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Tasted 7 Times Since Bottling With Consistent NotesThe 1986 is a highly extracted wine, with a black/ruby color and plenty of toasty, smoky notes in its bouquet that suggest ripe plums and licorice. Evolving at a glacial pace, it exhibits massive, huge, ripe, extremely concentrated flavors with impressive depth and richness. It possesses more power, weight, and tannin than the more opulent and currently more charming 1985. Anticipated maturity: 1996-2010.Robert Parker | 95 RPVibrant deep colour, this has masses of spice box and minerals on the nose. Of course, the 86 was famous for its power and tannic structure and this is still muscular and foursquare, but the tannins are beginning to yield and soften. Very fresh acidity and classic sweet cassis fruit with notes of minerals, underbrush and tobacco. Very pure and long. Impressively, the wine had been decanted two hours previously and was still evolving in the glass more than an hour later. Tasted at Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2015. Drinking Window 2015 - 2030.Decanter | 95 DECThe 1986 Cos d’Estournel replicates the performance from my 30-year on tasting that I conducted a few months back. The bouquet is attractive with mint and juniper berries that grab the attention of the olfactory senses, later accompanied by liquorice and graphite. The palate is understated on the entry but then builds in the mouth with wonderful spice and black pepper infused black fruit that form the foundation of this Cos d’Estournel. Sure, it feels masculine and structured on the finish and perhaps translates more the growing season that Saint-Estèphe. Yet it is very well crafted and should continue to drink well for another decade. Tasted at the Cos d’Estournel vertical at the property.Vinous Media Neal Martin | 92 VMNo written review provided. | 92 WS

1989 was an early year, with flowering three weeks ahead of usual. Now at 30 years old, a floral aspect curls out of the glass, with touches of roses and peonies, followed on the palate by bilberries and blackberries, with a cigar smoke and eucalyptus finish. It’s still vigorous in its tannic structure, but it’s soft and supple enough to enjoy today. This bottle was recorked by hand at the winery last year, with five people checking every single one of the 5,000 bottles remaining at the chateau. The wines were topped up from magnums of the 1989. 3% Petit Verdot completes the blend - a variety not used in the grand vin since 1996. Drinking Window 2019 - 2040Decanter | 98 DECVery ripe, with raisin and dried fruits on the nose. You can smell the sun-dried grapes. Full-bodied, delivering firm tannins and a very fresh palate. Long and flavorful, offering currant, berries and all sorts of dark fruits, but turns lightly earthy and floral. This is a thoroughly complex wine. Just starting to really open into the mature 20-year-old wine it is, but such a great life ahead of it. Muscular.--’89/’99 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2009). Drink now.Wine Spectator | 96 WSOne of the most youthful wines of the vintage, the 1989 Léoville Las Cases unwinds in the decanter and glass with aromas of blackcurrant and pencil shavings, framed by a discrete patina from its aging in oak. Medium to full-bodied, deep and tightly wound, it’s impressively pure and vibrant, though it lacks the mid-palate plenitude of the vintage’s best wines, displaying a touch of tannic asperity on the finish. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it continue to improve with further aging, though my sense is that the Cabernet Sauvignon might have been picked a little prematurely in this vintage.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RP

This is one of my favorite wines ever. Full-bodied, with layers of silky fruit and masses of currant, mineral and berry character. Amazing. It’s a wine with perfect structure, perfect strength. It’s 1961 Latour in modern clothes. It’s hard not to drink it now. ’89/’90 Bordeaux non-blind horizontal. Best after 2008.Wine Spectator | 100 WSThen, the 1990 Latour arrives. Powerful and dense to the core, the 1990 possesses superb density for a wine of its age. Despite its considerable depth, the 1990 remains light on its feet for such a big wine. I imagine the 1990 Latour will drink well for another thirty years. What a wine.Vinous Media | 98 AG(Château Latour) The 1990 vintage from Château Latour is a superb example of this ripe and more forward year, with the torrid growing season having put its imprimatur on the wine a bit in its slightly more forward and plush style, without ever impinging upon the classic Latour house style. The bouquet is tremendously deep and expressive, offering up scents of cassis, blackberries, tobacco, gravelly soil tones, a hint of violets, cedar and a blossoming topnote of cigar smoke. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and simply packed at the core, with superb focus and grip, lovely complexity and a very long, ripely tannic and already fairly pliable finish. This wine has plenty of structure for the long haul, but it does not possess the classic sternness of vintages of Latour from the fifties or sixties, nor of wines made in the last decade or so. That said, it is probably the finest Left Bank wine of the 1990 vintage. (Drink between 2016-2060).John Gilman | 96 JGThis is one of the more perplexing Latours to evaluate. It has plenty of sweetness as well as a gorgeous, rich fruitiness, but it lacks the firmness one finds in more recent great vintages such as 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008. There is plenty of sweet, ripe currant fruitiness, abundant glycerin, and full body, but I’m still waiting for that extra nuance of complexity to emerge. It’s all there, but the wine still seems to be more monolithic than one would expect in a wine approaching 19 years of age. It is not the sure-fire winner I thought it was in its youth, but then again, I don’t have any reason to doubt that more complexity will emerge. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2035. Release price: ($1500.00/case)Robert Parker | 95+ RPStill a young wine, with firm tannins that are less finely expressed than the Lafite at the same age and instead provide a more muscular presence in the glass, as is entirely within the Latour signature. The dominant flavours are cedar, tobacco, black cherry and cigar box, with black pepper spice on the close of play. Plenty of changes going on at Latour in 1990, with the estate sold the year before from the Pearson Group to Allied Lyons. This was the first year of the third wine Pauillac de Latour, further refining the selection of the main bottling. Drinking Window 2021 - 2036.Decanter | 94 DEC

Bright aromas of blackberries, cherries, currants and toasted oak follow through to a full-bodied palate, with chewy tannins. Long and silky. Racy. Best after 2009.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

This starts off well, with a cassis fruit expression and some clear lift, however it slides through the mid-palate rather than expanding in the mouth. It’s fairly subdued, the clear tannins still in play with some hints of softening fruits and fallen leaves, but it fades on the finish. Aged in 50% new oak. Drinking Window 2018 - 2025Decanter | 90 DEC

A candidate for a perfect score, the 2003 Montrose has been a superstar since the first time I tasted it in barrel. Showing no signs of weakening, it is an amazing wine from this fabulous terroir. It boasts a deep blue/purple color as well as a stunning perfume of blueberries, black currants, blackberries, licorice and camphor. Dense, full-bodied and rich with an unctuous texture, well-integrated, melted tannins, and a long, heady finish, this big, brawny, super-intense, gorgeous 2003 is just beginning to enter its plateau of full maturity. It should remain there for at least two decades.Robert Parker | 99 RP(Chateau Montrose) A prodigious beast of a wine that’s now starting to shed just a touch of its considerable baby fat, the 2003 Château Montrose is based on 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot. It shows the richness of the vintage with its ripe, opulent core of fruit, yet it freshens up noticeably with time in the glass, offering currants, mulberries, smoked tobacco, minty herbs, and licorice. Full-bodied, deep, and powerful on the palate, it still has classic Bordeaux focus and structure. It’s drinking brilliantly today with a decant and has another 20-30 years of prime drinking. (Drink between 2022-2052)Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDAfter the 2009, this is the most exciting Montrose ever made, with intense aromas and flavors of plums, blueberries, spices, tobacco and cedar. It’s full-bodied with extremely refined tannins but a dense, delicious palate. Better in 2016, but why wait?James Suckling | 97 JSGood medium-deep ruby-red. Superripe, roasted aromas of black raspberry, chocolate and licorice. Wonderfully dense, sweet and lush, with an early roundness rare for this wine. A monumental St. Estephe with almost confectionery sweetness. Wonderfully horizontal, palate-saturating wine with huge but thoroughly ripe, lush tannins. It’s hard to believe that a wine this rich and deep could be carrying just 13.2% alcohol. The only thing missing here is the floral topnote of 2005, but that’s a quibble in this baking-hot vintage, as Montrose’s cooler, water-retentive clay-rich soil handled the extreme heat and drought as well as any chateau in the Bordeaux region. The final blend is 63% cabernet sauvignon, 33% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot.Vinous Media | 96 VMThis is hard to distinguish as an ’03, as an austere, racy profile of charcoal, black currant and iron reigns. Taut and focused, with a sense of freshness from buried bay leaf and tobacco accents, this is set apart in the vintage by drive and cut. Still a bit tight. The insider’s wine in this vintage.—Blind ’01/’03/’05 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2017). Best from 2020 through 2040. 15,830 cases made. — JMWine Spectator | 95 WSThought by many tasters to be the wine of the vintage at the time of the 2004 barrel tastings. Has it retained that status? It is certainly a hugely powerful wine, monumental even. It is also finely balanced, with great dark tannins working in partnership with brooding black fruit. The question is whether it is too big, too powerful: only time will tell. Imported by Diageo Chateau & Estates.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEA year when those cooling breezes from the estuary were essential. This displays sweeter, spicier fruit character than some years, and you can feel a more exotic style of oak. You get caramel and toffee on the nose with some dark spice on the palate, but there is a seam of menthol freshness running through it and the tannins are more than holding on. This shows the quality of Montrose in spades. 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot. Drinking Window 2017 - 2035Decanter | 92 DEC

A wine that combines big solid, but fresh fruit, with big flavors of new wood. It is solid, black and powerful.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEShows beautiful aromas of crushed berries and currant, with hints of mineral. Full-bodied, with lovely currant, licorice and mint. Long and caressing. Very refined and balanced. Another winner from Pontet-Canet. Best after 2011. 25,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSTasted at the Pontet-Canet vertical in London, it seems clear that the 2004 Château Pontet-Canet is predestined to always fall under the shadow of the 2005. Don't overlook this gem. The bouquet delivers pure blackberry, pencil lead and tobacco notes that are more generous than the 2005 at the moment—open for business, you might say. There is an element of dried herbs here, a hint of black tar. The palate is medium-bodied and quite sturdy in the mouth, the tannins perhaps "abrasive" when juxtaposed against the 2005, however they are couched in unexpectedly intense earthy black fruit that frame a tannic finish. If you hanker for a sumptuous Pontet-Canet, then opt for 2003 or 2009, but if your predilection is for a more "classic" Pauillac, then 2004 Pontet-Canet fits the bill. Undoubtedly a great wine from Alfred Tesseron for the vintage, I would start, broaching bottles now but keep a stash back for 4-5 years' time when those tannins have softened. Tasted February 2016.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 92 RP-NMGood ruby-red. Currant, black raspberry, cocoa powder and graphite on the nose. Silky on entry, then impressively sweet in the middle palate, with classic Pauillac flavors of currant, chocolate and graphite dominating. This boasts the sharp focus of the vintage's best examples but can't quite match the 2006 for consistent ripeness and mid-palate depth. Tannins are quite firm and in need of six or seven years of patience.Vinous Media | 91+ VMSweet generous blackberry nose, vibrant and charming, with integrated oak. This is ripe and rounded, not hugely concentrated but the tannins give structure and density. This has moderate acidity, and is approaching its peak, showing very attractive fruit. Drinking Window 2015 - 2022Decanter | 91 DECStill vibrant ruby colored, the 2004 Pontet Canet offers a very classic, balanced, medium to full-bodied style as well as textbook notes of blackcurrants, cedar wood, dried tobacco, and a hint of graphite. Still firm and focused, yet nicely concentrated, with ripe tannin, it’s in the early stages of its drinking plateau and should easily keep for another two decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 91 JDFirm and fresh with currant bush and sweet tobacco character that turns to cigar box. Medium-to-full body with a racy edge to it. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 91 JS

Great, spicy new wood flavors are balanced by the intense, solid fruits and deep, almost brooding tannins. This is a big wine, but it still preserves a good sense of proportion.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEShows blackberry and fresh mushroom on the nose. Medium-bodied, with soft tannins and an aftertaste of chocolate and delicate fruit. Best after 2012. 36,730 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

The 2008 Croix de Beaucaillou has an intense blackberry and briary scented bouquet with fine mineralité and delineation. This just soars from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, well judged acidity, plenty of cedar infused black fruit with a touch of tobacco towards the persistent finish. This is a well crafted and quite delicious 2008 Saint Julien that should give a decade’s more drinking pleasure. What panache for a deuxième vin. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 10-Year On tasting.Vinous Media | 92 VMVery elegant, sweet currants and red cherries intermixed with spice and flower notes all emerge from a glass of the 2008 La Croix Ducru Beaucaillou. Medium-bodied, silky, and seamless on the palate, it's a classy, balanced, and nuanced 2008 that's drinking beautifully today.Jeb Dunnuck | 91 JD(La Croix de Beaucaillou) The 2008 La Croix de Beaucaillou is an excellent example of the vintage, as it delivers the seamless harmony, great depth and superb signature of soil that makes this vintage so exciting. The first rate bouquet offers up a complex blend of cassis, dark berries, tobacco leaf, gravel, espresso and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and destined to blossom into a very complex wine, with a fine core of fruit, firm, well-integrated tannins, good acids and excellent length and grip on the bouncy finish. A fine, fine result. (Drink between 2018-2045)John Gilman | 91 JGAn outstanding wine and a great sleeper of the vintage, this second wine exhibits a denser purple color along with a sweet kiss of creme de cassis, licorice, incense and graphite. Fruity and medium to full-bodied , with an impressive texture and supple tannins, this wine should drink well for 10-15 years.Robert Parker | 90 RP

The 2008 La Mission Haut-Brion has an open, feisty, lively bouquet with blackberry, briary, cedar, black olive and a light seaweed (Japanese nori) aroma. This is wonderful, an intoxicating bouquet. The palate is beautifully balanced with a fine bead of acidity, very focused with good weight and structure. This is a very convincing showing, at the moment more pleasurable than the 2008 Haut-Brion, just so fresh and complex, offering a discrete tertiary, smoke-tinged finish that goes on and on. One of the best 2008s out there. (Tasted at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual 10-Year On tasting).Vinous Media | 96+ VMA muscular wine, with well-defined tannins. The acidity is high, hiding the power and richness of the fruit behind. Then dark tannins come through, with other ripe fruits, finishing with a mineral character.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEA beautiful, high-class effort that offers incredible pleasure, the 2008 Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion is a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc brought up in a mix of new and used barrels. Ripe black cherries, sweet currants, cigar tobacco, and exotic spices all emerge from this medium to full-bodied effort that has beautiful concentration, sweet tannins, and again, a pleasure-bent, even sexy character that’s a joy to drink. It’s capable of lasting another 30 years or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDLike a lot of wines in this underrated vintage, the 2008 La Mission was one of the great bargains of recent vintages. Its healthy blue/purple color is followed by aromas of blueberries, black raspberries, licorice, truffles, underbrush and forest floor. The scorched earthy/smoky character of this estate’s terroir has not yet emerged. Medium to full-bodied and concentrated with good acidity, freshness and delineation, this is a big wine for the vintage, but also very classic in its balance of tannin, acidity and extract. It will benefit from another 5-7 years of cellaring and should keep for three decades. The final blend was 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc.Robert Parker | 95 RPElegant and fresh, with beautiful crushed raspberry fruits - proof that 2008 is a vintage where terroir wins out. This all happens on the retro-olfaction: there you are thinking it’s a little under-perfumed for a Mission, but then it kicks back with a smoky swirl through the palate and the aromatics take hold. It’s very good, showing savoury black fruits on the finish and the gentlest hint of cigar box and cedar oak. Drinking Window 2020 - 2036Decanter | 94 DECFascinating aromas of crushed berry, plums, sweet tobacco and stones. Full bodied, with chewy and velvety tannins and a long, long finish. This is very structured and rich with a bright and tangy acidity. Needs time to come together, obviously. Try after 2015.James Suckling | 93 JSTangy and lightly firm, with cherry pit, pomegranate and blackberry notes, followed by sage and tobacco. There’s nice focus, with a tarry hint for added length on the finish. Rather tight now, with the edgy feel holding sway, but this should settle into itself nicely enough. Best from 2013 through 2018. 5,300 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

Perfumed, with raspberries and flowers and hints of lemon. Full body, with ultra-fine tannins and a chewy finish. Austere now, but stylish. Best after 2018.James Suckling | 93 JSServed blind at the Southwold 2009 tasting. The Ferriere '09 is a little disjointed on the nose at the moment and lifted floral notes and an agreeable sense of space and airiness. The palate is medium-bodied with a sappy, iodine tinged entry. It is sweet and rounded in the mouth, although it does not show great weight, but the finish is long and graceful, underpinned by fine tannins. Lovely. Tasted January 2013.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RP-NMA solid effort, with attractive, balanced black currant fruits and ripe acidity. The wine layers fruit and integrated tannins. It feels chunky and dense, finishing dryWine Enthusiast | 90 WESmoky and silky, with enticing black tea, mulled spice and fleshy plum and black currant fruit that melds nicely together through the tobacco-filled finish. Drink now through 2019. 6,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

So much floral and dark-fruit character with almonds and walnut shell. Full body and ultra-fine tannins. Powerful. Classic style with a harmony and energy. Goes on for minutes. A superb wine with great fruit. Real Bordeaux. Try in 2025.James Suckling | 98 JSSucculent fruits, rich tannins and juicy acidity are in perfect harmony in this wine produced from biodynamic grapes. It has a rich, velvet texture and dense structure, sumptuous and already balanced and delicious. However do not be fooled, this is a serious wine for aging. Drink no earlier than 2026. Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEDeep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Pontet-Canet comes charging out of the glass with fantastically expressive notes of black cherry preserves, black raspberries and blackcurrant pastilles plus touches of kirsch, wilted roses, tobacco, camphor and cinnamon stick with a waft of fragrant soil. Full bodied, the palate is laden with black and red fruit layers, supported by very firm, very finely grained tannins and provocative freshness, finishing with incredible length and stunningly perfumed.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPProprietor Alfred Tesseron and winemaker Jean-Michel Comme produced an absolutely stellar Pontet-Canet in 2015. Sumptuous, racy and totally inviting, the 2015 is all class. Super-ripe dark cherry, plum, spice and exotic floral notes build as the 2015 shows off its alluring personality. Even with all of its raciness, the 2015 speaks with authority and power. Fine tannins extend the persistent, highly nuanced finish. The 2015 is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot aged 50% new oak, 4% in terra cotta and 15% in neutral oak. Tasted three times.Antonio Galloni | 97+ AGThe 2015 Pontet Canet is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot brought up in 50% new oak, and 35% in amphora. With textbook Pauillac notes of lead pencil shavings, tobacco leaf, smoke, and licorice, as well as a core of pure crème de cassis fruit, this beautiful, full-bodied, impeccably balanced is one of the few 2015s that’s going to demand cellaring. The tannin are high, yet sweet, and like its bright acidity, nicely integrated into the wine. Forget bottles for 5-7 years and enjoy over the following three decades. I don’t put this as the level of the 2009 and 2010, but it’s still a beautiful wine. Tasted three times.Jeb Dunnuck | 95+ JDRuby with a purple rim, no second wine made starting with this vintage. More expressive and opulent aromatics than in 2014, with ripe red and black fruit. The irresistible, juicy palate with creamy texture recalls the 2010, but lacks the same tension and structure. It resembles the 2009, enjoyed over lunch after the morning vertical, but with more focus and fruit purity, including primary blackberry, plum and cassis. Long finish. Aged 50% new oak , 35% amphora. Drinking Window 2021 - 2060.Decanter | 95 DECThis sports a lovely core of gently steeped plum, blackberry and black currant fruit, carried by velvety structure, while smoldering tobacco and charcoal notes fill in through the finish. Fleshes out steadily in the glass, revealing more juniper, bay leaf and loam accents. Best from 2022 through 2035. — JMWine Spectator | 94 WS

The crème de la crème from the northern Médoc is the 2015 Mouton Rothschild and this incredible wine flirts with perfection. Made from 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot, this inky purple-colored effort offers sensational Cabernet flare in its crème de cassis, graphite, lead pencil shavings, floral, and Asian spice aromas and flavors. It is full-bodied, dense, and incredibly concentrated, yet still has the sexy, opulent, seductive style of the vintage front and center. It will be a candidate for perfection in 10-12 years and is going to be one of the longest-lived wines in the vintage. Hats off to Philippe Dhalluim and his team for this incredible effort that’s a step up over just about every other northern Médoc out there!Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDDecadent and rich aromas of black cherries and plums with wet earth and sandalwood. Turns to dried mushrooms. Full-bodied, tight and closed with big, polished tannins, yet this is very closed and shy right now. Despite this, underneath it shows such depth and beauty. Tangy acidity. This is a combination of 2005 and 2009. Try it in 2024.James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2015 Mouton Rothschild is a blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc aged in 100% new oak with a mid-July 2017 bottling. Deep garnet-purple colored, this Mouton pulls off an incredibly impactful entrance, emerging from the glass with profound notes of blackberry preserves, plum pudding, crème de cassis and grilled meats, featuring perfectly accessorized accents of sandalwood, cinnamon stick and fenugreek with wafts of dried roses, unsmoked cigars and tilled soil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is completely packed with rich, ripe black fruits sparked with blue and red fruit undertones and an incredible structure of very firm, very ripe tannins, with seamless freshness and an epically long, earth-laced finish. Possessing striking natural beauty framed by impeccable crafting, this 2015 is a total diva and well worth attention. Give it a good 7-8 years in bottle, at least, and drink it over the next 30+ years.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPGorgeously confident and rich in colour, you can see the silkiness in the glass from the first look. This has 11% press wine, which tells you how good the skins were and how gently they extract at first. Winemaker Philippe Dhalluin and team have really succeeded in this vintage. It is beautifully integrated, and full of verve and sexiness, just stopping short of swagger. It approaches the heights of 2015 in the most successful appellations and will age well. Bottled in June, with zero oxygen added at bottling and just 25 ppm of SO2. Drinking Window 2025 - 2045Decanter | 98 DECThis is a hugely opulent wine, packed withblack fruits, rich tannins and great concentration. It is a gorgeous wine that’s full of potential, with the dense, dark core showing how well this wine will age. Drink this complex wine from 2027.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEIn 2015, Mouton Rothschild is fabulous. A big, towering wine, the 2015 makes its presence felt with layers of super-ripe dense fruit and striking textural resonance that carries all the way through to the finish. The 2015 is much more reticent from bottle than it was from barrel, which is not at all surprising, but is something readers should take into account. Even with all of its obvious intensity, the 2015 Mouton is a wine of classically inspired proportions. I can’t wait to taste it in another 15-20 years. The 2015 is 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc that spend 19 months in 100% new French oak.Antonio Galloni | 97+ AGOffers a prodigious core of steeped fig, black currant and blackberry compote flavors, enmeshed with notes of smoldering tobacco, charcoal and licorice. Broad, deep and long, with a deep foundation of graphite through the finish. Despite the heft, this manages to show off some purity too. Best from 2025 through 2045.Wine Spectator | 96 WS

The 2015 Pichon Comtesse is a towering wine, as it has always been. Rich, sumptuous and totally hedonistic, the 2015 melds together intense fruit with structure. Far from an easygoing wine, the 2015 is going to need a number of years and will then drink well for several decades. Grilled herbs, smoke, new leather and licorice are some of the many notes that are layered into the dark-fleshed fruit for complexity. As good as the 2015 is today, it also has room to grow. Technical Director Nicolas Glumineau has done a tremendous job with the 2015s at Pichon Comtesse. The blend is 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, aged 18 months in oak, 55% new.Antonio Galloni | 98+ AGThis shows spices, pepper, blueberries and blackcurrants on the nose. Full body, very polished tannins and a long and beautiful finish. Shows such gorgeous texture. Precise and transparent. Try in 2022.James Suckling | 97 JSI tasted the 2015 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande on three separate occasions rating it 97 twice and 98 once. Checking in as a final blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this is a nuanced style of wine that grows on you with time in the glass, and the larger Merlot component always gives it a more supple, seductive texture. Crème de cassis, black raspberries, spring flowers, leafy herbs and lead pencil notes all flow to a full-bodied, ultra-pure, seamless beauty that builds on the palate, has fine tannin and a great, great finish. As classy as they come, it will continue to impress for two to three decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDBeautifully extracted, this is rich, ripe and layered. It is utterly gorgeous and has real precision and tension. It delivers its Pauillac swagger with the most gentle of hands - the tannins are fine, layered-up and building their defences without imposing too heavily on the succulent black fruits. It judges the vintage extremely well and is the best in this line-up for me. 1% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 60% new oak. Drinking Window 2025 - 2042.Decanter | 97 DECA blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot aged for 18 months in barrels, 60% new, the 2015 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande displays a medium to deep garnet-purple color and is elegantly fruited with crushed red currants, black raspberries and cassis with touches of lavender, rose hips, tilled soil, fungi and charcuterie. Medium-bodied, finely crafted, remarkably pure and beautifully poised, it has a firm frame of very fine-grained tannins and oodles of freshness, finishing on a lingering mineral note.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPThis is the new taste for this estate: richly endowed while remaining elegant and suave. Certainly, there is great concentration here as well as rich black fruits. But they are given a sense of style and poise that will remain with this wine as it ages. Drink from 2026.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEA fresh and focused style, with a terrific beam of black cherry and black currant compote flavors. Strong graphite and black tea notes harness the finish, ending with alder and tobacco echoes. This has serious length without losing any drive along the way. Best from 2022 through 2038.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

Dark-berry and currant aromas with hints of spice. Medium body, firm and chewy tannins and a fresh and clean finish. Shows focus and seriousness for the appellation, as is usual from this producer. Better after 2022.James Suckling | 94 JSInky black in colour, with a beautiful graphite and black fruit nose. This is undoubtedly a great Sociando this year, with precise yet juicy graphite and black fruits on the palate, from a fairly even blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with a touch of Cabernet Franc too. Drinking Window 2023 - 2040Decanter | 92 DECThe 2016 Chateau Sociando-Mallet is a beautiful, complete wine that shows the classic style of this vintage beautifully. Deep ruby/purple-colored, with terrific notes of blackcurrants, black cherries, dried earth, and lead pencil shavings, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a layered, seamless texture, and a great finish. It has plenty of tannins, yet they're polished and nicely integrated into the wine. This brilliant Haut-Medoc is approachable today yet will be even better with 2-4 years of bottle age and keep for 15+ years.Jeb Dunnuck | 92 JDThe 2016 Sociando Mallet has an attractive bouquet of cranberry, wild strawberry, cedar and light loamy aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, though it is well balanced with a fresh, quite mineral-driven finish that has grace and charm. This is a splendid Sociando-Mallet that I suspect will meliorate with cellaring. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting.Vinous Media | 92 VMThe 2016 Sociando-Mallet has a refulgent purple/black color. It has a very intense and rich, you might say "ambitious" bouquet with layers of small black cherries, blueberry and a touch of sloes, less tertiary than previous vintages and certainly more opulent. The palate is medium-bodied with juicy ripe tannin that almost disguise the firm structure underneath. I admire the completeness of this Sociando-Mallet, the neatly embroidered new oak and the freshness on the finish. The 2015 Sociando-Mallet did not fire on all cylinders last year, but this 2016 is totally convincing. It comes highly recommended as one of the best wines produced at this estate in the northern Médoc. This is an outstanding wine from Mon. Gartreau.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 92-94 RP-NM

Easily the greatest example from this château that I’ve tasted, the 2018 Château Calon Ségur checks in as 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, and the balance Petit Verdot aged 20 months in new French oak. This dense purple-hued beauty boasts a stunning nose of blackcurrants, crème de cassis, tobacco, baking spices, chocolate, and cedarwood. With full-bodied richness, a layered, multi-dimensional texture, gorgeous tannins, and one seriously long finish, it hits that palate with 15% alcohol, yet you wouldn’t know it by tasting it, and the wine is perfectly balanced, has incredible purity of fruit, and stays fresh and lively, with a clean finish. This magical Saint-Estèphe can be drunk any time over the coming 20+ years.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDA distinctive bouquet with notes of iodine, flowers, fresh fruit and graphite, but its floral character takes on a dominant role with airing. Gorgeously juicy mouthfeel brimming with energy lengthening a finish that consolidates its profound substance but also reveals surprising subtlety and delicacy. This 2018 is perhaps an atypical Calon Ségur in the context of recent vintages, but it joins the ranks of the great ones and should gain in elegance over time. Cellaring may be required for up to twenty-five years. (Drink between 2030-2060)Decanter | 99 DECThe 2018 Calon-Ségur is blended of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot (14.9% alcohol). It is anticipated to age for 20 months in barriques, 100% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, it needs just a little coaxing before it reveals seductive notes of baked cherries, warm cassis, licorice and smoked meats with nuances of hoisin, camphor, Chinese five spice and dried roses with a waft of cardamom. Full-bodied and completely packed with concentrated black fruit and spice layers, it has a firm frame of grainy tannins and a wicked backbone of freshness giving an energetic lift to the very long finish. There’s lots of brightness coming from the Cabernet Franc component in here, but it is nonetheless a decadent expression.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96-98 RPAromas of redcurrants and plums with blueberries and black licorice, following through to a full body that’s so refined and polished, the tannins integrated wonderfully into the fruit. Fresh, linear and persistent. Real clarity and purity to this. Try after 2025.James Suckling | 97 JSThis is a dense, generous wine. Swathes of black fruits are packed with concentrated tannins. Its power is palpable, as is its luxuriously rich future. The wine will take plenty of aging, so don’t drink before 2027. .Wine Enthusiast | 97 WERipe, fresh and well-defined from start to finish, this lets cassis and dark plum notes race through, carried by a graphite edge and backed with dark tobacco, warm earth and chestnut accents on the finish. Has serious grip and drive. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2024 through 2038.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThe 2018 Calon-Ségur has a classic Saint-Estèphe nose. Rather obdurate at first, it takes time to coalesce, revealing black fruit, charcoal and warm gravel scents, well defined but distant and not predisposed to charm the imbiber. In a funny way, I quite like that stubbornness. The palate is well balanced with firm tannins and fine acidity. Maybe this feels a little pinched compared to recent vintages; it does not possess the amplitude of the 2016 and 2017 and it is rather serious on the brine-infused finish. This is a fine and very typical Calon-Ségur, though it is not the most finessed in recent years.Vinous Media | 92 VM