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Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon charges from the gate with exuberant red and black cherries notes, black currants and mulberries with a beautiful roses and lavender perfume, plus hints of sandalwood and cinnamon stick. Full-bodied, concentrated and downright explosive in the mouth, it is still wearing loads of gorgeous puppy-fat fruit flavors, offering suggestions of the complex, multilayered blockbuster that it will emerge into. The structure deserves its own mention: wonderful, seamless freshness and oh-so-fine, pixelated tannins, with an extraordinary persistence of fruit and mineral nuances. Wow.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPEisele Vineyard's 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon is without question one of the wines of the vintage. Majestic and soaring in the glass, the 2015 is absolutely stunning from the very first taste. A rush of dark fruit, graphite, grilled herb, smoke, leather, earthiness and exotic spices makes a bold opening statement, but it is the wine's breath, volume and sheer intensity that are all off the charts. I tasted the 2015 blind in a flight of wines from Calistoga's Pickett Road neighborhood. All of the wines were terrific, but the wine that was most moving and most profound was unquestionably the 2015 from Eisele Vineyard.Vinous Media | 99 VMFabulous and subtle aromas of crushed berries and tobacco with leaves. Green olives and some cedar, too. Full-bodied, dense and tight with gorgeous intensity and length. Extremely persistent on the palate. A solid and racy red with complexity and vigor. Drink in 2022.James Suckling | 98 JSSlow to open but does so impressively, with an elegant array of dark berry, currant, light spice and oak notes, ending with a loamy earthiness. Best from 2021 through 2033. 1,575 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

The 2015 Charmes-Chambertin from Jean-Marie Fourrier was also showing very well at the time of my visit. The bouquet is deep, pure and complex, offering up a very red fruity blend of strawberries, cherries, a touch of orange peel, grilled meat, a fine base of soil tones, raw cocoa and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and very refined in profile, with a lovely core, excellent backend minerality and a very long, focused and ripely tannic finish. Marvelous Charmes in the making. (Drink between 2025 - 2075)John Gilman | 94+ JGThe 2015 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru is the first release from the estate (on the negociant side). It has a slightly smudged but pure kirsch, orange blossom and strawberry-scented bouquet that gains more delineation with aeration in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp red cherry and strawberry fruit with a touch of spice on the composed and elegant finish. This is a comely Charmes-Chambertin that is certain to be seductive over the next 15-20 years.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92-94 RP(real Charmes): Dark red. Good violet lift to the black cherry aroma. Not yet hugely complex but rich, juicy and energetic, showing attractive inner-mouth floral lift and excellent definition. At once firm and quite suave. These négociant grand crus from Gevrey were harvested up to nine days later than the Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses, noted Fourrier, but today I find a bit less energy in the Amoureuses.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMA background application of wood sets off distinctly earthy, forest floor and humus-infused plum and dark currant aromas. There is a really lovely mouth feel to the caressing, round and vibrant flavors that possess fine richness and persistence if not quite the same complexity or persistence. Even so, this is certainly a quality effort.Burghound | 90-93 BH

The 2016 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru has an intense bouquet with blackberry, redcurrant and cranberry scents laced with tobacco and woodland aromas. Lovely definition and focus here. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, enormous depth and great concentration, perhaps the most Musigny-esque of the Bonnes-Mares. Great length but it needs some serious cellaring. Enormous potential here. Tasted blind at the 2016 Burgfest tasting.Vinous Media | 96 VMAs usual, Clair’s Bonnes-Mares will be a wine for the long haul. A detailed nose of cassis, wild rose, currant leaf, incipient venison and a gentle framing of new oak precedes a vibrant, taut and full-bodied palate, its tannins rich but chalky, even firm. This is tight-knit and full of energy - promising for those willing to wait a good fifteen years.Decanter Magazine | 94 DECClear bright colour with a softly oaked bouquet and some weight of fruit behind. Quite an elegant wine. Not hugely concentrated on the palate but with attractive light fruit and fair length. Tasted Sep 2019.Jasper Morris | 94-97 JMThe 2016 Bonnes Mares Grand Cru has a very stern bouquet, quite distant at first, then gradually almost reluctantly unfurling with sea-influenced black fruit, hints of brine and oyster shell in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-boded tannin, foursquare for a Bonnes Mares, eschewing flamboyance for something more noble. This is certainly a more Morey-inspired Bonnes Mares than Chambolle, but nevertheless is a very fine wine of considerable breeding.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93-95 RPLike the Bèze there is a moderate lashing of toasty oak framing the spiced mix of various red berries, earth and floral hints. There is even more power if not necessarily more size and weight to the big-bodied and very serious flavors that flex plenty of muscle on the superbly persistent finish. This knockout effort is even more structured than its grand cru counterpart and again, this will indisputably not be a wine for early drinking.Burghound | 93-95 BH

The 2016 Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze Grand Cru has a generous and pleasing nose with scents of strawberry preserve, crushed stone, rose petals and subtle orange-blossom. This is refined and transparent. The palate is medium-bodied with chalky tannins. Beautifully balanced, this has a symmetry that is beguiling and classic. A little austere finish suggests it will benefit from several years in bottle. Utterly beguiling with enormous ageing potential. Tasted blind at the 2016 Burgfest tasting.Vinous Media | 96 VMClear bright purple with medium depth. A refined and stylish bouquet, this is quite special. Some white pepper notes, intense fresh raspberry fruit, really pure up front, then slightly softening at the back. Lingers very nicely though. This would have scored more highly but there is currently a caramel touch from the wood which did not dissipate. It may not be typical of the wine in general though. Tasted Sep 2019.Jasper Morris | 95 JMThe Clos de Bèze offers up a brooding and umami-laden bouquet of red and black cherry, grilled meat, dried ceps, summer truffle and wood smoke. On the palate the wine is deep and full-bodied, more solid and substantial than the Clos St-Jacques, with an ample chassis of fine-grained tannin, chewy extract and a cool core of fruit.Decanter Magazine | 94 DECA bit more wood can be found on the super-spicy essence of red currant, lavender, anise and earth-suffused nose. There is first-rate volume and muscle as well as almost painful intensity to the broad-shouldered flavors that display outstanding power and focus on the delineated and hugely long finish. Like several of the wines in the range this is very much constructed for the long-term and I would advise buying this strikingly gorgeous effort only if you’re prepared to allow it at least a decade of cellaring.Burghound | 93-96 BHThe 2016 Chambertin Clos de Beze Grand Cru has perfumed strawberry and raspberry scents on the nose, a little predictable maybe after the scintillating Clos Saint-Jacques. The palate is medium-bodied with gritty tannin, quite masculine and structured, a slight coarseness to the tannin with a fresh finish that will require several years to unfurl. A bit of a curmudgeon at the moment although I am sure it will come good.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92-94 RP

Exquisite from the moment we first sniffed it, the 2017 Bruno Clair Bonnes Mares is a tour de force. The colour is not extravagantly deep, but the bouquet evokes a style of ethereal Burgundy which the more powerful recent vintages will struggle to emulate. Most people’s preferred wine of the 8 Bonnes Mares presented at the Bouilland Symposia Masterclass. Tasted Dec 2021.Jasper Morris | 97 JMThe 2017 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru has a lifted, perfumed and quite floral bouquet of brambly red fruit infused with wilted rose petal and a touch of blood orange. Gorgeous! The palate is medium-bodied with fine structure, a killer line of acidity and perhaps some discreet stem addition, as it is overtly peppery toward the finish. Plenty of freshness and quite linear. Classic Burgundy. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2017 tasting.Vinous Media | 96 VMThis is also aromatically quite cool and elegant while weaving notes of a plethora of floral elements with those of red cherry, raspberry and warm earth. The equally large-scaled flavors possess a quite supple yet impressively dense mid-palate that contrasts markedly with the very powerful, dusty and overtly austere finale that displays a hint of dryness. At present this is somewhat strict and note well that my rating offers the benefit of the doubt that the finish will better harmonize in time. As such, this will not make for especially good early drinking.Burghound | 92 BH

The 2017 Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze Grand Cru has an open, generous bouquet of predominantly red fruit, a little earthier than its peers but still gaining intensity in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, saturated tannins. It’s a little creamy in texture because of the oak, but there is plenty of fruit here and an almost sorbet-like freshness on the finish. Blimey... this surpasses all expectations and is contender for wine of the vintage. Brilliant. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2017 tasting.Vinous Media | 98 VMSome intensity of colour, more crimson than purple. Lifted spicy nose, quite interesting. Indeed this Chambertin-Clos de Bèze gains in complexity very quickly. Keep sniffing this. There is some dark berry fruit, with a gorgeous sensuality, a little pepperiness, so much detail, the intensity is lightly worn, a beauty. Tasted Sep 2021.Jasper Morris | 98 JMBruno Clair owns 1ha of Clos de Bèze, which is quite a lot given how extensive Pierre Damoy’s holdings are in the grand cru. This is a comparatively subtle, gentle wine rather than a late-picked blockbuster, with attractive 40% new wood, some chalky zip and nuanced red fruit sweetness.Decanter Magazine | 95 DECAn overtly floral, more elegant and airier nose displays a striking array of spice elements on the red and dark currant, herbal tea, earth and lavender scents. Here too the mouthfeel of the larger-scaled flavors is quite sophisticated while displaying plenty of punch on the youthfully austere finale that also flashes a touch of bitter fruit pit character. Lovely stuff.Burghound | 93 BH

The Drouhins’ holdings cover 0.5ha of this grand cru on both red and white soils. It’s another very impressive wine from a domaine that’s right at the top of its game under the new generation. Made with 25% whole bunches and 80% new wood, it’s a very complete expression of the grand cru with plenty of intensity and coiled power, some good underlying grip and a sappy, spicy, vanilla finish.Decanter Magazine | 96 DECThe 2017 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru has a very expressive bouquet with violet-tinged blackberry and boysenberry fruit, well defined and quite precise. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin, taut and linear for a Bonnes-Mares but the coiled-up energy is palpable here. There is such energy on the finish that you know that this will turn into an exceptionally fine Bonnes-Mares. Recommended.Vinous Media | 94-96 VM80% new wood 25% whole bunch vinification. Bonnes Mares has bounced back well from the 2016 frost. Rich purple, a certain sumptuous note to the wine, this has huge energy and a crystalline crunch, this has been judged just right. Good tannins to provide structure, fully ripe fruit but still with energy. Tasted Dec 2018.Jasper Morris | 92-96 JMThe fruit is dominated by reductive notes and there is a trace of the funk on the palate where there is otherwise good density and volume to the sappy mocha-infused if somewhat awkward finish. Normally when I find reduction on the palate it’s never a good sign (and I rarely rate such wines) but in this case my sense is that a thorough aeration will be sufficient to dissipate it. Still, I’m adding a question mark to my projected range as a cautionary sign.Burghound | 91-93 BH

The nose on the 2020 Chardonnay Lauren Estate starts off with a beautiful briny / sea spray character, leading to intense grapefruit oil, lemonade, and ginger tea scents, plus wafts of lime leaves, ginger ale, and crushed stones. The full-bodied palate delivers fantastic tension with a lively backbone cutting through super-intense, tightly wound citrus and stone layers, finishing long and so, so fragrant. This gorgeous wine comes from a complex vineyard planted to four different clones: two old Wente clones, Mt Eden, and Corton Charlemagne.The Wine Independent | 100 TWIThe 80% new French oak is just barely noticeable in the 2020 Chardonnay Lauren Estate, revealed in the hints of pencil shavings that accent white peach and pineapple—there’s tremendous fruit intensity here. Full-bodied and powerful, this blend of four heirloom selections remains exceptionally zesty, clean and fresh, with great length seamlessly allied to considerable richness. For now, I give a slight nod to the 2021 vintage, but this is a similarly terrific wine.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPA stunning white, with salted butterscotch, marzipan and grilled peach notes up front, plus hints of nutmeg, toasted green tea and lemon thyme. Generous and intense, but also elegant, with a light touch to the fresh acidity that weaves in and out on the long, expressive finish. Drink now through 2030. 1,125 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSLinear and very structured with very fine and structured tannins that give this wine tension and focus. Medium body. Hints of stone and pear. Medium finish. Drink now.James Suckling | 95 JSThe 2020 Chardonnay Lauren is the wine that is most like its usual self in 2020. All the textural richness that is typical of this site comes through loud and clear. Dried pear, sage, mint, chamomile and dried flowers all meld together effortlessly. The Lauren is the best wine at Aubert in 2020, and one of the wines of the year in this very challenging vintage.Vinous Media | 94 VM

Simply put, Christian Moueix’s Napa Valley project Ulysses is a wine every collector of Napa Cabernet should have in their cellar. The 2021 release of the Oakville red is a knockout that is never too bombastic, entirely reserved even in its generosity, and one that will last a very long time. A dry winter and spring led to the second consecutive year of a drought that began in January 2020. Temperatures were warm and consistent and slightly above average. The vines produced smaller clusters of small berries with high phenolic compounds and tannin levels. 1,400 cases produced. Opaque purple-ruby to the rim. A wine showing all the best qualities you’d expect from a prime Oakville site. This is a beautifully balanced red, imbued with a tremendously fresh streak of acidity. The nose leads with prime, ripe, dark black fruits, cassis, violets, creme de menthe, and crushed slate.—medium to full-bodied with impressively fashioned tannins that are robust and build through the extravagantly long finish. Marked by ripe black cherry and spiced plum notes, the length is extended by zesty blood orange acidity. Fragrant with sage and thyme, nuanced by brighter cherry blossom freshness and mineral tension. Impressive depth and density with a core of pure, ripe, and juicy fruit. Exceptional. This was the last wine in a complete vertical tI tasted with Moueix and winemaker Tod Mostero in a tasting room tucked within the barn on the Ulysses Vineyard site. ’I’m thrilled,’ commented Moueix, ’There’s a real dignity to the wines.’ Moueix said that until this tasting, he hadn’t quite noticed the style signature but found it emerging, though cautioned, ’Even with our experience next door at Dominus, we are still figuring it out.’ For Mostero, ’Making these has been a discovery of place. With our mature vines, we’re just beginning to get a sense of the true resonance of the place. The 2021 typifies what we can expect. This arrow-like structure that is piercing, resonant, and strong.’Decanter Magazine | 99 DECThe reserved plushness comes out clearly with brightness, focus and very creamy tannins that give it muscle and tension. Juicy and flavorful but not overdone. Energetic and flexing but in a friendly way. Plums, milk chocolate, terra cotta and nutmeg. Almost all cabernet sauvignon with a touch of cabernet franc and petit verdot. Give it four or five years to soften. Try after 2028.James Suckling | 98 JSThe 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is a huge, dense wine. Copious dark fruit, menthol, licorice, plum, espresso and spice are amplified in a large-scale, ample Oakville Cabernet. The 2021 is very much a wine of power and structure. Sepia-toned notes lend darkness, while the oak imprint also appears to be quite present at this stage. Even so, the wine exudes balance but in a pretty extroverted style, especially compared to Dominus.Vinous Media | 96 VMThe 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon, with around 5% Cabernet Franc in the blend, is opaque purple-black in color. It storms out of the glass with powerful scents of blackcurrant cordial, plum preserves, star anise, iris bulb, and dark chocolate plus suggestions of camphor, cedar chest, and crushed rocks. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers a sold line of firm grainy tannins and bold freshness to frame the energetic black fruit layers, finishing long and fragrant. 1,400 cases were made.The Wine Independent | 96 TWIThere are 1,400 cases of the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon, which offers up charming red-fruited notes of cherries and redcurrants, plus some loamy-earth scents. While it comes across a bit more angular and more coarsely textured than its sister wines Dominus or Napanook, it also seems a bit lighter in body despite also weighing in at 15% alcohol. It’s impressively complete and balanced overall, adding savory, mocha-tinged notes on the lingering finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RP