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Readers looking for the next superstar in Bordeaux need to jump on the bandwagon of Les Carmes Haut-Brion, who have produced one of the wines of the vintage in 2016. The 2016 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion checks in as a blend of 41% Cabernet Franc, 39% Merlot, and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon that hit 13.8% natural alcohol and spent 22 months in 65% new French oak. Its deep purple color is followed by a complex bouquet of high-class smoke tobacco, decaying flowers, charcoal, gravelly minerality and loads of sweet black and blue fruit. Possessing full-bodied richness, flawless integration of its acidity, fruit, and ultra-fine tannins, and a blockbuster finish, this is another 2016 that possess both power and elegance. Do your best to hide bottles for 5-7 years and it will keep for 3-4 decades. Don’t miss it. Tasted twice.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDThe 2016 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is very clearly one of the wines of the vintage. Breathtaking in its beauty, the 2016 soars from the glass with stunning aromatic and flavor intensity. Red cherry jam, wild flowers, mint, blood orange and sage are some of many notes that develop. In the glass, the 2016 is a vivid, statuesque, exotic wine that takes over all the senses as it delivers tons of pure pleasure. Readers should plan on cellaring the 2016 for at least a few years, but that will be virtually impossible. The 2016 is a towering masterpiece from Les Carmes Haut-Brion and Technical Director Guillaume Pouthier. Tasted three times.Antonio Galloni | 98 AGTerrific ripeness, depth and complexity on offer here. This has a very attractive array of bright, ripe blueberries and cassis with some leafy and earthy notes. The palate has a quite deep, long and vibrant array of perfectly ripe dark plums and blueberries. So good. Best vintage this decade. Try from 2023.James Suckling | 97 JSThis offers alluring waves of ganache-tinged plum sauce, blackberry reduction and steeped açaí fruit flavors, while tobacco and singed mesquite notes hang in the background. Shows a lovely bramble echo through the finish, with the fruit easily keeping pace. This has range, distinctive mouthfeel and serious length. There’s a new player officially in the Pessac game... Best from 2023 through 2038. 3,333 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSWith 51% whole-bunch fermentation for the Cabernet Franc and Merlot, this is the highest proportion in this wine. This is just gorgeous, with a beautiful sweetness on the attack from ripe fruit and a touch of smoked caramel. It really rises through the palate, gripped by liquorice, hazelnut, dark chocolate and black cherry fruits that ripple through the palate. I loved this wine En primeur and it is absolutely living up to its billing. It has an IPT of 90, but the tannins are full of life, yielding in just the right places while still confident and keeping everything in line.Great persistency too. 3.49pH. 80% new oak, 10% Stockinger and 10% amphoras. Drinking Window 2026 - 2042.Decanter | 96 DECThe 2016 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a blend of 41% Cabernet Franc, 39% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 65% new and 35% one-year-old oak for 22 months. This vintage represents one of the largest percentages of Cabernet Franc for this wine. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it gives notes of kirsch, black raspberries and black plums with touches of cassis, violets, chocolate box and pencil shavings. The palate is medium-bodied, firm, grainy and lively with loads of layers and a long, well-poised finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95+ RP

The 2016 Tronquoy-Lalande has a deep garnet-purple color and nose of crushed blackberries and black cherries with herbs, cigar box and damp soil. Medium to full-bodied, it offers good concentration and depth with firm, fine-grained tannins, finishing long and perfumed.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPThe wine shows much palate depth and richness, with Merlot coming to the fore. Impressive body but with freshness too, if not among the top wines in terms of racy elegance. I also tasted a 2005, which was impressive but not quite as precise as the 2016 – proof of just how much the estate has improved over the last 10 years. Drinking Window 2020 - 2030Decanter | 93 DECThe aromas of violets and flowers are impressive in this with dark fruit underneath. Medium to full body, firm and silky tannins and a fresh and bright finish. Shows beautiful depth and resilience. Drink from 2023.James Suckling | 93 JSThe 2016 Tronquoy-Lalande has a concentrated bouquet featuring a more open fruit profile compared to the 2016 La Dame de Montrose, offering blackberry, raspberry and light cassis notes and revealing touches of cedar and incense with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and a fine bead of acidity, and quite linear, leading into a nicely detailed, quite tensile finish. Another Saint-Estèphe that needs time, but this is a classy number. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting.Vinous Media | 92 VMThis has a fairly intense beam of kirsch, blackberry paste and plum reduction flavors leading the way, supported by a wide swath of loam and tobacco leaf notes. There’s a bright chalky hint at the end giving this life while keeping it on the austere side. Should age nicely. Best from 2023 through 2034.Wine Spectator | 92 WSThe 2016 Château Tronquoy-Lalande checks in as a blend of 58% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, all aged 12 months in 30% new barrels. It offers a ripe, black-fruited, classic Saint-Estèphe profile of blackcurrants, plums, graphite, and tobacco leaf. This gives way to a ripe, rounded, impressively concentrated wine that has sweet tannins and a great finish. It will keep for 15-20 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 92 JDDark tannins and rich, succulent fruit mark this wine made by the same team as Château Montrose. Black fruits and solid, concentrated tannins contrast with the acidity that still shows through strongly. The wine needs time and will be ready to drink from 2023.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE