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The 2019 Mouton Rothschild has come together beautifully since I tasted it from barrel. Today, it is unquestionably one of the wines of the vintage. Powerful and statuesque in its beauty, Mouton is remarkable in every way. Layers of dark-toned fruit confer seriousness and intensity that builds with time. All of the finesse I saw in barrel is still present. Since then, the 2019 has gained flesh and vibrancy. Magnificent!Antonio Galloni. | 99 AGThis is incredibly complex, with all the cabernet descriptors, from mint and lead pencil to blackberry, blackcurrant and menthol. It changes all the time in the glass, just as in the nose. Yet, it remains cool and classy. Full-bodied with very fine, tight tannins that run the length of the wine, carrying on and on and on. Well-framed and compact wine. Never-ending procession of currant, berry and black cherry fruit, together with licorice, earth and just a hint of black truffle. 90% cabernet sauvignon, 9% merlot and 1% petit verdot. Give this until 2028 to show its true greatness.James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2019 Mouton Rothschild is the most dramatic of the Médoc first growths, soaring from the glass with aromas of cassis, blackberries and violets mingled with rich aromas of cedar, cigar wrapper, licorice, loamy soil and spices. Full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, it’s deep and powerful, with huge levels of concentration and an ineffably complete, seamless profile, concluding with a long, resonant finish. Plenty of ripe tannin is hidden by its ample core of fruit, and despite its youthful polish, this will require plenty of bottle age to realize all its potential. This blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot tastes in many respects like the 2016 Mouton’s more sun-kissed cousin.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98+ RPPlows straight ahead, with a rather towering display of cassis as well as cherry and plum reduction notes that are pure, defined and deftly supported by a seamlessly embedded iron spine. Features light savory, floral and red tea notes that flash in the background, while the fruit glistens through the extremely lengthy finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Best from 2025 through 2045.Wine Spectator | 98 WSThe 2019 Château Mouton Rothschild is based on 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot, and it hit a relatively normal alcohol level of 13.5%, which is higher than the 2009 and shows the quality of the Cabernet Sauvignon in the vintage. It shows the new, modern style of Bordeaux in its purity, elegance, and finesse while still being an incredibly concentrated Pauillac, and where some vintages of Mouton can just about jump out of the glass, this is a more seamless, streamlined, elegant beauty that builds with time in the glass and is just about impossible to fault. Gorgeous crème de cassis, lead pencil shavings, forest floor, licorice, damp earth, and graphite, as well as some espresso nuances, emerge on the nose, and it’s rich, medium to full-bodied, has ultra-fine tannins, and a great finish. This is pure haute couture in Bordeaux that unquestionably offers pleasure today (again, just about all modern Bordeaux from a great vintage offer pleasure in their youth) but will require a solid decade to hit maturity, and it should evolve for 20, 30, 40 years or more. This is not an unformed beast of wine that demands bottle age, and I suspect it will have a broad, forgiving drink window that consumers will love.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDGorgeous nose with a soft sweetness to the fruit aromas - a quality of the cooler year with freshness and vibrancy to the fruit profile. A great core of black fruits - blackcurrant, plums and cherries, balancing power but also succulence in the best way. Muscular but refined and finessed, feels so well constructed with harmonious tannins. The texture is smooth, deep and coursing but with such elegance to the overall frame. Deep and concentrated, but I love the touches of sour cherry and then smoky, liquorice aspects with a mineral freshness. It feels as if when it’s ready it will expand and just give and give. I love it. Drinking Window 2028 - 2050.Decanter | 98 DECMade from 98% Cabernet Sauvignon, this is a sumptuous and powerful wine that is built by considerable tannins and immensely rich fruit. At the same time, there is a perfumed charm that balances all that power. The wine’s structure and richness are harbingers of enormous aging potential. Wine Enthusiast | 98 WE

Lastly, the 2019 Promontory matches the perfect 2016 from this estate and is legendary stuff. Ripe black fruits, chocolatey, lead pencil shaving, roasted herbs, and tobacco are just some of its nuances, and this beauty hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a deep, layered, concentrated mid-palate, ultra-fine tannins, and an incredible finish. It doesn’t get any better. This has the class of a First Growth from Bordeaux paired with a Napa sense of texture and fruit. It will evolve for 40-50 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDThe 2019 Promontory has a deep garnet-purple color. It is quite closed at the moment, needing a little swirling to reveal notes of crushed rocks, garrigue, iron ore, and lavender, leading to a core of black cherries, redcurrant jelly, and fresh blackcurrants, with a hint of mossy tree bark. The medium to full-bodied palate is so tightly wound, delivering multi-layered black and red berries with mineral and earthy sparks, supported by fine-grained tannins, finishing long and fragrant.The Wine Independent | 100 TWIPurple-fruit, dark-licorice and conifer aromas follow through to a medium to full body with firmness and a linear flow that goes on for minutes. Racy tannins and focus. Give this until at least 2028.James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2019 Promontory is just as impressive as it always has been. Vertical in structure, with tremendous depth, the 2019 possesses notable textural intensity and tons of volume. Black cherry, plum, licorice, mocha, new leather and espresso are all amplified. Time has softened some of the Promontory edges. The 2019 is still very young, but it has come together very nicely.Vinous Media | 98+ VMThe 2019 Promontory offers up slightly darker cherries than the red-fruited 2018, couched in a bed of foresty-minty notes and underpinned by crushed stone. At this stage, it looks more intense but otherwise similar to the excellent 2018, finishing long, silky and elegant, with mouthwatering freshness. Collectors should enjoy comparing the two years for decades to come.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RP

This is a winemaker’s master class in blending and understanding of a long-standing site. Dried herb, cedar and pencil shavings accent lifted red fruit and brilliant acidity on the palate, with a supple yet still youthfully grippy texture that is framed by structured, graceful tannins. Enjoy from 2029–2039.Wine Enthusiast | 100 WESo much earth and spice with walnut and wet earth. Like fog laying over the valley in the morning. Black fruit. Medium-to full-bodied with super-fine tannins that are long and persistent, with graceful progression and length on the palate. So long, with real definition. September 2022 release. From biodynamically grown grapes. Hard not to drink now, but will age wonderfully.James Suckling | 99 JSI was blown away by the 2019 Red Blend from Quintessa, which is up with the crème de la crème of the vintage. Based on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Carmenère, this full-bodied beauty has a perfectly balanced, seamless, yet expansive and classic 2019 style as well as gorgeous aromatics of cassis, flowers, chalky minerality, and integrated oak. It’s hard to resist already, but I have no doubt this will evolve for 20 years if stored properly.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDDark chocolate, violets and blackcurrants on the nose. Sticky, sweet, full, plush and ripe, fruit is dark - blackcurrant, black cherry and plum with lots of sweet liquorice and some earthy notes that give it a savoury touch. A bold and powerful style, you can feel the alcohol a bit and the wood still but there is good vibrancy and energy with a chiselled frame and generous freshness. Still extremely youthful with the structure fully on show, still settling and finding its refinement. 2% Carménère completes the blend. Ageing 22 months in French oak (60% new). Drinking Window: 2025 - 2040Decanter | 96 DECThe 2019 Proprietary Red Wine is more open and effusive than the 2018 version, with gentle floral nuances set against a backdrop of black cherries and cassis, joined by subtle notes of tobacco, cedar and vanilla. In the mouth, it’s medium to full-bodied, streamlined, silky and lush, nicely balanced and elegant, with a long, softly dusty finish tinged with licorice and caramel. Tasted twice, with consistent notes.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPThe 2019 Quintessa is one of the best wines I have tasted here in some time. Broad swaths of tannin wrap around a core intense dark plum, mocha, licorice and spice. The 2019 clearly needs a few years in bottle to come together. Quintessa is a large, sprawling property with many different exposures. My feeling is that it may not ultimately be suited to making a single large production flagship wine, but that perhaps a series of smaller production wines might showcase the site better.Antonio Galloni | 94 AGSports a very forward set of cassis and creamed plum notes before giving way to a firmer, more authoritative iron, warm earth and singed alder profile. Grippy and dense through the finish, but there’s cut and drive, with a savory edge adding good energy. This just needs some time for the mineral side to settle in with the fruit. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Carmenère. Best from 2024 through 2034. 10,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

I had tasted the 2020 Pie Franco during its upbringing in barrel and couldn’t wait to taste the bottled version. The wine comes from the ungrafted Monastrell vines planted in 1942 by the current generation’s grandfather on a south-facing slope rich in limestone and gravels. In this dream vintage, they achieved a wine with 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.47 and almost five grams of tartaric acid per liter of wine. The wine matured in 500-liter oak barrels for 16 months. There is precision; it’s like laser cut, with symmetry and nuance, and it feels ethereal with lots of inner strength. It has the aromatic herbal notes but they are a lot subtler, and the wine is a lot more elegant and floral. The 2020s are wines of texture, silky, fine and elegant. This is the essence of the Mediterranean. Truly outstanding, world class, the best wine produced in the Mediterranean and the best wine from Casa Castillo ever. I was trying to find reminiscences with previous vintages, and it’s different from 2017 and 2018, maybe a mixture of the two, but overall the 2020s are unique and have a combination of Mediterranean character and freshness more intense than any other previous vintage. José María Vicente told me the only vintage that could be compared a little with the 2020 could be 2010. I’ve seen this wine evolve every year since the initial vintage of 1998 to reach world class. Bravo! 7,800 bottles were filled in February 2022.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RP

The still young and primary 2020 Clos Erasmus feels very floral and ethereal (within Priorat and Clos Erasmus); it’s a fresher and lighter expression but without being weak. It’s still a baby that needs to burn the baby fat (there are still some lactic notes from the malolactic in barrel). The wine is always around 3.2 or 3.3 pH and has some 15% to 15.5% alcohol, but the sensation this year is of a much fresher, more balanced and elegant wine. This should make an elegant bottle of mature Priorat with a decade in bottle, and I guess it will be long lived. Glorian mentioned that a small lot that normally goes to Laurel was added to the blend of Erasmus, resulting in a lot of added freshness and a note of orange blossom, which makes sense to me with the floral character of the wines and the extra freshness I perceived. This is really beautiful. It’s a very special vintage of Erasmus that unfurls incredible complexity and tantalizing aromas with time in the glass—blood orange (talk about freshness!), curry and cassis. It has great purity, complexity, elegance and finesse... A very different Clos Erasmus. Bravo! There are some 3,600 bottles. It was bottled in May 2022.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RP

The 2020 Haut-Brion is a blend of 42.8% Merlot, 39.7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17.5% Cabernet Franc, harvested from 7th to 29th September, with an estimated alcohol of 15% and a pH of 3.8. Opaque purple-black colored, it leaps from the glass with a first wave of vibrant black raspberries, ripe blackberries and mulberries scents, followed by a powerful core of warm cassis, dark chocolate and violets, before bursting into an array of crushed rocks, iron ore, tree bark and black truffles notes. The concentrated, densely packed, full-bodied palate is not in the least bit heavy, delivering a refreshing backbone of red berry and dried herbs suggestions, framed by seamless acidity and very finely grained tannins, finishing on an epically long, fragrant earth note. Simply stunning.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98-100 RPUnquestionably one of the top wines in this impressive vintage, the 2020 Château Haut-Brion checks in as 42.8% Merlot, 39.7% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the balance Cabernet Franc, all of which will spend 15-18 months in 77% new French oak. Its deep purple color is followed by a thrilling nose of mineral-laced blackcurrants, black raspberries, toast, spice, scorched earth, and graphite. Possessing an almost Lafite-like elegance on the palate, it nevertheless has huge dry extract, full-bodied richness, flawless balance, and beautiful tannins. Per the spec sheet, the alcohol is an estimated 15% with a pH of 3.78, so it’s no shrinking violet, yet it never shows a hint of headiness or being over the top. I finished my note with “Where can I buy some?” I suspect this wine will require a solid decade to hit the early stages of maturity and will be a 30-, 40-, or possibly a 50-year wine.Jeb Dunnuck | 98-100 JDThis is a superb Haut-Brion with incredible tannins that are wonderfully fine-grained. It’s really powerful. This is very primary with so much grape-generated tannin structure. Very, very long, going on for minutes. Seductive and friendly at the start and then takes you on at the finish with so much structure. Wine of the vintage?James Suckling | 100 JSThe 2020 Haut-Brion is shaping up to be one of the wines of the year. Substance, depth and textural intensity elevate Haut-Brion into the realm of the sublime in 2020. All the elements are so wonderfully balanced. Inky dark fruit, gravel, lavender, violet and dark spice build as the 2020 gradually opens with some aeration. Wow.Vinous Media | 97-99 VMTightly textured, this is a wine whose future is assured. With intense white fruits, spice and touches of toast from the wood aging, the wine’s concentration and taut character combine richness and structure.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WE(Château Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, Red) Concentrated, powerful and precise; this takes a grip and holds on, layers of liquorice, grilled coffee bean, chocolate, blackcurrant pastille, cassis bud and a more steely wet stone edge that gives a much needed balance to the richness of the overall feel of this wine. Gunsmoke curls out of the glass after half an hour - this is going to need serious ageing, impressive and powerful stuff. Harvest from 7th to 29th September. (Drink between 2030-2050)Decanter | 96 DEC

Rather ethereal and so refined with finesse, focus and brightness that provides incredible energy and pedigree. It’s full-bodied with ultra fine tannins that go on and on. Superb presence with tannins that melt into the wine. This is 12.8%. I love the wine. Lots of dark fruit and fresh tobacco. Lead pencil, too. 92% cabernet sauvignon, 7% merlot and 1% petit verdot.James Suckling | 99-100 JSThe 2020 Château Lafite-Rothschild checks in as 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot brought up in roughly 90% or more of new French oak. It’s a deep, inky-hued Lafite boasting incredible notes of crème de cassis, lead pencil shavings, graphite, crushed stone, and gravelly earth-like minerality. Full-bodied and beautifully balanced, with terrific purity of fruit, it has ripe tannins, a layered, seamless mouthfeel, and a great, great finish. It should surpass the 2015 and 2017 and be in the same realm as the 2018 and 2019. Despite its richness and depth, it hit just 12.8% alcohol, with an IPT of 72 and a pH of 3.5. It’s going to be just about immortal.Jeb Dunnuck | 97-99 JDDisplaying a deep purple-black color, the 2020 Lafite Rothschild takes a little swirling and coaxing to unlock scents of freshly crushed blackcurrants, boysenberries and spiced plums, followed by emerging nuances of red roses, raspberry preserves, underbrush and unsmoked cigars, with a waft of cedar chest. The medium-bodied palate is an exercise in elegance and finesse, featuring tightly wound layers of red and black berries and loads of mineral sparks, framed by finely grained tannins and well-poised tension, finishing with fantastic length and the most stunning perfume. Magnificent achievement. This 2020 is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot, coming in at 12.8% alcohol and a pH of 3.9.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96-98 RPThis is a complete wine, with its layers of fruit and tannin in total harmony. Concentration comes easily backed by a palate that shows salinity, as well as impressive black currant fruits. The wine is certainly destined for long-term aging.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEThe 2020 is a super-classic Lafite-Rothschild of grace and finesse. A reticent introvert, Lafite impresses with its vertical lift and palpable energy. It is a wine of regal bearing that does not feel the need to say much, and yet everything is very clearly there. Bright acids and strong, saline notes come alive in the glass as the long, persistent finish unfolds with remarkable grace. The 2020 is simply exquisite. It’s a fabulous showing from the team led by Technical Director Eric Kohler.Vinous Media | 95-97 VM(Château Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, Red) This is pretty much as close to entirely Cabernet Sauvignon as Bordeaux gets (92%) and yet it has an incredibly fine, gentle richness to the tannins. They build up pretty quickly though, so that by the end of the palate you start to feel the closing in and tightening, deftly underscoring how well this will age. The kaleidoscope of flavours and aromatics that Lafite does so well is fully on display, nothing trying too hard, a velvet texture to the tannins where the cassis fruit, earth, crushed stone and graphite is held in from beginning to end. Impressive that even in dry vintages like 2020 with the real concerns over global warming, the top Bordeaux estates can still produce wines of this quality. (Drink between 2028-2046)Decanter | 97 DEC