white flowers, red berries, toast and fresh pastry, Dom Pérignon rosé 2008 is medium to full-bodied, tense and vibrant, with a vinous texture and sapid nuances. Delicately phenolic, this is a pure and racy gastronomic Champagne that’s beginning to drink with style, and concludes with a long and penetrating finish. Drinking Window: 2021 - 2035Decanter | 95 DEC

Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Kayli Morgan Vineyard gives up bold blackcurrant cordial, blackberry compote and raspberry pie scents with hints of chocolate-covered cherries, roses and lilacs plus hints of charcuterie and yeast extract. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is wonderfully elegant, with wonderful vivacity and perfume and a satiny texture with a very long finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPPure sensuality in the glass, the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Kayli Morgan Vineyard is going to be nearly impossible to resist in its youth. At the same time, the Kayli Morgan has a track record of developing beautifully in bottle, and I imagine that is exactly what will happen here. Cedar, spice box, cassis and plums burst from the glass in this impressive, layered wine. A hint of mocha develops later, but it is pretty clear the 2009 is playing its cards close to the vest. There is enough inner tension to make me think the 2009 has a very bright future. Jayson Woodbridge describes 2009 as a year with a tiny crop and equally small berries. It is also the year Woodbridge brought in a helicopter to dry out the fruit after the mid-October typhoon dropped a huge amount of rain on Napa Valley.Antonio Galloni | 95+ AGPure and understated, with a charming mix of elegant ripe black cherry and plum, subtle fresh earth, tobacco and cedar, ending with fleshy, fine-grained tannins. Less opulent than prior vintages. Drink now through 2024. 600 cases made.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is slow to open and I spent a good amount of extra time with this wine as a result. It was well worth the wait. The intensity inches up in baby steps. With time, the wine is splendent and focused with a very direct and impactful delivery of aromas. It also shows a specifically floral personality with dried rose petal or blue violet that I did not recognize in most of the other Brunellos from this classic vintage. There is power and determination behind those feminine aromas. The wine makes a lasting impression in the mouth, thanks to the textual tightness of its tannins and the refreshing crispness of the acidity. The Riserva sees fruit sourced from Il Greppo’s oldest vines (25-years-old and more) and the wine ages in traditional oak casks for three years. Some 13,600 bottles were made.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RP

What fun, excitement and joy it will be to compare the four perfect wines Perse has made in 2005, 2009, 2010 and, of course, the 2000, in 25 or so years. This wine is truly profound Bordeaux. Everything is in place – remarkable concentration and a beautiful nose of cedar and ripe blackcurrant and blackberry with some kirsch and spice box in the background. Lavishly rich, with slightly more structure and delineation than the more Rabelaisian 2009, this wine does show some serious tannins in the finish, and comes across as incredibly youthful. Of course, it’s five years old, but it tastes more like a just-bottled barrel sample than a 2010. In any event, this wine is set for a long, long life and should be forgotten for at least another decade. Consume it over the following 75 or more years.Robert Parker | 100 RPThe 2010 Château Pavie is straight-up magical, and while it matches the 2000, 2005, 2009, and 2015, it has a style all its own. (It’s probably most similar to the 2005, yet even more tannic and backward.) Checking in as blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon from tiny yields of 26 hectoliters per hectare, it’s still ruby/plum-colored and has a powerful, inward bouquet of blackcurrants, smoked earth, graphite, chocolate, and white truffle. Deep, powerful, and massive on the palate, yet also incredibly delineated and focused, it’s shed just a touch of the baby fat it had in its youth and still needs another 4-5 years to hit prime time. Given its depth of fruit, flawless balance, and both purity and freshness, it’s going to be a 75- to 100-year wine.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDThis is really exceptional with such freshness, firmness and focus. Full body, incredibly tight tannins and a lengthy finish. Such power and elegance at the same time. The beginning of a new era of Pavie.James Suckling | 99 JSA brick house, still rather tight, with loads of apple wood and juniper flavors holding the core of red currant, blackberry and bitter plum fruit in check. Offers ample grip through the finish, with a mouthwatering chalk, graphite and tobacco spine. A huge wine that hasn’t budged and probably won’t for some time.--Non-blind Pavie vertical (March 2017). Best from 2025 through 2050. 7,083 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSThis is accomplished and enjoyable, starting to come into its own at ten years old, and very much infused with the limestone impact of its soils. One of my favourite Pavies that scrapes along the palate in that way that just weakens my knees. A style of vintage that suits this property, where the acidity provides a natural break but doesn’t detract from the fruit and concentration. It is exerting its power gently and imperceptibly, turning the screw until the tannins are barring your way at the close of play. Brilliant stuff. Drinking Window 2020 - 2042Decanter | 98 DECThe 2010 Pavie has a very generous bouquet with intense red cherries, cassis, orange essence and even a hint of dried honey. This is exuberant and very intense. The palate is medium-bodied with very supple tannins, wonderful detail and precision. The energy in this Pomerol is palpable and it fans out gloriously towards the finish. This represents one of the best examples of the 2010 Pavie that I have tasted. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.Vinous Media | 96 VMThis feels very juicy, the fruit almost over-ripe. There is a generous new world feel to it, very opulent, super-rich. Open black plum and damson fruits push through the dark, perfumed tannins.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE

The 2010 Proprietary Red is very deep garnet colored with a hint of purple. It offers up wonderfully bold, expressive notes of crème de cassis, black cherry compote and mincemeat pie with wafts of bay leaves, incense, Chinese five spice and hoisin plus wafts of chargrill and yeast extract. Full-bodied, rich and opulent, the palate is laden with layer upon layer of exotic spice-laced black fruits with a firm yet plush frame and very long finish with some licorice notes coming through.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPFull medium ruby. Very ripe but reticent scents of black fruits, minerals, mocha, espresso and spices. Voluptuous and plush on entry, saturating the palate with a slightly unrefined wave of black fruits, minerals and mocha. This outsized, full-bodied, plummy wine shows lovely mineral verve, surprisingly restrained sweetness and a complicating saline element. Finishes with sumptuous, building tannins and terrific plum and graphite persistence. This wine is ripe enough to give great pleasure now but I’d still hold my bottles for the tannins to be further absorbed. It certainly has the stuffing to go on for many more years.Vinous Media | 94 VMA big and rich red with black currant and blueberry and chocolate. Full and vast. A more typical Napa cab of the period. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 94 JS

Luca Currado is on a roll. This is the third vintage (in as many years) that blows me off my feet. The 2010 Barolo Riserva Villero is a spectacular achievement and a wine that we all aspire to have in our cellars. There is a level of truism here—an authentic portrait of the Nebbiolo grape—that is outstanding. The fruit from Villero saw 45 days of skin maceration and few rackings. The wines of Vietti are always made in reduction to guarantee their long aging future. The bouquet offers many fleeting aromas that add to its enormous complexity. You get wild berry, licorice, anise seed and a touch of iron rust. On average, this very special wine is only released every four years.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 99 RPThis Barolo is built on an expansive scale and it has a stunning concentration that literally takes your breath away. Although it’s already seven years old, the beautifully crafted tannins and acidity make this very lively at the super long finish. Drink or hold. This has several decades of life ahead of it.James Suckling | 98 JSVirile and imposing in the glass, the 2010 Barolo Riserva Villero packs a serious punch. Swaths of tannin wrap around a huge core of fruit in a dark, virile Barolo that shows the more brooding side of the vintage. Sage, tobacco, menthol, violet and smoke add nuance throughout. Readers will have to be patient, as the tannins are likely to remain formidable for many years to come. As outstanding as the Villero is, it is never the most compelling Barolo in the Vietti range. Frankly, the pricing for the Riserva is more the result of managed scarcity rather than purely of the quality of what is in the bottle.Antonio Galloni | 96 AGA harmonious red, this features expressive aromas of rose, cherry, licorice, tar and tobacco. The dense, refined tannins are beginning to mellow, and this is starting to reveal its potential. Still has a ways to go, so forget about it for another two to three years. Best from 2021 through 2043. 300 cases made, 58 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

