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This wine has such balance and harmony. I remember when it was young and how the new wood and intense fruit came out, but they have finally come together in such a beautiful way. It shows subtle and complex character of plums, cedar, dried flowers, and earth. The texture or mouthfeel is beautiful as you taste it.James Suckling | 100 JSOne of the great modern-day Bordeaux, the 1989 Clinet still has a saturated purple color and a sweet nose of creme de cassis intermixed with incense, licorice, smoke, and mineral. As the wine sits in the glass, more blueberry and blackberry notes emerge, intermixed with some toasty oak, earth, and spice. This spectacularly concentrated, full-bodied, multi-dimensional wine is the stuff of dreams. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2025. Last tasted, 10/02.Robert Parker | 100 RPThe 1989 Clinet is the vintage that put this Pomerol estate on the map thanks to a perfect score from you-know-who. While I have never encountered a perfect bottle myself, a magnum hinted that it was not beyond the realm of possibility, though I have found bottles to be a bit hit-or-miss. This bottle is one of the better examples. It features kirsch, cassis and crushed violets on the nose, like a Margaux with the dial turned up to eleven (and I mean that in a positive way.) There is some VA here, but it merely gives kick to the aromatics. The palate is medium-bodied with a rich, precocious entry and generous sloe and brown sugar notes, very deep and rounded. A slightly volatile finish offers marvelous length. I suspect that to really experience the 1989 Clinet at its peak, you need to find perfectly cellared larger formats, although clearly bottles can be a thrill. Tasted blind at lunch in London.Vinous Media | 95 VM

A style on its own, redolent of olive, cacao, sweet spice, truffle. Unique. Smooth velvety texture, showing gradually fine grain and a finish with lots of complexity: cedar wood, curry, pepper, dry berries. A jewel. Drinking Window 2019 - 2058Decanter | 97 DEC2008 was a challenging vintage in Ribera del Duero, a vintage marked by a severe frost on September 24th. The vineyards of Vega Sicilia were saved by some anti-frost burners that really made the difference. Even though, there are only some 70,000 bottles of 2008 Único, a wine that will be released around March 2016 after the 2007, and before they sell 2005 and 2006. It’s a fresher, more mineral version of Vega, and very much Vega in character. It has a certain aroma that I cannot define that I also found in the 2011 Valbuena. The palate is surprisingly polished; the wine is quite accessible from now on, with fine tannins and a subtle thread of acidity going through the core. This is a lighter version of Único, but one style I like very much; it’s a wine that should drink well throughout its life. A triumph for the vintage conditions.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPOpaque ruby. Powerful, expansive aromas of cherry liqueur, cassis, pipe tobacco, incense and pungent flowers show outstanding clarity and pick up a smoky mineral quality with air. Stains the palate with concentrated dark berry, bitter cherry and rose pastille flavors that are complicated by notes of mocha, cola and Indian spices. Distinctly generous in style but there’s outstanding energy here as well. The gently tannic, dark-fruit-dominated finish emphatically echoes the spice and floral notes and lingers with striking persistence. Production for this bottling was cut by over half in this challenging vintage and the result shows what can happen when severe selection is applied in the vineyard and cellar. Speaking of tough years, the 2002 version of this iconic wine, from a vintage that has been ignored at best and vilified at worst, is drinking beautifully right now. In fact, it appears to have just entered its drinking window: its fruit is still a bit on the youthful side while its tannins have begun to recede. Like this 2008, it’s a textbook example of what great vineyards, diligent farming and serious winemaking can accomplish under difficult circumstances.Vinous Media | 96 VMSavory flavors of tobacco, mineral, smoke and spice frame a core of cherry and pomegranate in this red. Harmonious and graceful, supported by well-integrated tannins and fresh acidity. Has deceptive depth and complexity. Drink now through 2028. 9,800 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WS