Top Collectible Wines

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This is crazy. The nose is so unique with the iodine, stones and currant aromas with wet earth and mushroom. Aromas like this don’t usually come out until 10 years or so in the bottle. Classic nose for this estate. Full-bodied, with an amazing palate of firm yet polished tannins and a solid palate. So dense and gorgeous. It is really stunning. Try in 2020.James Suckling | 100 JSDeep garnet colored, the 2010 La Mission Haut-Brion has a commanding, profound nose of baked blackberries, boysenberries and warm cassis plus suggestions of candied violets, red roses, chocolate box, cedar chest and smoked meats with a waft of iron ore. Full-bodied, powerful and hedonic, the palate bursts with expressive black fruits and floral sparks, framed by exquisitely ripe, grainy tannins and beautiful freshness, finishing with epic length. A real head-turner, this beauty is already very impressive, but for that full WOW experience I would give it another 3-5 years in bottle to blossom.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPMore subdued on the nose but with striking cinnamon and black pepper notes alongside the blackberry and spiced dark chocolate, this is concentrated and velvety and extremely high quality. Again it is the texture, the construction, that grabs you. There is a similar feel to Haut-Brion, in its weight and power, just a little less elongated stretching out of the tannins through the final furlong. But believe me, you’ll enjoy this too. Drinking Window 2025 - 2050Decanter | 98 DECThe 2010 La Mission Haut-Brion has a very flattering bouquet with detailed red and black fruit laced with chestnut, cedar and sous-bois. This is supremely well focused. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannins. There is immense depth here, more savoury than expected with chestnut once again, white pepper and a tinge of dried blood towards the finish. Outstanding. Tasted from an ex-château bottle at the BI Wines & Spirits 10-Year On tasting.Vinous Media | 98 VMThis rich, open wine has both acidity and impressively ripe white and yellow-fruit flavors. The creaminess creates a sense of richness underlined by the wood aging. This is a balanced wine, already well integrated and likely to age well. Drink from 2024.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEIntense and engaging. Despite showing lots of heft and tarry grip, the singed apple wood and alder notes are well-defined in this red, accentuating a core of roasted fig, blackberry coulis and macerated red and black currant fruit. The long, bramble-edged finish sports showy ganache and Lapsang souchong tea notes, while the structure refuses to yield until everything has finally played out. Muscular and vivacious. Best from 2019 through 2040. 5,100 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WS(Château La Mission Haut-Brion) The 2010 La Mission Haut-Brion is the most mammoth of all the wines in the Dillon stable in 2010, as it tips the scales at an unprecedented 15.1 percent in alcohol. The nose is very, very deep, very ripe and amazingly, also quite compelling, as it offers up scents of black cherries, sweet cassis, bitter chocolate, soil tones, cigar smoke, gravel and a very well-integrated and generous base of new oak. I much prefer the wood integration on the 2010 La Mission to the 2009 at the same stage a year ago. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, powerful and sharply acidic, with a rock solid core of pure fruit, very hard tannins, excellent focus and great length and grip on the tensile finish. The acids today are quite coarse and one hopes that they will eventually be tamed. They tend to really sharpen the expression of the fruit, but they are not currently integrated into the body of the wine and cause a fair bit of discordance on the finish at the present time. The 2010 La Mission, despite its higher alcohol content than the 2010 Haut-Brion, shows less signs of overripeness on the backend than its First Growth stable-mate. It too is a very forcefully-styled and bruising young wine at the present time, and I have a hard time imagining its ultimate shape. Perhaps it will turn out as well as the 1975 La Mission, but it may also always be a wine that never fully pulls its currently disparate elements into a cohesive and compelling whole. There is a lot of sound in the fury currently in the glass, but not much enlightenment. (Drink between 2025-2075)John Gilman | 83-92+ JG

As for the 2010 Haut-Brion, it does not have the power of Latour’s 2010 or the intense lead pencil shavings and chocolaty component of Lafite-Rothschild, but it is extraordinary, perfect wine. It has a slightly lower pH than the 2009 (3.7 versus the 2009’s 3.8), and even higher alcohol than the 2009 (14.6%). The wine is ethereal. From its dense purple color to its incredibly subtle but striking aromatics that build incrementally, offering up a spectacular smorgasbord of aromas ranging from charcoal and camphor to black currant and blueberry liqueur and spring flowers, this wine’s finesse, elegant yet noble power and authority come through in a compelling fashion. It is full-bodied, but that’s only apparent in the aftertaste, as the wine seems to float across the palate with remarkable sweetness, harmony, and the integration of all its component parts – alcohol, tannin, acidity, wood, etc. This prodigious Haut-Brion is hard to compare to another vintage, at least right now, but it should have 50 to 75 years of aging potential. Anticipated maturity: 2022-2065+.Kudos to the team at Haut-Brion and to the proprietors, the Dillon family, who are now represented admirably and meticulously by Prince Robert of Luxembourg. He has made some changes, and all of them seem to have resulted in dramatic improvements to what was already an astonishing group of wines.Robert Parker | 100 RPPure perfection and one of truly legendary wines out there, the 2010 is 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc that hit a whopping 14.6% natural alcohol, with a healthy pH of 3.7. This deep rich, opulent beauty is just now at the early stages of its prime drink window and has an incredible array of blackcurrants, chocolate, truffly earth, graphite, and hints of tobacco. A massive wine in every sense, it still somehow stays weightless and graceful, with silky, building tannins, flawless balance, and just everything in the right place. It needs an hour or two in a decanter if drinking any time soon, and it’s going to have upwards of 75-100 years of ultimate longevity.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDSappy, tongue-coating pastis, blackberry coulis and loganberry fruit starts this huge wine off, followed by a parade of licorice snap, violet, tar, black tea, roasted alder, wood spice and steeped black cherry fruit notes. A beam of pure cassis drives through this, and the finish pulls everything together with a mouthwatering brambly edge that should soften slowly over time. A riveting display of brawny power, unbridled energy and high-level [i]terroir[n]. Best from 2020 through 2040. 7,800 cases made.Wine Spectator | 99 WSAnother different register as we head to Pessac-Léognan. And as with Mouton this has an exuberant grilled almond note around the edges with a thick velvety texture. You can really feel the weight and width of this wine through the mid palate and again you feel it just has so much life and pleasure ahead of it. This is all about the texture, it has an extremely marked sense of a rising tide of tannins and fruit, ready to power through the ages. Drinking Window 2025 - 2050Decanter | 98 DECA firm and serious wine, complex and complicated, one of the finest wines from 2010 vintage. It has a rich undertow of black fruits, while the tannins dominate at this stage. To add to the powerful range of flavors, the wine has an edge of severity that bodes well for its long-term future.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEThis is very spicy with dried mushroom aromas with dark fruits and plum undertones. Sweet tobacco as well. This is full-bodied, with lots of tannins that are chewy and firm. This is muscular for HB and flexing it. Try in 2020.James Suckling | 97 JSThe 2010 Haut-Brion has a more flamboyant and showier bouquet than the La Mission with copious black fruit, orange blossom, fireside ash and chai tea aromas that are irresistible. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine and supple tannins, firm grip, quite saline in the mouth with strong truffle notes on the finish. Quite brilliant. Tasted from an ex-château bottle at the BI Wines & Spirits 10-Year On tasting.Vinous Media | 97 VM(Château Haut-Brion) The 2010 Haut-Brion is one of the lowest alcohol wine in the entire Dillon stable in this vintage, as it tips the scales at a mere 14.6 percent. The merlot was brought in here starting on the 8th of September and the cabernet sauvignon did not arrive in the cellars until the first week of October. Despite it being lower in alcohol than the 2010 La Mission, it seemed even a bit riper in style, with a distinct (and troubling) note of sur maturité evident on the backend of the finish. The bouquet is deep, complex, very ripe and very vivid (from the wine’s revved up acidity?), as it soars from the glass in a blaze of cassis, dark berries, Cuban cigars, coffee bean, lovely soil tones and plenty of new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, broad-shouldered and rock solid at the core, with hard, tough tannins, coarse acids and a very long, chewy and discordant finish. Perhaps this was just an awkward time for the wine, but no one at the château seemed concerned in the least with how this wine was showing- in fact, quite the contrary- so maybe this oddly balanced showing is really how the wine is in 2010. After the very forcefully styled 2009 Haut-Brion, this power-monger 2010 is hardly reassuring for those of us that prize past vintages of Haut-Brion for its unabashed elegance and hauntingly profound expression of terroir. One has to hope that this wine will eventually pull itself together in the cellar, but it seems to be a profound departure from the past and one has to ask why this is the case. One would certainly expect that an estate of the stature and historical legacy of Haut-Brion would be above point chasing, but how does one reconcile the much more elegant renditions of the 2010 vintage at estates such as Domaine de Chevalier and Pape-Clément with these super-sized Dillon wines, if not assuming that the team here is now consciously aiming to produce much more powerful wines? I have to assume that this wine will eventually place itself at the higher end of this scale, but it was nonetheless rather a sad showing for an unabashed fan of traditional Haut Brion. (Drink between 2025-2075)John Gilman | 83-93 JG

The nose is phenomenal with perfect aromas of Cabernet Sauvignon with currant bush, blackberries and minerals. A pure expression of Cab. The palate is perfect with a full body, but has perfectly integrated tannins with a texture like the finest cashmere. It’s strong but noble with perfect form and beauty. All in harmony. A fabulous wine that everyone who loves Bordeaux should have a bottle or case of. Better in 2020.James Suckling | 100 JSWhile I loved the 2010 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou on release I’ve always preferred the 2009. However, the 2010 showed sensationally on this occasion, and while in a different style than the 2009, it’s unquestionably as good. Still ruby/purple-hued, it offers up extraordinary notes of pure crème de cassis, unsmoked tobacco, spice, and damp earth, and it’s the purity of fruit as well as the incredible depth and intensity that makes this wine so special. Full-bodied, deep, profound, and seamless on the palate, it offers incredible pleasure today but it’s going to be a 50-year, if not a 100-year wine. Hats off to Bruno Borie.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDVery deep garnet in color, the 2010 Ducru-Beaucaillou is just slightly closed to begin, featuring subtle wafts of baked plums, espresso and bay leaves before kicking it up a notch with expressive notes of blackcurrant cordial, chargrilled meats, woodsmoke and crushed rocks plus a tantalizing touch of truffles. Full-bodied, concentrated and oh-so-decadently fruited in the mouth, the palate is built like a brick house with firm, ripe, grainy tannins and bold freshness supporting the tightly wound flavor layers, finishing with epic length and depth.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 99 RPThere is tannin build up at this point in the vertical, but in the most enjoyable way - a clear indication of how much complexity there is in these wines and how densely knitted together they are, bedding down for the long term. This wine in particular has barely an end in sight, it just stretches out before you, confident in its fleshy texture and layers of expression. This is really at the top of what you hope from St Julien, confident and intense yet still with the balance and freshness of the appellation. It has great persistency and keeps hanging on, delivering flavour an inch at a time. Wonderful. Drinking Window 2023 - 2045Decanter | 98 DECNot shy at all, with a flamboyant, aromatic profile of roasted apple wood and warm ganache, featuring more than enough stuffing in the form of thickly layered blackberry paste, steeped fig and pastis-soaked plum flavors. The structure is massive but incredibly polished, and the fruit displays terrific purity through the graphite-supported finish. Large-scale and extremely well-rendered. Best from 2020 through 2040. 8,416 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WSThe 2010 Ducru-Beaucaillou, picked 29 September to 14 October, was matured in 100% new oak for 18 months. This is more backward, sultry compared to the 2009, but there is a payload of black fruit laced with violet and cedar, a very faint ash scent emerging with time. The palate is full-bodied with powerful black fruit, a lovely granular texture and a killer line of acidity. There is a certainly headiness on the finish, atypically more so than the 2009, although it delivers extraordinary persistence. It needs another 10 years before it even thinks about entering its drinking window. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château.Vinous Media | 96+ VMA grand wine, it has great ripeness and richness, majestic in its structure and upright character. It is concentrated, perfumed and opulent. The style of Ducru Beaucaillou is both generous and powerful, and obviously ageworthy.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE(Château Ducru-Beaucaillou) The 2010 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a riveting success for the vintage and one of the best three or four wines to be found on the Left Bank this year. The bouquet is deep, pure and stunning, as it soars from the glass in a mélange of sweet cassis, dark berries, tobacco, a superb, gravelly soil signature, coffee and a fair dollop of spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and fabulously structured, with great intensity at the core, impeccable focus and balance, plenty of ripe, beautifully integrated tannins and outstanding length and grip on the palate-staining and dancing finish. Here is one of the extremely rare 2010s that actually is worthy of all the hyperbole bantered around about this vintage! (Drink between 2022-2100)John Gilman | 95+ JG

Pure perfection in a glass, the incredible 2009 Troplong Mondot offers off the chart notes of blackcurrants, licorice, truffles and saddle leather that just soar from the glass. This is a big, ripe, incredibly sexy wine that hits the palate with a huge texture, building, ripe tannin, no weight, and a finish that just won’t quit. Utterly brilliant stuff, it’s slightly more approachable than the 2005, but both of these vintages play in the same style. Drink bottles anytime over the coming two to three decades. Bravo!Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDIt boasts an inky/purple color along with a gorgeous bouquet of mocha, chocolate, blackberry and cassis fruit, an unctuous texture, a full-bodied, viscous mouthfeel and a skyscraper-like, multilayered finish. This spectacular wine is nearly overwhelming in its richness, thickness and intensity. Once all its baby fat falls away, the terroir characteristics and additional nuances will emerge. This blockbuster, fabulous Troplong Mondot will benefit from 10-15 years of cellaring and keep for three decades or more. It is not shy either, bouncing over the palate with 15.5% natural alcohol.The 2009 Troplong Mondot will provide plenty of competition for the 2010, 2005 and 2000. It comes closest in style to the prodigious 1990 that proprietress Christine Valette produced 22 years ago. A phenomenal effort, it unquestionably justifies its relatively new Premier Grand Cru St.-Emilion status. Readers should keep in mind that the 1990, which probably has lower acidity and not the level of concentration found in the 2009, is drinking incredibly well at age 22 and reveals no signs of falling apart.Robert Parker | 99 RPA very concentrated wine with such a stylish feel. It balances ripe berry fruits with chocolate and wood flavors in the richest, ripest combination. The wine has power, without losing its poised character. It’s ready for long aging.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEAlthough this is very ripe and rich with a generous body and a slew of black fruit aromas it’s also elegant and poised. The bitter chocolate character is more restrained than in many modern-style Right Bank wines of this period and there’s a lovely balance of lively acidity with fine dry tannins at the complex finish. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)James Suckling | 96 JSVery dark, with strong pastis-soaked blackberry and roasted plum notes leading the way, with layers of sweet spice, mocha and tobacco filling in on the finish. Rather lush and perhaps a touch too roasted in style for some folks, with enough just grip to keep it going. Best from 2013 through 2024. 6,288 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WSThese were the St-Emilion excess years and you see it here, with kirsch flamboyance on the nose from the off. You hover around before tasting, not quite sure of how close to get. There’s gloss to the palate, with high-toned silky fruits that are not balanced perfectly with the heat running through the palate. I remember this at En primeur, and it hasn’t calmed down enough over the last 10 years. It’s got all the stuffing to impress, but you need to be looking for a very specific style. Lovers of subtlety should look elsewhere. Drinking Window 2021 - 2046Decanter | 91 DECThe 2009 Troplong-Mondot has a completely over the top, gregarious and raisin-like bouquet that frankly comes as no surprise given the philosophy of the estate at this time. The palate is sweet on the entry with candied black cherries, cassis and cough candy, unlike Bordeaux in some ways with a rather cloying and alcoholic finish. Now it seems like an anachronism. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits’ Ten Year On tasting.Vinous Media | 90 VM

A blend of 91.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8.7% Merlot with just under 14% natural alcohol, the 2009 Latour is basically a clone of the super 2003, only more structured and potentially more massive and long lived. An elixir of momentous proportions, it boasts a dense purple color as well as an extraordinarily flamboyant bouquet of black fruits, graphite, crushed rocks, subtle oak and a notion of wet steel. It hits the palate with a thundering concoction of thick, juicy blue and black fruits, lead pencil shavings and a chalky minerality. Full-bodied, but very fresh with a finish that lasts over a minute, this is one of the most remarkable young wines I have ever tasted. Will it last one-hundred years? No doubt about it. Can it be drunk in a decade? For sure.Robert Parker | 100 RPDark and chocolatey with a lot of richness, but also a cool herbal freshness this is a very impressive Medoc wine that’s already delicious to drink. Very long, surprisingly supple finish for this château. A perfect wine. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019).James Suckling | 100 JSAn incredible wine in every way, the 2009 Château Latour displays the ripe, sexy style of the vintage while still offering classic Latour power, density, and regalness. Currants, spicy wood, smoked tobacco, graphite, and ample minerality all define the bouquet, and it’s full-bodied, with incredible density, perfectly integrated, ripe, polished tannins, and a finish that leaves no doubt about the insane quality of this wine. Based on 91.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8.7% Merlot, and checking in at 13.7% alcohol, it’s drinking brilliantly today given its incredible texture and balance, and I suspect it has another 50-60 years of prime drinking. This is as good a Bordeaux as I’ve had and is as good as wine gets.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDThis is still closed, although a softening of the tannins is apparent. It has a gorgeous nose full of Pauillac power and finesse, with brambled fruits and touches of hedgerow as the Cabernet Sauvignon count heads upwards. The fresh core is clear from start to finish, giving that high-wire feeling that makes great Médocs so thrilling. There’s a sense of drama to the cassis fruits, controlled but with impact and a sense of purpose, leading to a chewy finish. This is barely bedded down and has the shoulders and backbone to carry it for years. Don’t approach it yet. Drinking Window 2024 - 2046.Decanter | 99 DECThe 2009 Latour is endowed with a simply magnificent nose with intense blackberry and cassis fruit laced with minerals and graphite, extremely focused to the point of overwhelming the sense. Wow. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannin, multilayered black fruit infused with crushed stone and a hint of white pepper, though it clams up towards the finish as if to say, not yet. Outstanding. This is Latour firing on all cylinders. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 99 VMThis seems to come full circle, with a blazing iron note and mouthwatering acidity up front leading to intense, vibrant cassis, blackberry and cherry skin flavors that course along, followed by the same vivacious minerality that started things off. The tobacco, ganache and espresso notes seem almost superfluous right now, but they’ll join the fray in due time. The question is, can you wait long enough? Best from 2020 through 2040. 9,580 cases made.Wine Spectator | 99 WSA big, powerful wine that sums up the richness of the vintage. It is densely fruity, spicy with an enormous black plum and berry fruit character to go with the acidity. It’s concentrated while still showing such wonderfully pure fruit. The aging potential is immense.Wine Enthusiast | 99 WE(Château Latour (barrel sample)) Château Latour’s lack of graciousness this year was the talk of the journalistic circles during the week of the En Primeur tastings, as the estate was hell-bent on restraining access to tasting the 2009s here to only the best and the brightest. Naturally I was not on the short list of those allowed access (good lord, what would the world be coming to if I was on the list!), but thanks to the generous persistence of another wine writer (who shall remain nameless), I was eventually granted a brief audience with the Left Bank wine of the vintage. The 2009 Latour is a great classic and perhaps the best wine to issue forth from this great estate since the 1961. The wine offers up a fantastically complex and quite closed blend of espresso, cassis, black cherries, dark berries, tobacco leaf, a magical base of gravelly soil tones and a discreet framing of cedary new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and quite closed on the attack, with a rock solid core of fruit, ripe tannins and an absolutely stunning finish of profound focus, length and grip. There are a boatload of tannins in the 2009 Latour and it will clearly take several decades before it even considers being enjoyable to drink, but this is a great classic in the making and an uncompromisingly brilliant and traditional vintage of Latour. A seamless powerhouse from the old school. (Drink between 2030-2100).John Gilman | 96-98+ JG

This is what the Medoc is all about. The freshness and delicacy of this wine in combination with its serious concentration and firm core are totally stunning. Time has already worked its magic and this is already delicious, but has decades in front of it. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019).James Suckling | 100 JS(Château Lafite Rothschild, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, Red) This wine is stunningly impressive but almost the opposite of the 2010 vintage. The year offered a warm, wet spring followed by a hot, dry summer and cool nights in September, giving a riper, more generous impression. A bit of smoke and spice on the initial attack with a ripe, plummy fruit character that is more black than red and a supple, dense richness on the palate that lingers sumptuously on the finish. This vintage will drink sooner than the 2010, yet should easily last as long. The finished wine is a blend of 82.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and a half-percent of Petit Verdot. Picking began in mid-September for the Merlot and early October for the Cabernet, with 45% of the fruit going into the grand vin. (Drink between 2032-2082)Decanter | 99 DECThe main reason the 2009 Lafite Rothschild did not receive a perfect score is because the wine has closed down slightly, but it is unquestionably another profound Lafite, their greatest wine since the amazing 2003. Among the most powerful Lafites ever made (it came in at 13.59% alcohol), the final blend was 82.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and the rest Petit Verdot. The selection was incredibly severe with only 45% of the crop being utilized. A tight, but potentially gorgeous nose of graphite, black currants, licorice and camphor is followed by a full-bodied wine revealing the classic elegance, purity and delineated style of Lafite. It is phenomenally concentrated with softer tannins than the 2005, the 2003’s voluptuous, broad, juicy personality, and low acidity. There are several vintages that I thought were a replay of their colossal 1959, most notably 1982 and 2003, but 2009 is also one to keep an eye on. It is still extremely youthful and seems slightly more backward than I would have guessed based on the barrel tastings, but it needs 10-15 years of bottle age, and should last for 50+.Robert Parker | 99+ RPThis is stunning for its ability to take massively endowed fig, currant paste and crushed plum fruit flavors and harness them with ultrasuave freshly roasted espresso, black tea and ganache notes. A seductive style, long and velvety, with the dense core of black fruit and smoldering iron just waiting and waiting. Best from 2020 through 2040.Wine Spectator | 98 WSThe 2009 Lafite-Rothschild is quite high-toned and expressive on the nose, perhaps the most ostentatious of the top flight 2009s with upfront black cherry and boysenberry fruit, lavish new oak and touches of violet. The palate is sleek and satin-like in feel with copious dark cherry and boysenberry fruit, fig and dates, almost honeyed in texture towards the precocious finish that has an opulent bent, almost hedonistic, unusual for this First Growth. But it is kinda irresistible. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 96 VMA powerful expression of Cabernet Sauvignon, solid in structure. The wine is rich and concentrated, very textured. Great spice go with just enough fresh acidity, in this big wine.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE(Château Lafite-Rothschild) The 2009 Lafite-Rothschild is a beautifully crafted wine that is all poise and seduction. This is the world’s ultimate luxury wine these days, and while the style has changed rather dramatically from the great Lafites of the decade of the 1980s, there is little here to complain about, as everything is done as perfectly as is humanly possible. The bouquet is deep and stunning, as it soars from the glass in a blaze of cassis, blackberries, coffee, tobacco smoke, a great base of gravelly soil tones and a generous coating of nutty, smoky new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, very suave and utterly complex, with a great core of pure fruit, moderate, refined tannins and stunning length and grip on the utterly seamless and completely seductive finish. This wine is crafted like a truly great Swiss watch, and consequently it offers up unprecedented accessibility at a very young age for those that will not be able to defer gratification, but it is so poised and beautifully balanced that it will also have no difficulty aging for many, many decades. Whether one prefers the old style of Lafite that took decades to really blossom or this new style that is the ultimate in seduction from the start is really just a matter of personal taste. There is certainly nothing in the makeup of the 2009 that is anything but exemplary in nature, and this is a beautiful wine. (Drink between 2020-2075).John Gilman | 93-95 JG

Extravagant and exotic, but still lively, this is a super-concentrated and elegant wine that’s already breathtaking, yet has enormous aging potential. Plenty of wet earth and mushroom character alongside the cassis and blackberry aromas. Super-long, perfectly balanced finish. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)James Suckling | 100 JSWhat a blockbuster effort! Atypically powerful, one day, the 2009 Haut-Brion may be considered to be the 21st century version of the 1959. It is an extraordinarily complex, concentrated effort made from a blend of 46% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Cabernet Franc with the highest alcohol ever achieved at this estate, 14.3%. Even richer than the perfect 1989, with similar technical numbers although slightly higher extract and alcohol, it offers up a sensational perfume of subtle burning embers, unsmoked cigar tobacco, charcoal, black raspberries, wet gravel, plums, figs and blueberries. There is so much going on in the aromatics that one almost hesitates to stop smelling it. However, when it hits the palate, it is hardly a letdown. This unctuously textured, full-bodied 2009 possesses low acidity along with stunning extract and remarkable clarity for a wine with a pH close to 4.0. The good news is that there are 10,500 cases of the 2009, one of the most compelling examples of Haut-Brion ever made. It requires a decade of cellaring and should last a half century or more. Readers who have loved the complexity of Haut-Brion should be prepared for a bigger, richer, more massive wine, but one that does not lose any of its prodigious aromatic attractions.Robert Parker | 100 RPInky purple in colour, this has a rich, intense nose of damson, blackberry and olive paste. The palate is generous in texture and weight, more broad-shouldered than Château Margaux - which is already beginning to show its florality. This is balanced but well built in every inch. The warmth of the vintage coming through as fruit ripeness, liquorice, spice and punch, with the beginnings of truffle notes. There’s no question of its excellence and its bonhomie. Drinking Window 2022 - 2044Decanter | 98 DECThis enormous young wine is among the most backward of the vintage at this early stage, with iron-clad grip holding the broad, deep core of blackberry, cassis and roasted fig notes in check for now. The finish is a torrent of dense, almost compressed layers of tobacco leaf, hot paving stone, singed bay leaf and tar that will take at least a decade to massage together fully. This one is for the kids born in 2009. Best from 2020 through 2040. 10,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSThe 2009 Haut-Brion has a less precocious but more detailed bouquet, more nuanced perhaps with warm slates baking in the summer sun, tilled loam and cedar infusing the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, perfect acidity, layers of mineral-rich black fruit. This seems to have gained more complexity in recent years and is beginning to flirt with perfection. It’s not there yet, but it is moving in that direction. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits’ Ten Year On tasting.Vinous Media | 97 VMSolid, very structured, packed with dense and dry tannins. There is a core of acidity and darkness that gives the wine a brooding, powerful character. At this stage, it seems austere although it does have the weight of fruit typical of the year.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE(Château Haut Brion) I was rather surprised by the shape and style of the 2009 Haut Brion, which seemed to have at least dipped a toe in the water of the Luxury Wine camp in this vintage. Not a direction I would take if I were the Prince of Luxembourg and in charge of the greatest terroir in all of Bordeaux, but I am not the Prince of Luxembourg. The wine is less ripe than the 2009 La Mission, as it weighs in at a slightly less heady 14.3 percent in this vintage. The bouquet is deep, pure and beautiful, as it offers up a fine mélange of dark berries, cassis, espresso, plenty of soil tones, smoke and a very generous dollop of toasty new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and intensely flavored, with a rock solid core of fruit, excellent focus and a fair bit of wood tannins still in need of absorption on the long, tannic finish. Today the wine is quite marked by the Taransaud component in its oak cocktail, which I have to believe is higher than the percentage used in the second wine. There is little doubt that this wine will eventually gobble up its oak tannins and smooth out a bit on the backend, but one has to ask why there is a need for so much new wood and why so much of it has to be so damn aggressive in its wood spice? These are not the aromatics or flavors of great, traditional Haut Brion, and lest we forget, this magical terroir is really where the entire Bordeaux world as we know it today once originated. Haut Brion’s historical legacy is so deep and wide that it needs take a backseat to no one on the Gironde, so let’s dial back the new wood next year and let this hauntingly mystical terroir once again become the focal point of the grand vin. Not that the 2009 Haut Brion is not a superb wine, but it so clearly could have been even better with a bit more of a traditional focal point. (Drink between 2020-2060)John Gilman | 91-93+ JG

One of the greatest young wines I have ever tasted, the monumental 2009 Cos d’Estournel has lived up to its pre-bottling potential. A remarkable effort from winemaking guru Jean-Guillaume Prats and owner Michel Reybier, this blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot (33%) and a touch of Cabernet Franc (2%) was cropped at 33 hectoliters per hectare. It boasts an inky/black/purple color along with an extraordinary bouquet of white flowers interwoven with blackberry and blueberry liqueur, incense, charcoal and graphite. The wine hits the palate with extraordinary purity, balance and intensity as well as perfect equilibrium, and a seamless integration of tannin, acidity, wood and alcohol. An iconic wine as well as a remarkable achievement, it is the greatest Cos d’Estournel ever produced. It is approachable enough at present that one could appreciate it with several hours of decanting, but it will not hit its prime for a decade, and should age effortlessly for a half century.Robert Parker | 100 RPAnother magical wine from this property, the 2009 Château Cos D’Estournel reminds me slightly of the 2005 with its incredibly rich, powerful, opulent style married to stunning finesse and elegance. Still youthful yet with a touch of maturity, its deep ruby/plum color is followed by classic Saint-Estèphe notes of blackcurrants, dried tobacco, loamy earth, Asian spices, and licorice. Deep, full-bodied, and massive on the palate, it’s flawlessly balanced and has building tannins hiding under its wealth of fruit, with no hard edges and a great, great finish. This tour de force is still 5-7 years away from maturity and is a legendary wine to follow over the coming 40-50 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDA very bold, ripe and complex wine with excellent concentration and a warm, engaging personality (cinnamon and allspice) that’s hard to resist. With aeration a hint of dried fruit character emerges. Massive, yet polished finish. It’s been rated 100 in the past. We will see. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019).James Suckling | 98 JSThis shows why everyone loves the vintage. Features a gorgeous display of perfectly melded plum, red currant and blackberry fruit that flows beautifully over very creamy tannins. Still nearly all fruit, with flecks of warm stone and iron on the finish. This could easily sit in this phase for some time, but will be hard to resist. Totally modern and beautifully done.—Non-blind Cos-d’Estournel vertical (December 2015). Best from 2020 through 2040. 20,830 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WSA hugely rich wine, where the tannins seem initially lost in the overwhelming fruit. It has power and concentration, showing its alcohol a little. There is great intensity, but an edge of Portiness from the super-rich fruit.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEIntense, pureed damson fruit aromas remind me of its impact at En primeur, although then it was a little overblown. The terroir is starting to come through now, but the fruit still feels a touch overripe and overly concentrated, not enabling the juiciness that the clay soils of St-Estèphe should be highlighting. It’s still extremely young with a great life ahead of it, so this is one to put away for a while longer and give that terroir more of a chance to exert itself over the vintage character. Drinking Window 2020 - 2038Decanter | 93 DECThe 2009 Cos d’Estournel has an expansive and undeniably seductive bouquet, a mélange of red and black fruit, cold slate, damp earthy bordering on mulch-like aromas all delivering with ample freshness and certainly better delineation that it showed in its infancy. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, quite rich in style, decadent with a sweet core of fruit that is attractive but very un-Bordeaux like. Cos d’Estournel? Plush but bereft of intellect. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 91 VM

A profoundly generous wine with coffee grounds and patisserie notes revealing grilled oak that’s subtle but extremely pleasing. The quality of the tannins is exceptional - they are drawn out, elongated and shrouded in smoke. Layer upon layer of complexity unfurls in the mouth, getting better and better, with tons of juicy black fruit. The liquorice is black and tight on the perfectly balanced finish right now, with sprinkles of star anise and a gentle lift of fresh mint. Give it a good few years before opening. Drinking Window 2022 - 2046Decanter | 100 DECThe 2009 Château Cheval Blanc continues to just blow me away every time I’m lucky enough to taste a bottle. It has that rare mix of elegance and power that can be hard to describe. Offering a massive bouquet of black cherry liqueur, flowery incense, crème de cassis, toasted spices, and forest floor, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a magical, seamless texture, and a great, great finish. Its tannins and structure are just now starting to emerge from under ample baby fat, but it still has incredible opulence and richness as well as flawless balance. Enjoy this masterpiece any time over the coming 20-30 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDDeep garnet colored, the 2009 Cheval Blanc offers up profound notions of baked blueberries, blackberry compote and crème de cassis with suggestions of chocolate mint, new leather and cloves plus a waft of candied violets. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is an exercise in elegance with very classy, super fine-grained tannins, beautiful freshness and layer upon layer of mineral-laced blue and black fruits, finishing long and perfumed.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPSuper-spicy, this is an extremely elegant 2009 with enormous concentration and finesse. The complex finish lights up the sky and you wonder how this spectacular ripeness could have been more perfectly expressed. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019).James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2009 Cheval Blanc has a rambunctious nose with copious red fruit, meat juices, sage and crushed stone aromas, ineffably complex. This is so refined, constantly mutating in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, saturated tannin. There is a mixture of red and black fruit, hints of cassis, cardamom and allspice. Immense depth and grip towards the finish expresses ripe Cabernet Franc. This is an outstanding 2009 destined for long-term ageing. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 98 VMDense, brooding and richly coated, with a well of steeped black currant, fig paste and roasted plum fruit to draw on while the layers of charcoal, Kenya AA coffee and loam resolve themselves. This displays both breadth and depth, offering a great undercurrent of acidity to match its heft. Should be among the most long-lived wines of the vintage. Best from 2017 through 2035. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 7,330 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSAn impressive wine, a true return to form for Cheval Blanc. The fruit is enormous, packed with sweet black berry juice, and with a brilliant freshness. There is a lovely smoky character, topped by ripe figs.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WE(Château Cheval Blanc) The 2009 Cheval Blanc really is stunning. The wine is probably the most serious contender to Lafite-Rothschild’s crown as the ultimate luxury cuvée amongst the red wines in Bordeaux this year, as it is clearly cut from the same cloth. The bouquet is deep, pure and very sophisticated, as it offers up scents of dark berries, cassis, coffee bean, sappy black cherries, menthol, tobacco leaf, smoky soil tones and a generous dollop of smoky, luxurious new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and seamless, with beautiful focus and mid-palate depth, fine-grained tannins, superb focus and a very, very long, suave and complex finish. Like Lafite, Cheval Blanc wears its luxurious gloss very well in 2009, and it will clearly make a lot of friends amongst the jet set and should make some serious inroads into the Chinese high end luxury market, which seemed to be the obsession of every non-Lafite executive at the top estates on this trip. The wine will really need at least fifteen years to fully blossom, but is so finely crafted that it will provide plenty of pleasure early on and is likely to fall prey to infanticide in many circles. But as brilliant as the Cheval Blanc undoubtedly is this year, I would rather have the old-fashioned beauty of 2009 Bélair-Monange in my own personal cellar. (Drink between 2025-2075)John Gilman | 95-96+ JG

A stunningly complex and complete nose of flowers, dark fruits, and minerals. Very perfumed and subtle at the same time. The palate is full, yet tight and powerful with perfect tannins and a long, long finish. The quality of the tannins is phenomenal, please leave this alone for ten years. Pull the cork in 2020.James Suckling | 99 JSAnother titanic effort from the Delon family, the 2005 Leoville Las Cases is probably the greatest wine made at this estate since Jean-Hubert Delon’s father produced the 1986 and 1996. Only 37% of the production made it into the 2005, a blend of primarily Cabernet Sauvignon with less than 13% Merlot and Cabernet Franc. An inky/ruby/purple color is accompanied by reticent aromatics that, with considerable coaxing, offer up subtle notes of toasty vanillin intermixed with lead pencil shavings, wet rocks, and enormously ripe, intense black cherry and creme de cassis. The wine hits the palate with a full-bodied, layered mouthfeel as well as enormous extract, concentration, and purity. This ageless, monumental claret requires a minimum of 15-20 years to approach maturity, and should last for a half century. It is about as classic a Leoville Las Cases as one will find. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2060Robert Parker | 98 RPSleek and racy, with black currant and fig fruit laced liberally with a bright iron streak and singed alder notes. This is very tightly coiled, as the fruit seems to be preserved for now, while the cold fireplace character holds sway. A superb energy in reserve gives this more than enough time to wait. Could outlast them all in this vintage.—Blind ’01/’03/’05 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2017). Best from 2025 through 2050. 15,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSHere is one more vintage to prove Las Cases deserves to be elevated to first growth. The Delon family has tended this great terroir as if they were already there. And the wine has the assured stance, the persistence of flavor that lasts long enough to become a memory, an imprint on whatever synaptic connection may store and recall the greatest pleasures of taste. The energy in the wine is remarkable: beautiful, lithe juice that carries a flavor close to tiny currants and black cherries, but a flavor all its own. The deep stones of Le Clos and the roses with their view of the Gironde seem to be there in the wine as well. Harmonious and jazzed. Perhaps this is the vintage. Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, NYWine & Spirits | 98 W&SThe 2005 Léoville Las Cases is one of the most brooding, potent wines of the year. When will it be ready? The answer is not yet. Although I have had other bottles that have been showier. Inky, powerful and potent, the 2005 is a real showstopper. If opened now, the 2005 needs a good 12 hours in the decanter to start performing well. Over time, the 2005 shows it is just at the very beginning of a first plateau of maturity, with lovely aromatic complexity, layers of radiant fruit and tremendous structure to back it all up. The high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon (88%) foreshadows the style that has now become the norm. Time in the glass brings out the red/purplish fruit nicely. Still, I would prefer to give the 2005 a few more years in bottle. The 2005 is a must have for readers who love Las Cases. Tasted two times.Antonio Galloni | 97+ AGTo some, this is the best wine estate in St-Julien. Château Léoville Las Cases is one of the three Léovilles and is the largest at 97 hectares. Though the wine is a 2ème Cru Classé, or second growth, many see this old estate rivalling the first growths and have prices to match. I’ve been lucky enough to taste this a few times this year, and the last one (at a Christie’s dinner in early November) confirmed once again what an incredible wine this is. With a full 87% cabernet sauvignon, and the rest made up of merlot and cabernet franc, the colour here is rich ecclesiastical purple, and the fruit still tight and brooding, although it starts to soften up with a good carafing even now. It’s the texture of Léoville Las Cases that often hits you, and the confidence of a wine that knows it has years ahead of it. Dark fruits, bitter chocolate, black truffles, all perfectly in place. One to savour. Drinking Window 2015 - 2020Decanter | 97 DECA big wine with dense tannins, but so elegant. Dark, intense, with layers of acidity underneath that only show through at the end. Unusually, Cabernet Sauvignon dominates this wine, a sign of the ripeness of the Cabernet fruit.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE

The 2005 Petrus is dazzling. Rich, ample and explosive, the 2005 possesses magnificent density from start to finish. An exotic mélange of cedar, blood orange, spicebox, mint and dried flowers leads into a core of deep, concentrated fruit. All the elements meld together seamlessly in a Petrus that simply has it all. Readers fortunate enough to taste it will find a statuesque, monumental Petrus that is both powerful and refined. The 2005 continued to improve as I tasted it into the second day. It is without question one of the standout wines of 2005.Antonio Galloni | 100 AGA sleeping giant. Dark ruby in color, showing aromas of blackberry, cèpe and green olive, with a hint of mineral. Full-bodied, with ultrafine tannins and a supercaressing mouthfeel. Turns to coffee, dark chocolate and berry. Chewy yet balanced. Very, very long in the mouth. The finish is absolutely breathtaking. Best after 2013.Wine Spectator | 100 WSAs so often, Pétrus has the ability to charm and impress, to seduce and overwhelm. This 2005, one of the greatest vintages from this great chateau, is massive and concentrated, with flavors of ripe black figs, chocolate and dark plums. Put that all together and the result is the utmost deliciousness, freshness and elegance. A major wine.Wine Enthusiast | 100 WEOffering pure black cherry and blackcurrant fruit, the inky ruby/purple 2005 Petrus is still very young and unyielding, but super-concentrated, powerful, full-bodied and primordial. It is much more backward than the likes of Lafleur, Trotanoy or Hosanna. Nevertheless, it is super-rich, extracted, beautifully balanced and pure. Forget it for another 10-15 years, and drink it over the following half-century. This may well be among the longest-lived wines of 2005.Robert Parker | 97+ RP

This is pure pleasure, with tiny pulses of electricity, brushed leather, sulphur, loam, truffle, blackberry, black cherry, with touches of silky tannins, smoked caramel and black chocolate. A wine that makes you smile, so much depth and power, barely out of its primary phase, but we are starting now to get the whole picture of what it will become. There is a lush edge to the tannins now that was not the case even two years ago. Such a different expression from the 2009 and 2010 Mouton, with this a little more old school in its charms, and for me you can now project yourself foraward, more like the 1986, a little dry and strict at first, but finessed and gorgeous, delivering grip, punch and magic. Eric Tourbier and Philippe Dhalluin on the technical team. 63% first wine, extremely low for the time (lowest since 1975, whereas today they are regularly below 50%). If you are going to open this anytime soon, think of it as a bottle to enjoy very slowly over four or five hours seeing the nuances develop. 100% new oak.Jane Anson | 100 JAThe 2005 Mouton-Rothschild has developed magnificently, and is even better than I remember. The final blend was 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc. Stunning notes of crème de cassis, melted asphalt, roasted espresso and cedarwood are present in this young, full-bodied, powerful, concentrated Mouton. Just beginning to enter its adolescence, it should hit full maturity in 10-15 years and last for 50 or more. The greatness of this vintage is increasingly apparent as the wines throw off their cloaks of tannin.Robert Parker | 99+ RPThis accelerates on the palate with incredibly ripe tannins and finesse. Full body, roasted fruit, leather and grilled meat. Dried flowers, too. It shows superb tannin backbone and polish. Tight and youthful. Just starting to open. Currant and berry undertones with lead pencil are impressive. Better in 2018 but so delicious now.James Suckling | 98 JSOne of the real highlights on the Left Bank, the 2005 Mouton Rothschild is a dark, potent Pauillac. Black cherry, plum, chocolate, spice and leather all take shape in the glass. The 2005 is a dense, powerful and explosive wine endowed with tremendous energy and pure power. The fruit is just starting to emerge, but Mouton remains a very tight, super-classic wine. With time in the glass, some of the natural richness and radiance of the year starts to emerge. Even so, the 2005 is still very young and closed. A few more years in bottle will only be beneficial. Impressive. Tasted two times.Antonio Galloni | 98 AG(Château Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, Red) Mouton was voluptuous and immediately appealing, with spicy ripe cassis and plum fruit that poured from the glass, surrounded by liquorice, coconut, and toasted cedar. The texture was not abrasive but very full-bodied and round. The tannins initially appeared fine-grained and silky, but with a bit of time, one realised the immense structure of this wine. Impressively concentrated and very long on the finish, this is still youthful and should age for decades to come. The blend is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon with 14% Merlot, with a touch of Cabernet Franc. The picking for the grand vin started on 21 September for the Merlot and finished with the Cabernets on 3 October. (Drink between 2021-2040)Decanter | 98 DECGorgeous, with singed alder and juniper notes starting to strut their stuff, while the immense core of steeped red currant, blackberry and plum fruit continues to wait in reserve. A light sanguine thread weaves in on the back end, which is driven by a serious bolt of iron. Shows terrific grip, length and cut. A brick-house Pauillac built for the long haul.--Non-blind Mouton-Rothschild vertical (March 2017). Best from 2020 through 2050.Wine Spectator | 98 WSIf 2005 was a rich year, Mouton reaches the heights of richness. Almost too rich, too New World, but you have to be impressed by the aromatic intensity of the black fruits, the dense, firm tannins, and the superripe black juice and licorice flavors. The wood is still too overpowering and needs time to settle in.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WE

The 2005 La Mission Haut-Brion is pure perfection. It has an absolutely extraordinary nose of sweet blackberries, cassis and spring flowers with some underlying minerality, a full-bodied mouthfeel, gorgeously velvety tannins (which is unusual in this vintage) and a long, textured, multi-layered finish that must last 50+ seconds. This is a fabulous wine and a great effort from this hallowed terroir. Drink this modern-day legend over the next 30+ years. Only 5,500 cases were produced of this blend of 69% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Cabernet Franc.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPThis is very rich and layered for La Mission with ultra-polished tannins yet velvety and beautiful in texture. It’s fully-bodied and full of character that shows plums, berries, wet earth and oyster shell flavors that are so unique to reds from this estate. Superb quality. Better to drink this in 2020 but try now to feel the greatness.James Suckling | 99 JSStill inky hued, the blockbuster styled 2005 Château La Mission Haut Brion is based on a blend of 69% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc. A huge monster of a wine that’s still 4-5 years out from its drink window, it gives up massive amounts of ripe, smoky black fruits, truffles, chocolate, graphite, and roasted meats. This carries to a full-bodied Pessac-Léognan offering a dense, concentrated mid-palate, lots of tannins, wonderful purity, and one heck of a magical finish.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDThe 2005 La Mission Haut-Brion is a wine that I have had the pleasure of tasting on several occasions. The most recent bottle, included in a 2005 horizontal, puts it in a very favorable light even against strong competition. The bouquet bursts from the glass with intense blackberry, cedar and tobacco scents, plus background aromas of fig and damson, as you would expect from a warm summer. The palate is structured, yet the Merlot content (at 69%, the highest in many years) renders this Pessac-Léognan much more pliant than others from this vintage. A mélange of red and black fruits vie for attention, followed by warm gravel and black olives. Quite rich and yet not grippy; with decanting, you could broach this now, though personally I would prefer to leave it for several more years. Outstanding.Vinous Media | 97 VMA glorious vintage of La Mission, this young wine buzzes with energy in the mouth. All of the flavors, whether herbal, earthy or vinous, seem to refer back to the tiny pebbles of this terroir. The texture is silken, the finish exclamatory and grand. It has a racy beauty, the kind of effortless strength Nureyev’s choreography projects in Le Corsaire. One of the wines of the vintage, this has a high proportion of merlot in the blend (69 percent). It’s more accessible than Haut-Brion, but still has the stamina for long-term aging. Diageo Château & Estate Wines, NYWine & Spirits | 97 W&SDark and dense, but with such opulent fruit, this is a year when La Mission shows its softer, richer side by comparison with neighbor Haut-Brion. There is spice and exotic and generous red fruits to give with the concentration. It has great power, but it also has a velvet structure.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe Indian spices and blackberry on the nose are so enticing and inspiring, leading to a full-bodied palate, with very polished tannins that caress. Goes on and on as this builds on the palate, with a mineral and berry aftertaste. For long-term aging. Best after 2015. 5,665 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WS

The 2005 Ausone is a perfect wine of the vintage. It displays crushed rock, spring flowers, blueberry and blackberry fruit, a full-bodied mouthfeel, stunning purity and richness, and perfect harmony among all of its component parts (acidity, tannin, wood, alcohol and extract). Still youthful, but oh, so promising, this wine should be set aside for another decade and drunk over the following 50-75 years.Robert Parker | 100 RPI love the tobacco, berry, cigar box, toasty oak, ripe fruit and fresh mushroom flavors in this full-bodied red, which has ultralayered tannins and vanilla, new oak and berry character. Powerful and superconcentrated, with great length. This is a muscular, full-throttle wine, racing very, very fast. Best after 2019. 1,330 cases made.Wine Spectator | 100 WSDeep ruby-red. Penetrating aromas of cassis and minerals. The nose does not prepare one for this huge, improbably sweet, palate-saturating wine, whose pungent minerality and epic intensity makes it solid as a rock. The three-dimensional texture here is uncanny, and the wine’s explosive finishing flavors of dark berries, bitter chocolate and minerals persist for minutes. This must be one of the three or four greatest young Bordeaux I’ve ever tasted. The numbers here: 14.28% alcohol, 3.55 pH and an IPT between 80 and 85. This will go on for several decades, and I would not be at all surprised if it shut down in bottle for a very long time.Vinous Media | 98+ VMA superb wine that brings together all the qualities of this vintage. It has great fruit, layers of acidity, dark tannins and a velvety texture, without losing the sense of place that sets great Bordeaux apart.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WE

The 1986 possesses outstanding richness, a deep color, medium body, a graceful, harmonious texture, and superb length. The penetrating fragrance of cedar, chestnuts, minerals, and rich fruit is a hallmark of this wine. Powerful, dense, rich, and tannic, as well as medium to full-bodied, with awesome extraction of fruit, this Lafite has immense potential. Patience is required. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2030. Last tasted 11/94.Robert Parker | 100 RPWe are in perfectly-aged claret territory here, the most beautiful impression of a wine at its plateau. It’s perfectly ready to drink and is still generous, with a long life ahead of it. Its spicy notes, touches of pencil lead and still-concentrated cassis combine with menthol, buttery leather and that classic Médoc saline, mineral-edged flourish - this is the height of well-aged Cabernet Sauvignon. Drinking Window 2018 - 2040.Decanter | 100 DECThe 1986 Lafite-Rothschild is a great wine although over several recent encounters it is never a convincing "perfect" wine. This mirrors the bottle I tasted at the property in 2016: blackberry and graphite on the nose, gawky at first, but coalescing with time. The palate is well balanced with firm tannins, strong graphite scents unfolding with time, superb energy if not delivering quite the finesse and precision that the very best Lafite-Rothschild will bestow. This is a wine that benefits from long decanting, say five or six hours, though it never quite reaches the ethereal heights that it could have done. Tasted at the International Business & Wine First Growth Dinner at the Four Seasons.Vinous Media | 96 VMA firm, young wine. Dark ruby color. Intense aromas of blackberry and mint. Full-bodied, with silky tannins and a long finish. Still needs time.--Bordeaux retrospective. Best after 2003.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

The 1982 Lafite-Rothschild is a wine I have drunk several times, though maybe this is the first time in magnum. It is deeply impressive. Deep in colour, it has a classic Pauillac nose with intense black fruit mixed with pencil shavings and black truffles. It simply oozes class. The palate is very well balanced with finely-chiselled tannins, spellbinding definition and immense, dare I say it, almost "Latour-like" stature on the persistent finish. Magnificent. Tasted at the 1982 Dinner at Hatched.Vinous Media | 98 VMAs with the last time I drank this wine two years ago, it is still full of life and energy, with that classic Lafite quality of effortless drinkability. Utterly moreish, it has an amazing cinnamon-edged spice, rich and slightly exotic with brick-red colouring. To recap what we all know to have been a great season, 1982 saw a dry and mild spring, allowing an excellent flowering followed by a dry and hot summer with regular small showers and fresher nights in August. It was an easy harvest that saw an early and large crop, and in the vat rooms they say, it smelt of hot fruit jam. Baron Eric’s memories say it all: ’The last day of harvest was a Friday and we knew right away how good the fruit in the tanks was. Everyone was in a great mood, the whole harvest felt like fun.’ Drinking Window 2018 - 2040.Decanter | 98 DECThis is a denser version of the 1990 that stylistically reminds me of what the young 1959 probably tasted like. Still backward with a deep ruby/plum color revealing only a touch of lightening at the edge, the wine offers up an extraordinary nose of caramelized herbs, smoke, cedar, pen ink, black currants, and earth. The gorgeous aromatics are followed by a full-bodied, plump, rich, fleshy wine with low acidity. With 6-8 hours decanting in a closed decanter, it will offer beautiful drinking, but it needs another 5-8 years to reach full maturity. It is capable of lasting 50-60 years. This classic Lafite is not as fat and concentrated as the 1982 Latour, nor as complex or concentrated as the 1982 Mouton Rothschild, but it is a winner all the same.Robert Parker | 97+ RPI am impressed with the loads of ripe fruit with almost dried raspberries and blackberries and a minty undertone on the nose. It’s full bodied, with bay leaf, berries that turn to mineral undertones. It’s full-bodied, with round tannins and a lingering finish of chocolate, cedar and other woods. I would leave it another three to four years to soften and open just a tiny bit; otherwise, decant three hours in advance.James Suckling | 96 JSDark ruby red. Mineral, berry and mint. Full-bodied, with silky tannins and a long finish. A silky, seductive wine.--Bordeaux retrospective. Drink now.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

Still stubbornly backward, yet beginning to budge from its pre-adolescent stage, this dense, murky ruby/purple-colored wine offers up notes of graphite, sweet caramel, black cherry jam, cassis, and minerals. The nose takes some coaxing, and the decanting of 2-4 hours prior to service is highly recommended. For such a low acid wine, it is huge, well-delineated, extremely concentrated, and surprisingly fresh. Perhaps because I lean more toward the hedonistic view of wine than the late Michel Delon, I have always preferred this to the 1986, but the truth is that any lover of classic Medoc should have both vintages in their cellar. This wine has monstrous levels of glycerin, extract, and density, but still seems very youthful, and tastes more like a 7 to 8-year-old Bordeaux than one that is past its twentieth birthday. A monumental effort. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2035. Last tasted, 9/02.Robert Parker | 100 RPTasted at the domaine, the 1982 Leoville Las Cases is just about pure perfection, and while certainly mature, it has plenty of life ahead of it. Thrilling notes of blackcurrants, kirsch, tobacco leaf, cedar box, menthol, and exotic spices all emerge from this seamless, powerful yet magically elegant Leoville Las Cases. Opening up in the glass, with a smoky, singular character, it’s an incredible wine from this terroir that has an almost Latour-like regal quality. It should continue drinking well for another 10-15 years and I’m sure will keep even longer.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDIt’s impossible, I know, to believe that a St-Julien might not be perfectly ready to drink at this ripe old age, but here we are, face to face with the conundrum that is Léoville Las Cases. You’ll be happy to hear I had the 1981 Léoville recently and it was actually open, soft and ready to go. This 1982 is still a little stubborn on first opening, but gets better and better in the glass, with sweet brambly ripe fruits, and rippling tannins that are almost honeyed at this stage. Classic, dense, mineral minty touches on the finish, great persistency and a way still ahead of it. Michel Delon, father of today’s owner, was in charge at this point (and until 2000) and the cellar master Bruno Rolland remembers that they were working in shorts at night in the vat house because even after harvest the temperature was not dropping below 20 degrees at night. They were the first estate in St Julien to start harvesting in 1982 by the way, on September 13. Petit Verdot 5% finishes the blend. Drinking Window 2018 - 2045.Decanter | 97 DECA racy, classy, silky wine. Inky-ruby color. Black cherry, mineral and wet earth aromas. Medium-bodied, with very silky tannins and a long, superfine finish. Has always been excellent.--1982 Bordeaux horizontal. Best after 2000.Wine Spectator | 95 WS(Château Leoville Las Cases) The 1982 Leoville Las Cases is a very nice and youthful wine, but I have always been under the impression that this wine was made in the cellar, rather than the vineyard, and will never really attain the level of greatness that is attributed to it elsewhere. The wine is certainly deep and concentrated in personality, offering up a still quite primary bouquet of cassis, black cherries, cigar ash, a touch of mint and plenty of toasty new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, quite extracted in profile and still fairly tannic, with a good core, fine focus and grip and very good, but not great length on the youthful finish. Maybe this will eventually become the complex wine of its considerable reputation, but I am skeptical, and rather expect the ’82 Las Cases to always trade on its power, but never develop the complexity of the truly great wines of this vintage. Call it good, not great. (Drink between 2023-2075).John Gilman | 93 JGSadly, it is not a great night for Bordeaux. The 1982 Léoville Las Cases is powerful but also incredibly compact, with little appeal or mid-palate depth. This is a very stubborn wine, even within the context of Las Cases.Antonio Galloni | 92 AG

A prodigious offering, the 2001 Climens’ light medium bold color with a greenish hue is followed by ethereal aromas of tropical fruits (primarily pineapple), honeysuckle, and flowers. It is a medium-bodied wine of monumental richness, extraordinary precision/delineation, great purity, and moderate sweetness. The finish seemingly lasts forever. This monumental effort is the stuff of legends. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2040+.Robert Parker | 100 RPLoads of orange peel and dried apricots on the nose here. Full-bodied, with a wild and exciting palate. Sweet yet racy. Electrifying. Great class and elegance. One of the best Climens I have tasted. Best after 2010. 1,955 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WSThe 2001 Climens has a well-defined, complex bouquet of dried honey, peach skin, quince and a light beeswax scent. Tight at first, it only takes a few swirls of the glass to get going. The palate is where the action is: very intense and concentrated with layers of botrytized fruit, lightly spiced with tangy marmalade, quince and nectarine notes, merging into saffron and gingerbread toward the very engaging, persistent finish. This is a magnificent Barsac that is only beginning to show what it is capable of.Vinous Media | 96 VM

Amazing! The limestone soils of Ausone appear to have been the perfect foil for resisting the extreme heat and drought of June, July and August, 2003. This black/purple-colored effort boasts a glorious nose of violets, truffles, lead pencil shavings, blueberry and blackberry liqueur. Full-bodied with staggering concentration, a voluptuous texture, low acidity and well-integrated, melted tannins, this deep, multidimensional, profound Bordeaux is beginning to drink exceptionally well. It should continue to do so for another two decades or more.Robert Parker | 100 RPLoads of blackberry, plum and strawberry. Intense fruit. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins and layers of everything. Wonderful balance and refinement. Closed up already. Very serious wine. Best after 2012. 1,375 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSFull ruby. Black raspberry, mocha, minerals, graphite and nutty oak on the superripe nose. Extravagantly rich and sweet in the mouth without coming off as heavy. This boasts extraordinary fruit intensity and verve (it’s hard to imagine cabernet franc better than this), and finishes with great palate-staining persistence. But this powerfully tannic wine may already be starting to shut down in the bottle. Like the 2005, it will need a decade of aging at a minimum, and possibly a lot longer.Vinous Media | 95+ VM

The 2003 Lafite Rothschild comes as close to perfection as any of the great Lafites made over the past three decades (1982, 1986, 1996, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010). This sensational effort came in at 12.7% natural alcohol, it is made in the style of one of this estate’s great classics, the 1959. Composed of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, it exhibits a dense ruby/purple color to the rim along with a luxurious bouquet of cedarwood, lead pencil shaving, white chocolate, cocoa and cassis. Fat, rich, opulent and full-bodied with low acidity and stunning seductiveness and complexity, this noble wine possesses a bountiful, generous, heady style. It is just coming into its plateau of maturity where it should hold for 20-25 years. This is one of the candidates for the wine of the vintage – make no mistake about that.These are two great successes in this vintage that have aged well and surprised me by their intensity and overall complexity.Robert Parker | 100 RPSpicy and rich, with a tobacco and berry character on the nose and palate I love the nose. Full bodied, with soft velvety tannins that give you so much. This goes on and on. Sexy and exciting right now, but leave this for five or six years.James Suckling | 98 JSThis is a splendid wine. Yes, it is more powerful than the usual aristocratic Lafites, but it still manages to retain a special air of great elegance and presence. The fruits are black, the tannins immensely powerful, the flavors are of black figs, dates, cocoa. At the end, there is a vibrant acidity that shows through, which promises a great life for this great wine.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe 2003 Lafite-Rothschild famously shrugged off the merciless heat of that infamous summer when the temperature at the estate nudge 42° Celsius. It has a lovely bouquet of black plum, pressed iris, a touch of glycerin and (for Lafite) exotic scents of blood orange. The palate is powerful and intense as you would expect. There is great depth and volume with glossy black fruit laced with orange zest, smoke and melted tar. You can almost feel the summer in this Lafite-Rothschild but unlike many of its peers, it has requisite acidity to maintain freshness and avoid cloyingness on the finish. Whilst not my pick of modern-day Lafites, I have to doff my cap because it was and still is, one of the finest Left Banks of the vintage. Tasted at the Lafite-Rothschild 150th anniversary dinner at the estate.Vinous Media | 96 VMSubtle, complex aromas of berries, licorice and currants. Full-bodied, with well-integrated tannins and a long finish. Very well-integrated wine. Lovely stuff. Wonderful length and finesse. Best after 2012. 20,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WS

The late Michel Delon always thought that this was the greatest vintage he had produced. We often tasted it side by side with the 1982, because I always preferred the latter vintage. Of course, the two vintages are quite different in style, with the 1986 a monument to classicism, with great tannin, extraordinary delineation, and a huge, full-bodied nose of sweet, ripe cassis fruit intermixed with vanilla, melon, fruitcake, and a multitude of spices. The wine has always been phenomenally concentrated, yet wonderfully fresh and vigorous. The wine still seems young, yet it is hard to believe it is not close to full maturity. It is a great example of Leoville Las Cases, and another compelling reason to take a serious look at the top Cabernet Sauvignon-based Medocs of 1986. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2035. Last tasted, 9/02.Robert Parker | 100 RPMichel Delon, then owner, believed this to be the greatest wine he ever made. It’s not often the case that wines with this much expectation riding on them live up to the hype, but this one did. A stunning wine that, at 33 years old, still feels fresh, concentrated and with a long way left to go. The tannins have the characteristic Las Cases weight and definition to them, giving form and shape to the sweet berry fruit, but the overall impression is of welcoming, juicy pleasure. Harvested from 1 to 17 October. 4% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Drinking Window 2019 - 2035.Decanter | 100 DECSaturated dark ruby. Cassis, shoe polish, camphor and rose petal on the nose; this reminded me of a great vintage of Latour. Dense and extremely concentrated; explosive yet totally backward. There nothing playful about this infant claret. Finishes with extraordinary, slow-building persistence. Very serious juice; one of the great Bordeaux of the 1980s. Drink 2010 through 2035.Vinous Media | 98 VMFirm and focused, with beautifully articulated currant, raspberry and nutmeg aromas and flavors; very supple for such a lean-textured Bordeaux. Approaching drinkability, but it can use until 2000 to soften.--Léoville Las Cases vertical.Wine Spectator | 95 WS(Château Léoville Las Cases (St. Julien)) The 1986 Château Léoville Las Cases remains a stubbornly backward wine at age thirty-two, and I am beginning to wonder if it is just stuck in a seemingly endless adolescence or if the wine is going to turn out to be stillborn and never blossom. The bouquet offers up a still quite youthful blend of black cherries, cassis, a touch of mint, Galloise cigarette smoke, dark soil and toasty new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, simple and powerful in personality, with a rock solid core, firm tannins and a long, four-square and recalcitrant finish. Maybe this will blossom one day, but I do not have a ton of faith in the wine anymore. And, even if it does one day start to blossom, it still seems likely to not be a particularly complex example of Las Cases in the making. If it does one day start to soften up and open, it should merit a score at the top of my range, but that seems less than a fifty-fifty proposition at this point. I should mention that I have tasted this wine three or four times in the last decade and my impressions have been consistent, so this is the wine, rather than a reflection of a possibly atypical bottle (Drink between 2025-2075).John Gilman | 84-92 JG

The nose is fresh, bright, and dense. With aromas of violets, minerals, spices, cool stones, mint, dark fruits, and plum skins, this is beautiful. Very much still a baby right now, it needs much more time. This is a wine for the next generation. Finesse and elegance, truly a wine that makes you contemplate life. This is not about power, there is really nothing like it. 93% Cabernet Sauvignon. Do not even think about touching this for another ten years, 2020. 15+25+25+35. Find the wineJames Suckling | 100 JSPerhaps of all the first growths in the totally un-classic 2000, this retains most of the classic Bordeaux. It is certainly almost black in color, while the new wood flavors are very present. But it shows an impressive restraint, leaving the power of the wine to be revealed over the years rather than immediately. This could well be the longest-lived of the Pauillac first growths.Wine Enthusiast | 99 WESince I gave this wine a perfect score, I suppose some could see this as a downgrade. I found everything still there for a perfect rating, but I was just struck by how tight and backward the wine was. A blend of 93.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot, the wine still has a dark ruby/purple color and an extraordinarily youthful nose of graphite, black currants, sweet, unsmoked cigar tobacco, and flowers. The wine is rich, medium to full-bodied, but has that ethereal elegance and purity that is always Lafite. I originally predicted that it would first reach maturity in 2011, but I would push that back by 5-7 years now, although it has 50-60 years of life in front of it. Owners of this beauty are probably best advised to forget it for 5 years. Tasted next to a 1996 several days after the 2000 tasting, the 1996, which is a perfect wine, was far closer to full maturity than the 2000.Robert Parker | 98+ RPThe 2000 Lafite-Rothschild is utterly sublime. Delicate, sensual and wonderfully nuanced, the 2000 is majestic. The purity of the fruit is simply striking.Antonio Galloni | 98 AGThis is remarkably young, with a deep well of succulent black currant, fig and blackberry fruit notes that feel 10 years younger than most peers, carried by wave upon wave of velvety tannins. Despite the density and heft, there’s glorious length and finesse too, with alluring black tea, smoldering charcoal and warm paving stone notes just starting to emerge. Awesome wine.--Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Best from 2018 through 2043. 16,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSA baby, still barely evolved at 20 years old, perhaps the slowest out of the block of all Five Firsts at this point in their lives. Savoury black fruits, elegant yet concentrated, extremely Cabernet and extremely Lafite. The power comes slowly, expanding through the palate to show graphite, pencil shavings, cigar smoke, all with firm acidities and a fantastic grip. 46% of the overall crop went into this wine in the 2000 vintage. A brilliant example of the success at Lafite under the longtime triumvirate of owner Baron Éric de Rothschild, CEO Christophe Salin and estate director Charles Chevallier. Drinking Window 2020 - 2045.Decanter | 98 DECNo written review provided. | 95 W&S

A prodigious Petrus, this wine has that extra level of intensity and complexity that is monumental. The magic is clearly Petrus, and the 2000 will always be an interesting vintage to compare to another legend in the making, the 1998, or more recently, of course, the 2005, 2008, and 2009. Extremely full-bodied, with great fruit purity, an unmistakable note of underbrush, black truffle, intense black cherries, licorice, and mulberry, the wine seems to show no evidence of oak whatsoever. It has a sumptuous, unctuous texture, plenty of tannin, but also vibrancy and brightness. This is a remarkable wine that seems slightly more structured and massive than the 1998, which comes across as slightly more seamless, as if it were haute couture. This wine needs at least another 5-10 years of cellaring and should age for 50+ years.Robert Parker | 100 RPThe 2000 Petrus was served blind as an extra in an already formidable line-up. Deep, inky in hue, it has an intense nose of black and red fruit laced with pencil shavings and black truffle, the latter more prominently featured vis-à-vis previous bottles. The palate is medium-bodied, one of the most youthful examples that I have encountered, perhaps more masculine. Superb backbone here, grippy with that broody finish it exhibited a couple of years back. What you might call a "slow burner". Tasted at Epure restaurant in Hong Kong (again).Vinous Media | 98 VMThis has a pretty jam-packed core of blackberry, plum and boysenberry confiture notes inlaid with ample charcoal-edged tannins and carrying through a robustly tobacco-coated finish. But even with that density and power, there is a really beguiling backdrop of incense and black tea flavors waiting to emerge further. It’s all there, but this seems a touch more backward than the rest of the field, so hold on here.--Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Best from 2018 through 2035. 2,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSConcentrated plum colour, medium-full intensity and star bright. Powerfully complex aromatically with waves of dark berry fruits - blackberry, black cherry and bilberry. Still fairly young in expression, although it slowly unrolls to show campfire smoke and liquorice notes. With time in the glass, a more animal, liquorice bud note arrives, and the retro olfaction brings waves of violets. Exceptionally good quality and nuanced, finishing with black pepper and a hit of spice alongside black chocolate shavings. The tannic structure remains muscular and closed, suggesting this is just at the beginning of its drinking window and will age for many decades to come. From previous experience of this wine, this particular bottle seems entirely in keeping with a Petrus 2000 and is a beautiful example of this particular vintage and estate. Tasted as part of the Space Cargo Unlimited experiment, this bottle remained on earth while another sample was tasted that had returned from space. Drinking Window 2021 - 2050.Decanter | 98 DECWhile the first impression with Pétrus is the wood, it is the fruit which gradually shows itself. It is extraordinary, this dense fruit, which simultaneously manages to float with elegance. There is layer after layer of fruit, sometime black, sometimes smoky, sometimes spicy. The wine is not yet totally integrated, still intensely young, with decades to go. But what a development it will be Wine Enthusiast | 98 WENo written review provided. | 94 W&SA delicious nose of black olives, brown sugar, and sliced plums. Full bodied but shy, with a dense palate and soft and silky tannins. Flavors of milk chocolate, plums, and light vanilla bean come through. This is so good now, but wait three to four years to really see it shine. Find the wineJames Suckling | 93 JS

Absolutely fantastic. This is one of the most exciting young reds I have tasted in a long, long time. It shows intense aromas of berries, currants and minerals, with hints of mint. Full-bodied and packed with fruit and tannins, its long finish is refined and silky. A benchmark for the vintage. Las Cases has always wanted to make first-growth quality in a top-notch vintage, and it certainly did in 2000.Wine Spectator | 100 WSA classic Las Cases with masses of mineral, floral and blueberry character. Full and chewy, with so much power. It’s just opening now.James Suckling | 100 JSThis wine has put on weight and, as impressive as it was from cask, it is even more brilliant from bottle. Only 35% of the crop made it into the 2000 Leoville Las Cases, a blend of 76.8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.4% Merlot, and 8.8% Cabernet Franc. The wine is truly profound, with an opaque purple color and a tight but promising nose of vanilla, sweet cherry liqueur, black currants, and licorice in a dense, full-bodied, almost painfully rich, intense style with no hard edges. This seamless classic builds in the mouth, with a finish that lasts over 60 seconds. Still primary, yet extraordinarily pure, this compelling wine, which continues to build flavor intensity and exhibit additional layers of texture, is a tour de force in winemaking and certainly one of the great Leoville Las Cases. In another sense, it symbolizes / pays homage to proprietor Michel Delon, who passed away in 2000. Michel has been succeeded by his son, Jean-Hubert, another perfectionist. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2040.Robert Parker | 99 RPThe 2000 Leoville Las Cases is another brilliant wine and, like most 2000s, appears to just now be at the early stages of its drink window. Smoky black fruits, crushed rocks, lead pencil, and menthol notes all emerge from this brilliant, blockbuster beauty that still tastes like it’s just 5-6 years old. Beautifully concentrated, ripe, sexy, and seamless, it has the classic elegance and regal quality of this domaine front and center. It has another 3-4 decades of longevity.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDNow closing in on two decades, this is starting to soften and open, bringing exotic spices to the fore. The inky colour translates into tight black fruits with liquorice, cigar box, graphite and grilled gunsmoke. It’s still a little fierce in its tannic structure, and will need a few more years to be truly welcoming, but it’s clear that the grapes reached full phenolic ripeness. The invariably low pH at Leoville, often below 3.5 (as it is here), explains its iron grip. I last tasted this in October 2017 and it has barely budged an inch since then, but it gets significantly better after an hour in the glass (and being double decanted), giving you an idea of just how much life remains ahead. Harvest 28 September to 11 October. Drinking Window 2019 - 2050.Decanter | 98 DECThe 2000 Léoville Las Cases is a vintage that I have encountered a dozen or so times. Jean-Hubert Délon oversaw a magnificent wine in this year. The nose of graphite-infused black fruit is still vivacious and very complex, very Pauillac-like, and supremely well focused. Hints of licorice develop with aeration. The medium-bodied palate features sappy black fruit and perfectly judged acidity. Complex and delineated, with marine-tinged mulberry and black currant notes given a deft Oriental touch on the finish. Bottles are only just beginning to drink perfectly now and will last another 30 or more years.Vinous Media | 97 VMNo written review provided. | 95 W&S

Is this as good as the 1989? Certainly it is lush and powerful, lingering and expanding in the mouth with sweet tobacco and cigar box notes, along with still young blackcurrant and blackberry fruits, all given lift by the trademark Haut-Brion aromatics. It beds in and shakes off early reticence after a good hour in the glass, suggesting that this is only just leaving its primary phase and has many decades left ahead of it. A great wine that highlights the success of Haut-Brion under the partnership of estate director Jean-Bernard Delmas, father of current director Jean-Philippe Delmas, and owner Joan Dillon the Duchess of Mouchy (president of the company until 2008 before handing over to her son Prince Robert of Luxembourg). A supremely confident wine that is hard to fault in its depth of expression.Drinking Window 2020 - 2050.Decanter | 100 DECIts bigger sister, the 2000 Haut-Brion (a blend of 51% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc) showed incredibly at the tasting, and for me is one of the three or four most prodigious wines of the vintage. A compelling nose of roasted herbs, scorched earth, sweet blueberries, plums, black currants, and a hint of graphite is followed by a deep, layered, sumptuously textured, full-bodied Haut-Brion, but one with extraordinary complexity. This wine seems more evolved and approachable than I had expected it to be at age 10. My window of maturity seven years ago was 2012-2040, but I would change that to 2010-2050.Haut-Brion can be among the trickiest Bordeaux to taste young, often needing a full decade before the extraordinary complexity that marks this terroir begins to emerge. I was thrilled to see how well both the second wine, Bahans Haut-Brion, and Haut-Brion performed in this tasting, and both scores are slight upgrades.Robert Parker | 99 RPThe 2000 Haut-Brion has long been one of my favorite wines of this vintage, and at 21 years old it remains a tour de force. Blackberry, briar, black olive, incense and earthenware feature on the nose, which displays wonderful definition and so much personality. The palate is medium-bodied with a mixture of red and black fruit, white pepper, clove and graphite. It just sashays along, fresh and vital, revealing enormous, breathtaking depth on the finish. This has certainly mellowed over the last five or six years, but the bottom line is that you will be hard pushed to find a better millennial Bordeaux. Brilliant. 13.2° alcohol.Vinous Media | 98 VMFrom a year in Bordeaux that started out with poor weather yet finished under ideal conditions, the 2000 Haut Brion is a gorgeous, incredibly classic wine from this estate that everything you could want. Blackcurrants, plums, scorched earth, tobacco and lots of mineral and earthy characteristic emerge from this gorgeous, still youthful, elegant, yet powerful 2000. The blend is 51% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Cabernet Franc, and while certainly beautiful today, it has another two to three decades of longevity.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDFor an Haut-Brion, this is huge. Every characteristic suggests power, from the dark color, through the knock-out perfumes, full of dark, brooding fruits. The flavors are black, intense and ripe. It is a delicious wine, surprisingly ready to drink. And yes, just at the end, there is a small hint of the delicacy and elegance that is true Haut-Brion.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEThis 2000 starts with aromas of citrus fruit, currants, flowers, and fresh mushrooms. The palates leads off full and rich, with round tannins and a dusty texture. Plenty of fruit and sliced mushrooms on the palate, but it is still tight. Pull the cork after 2010.James Suckling | 95 JSThis is well-endowed with a large core of fig, blackberry and black currant fruit that has light mulling spice, bay and tobacco nuances peeking out, while the tarry finish cuts a broad and deep swath. Obvious heft, but the elegance wins out in the end, with a lilting sandalwood and sweet tobacco–infused finish that just sails on and on.—Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Best from 2018 through 2038. 11,817 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSNo written review provided. | 94 W&S