An exquisitely fresh and pure nose of cool red currant and mineral reduction slides gracefully into detailed, precise and restrained medium-bodied flavors that possess excellent verve and a taut muscularity. This really brims with minerality on the mouth coating finish that delivers super length. Terrific.Burghound | 94 BHGood deep red-ruby. Cool aromas and flavors of raspberry, red cherry and crushed rock lifted by pepper and herbs. Pure, juicy and precise if a bit youthfully imploded, but already showing terrific sappy intensity. Finishes very long and perfumed, with a serious tannic spine. Promises to be Lachaux’s best vintage yet for this cuvee, which he initiated with the 2008 after purchasing these old vines from Christopher Newman.Vinous Media | 92+ VM

A serious Haut-Brion, still very much closed. Concentrated with firm tannins, this has real depth to it, showing walls and structure. Beautiful juice starts to seep through the walls after a few moments and this has great potential. It has a tannic frame that softens as it opens, and lets the light in, showing its more elegant side. Cleverly constructed, this is great winemaking, a clear success. 72% new oak. Harvest August 31 to September 27. Drinking Window 2021 - 2045Decanter | 97 DECLots of subtle redcurrant and berry character, with flowers and sweet tobacco on the nose. Full body, super-integrated tannins and a light shaved-chocolate, berry and cedar character. A decadence and beauty to this that wakes you up. Better in 2018.James Suckling | 96 JSThe unbelievably superb 2011 Haut-Brion (a tiny production of 7,600 cases from a blend of 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and 19% Cabernet Franc) exhibits a classic nose of subtle smoldering embers, warm rocks, black currants, new saddle leather, spice box and high quality, unsmoked cigar tobacco. The color is a dense ruby/purple to the edge, and the wine cuts a serious as well as broad swath across the palate. The most amazing aspect of this terroir is that the wine, despite all its power and richness, literally dances on the palate, as if it were a 90 pound ballerina. This brilliant 2011 should evolve quickly, hitting its prime in 7-8 years, and drink beautifully for 20-25 years.Robert Parker | 95 RPThis packs some serious density for the vintage, with layers of braised fig, blackberry pâte de fruit and dark currant paste, all inlaid with lively briar, tobacco leaf and roasted apple wood notes. Shows lots of energy through the finish, with the grip generating a mouthwatering feel. One of the stars of the vintage. Best from 2018 through 2035.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThe 2011 Haut-Brion has a really lovely, warm, autumnal nose with red fruit, chestnut, autumn leaves and Earl Grey scents. Very complex. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannins, a crisp line of acidity, maybe just a little austere on the finish, but there is fine focus with a delicately spiced, slightly medicinal finish. This is an impressive and quite delicious Haut-Brion that should give 20 years more drinking pleasure. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting.Vinous Media | 94 VMThis wine has an intense herbaceous quality, with fruit and nutmeg flavors. It feels and tastes powerful, with alcoholic warmth and a taut and nervy character.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WE

At first the tannins keep this pretty tight, but as it opens up there is an elegance and finesse, along with a subtle floral expression that is clearer in the Château Margaux than the Pavillon. Juicy on the finish, and as it opens further you get a gourmet, dense expression to the raspberry and cassis fruit. Aromatically it is finely knit and uplifting. The iris and peony aromatics of Château Margaux are really to the fore, it’s a great vintage to show off this side of the estate. 2% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. 3.6pH. 38% of overall production in the first wine. One of the earliest harvest on record, all finished by end of September which is extremely rare at Margaux. Drinking Window 2021 - 2044.Decanter | 96 DECA solidly structured wine, it is both elegant and intensely powerful. It is disclosing its fruitiness slowly, at the moment dense and concentrated. A restrained edge provides complexity and balance. It will need aging, so don’t drink before 2022.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEThis has a restrained core of steeped plum, blackberry and anise, studded with tobacco and roasted cedar notes. The structure is silky but persistent, with an almost-succulent feel through the finish, while warm bergamot, singed cedar, vanilla and sanguine hints define the finish. Discreet today, but shows the balance and precision to unfold slowly with cellaring. Best from 2017 through 2030.Wine Spectator | 94 WSFabulous aromas of flowers with hints of strawberries and currants. Extremely aromatic. This is full-bodied, with chewy tannins and a racy finish. It is very finely structured but chewy and austere. I like the tension to this. Try in 2018.James Suckling | 94 JSThe renowned Chateau Margaux’s 2011 boasts a dark ruby/plum color as well as a fragrant perfume of spring flowers, sweet, supple, well-integrated tannins, medium body, and the elegance and nobility expected from a great first-growth. Although it is not as powerful or concentrated as the 2009 or 2010 (no 2011s are), it possesses finesse, elegance, purity and suppleness. The wine is surprisingly approachable already yet should keep for 15-20 years.Robert Parker | 93 RPThe 2011 Château Margaux is a vintage that I have not encountered since just after bottling. Still youthful in colour, it has a strict, conservative, pencil lead and cedar-scented bouquet, very 2011 in style, a touch of smoke developing with aeration. What it lacks is a little flair. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, quite edgy tannin. This has become a little more peppery and spicy since being incarcerated in bottle. There is pleasing depth towards the finish. Never a flamboyant Château Margaux, not a vintage that exuded flair, but there is respectable persistence with a fine, pointed finish. Tasted at the château.Vinous Media | 92 VMThe 2011 Château Margaux has the highest level of measured tannins ever in the history of the estate. The nose is quite bright for the vintage, offering up scents of black raspberries, cassis, dark chocolate, violets, soil and a suave base of spicy new wood. On the palate the wine is not quite as good as the nose suggests, with its full-bodied, backward and reserved profile decidedly short on personality and a touch sinewy. The wine has a long, very firmly tannic finish, with tangy acids and rather blunt balance. I really am not wild about the equilibrium here and could very easily imagine this wine drying out, rather than blossoming with bottle age. But, beyond the wine’s overall balance, I get a strong sense that this was a wine made by decision-making that was completely risk averse, and the wine’s resultant lack of personality will shadow it all the way through its long (or short- depending on how the tannins are eventually resolved) life. One expects and should receive more from a First Growth! If the tannins do manage to resolve, then this will be a pretty good wine and a disastrous value. If they do not, well, even at thirty euros a bottle it would be too expensive, and we can rest assured it is not going to be priced out the cellar door at thirty euros! (Drink between 2025-2065).John Gilman | 87-90+ JG

The 2012 Haut Brion (65% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc) is certainly one of the candidates for the wine of the vintage, with a dense purple color, classic nose of crushed rock, lead pencil shavings, black raspberry, blueberry and flowers. The wine shows subtle barbecue smoke notes in the background, but is full-bodied, stunningly concentrated and builds incrementally, yet finishes with luxurious, almost extravagant amounts of fruit and intensity. From only 46% of the production, this is an absolutely remarkable effort from the Dillon family and their winemaking team of the two Jean-Philippes. Drink it over the next 30-40 years.Robert Parker | 98 RPA big, powerful wine, the 2012 Haut-Brion possesses stunning richness and intensity, with all of the depth that is lacking in so many other wines in this vintage. Not here. The 2012 possesses remarkable depth and tons of raw, animal power that is going to require considerable time in bottle to soften. Readers should be in no rush; the 2012 Haut-Brion is a wine for the ages. Smoke, graphite, dried herbs and blue/purplish stone fruits grace the exotic, alluring finish.Antonio Galloni | 97 AGAmazing aromas of wet stones, earth, currants and berries. Subtle and complex. Full body and a beautiful core of ripe fruit on the palate and the finish. Round, light, chewy tannins. Needs at least four or five years to open. This is the most Merlot ever in Haut-Brion. Rich too. One of the wines of the vintage. 65.5% Merlot, 32.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Cabernet Franc.James Suckling | 96 JSFirm and solid, this is one of the successes of 2012. It’s properly dark and tough at this stage, with that serious intent that’s a hallmark of Haut-Brion. Layers of firm tannins are interspersed with blackberry fruits and juicy acidity. The wine is dense and concentrated, with the wood aging still showing. This powerful wine will need many years. Drink from 2024.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEThis combines power and refinement, with a singed alder frame around a dense core of red and black currant, plum and blackberry fruit. Notes of bay, black tea and tar line the finish. Has a lovely, fine-grained feel that lets the dark, hefty fruit drape beautifully. The tobacco element hangs in the background. Sneakily long. Best from 2018 through 2030. 9,008 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSDense velvety red, rich earthy black fruits on the nose, both lively and smooth, terrific class is there with the ripe Haut-Brion tannins that give a subtle grip to the very polished, Merlot-dominated fruit. Drinking Window 2017 - 2035.Decanter | 95 DEC