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The inky/blue/purple-colored 2009 Bellevue Mondotte offers aromas of creme de cassis, mulberries, licorice, white flowers, forest floor and candied cherries. Extremely thick, rich and full-bodied, it is nearly overwhelming in its textural richness, colossal concentration and mind-blowing finish that lasts nearly a minute. Undeniably massive and over-sized, but perfectly balanced, it is made for those looking for something to put away for 30-50+ years. One has to admire a proprietor who is making a wine for the history books, not for near-term gratification.This is a tiny jewel in the empire of entrepreneur and quality conscious Bordeaux visionary, Gerard Perse. It is a 5-acre parcel of nearly 50-year old vines planted on pure limestone at an elevation above that of his neighboring property, Pavie-Decesse, not far from Pavie-Macquin. Bellevue Mondotte is generally a blend of approximately 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Since Perse got control of this estate and renovated the cellars, he has been draconian in reducing yields, which were a mere 22 hectoliters per hectare in 2009. The fruit was picked very ripe and the wine was fermented in oak tanks with malolactic in barrel, aged on its lees (a la Burgundy), and bottled unfined and unfiltered. At all the Perse properties the wine stays in oak about six months longer than at other Bordeaux estates.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPLoads of fruit with blueberries and blackberries. Cassis. Full and juicy with super fine tannins. Very flamboyant. Powerful structure. Goes on for minutes. 90% Merlot with 5% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Try in 2018.James Suckling | 97 JS(90% merlot with 5% each cabernet franc and sauvignon): Deep ruby. Superripe, slightly inky aromas of blueberry liqueur and violet. Like liquid silk in the mouth, but with surprisingly firm acidity leavening the wine’s sweetness and giving shape to its blue and black fruit flavors. A compellingly rich, thick wine with palate-staining length and the tannic clout to support at least a couple decades of positive evolution in bottle.Vinous Media | 95+ VMA very dark, almost brooding style, with loads of ganache, espresso and roasted fig aromas and flavors, backed by extra notes of black forest cake, warm currant preserves and melted black licorice. There’s a gorgeous polished feel despite its heft, with a purity buried deep on the finish. Drink now through 2015. 415 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

Along with the 2005, the 2009 is the greatest Angelus I've tasted and is a perfect wine in every way. Based on 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc raised in (I believe) 100% new oak, its still youthful ruby/purple color is followed by an incredible perfume of crème de cassis and blueberry fruits as well as notes of white chocolate, Asian spices, flowery incense, and a hint of white truffle. Full-bodied and powerful, it still stays weightless and elegant on the palate, and as all truly great wines do, it offers an amazing amount of both hedonistic and intellectual pleasure. It has a wealth of tannins, incredible depth of fruit, and a finish that won't quit. Drink this magical, heavenly 2009 any time over the coming 20-30 years or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDA candidate for perfection with a few more years of bottle age, this great vintage of Angelus has an almost impenetrable black/purple color and a gorgeous nose of incense, graphite, blackberry liqueur, truffles and spring flowers. The wine is full-bodied, with a voluptuous texture a magnificent concentration and purity of fruit, a stunning finish of close to a minute, and wonderfully sweet, velvety tannins that make for a prodigious Angelus that should turn out to be one of the all-time greats ever made at this estate. Drink it over the next 25-50 years.Robert Parker | 99+ RPA brilliant wine that has taken on depth and character with every year of ageing. At 11 years old you still find plenty of exuberant black cherry and cassis fruits, along with muscular tannins and a gripping slate texture, but there are also grilled oak notes that are evident although not dominant. A big jump up in the percentage of Cabernet Franc in the blend also, which no doubt helps keep focus and a sense of restraint even in a warm year, allowing for a counterbalance to the opulence. Harvest September 25th to October 14th. Drinking Window 2022 - 2045.Decanter | 96 DECIf you've ever eaten really good British Christmas cake then you know what this lavish 2009 St.-Emilion smells and tastes like. Every bit as rich as it is polished with a long moderately dry finish packed with powdery tannins. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019).James Suckling | 96 JSThe 2009 Angélus has a very refined bouquet with a mixture of red and black fruit, quite lavish in style with hints of crushed violet developing in the glass. You cannot help but be taken by the purity of this Angélus. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe and supple tannin, well judged acidity, beautifully balanced with supremely well integrated oak towards the finish. This is a wonderful Angélus that should give another two or three decades of drinking pleasure. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits' Ten Year On tasting.Vinous Media | 96 VMRich and rather stolid now, this features a wall of roasted apple wood and charcoal flavors in front of the dense core of black Mission fig, steeped black currant fruit and espresso notes. Extremely dense on the finish, but the inlaid spice and tobacco hints are there just beneath the surface, needing only extended cellaring to emerge fully. One of the larger-scaled efforts of the vintage. Best from 2018 through 2035. 8,165 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSClosed at this stage, this promises a huge, ripe future. Toast and spice notes are balanced around a black plum flavor. The dense, dark tannins create a brooding character, which is balanced by freshness on the finish. Give this wine at least 10 years.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WE

I’ve been lucky enough to have the 2009 Château Palmer numerous times over the past handful of years, and it continues to be a primordial yet heavenly wine every time, revealing a deep purple color as well as an incredibly powerful bouquet of blackcurrants, black cherry liqueur, smoked tobacco, graphite, crushed stone, and chocolate. Possessing full-bodied richness and a massive, dense, incredibly powerful style (not far off the 2018), it gains elegance and finesse with time in the glass, has ultra-fine tannins, and one hell of a finish. This magical Palmer needs another decade to hit maturity and will evolve for 50+ years or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDBursting with potential for decades of enjoyment as it just hovers around its drinking window at 11 years old. Still extremely young, with fleshy black damson fruits that settle in and deepen through the mid palate. As with the last time I tasted this just over 18 months ago, the violet and peony notes swirl out of the glass as it opens. The texture is velvet, with grain and depth to it, and a smoky edge alongside chocolate and mint. It’s so young still, it will go and go and lives up to some of the best Palmers on record, with generous fruits matched by natural tension and tannic grip. This won the audience award at the virtual tasting. Thomas Duroux had been at the estate for five years at this point. Drinking Window 2020 - 2045.Decanter | 98 DECThis has such class and power. Aromas of blueberries and blackberries, with hints of violets. Full-bodied, with polished tannins and a juicy finish. Solid and extremely pretty. Fabulous finish. Try in 2020.James Suckling | 98 JSDeep garnet colored, the 2009 Palmer delivers a beguiling array of black fruit—warm plums, cassis and black cherry compote—with kirsch and wild sage sparks plus profound suggestions of fragrant earth, black truffles, iron ore and liquid licorice. Full-bodied, rich and decadently seductive in the mouth, the generous fruit is superbly framed with plush tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and mineral laced.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPA beautiful wine, with the firmest tannins surrounded by perfumed fruit. It is dense, of course, but this density is balanced with great elegance, blackberry fruits, sweetness and final juicy acidity. The wine is structured, a powerhouse of concentration while preserving this complete style.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEThe 2009 Palmer has a beautifully defined bouquet with bright black cherry and boysenberry fruit, crushed stone and rose petal. Not as decadent as the bottle poured at the BI tasting, yet precise. The palate is medium-bodied with supple and refined tannin, and crisp acidity. Wonderfully poised with quite a penetrating finish that delivers a payload of multi-layered blueberry and blackberry. This is a very well crafted 2009 Margaux destined for long-term ageing. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 96 VMThis is on another level from most in the appellation, with gorgeous layers of warm currant confiture, smoldering tobacco, licorice snap, warm paving stone and anise all framed by tarry but integrated grip. Stays sleek and well-defined through the finish. Should age beautifully. Best from 2015 through 2030. 9,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WS(Château Palmer) The 2009 Palmer is borderline overripe, but manages to just hold itself together and will provide some pretty dramatic early drinking, but I seriously doubt it has the structure to carry it deep into the future. The nose is a very ripe blend of blackberries, black cherries, chocolate, damp earth and luxurious, nutty new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, suave and sappy, with good mid-palate depth, soft tannins, low acids and a long, complex and seductive finish. This is cut very much in the same style as the 2009 Lafite, and while it is admirably done in this style, it will never rank up in the upper range of my personal hierarchy of great vintages at Palmer. But a very well made wine in its style. (Drink between 2018-2040)John Gilman | 90-92 JG

