Shop Wine

wines

A wine of noble bearing and exceptional beauty, the 2010 Mouton Rothschild is a flat-out stunner. The aromatics alone are beguiling. On the palate, the wine is every bit as thrilling, with myriad layers of flavor that continue to open up in the glass. Graphite, gravel, smoke, plum, black cherry and savory herbs are all strikingly delineated throughout. Vivid and crystalline, the 2010 is a jewel of a wine, but it is impossibly young now. Readers who can be patient will be treated to a fabulous wine. Today, the 2010 reminds me of a more civilized version of the 1986. The 2010 is 94% Cabernet Sauvignon (the highest amount of Cabernet ever here). Dollops of Merlot round out the blend. Harvest took place between September 29 and October 13.Antonio Galloni | 100 AGSmoked grilled tar on the nose, it feels both very 2010 and supremely Mouton - accomplished and confident. A more glamorous, enticing edge than the other Pauillac Firsts at this 10 year window. There are plentiful tannins but they are lined with air, and the overall feel is of plush, plumped fruits, like being rolled-up in luxurious sheets. It is very different in character to the other two Pauillac Firsts, but no less enjoyable. It feels higher in alcohol, more Cos than Lafite in terms of personality, in the way that Pichon Baron is more Latour than Comtesse, but it is nuanced and clever and surprising. Drinking Window 2025 - 2050Decanter | 100 DECClearly a perfect wine that shows incredible depth of fruit with currants, dark chocolate, minerals and licorice. Full-bodied, tight and wound up with ripe tannins that let go and seduce you. Makes me want to drink it now. But this is a wine for the long term. Extraordinary. 94% cabernet sauvignon. Better in 2020.James Suckling | 100 JSThis remains the stunner, a battleship of a wine, brimming with cassis, blackberry and fig fruit that has melded together now, with the backdrop of alder, bay leaf and menthol starting to emerge a bit more. The long finish is loaded with grip, pulling the fruit and other components together. And then there’s that flash of iron at the very end. Awesome wine.--Non-blind Mouton-Rothschild vertical (March 2017). Best from 2025 through 2060.Wine Spectator | 99 WSOnly 49% of the production made it into the 2010 Mouton Rothschild, which has a strikingly beautiful label by Jeffrey Koons. This is a truly great wine, with a very high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon (94%) and the other 6% Merlot. At 13.9% natural alcohol, Mouton’s director, Philippe Dhalluin, has clearly produced another 50- to 60-year wine that has a chance at perfection in about 15 years time, when I suspect this wine will be rounding into drinking condition. It is dense, rich and full-bodied, with the classic Mouton creme de cassis, forest floor, licorice and floral notes, but also some blueberry and hints of subtle espresso and mulberry. The wine has more minerality and precision than the rich, extravagantly opulent 2009, and while that may please some, others will have their patience tested as they wait and wait for this compelling Mouton Rothschild to hit full maturity.Robert Parker | 98+ RPA dense, smooth and opulent wine bursting with ripe Cabernet Sauvignon flavors. It’s regal and well structured, balancing the natural exuberance of Mouton with a more severe side. This is a wine with power, yet not without its charms from the fruitiness and final acidity. This great wine will age many, many years.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WE(Château Mouton-Rothschild) Prior to my visit to Mouton at the end of my trip, I had heard from several sources that this was a top-notch vintage for this great estate. Having now tasted the wine, I would have to say that such an assessment included more than a bit of wishful thinking, as the 2010 Mouton has not managed to carry its fourteen percent alcoholic ripeness without sacrificing precision on both the nose and palate. The wine offers up a ripe and fairly complex bouquet of black cherries, black raspberries, coffee bean, cigar smoke, soil and lead pencil. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and quite broad-shouldered, with a rock solid core of ripe fruit, very firm, but well-integrated tannins and a long, slightly blurry finish. The harmony of acids, ripe fruit and firm tannins here are much better than in any of the other wines in the Mouton stable this year, but 2010 is a vintage where the strident ripeness has been very hard to harness and provide a wine with the customary focus and delineation that is almost taken for granted at Mouton-Rothschild. This is a good wine, but decidedly not a great vintage for Mouton. It may improve over the course of its elevage and eventually place at the higher end of this scoring range, but it is hardly a legend in the making. (Drink between 2025-2075)John Gilman | 87-91+ JG

I certainly underrated the 2010 Pape Clement from barrel, rating it only 93-95+. (Thank God I put a “plus” there!) Having tasted it four times in Bordeaux, and rating it perfect three times and 99 the fourth time, this final blend of 51% Merlot, 47.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 1.5% Petit Verdot is perfection in a bottle. Tipping the scales at 14.5% natural alcohol, there are 8,000 cases of it. Its sublime elegance, the power, the medium to full-bodied texture, the silky tannins, the subtle notes of smoke, lead pencil shavings, black currants, charcoal, camphor, blueberry and cassis fruit are all remarkable. It is a rich, full-throttle wine, but the elegance and the great terroir of Pape Clement come through in abundance. It is slightly more developed and evolved than the 2005 was at a similar point in its evolution, but it certainly needs another 5-7 years to develop further nuances, which it surely will. This wine will last 30-40+ years.Kudos to proprietor Bernard Magrez, who has built an empire based on high quality more than any other characteristic.Robert Parker | 100 RPIntense blueberry nose with great precision and expression. Full and vibrant on the palate with a minty note. Vanilla. Wonderful structure. Firm but ripe tannins and very long. Needs time to soften. Great potential. Try in 2016.James Suckling | 96 JSThe 2010 Pape Clément has a gorgeous bouquet with vibrant red berry fruit, camphor, raspberry preserve and just a hint of marmalade - very seductive and classy. The palate is medium-bodied with lithe tannins and good density, as you would expect. Whilst a little grainy in texture it feels structured with tarry black fruit, although I would have liked to see a touch more persistence on the aftertaste. As such, leave it for another three or four years because it has a lot of potential. Tasted from an ex-château bottle at the BI Wines & Spirits 10-Year On tasting.Vinous Media | 95 VMNicely toasty, with a lovely broad stroke of mocha and ganache spread over the velvety core of plum sauce, blackberry coulis and steeped currant fruit. The long, polished finish keeps a tarry thread running along with the fruit, adding length and range. Not shy on style. Best from 2018 through 2035. 7,966 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSA smooth, dense wine, ripe and polished. It brings out a modern view of Bordeaux, dark and concentrated, hinting at the new-wood aging. At the same time, the wine has a serious edge that promises proper aging.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEPape Clement was still all about shoulders and pecs at this point; and even at 10 years old this is a serious beast. There is a lovely elegant uptick through the finish, offering a counterpoint to black chocolate shavings, black olive, cut herbs, rosemary and cinnamon, just full of spice and power. It’s a good wine, no question; if not particularly signature Pessac. Drinking Window 2020 - 2042Decanter | 93 DEC(Château Pape Clément) The 2010 Pape Clément has turned out very well indeed, and while I would still prefer to see it in the guise of an unabashed champion of traditionalism, it is hard not to enjoy the more modern rendition in the context of its success in this challenging vintage in the Graves. The ripe nose is deep, complex and classy, as it offers up scents of black cherries, cassis, Cuban cigars, soil tones and plenty of spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very suave on the attack, with impressive complexity, good depth at the core and very good length and grip on the fairly tannic finish. Today the new oak obtrudes a bit on the finish, but one hopes that there is sufficient stuffing to carry the wood tannins along with those from the skins. I am still not convinced that the new style here is an improvement upon the old, but this is at least very well done in 2010. (Drink between 2020-2060)John Gilman | 90+ JG

The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Tychson Hill is an absolutely profound wine, dense, bluish purple color to the rim with a stunning nose of acacia flowers, graphite, blueberry and blackcurrant fruit. The wine is full-bodied and displays a multi-dimensional, skyscraper-like mouthfeel with no sense of heaviness or weight. An incredibly pure, rich, gorgeously constructed wine from a fabulous terroir, this is a stunner to drink now and over the next 30+ years.Robert Parker | 100 RPAromas of black fruits, hay, hazelnut and chocolate that move to wet earth and mushroom, then flowers. Sous bois too. Full-bodied, yet caressing and polished. Velvety texture. Flavorful. Toasted and juicy with a violet undertone. Weightlessness in the wine despite being dense. Out March 2016.James Suckling | 96 JSDeep, full ruby. Compelling sweetness to the aromas of black raspberry, licorice and minerals. Plush, layered and deep, boasting outstanding volume and inner-mouth perfume to the glossy flavors of dark berries, flowers, ginger and earth. This has all the elements for Cabernet greatness, dialed up to higher setting, and yet today it’s hiding more than it’s showing even if it already saturates every square millimeter of the palate with flavor. Finishes with huge but utterly sweet tannins and outstanding lingering perfume. A knockout for the vintage, boasting great density and aromatic character.Vinous Media | 96+ VMExhibits a gravelly, crushed rock dustiness woven through the chunky dark berry, dried herb and savory flavors. Complex aromas of cedar, fresh-cut flowers and anise are the initial lure. More trim than opulent on the palate, most impressive on the long finish. Drink now through 2024. 390 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Ark Vineyard sports a deep garnet color and rocks up with a ready-to-party nose of blackcurrant cordial, blueberry pie and freshly baked plums. And yet it also possesses a seriously savory undercurrent of tapenade, chargrill, rosemary-roasted lamb and fried Indian spices plus a waft of fragrant earth. The full-bodied palate has an evocative earthiness interlacing the opulent black fruit preserves with firm, velvety shoulders to support all that generous fruit flesh along with seamless freshness, finishing very long and savory. Truly stunning.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPA deliciously pure and juicy style, capturing the currant and blackberry essence of Cabernet in a supple, graceful manner. Texturally harmonious, with just the right amount of sage details and dusty, earth-laced tannins. Ends on a tart note. Drink now through 2027. 1,100 cases made.Wine SpectatorWine Spectator | 93 WS

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Pièce De Résistance is a selection of the five best barrels in the wine cellar, aged in 100% Taransaud cooperage. The first perfect score I’ve given to Pahlmeyer – but highly deserving – this is a masterpiece of gorgeous crème de cassis, blackberry liqueur, forest floor, camphor, charcoal and white flowers, magnificent concentration, wonderfully subtle oak, and a finish of close to a minute. In short, Cabernet Sauvignon rarely gets any better than this, but latching onto a bottle or two will not be easy. Drink it over the next 30-40 years.Robert Parker | 100 RPThe 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Piece de Resistance is deep, powerful and unctuous. Red cherry jam, pomegranate, bittersweet chocolate, French oak, mint, licorice and rose petal notes infuse a rich, silky wine endowed with tremendous depth. The new French oak shapes the wine, but is also very nicely balanced. Unlike most 2013s, this flamboyant, opulent Cabernet Sauvignon will drink well with minimal cellaring, although it will certainly be more complex with time in bottle. In 2013, Piece de Resistance is mostly from Stagecoach, with a touch of fruit from Rancho Chimiles.Vinous Media | 94 VM

The 2013 La Muse, like all of the 2013s, comes about one-third from Alexander Valley vineyards, 40-plus percent from Chalk Hill, and the rest Knights Valley and Bennett Valley – all high-elevation hillside vineyards. A blend of 89% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 3% Malbec at 14.3% alcohol, the wine is amazingly like a great vintage of Petrus, with mulberry, black cherry, licorice, truffle and unctuous, thick, juicy fruit all present in this full-bodied masterpiece. The tannins are still present. The wine has purity and savory presence and is remarkable. The finish goes on for well past a minute. This wine would probably benefit from 5-8 years of bottle age and last 40-50 years.Robert Parker | 100 RPFascinating aromas of blackberries and orange peel with dried flowers. Full-bodied and very structured. Superb density and length. Just starting to open up now. Fantastic merlot.James Suckling | 98 JSAnother huge wine, the 2013 La Muse is endowed with serious power and overall structure, especially compared to the 2012 tasted alongside it. Sweet tobacco, grilled herbs, cedar and smoke add considerable nuance. There is plenty of fruit and overall richness, but the imposing tannic heft is going to demand considerable cellaring.Vinous Media | 93-96 VMNotes of black raspberry, forest floor, burnt sugar, methol and rich barrel toast are the prelude to a wine strucutred around fine, dense tannins and good acidity. 89% Merlot, with the balance Cabernet Franc and Malbec, La Muse is the richest and most opulent of the Verité wines, as well as the most marked by its barrel programme, but it retains nicely savoury definition. Drinking Window 2023 - 2045.Decanter | 93 DEC

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

More tight and reserved than the 2015 yet just as good, the 2014 The Absurd checks in as 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot brought up in new oak. This cuvée is always a selection made by winemaker Benoit Touquette and comes from mix of vineyards. It’s an incredibly opulent, powerful wine offering a dense purple/plum-color as well as a mountain of pure crème de cassis, tobacco, cedarwood, and chocolate, with even a touch of spring flowers emerging with time in the glass. The palate doesn’t lose a beat either and is full-bodied and concentrated, yet as light and graceful as they come, with silky tannins and perfect balance. It needs a solid decant if drinking any time soon, and I suspect it will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age. It’s a magical wine.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDA blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot, is the 2014 The Absurd, basically a choice of their finest barrels, or as winemaker and owner Benoit Touquette says, “The crème de la crème.” This is another perfect wine equaling their incredible 2013. Yet the 2014 is slightly more forward and showy, as many 2013s are just beginning to shut down. There are 250 cases of this majestic wine that has an opaque purple color, extraordinary nose of spring flowers, blueberry, blackberry, creosote, charcoal, toast and spice. The wine has unbelievable fruit on the attack, midpalate and finish, compelling purity, texture and a finish of close to a full minute. It is (as advertised by the winery) a “showcase of the best of Napa Valley with the freedom of expression that results from no rules.” Drink now-2035.Robert Parker | 100 RPBlackberries, blueberries, pretty florals and cherries. Extremely aromatic. Full-bodied, layered and powerful. Delightful depth and sexiness. Juicy and entrancing. Moreish. You want to drink it. Better in 2022.James Suckling | 97 JS