This sports a dark, chewy side for now, with overt charcoal and roasted apple wood notes, along with plenty of smoldering tobacco flavors. The core is still a bit chunky as well, with roasted fig, blackberry paste and steeped black currant fruit. But the underlying structure is refined, despite its density, and the finish is very long and purely rendered. Best from 2018 through 2035. 2,250 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSTasted at the Trotanoy vertical in Hong Kong, the 2009 Trotanoy has long been one of the standout Pomerols in what was a fecund year for the appellation. This bottle reaffirmed previous reviews, although the aromatics were perhaps a little more immediate with blackberry, roasted chestnut and truffles, just a touch of glycerin, all delivered with fabulous precision. The oak is more assimilated on the palate that still feels succulent. But, look a little further and there is real backbone cloaked by all that fruit, plus there is awe-inspiring persistence on the finish that just lacquers the mouth. Stupendous! Tasted November 2016.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPA deep nose of blueberries, with chocolate mousse that turns to licorice and hints of rose petal. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins that fill your mouth. But they are always soft and caressing. They last for minutes. I love the texture to this wine; it is like plush velvet. Best in 2018, but so inviting now.James Suckling | 97 JS(Château Trotanoy (barrel sample note)) The 2009 Trotanoy is flat out magnificent and clearly one of the top handful of wines made in Bordeaux in this vintage. Of all the Pomerols that I tasted on this trip, only Pétrus is superior to Trotanoy, as this wine is simply a great classic in the making. The utterly profound and regal nose offers up a glorious mélange of plums, black cherries, raw cocoa, herb tones, woodsmoke, a stunningly complex base of soil, coffee bean, a hint of the blood orange to come and a very discreet framing of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and flawlessly balanced, with a huge core of pure fruit, stunning focus and balance, plenty of ripe tannins and an endless, utterly seamless finish. The 2009 Trotanoy is a very powerful vintage for this wine, but is so breathtakingly poised and light on its feet as to almost belie its amazing depth and intensity. One of the greatest young vintages of Trotanoy I have ever tasted, this is a masterpiece of traditional Pomerol in the making. Amazingly, this is the ripest wine in the entire Moueix stable this year, as it weighs in at a full 14.3 percent alcohol, and yet is utterly cool in the mouth. A profoundly great wine. (Drink between 2022-2075)John Gilman | 96-97 JGThe 2009 Trotanoy has a broody and what feels like Cabernet-driven bouquet, well defined with touches of cigar box and forest floor. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin, taut red berry fruit laced with sage, white pepper, hints of fennel and a refreshingly saline finish. This is very promising although, it does not quite possess the persistence of its peers. Sultry, almost saturnine...I guess this is Trotanoy? Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 96 VMA vintage that Edouard Moueix summed up succinctly by comparing it to a friend that is always ready to please, to the point that you can’t help but try to find fault. What that means in the glass is that you get plenty of aromatic complexity, and an attack that is generous, ample and ready to go. There is a caramel edge that suggests the fruit was fully ripe and is starting to soften. Autumnal red berry fruit, truffle and wet earth are on display, but it retains plenty of structure, and you can feel the tannins elongating across the palate, adding freshness and shape and helping to give width and density. It’s ten years old and starting to fully deliver. Drinking Window 2019 - 2038.Decanter | 96 DECBeneath the surface tannins is great Merlot fruit, very ripe and full-bodied, a powerhouse of flavors. The depth and complexity of the wine is all there, along with a dark core of dryness. A wine for long-term aging.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE