Type of Wines

wines

(Clos St. Denis- Domaine Dujac) I have a fair bit of Dujac Clos St. Denis in my cellar, but I cannot recall any previous vintage as promising as the 2011 showed at the time of my visit in November. This is one of the most elegant of all the grand crus in the Côte de Nuits and this has obviously dovetailed brilliantly with the style of the 2011 vintage. The stunning nose soars from the glass in a glorious mélange of cherries, blood orange, gamebirds, cinnamon, roses, beautiful minerality, cocoa, peonies and a discreet base of spicy wood. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and absolutely ethereal in style, with great mid-palate depth and nascent complexity, laser-like focus, suave tannins and magical grip and focus on the very, very long and very transparent finish. This beautiful wine already dances across the palate and it will be a legend in the years to come! (Drink between 2022-2065)John Gilman | 96 JGA model of elegance and finesse, the 2011 Clos St. Denis presents a hugely attractive fabric laced with orange peel, rose petals and sweet spices. The 2011 is an especially floral, lifted Clos St. Denis endowed with terrific energy and focus, while the mid-weight structure suggests it will drink well relatively early.Vinous Media | 95 VMDeep, profound wine with dark berries, cinnamon and spices. Velvety tannins and long finish. Terroir-driven, very intense flavours, amazing depth. Drinking Window 2018 - 2028.Decanter | 94 DEC(Domaine Dujac Clos St. Denis Grand Cru Red) Here too an adroit application of wood serves as a discreet foil for the more obvious floral aromas that enjoy added scope from the presence of pure, spicy and highly complex red and dark berry scents. There is an abundance of mouth coating extract that imparts a suave, even lush character to the very rich medium-bodied flavors that are an exercise in finesse and refinement while offering controlled power and outstanding length. A classic Clos St. Denis of class and grace. (Drink starting 2026)Burghound | 93 BHThe 2011 Clos Saint Denis Grand Cru is missing a little cohesion on the nose, rather loose-knit with broody, stony red berry fruit. Fortunately, it begins to come together with rigorous swirling of the glass and musters much better focus. The palate is medium-bodied with quite chalky tannins on the entry. There is a fine core of red cherries, pomegranate and attractive saline notes toward the masculine finish. It is more approachable than other vintages that I have tasted at this stage, but it deserves three or four years in bottle because there is a lot of potential here. Drink 2015-2025.I have been visiting Jeremy and Alec Seysses at Domaine Dujac for several years now, and it is always one of my favorite ports of call. Alec, looking surprisingly chipper for a new dad had taken time off nappy duty to guide me through the 2011s this year. I have to confess that I was concerned by the conspicuous nature of the new oak on both their negociant label wines and the entry Village Crus. I felt that 35% new oak tended to overwhelm the fruit and terroir and occasionally impart drying finishes, which is why my scores are parsimonious here. As I tasted through the range toward the flock of Grand Crus the oak seemed better assimilated, although I would still maintain that the wine is of such quality that the present level of oak risks being superfluous to requirements. All the negociant label wines were bottled before Christmas.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 92 RP-NM

The 2011 Syrah is an outstanding wine that evokes the elegance of the Rhone Valley with that of the Rhone Ranger in California. But it also shows a true Tuscan heart with warm climate tones of ripe blackberry and spice. The wine’s appearance is inky black and its long list of aromas include cured meat, barbecue spice, grilled herb, black mineral and blackberry pie. There’s even a balsamic note of cola or rosemary oil that pops at the end. You can count on a long drinking window with this gorgeous Syrah. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2035.Stefano Frascolla and Tua Rita have almost single-handedly put Suvereto on Italy’s winemaking map. His latest releases are nothing short of spectacular.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPThe 2011 Syrah is striking in its beauty. Despite the warm, precocious vintage, the 2011 screams with varietal character as expressed in Maremma. A wine of pure volume and breadth, the 2011 is going to be a lot of fun to follow. As of this tasting, the 2011 has just been bottled, so it is quite likely the wine will show even better in another 6-12 months.Antonio Galloni | 94+ AGFascinating aromas of violets, blue slate and crushed raspberries. Full body, polished and silky tannins and a fruity, lightly wooded aftertaste. Needs time to come together, but already delicious. Better in 2015.James Suckling | 93 JS

The 2012 Richebourg Grand Cru, which comes from a 0.28-hectare parcel planted in 1950, this year contains 20% whole bunches and the domaine were graced with five barrels. It has a very refined and distinctly aristocratic bouquet adorned with beautifully defined black and red fruits, perhaps leaning towards the former with aeration. Touches of seaweed and tilled earth emerge with time. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins. It does not have the charm of the RSV at the moment, but there is beguiling structure and symmetry with a long mineral laden finish. Superb.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96-98 RPThe 2011 Richebourg from Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat is another absolutely stellar example of the vintage, and this wine too has really benefited to my palate from the diminution of its new wood percentage. The reserved and very classy nose wafts from the glass in a blend of red plums, cherries, gamebirds, a touch of nutskin, a beautiful base of soil, citrus zest and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and again, very pure, with a superb core, ripe, suave tannins, very fine acidity and excellent focus and grip on the soil-driven, very long and perfectly balanced finish. A young Richebourg fully worthy of the exalted reputation of this cru. (Drink between 2025 - 2075)John Gilman | 96 JGHere the equally broad ranging nose is actually similar to that of the Romanée St. Vivant but it’s both cooler and even more restrained with a bit more floral influence as well. The intensely mineral-driven broad-shouldered flavors are an exercise in refinement with tremendous depth of material that pushes the very firm tannic spine to the background on the palate staining, explosive and stunningly precise finish. This is perhaps on the lighter side in the context of the appellation but the laser-like focus and persistence is easily of grand cru caliber.Burghound | 94 BH(totally destemmed): Bright medium red. Pure but subdued aromas of strawberry and crushed stone lifted by an exotic floral note; like a number of these 2011s, this shows some very ripe notes. Sappy, dense and saline, showing surprising energy for its level of ripeness. Finishes very long, with noble tannins and more spine than the RSV. Charles van Canneyt, who prefers the estate’s 2012s to the 2011s, noted that he has been changing his style by vinifying with a portion of whole clusters, which he thinks contributes more life and verve. He started doing some vendange entier in 2011 but moved more seriously in that direction in 2012.Vinous Media | 93 VM

I have always been a very big fan of the Romanée-St.-Vivant from Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat, but now that the new wood here has been reduced to fifty percent, the expression of the underlying, magical terroir of this great grand cru has really jumped to the fore. I wish other owners of RSV could take their cue from this domaine, as it seems to me if there was ever a terroir in Vosne-Romanée that begged for smaller percentages of new wood, it is RSV. The 2011 version from Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat is stunning, offering up a beautiful nose of sappy raspberries and cherries, Vosne spice tones, a touch of woodsmoke, great minerality, cedar and a pungent topnote of roses. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, strikingly pure and rock solid at the core, with a lovely sappiness and transparency, ripe tannins and a very long, tangy and still quite primary finish. This will be a great, great wine in the fullness of time. (Drink between 2024 - 2075)John Gilman | 96 JGThe 2011 Romanée Saint-Vivant Grand Cru was just about to enter its drinking plateau. Gentle and leafy on the nose, there is a sense of rusticity here that complements the broody red berry fruit, almost Richebourg-like after five to ten minutes in the glass. The palate is finely balanced with tart red cherry fruit infused with sous-bois. I like the bitter edge that comes through on the finish, an approachable grand cru that is probably not going to be the longest lasting of the domaine’s wines but will give much pleasure over the next 12-15 years. Tasted November 2016.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPMedium red. Very ripe, slightly exotic aromas of raspberry, mocha and underbrush. Highly concentrated and deep; opulent and lightly saline but a bit sullen today. Most impressive right now on the very long, slowly mounting finish, which really camps out on the palate. Vinified with 20% whole clusters but I never would have guessed it from this sample.Vinous Media | 92+ VMAn appealingly fresh nose combines various spice elements that include a prominent herbal tea character along with hoisin, red currant, plum and violet scents. There is a fleshy yet precise character to the brilliantly detailed and lilting flavors that are akin to pure silk on the palate, all wrapped in a gorgeously persistent finish. This is certainly very pretty yet it hasn’t developed the depth that I originally imagined that it would and I have lowered my score accordingly. To be fair, this has not yet peaked yet it’s not so far away from its apex that I have difficulty seeing quite that much improvement in such a short period of time. I would further note that there is noticeable gas on the finish so I would suggest giving this a thorough aeration first. Tasted twice in the last year with consistent notes.Burghound | 91 BH

This beautiful Amoureuses still has a fresh lightish purple. The aromatics stand up very well to the accompanying black truffle and mushroom risotto. Indeed, the wine was so open for business that it was tempting to gulp it down. No pyrazines on show, instead the essence of grace with a significantly sensual feel. Even from this relatively ascetic producer. Tasted: January 2019.Jasper Morris | 95 JMDespite the 2011 Amoureuses chez Mugnier being ready for a racking and just a touch reduced, it is pretty easy to see that this will be a marvelous wine. Underneath the dollop of reduction is a beautiful blend of red and black cherries, blood orange, beautiful minerality, woodsmoke and gamebirds. On the palate the wine is deep, fullish, pure and very soil-driven, with superb intensity of flavor, a sappy core, tangy acids and excellent focus and grip on the very long, suavely-tannic and stunning finish. An utterly classic bottle of Amoureuses in the making. (Drink between 2020 - 2050)John Gilman | 93-94 JGTasted blind at the Burgundy 2011 horizontal tasting in Beaune. After a misfiring bottle in Holland, it is pleasing to find what I feel is a more representative example. Here, the Chambolle-Musigny les Amoureuses ‘11 has a precise and delineated bouquet with touches of seaweed infusing the red and black fruit. It is more reserved than other Amoureuses but no less compelling. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins, outstanding tension and a very focused, mineral-laden finish that is quite conservative and almost austere. But still, it should repay 3-4 years in bottle and then continue to deliver long after.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPThe 2011 Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses 1er Cru has a finely tuned, quite detailed bouquet with rose petals and violets infusing the blueberry and crushed strawberry aromas. It has the charm and sensuality one seeks from this auspicious vineyard. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, fine grain tannin. This feels sleek and sensual in the mouth, although it does not possess the depth and structure of a top-drawer example from this propitious vineyard. Drinking beautifully now, I would consume this within the next decade. Tasted at Flint Wines Burgundy 2011 tasting.Vinous Media | 92 VMA curious and highly atypical nose displays somewhat dull and listless plum, spice and floral aromas. By contrast there is a better sense of energy and strikingly good detail to the penetratingly mineral-driven medium-bodied flavors that display an incredibly refined and ultra-pure mouth feel on the deeply complex and persistent finish. This is a bit of a head scratcher as it was notably better from cask. In any event my score offers the benefit of the doubt that it will harmonize in time but suffice it to say that it did not show very well on the day of my visit.Burghound | 91 BH

A style that is a complete outlier. Easy to spot for those who have tasted it. Like entering a Moroccan souk to the smell of incense, sweet dates, clove and tamarind. Sweet and supple, with pixelated tannins and a waft of gentle freshness. Not the best vintage? Drink now. Alkina Grenache Assembly tasting.James Suckling | 96 JSBright ruby-red. An exotic bouquet presents black raspberry, incense, Asian spices and blood orange. On the palate, sweet red and dark berry flavors become more tangy and spicy with air. Shows an impressive blend of depth and vivacity and finishes with outstanding focus and thrust and gentle tannic grip. Evidently this wine didn’t get the memo that 2011 couldn’t produce outstanding wines.Vinous Media | 94 VMFrom a bottle purchased in the Rhône, the 2011 Châteauneuf Du Pape Reserve is a pretty, perfumed Rayas that shows the more moderately concentrated, open, and complex style of the vintage. Translucent ruby-hued, with a great nose of sweet kirsch liqueur, white pepper, dried flowers, and Provençal herbs, it hits the palate with medium-bodied richness, a layered, silky, seductive mouthfeel, soft tannins, and outstanding length. Almost reminding me of the 2008, it’s a much lighter style of Rayas that checks in well behind the truly great vintages here, but it still brings that “je ne sais quoi” Rayas character that’s impossible to find outside of this hollowed terroir. Enjoy bottles any time over the coming decade or so.Jeb Dunnuck | 91 JD

Bright red. Pungent red berries and minerals on the nose, lifted by a floral note and a hint of pepper. Silky and fine-grained but juicy too; more pliant and extroverted--less wound up--in the mid-palate than the Beaux Monts. Finishes tactile and saline, with noteworthy balance and length. This really spreads out and glistens on the aftertaste. Grivot describes 2011 as "a very precise vintage of charm." It was a normal growing season but with all key events occurring three weeks earlier than average. "The foliage was finished at the end of August and there was little to gain by waiting to harvest. You could get higher sugars through concentration but that also brought heaviness and a loss of freshness. It was an error to pick later."Vinous Media | 92 VMViolet, black currant and black cherry flavors mark this elegant red, with spice and mineral elements emerging as this builds on the palate, ending with a lingering cascade of fruit and spice notes. Best from 2017 through 2030. 80 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 91 WSAn expressive nose combines both wood and natural spice elements that add considerable interest to the notably ripe nose cassis, plum and violets. There is excellent richness, size and weight to the very round and suave medium-bodied flavors that possess beautiful depth on the mouth coating finish where the abundant dry extract renders the supporting structure more pliant than it really is. Lovely potential here.Burghound | 90-93 BH

Good bright, dark red. Black cherry and rose petal on the inviting nose and palate. Sweet, sappy and generous, offering considerable early appeal and terrific depth. Quite open-knit for this cuvee: will it shut down in bottle? Savory, dense and fine-grained, finishing with sweet tannins and tactile fruits and flowers. A beauty.Vinous Media | 94 VMTasted blind at the Burgundy 2011 horizontal tasting in Beaune. The Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brûlées 2011 from Jean-Nicolas Méo has a relatively simple bouquet at first, delivering nicely detailed fresh strawberry and red cherry aromas, but it gains complexity in the glass and after 5-10 minutes manifests a satisfying sense of minerality. The palate is medium-bodied with an understated entry, well-judged acidity and generous raspberry and blackcurrant fruit interlaced with tertiary notes. There is a sense of bashfulness on the finish implying that needs bottle age to come out of its shell. There is good potential here, but it needs time.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPThe black currant and violet notes are shaded by earth and spice accents in this juicy red. Sandalwood and olive hints from the oak appear on the long finish. Impressive and graceful, but will require some time to fully integrate. Best from 2016 through 2025. 171 cases made, 25 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WSOaky but subdued nose showing sweet cherry fruit. Rich and forceful, yet quite rounded, enlivened by a crunchy, red-fruit character. This has plenty of energy, fine texture and admirable length.Decanter | 93 DECA markedly spicy and still very fresh nose is displaying almost no secondary character on the mostly red currant aromas that are liberally laced with clove, anise, sandalwood and soy nuances. The relatively robust and tautly muscular flavors exude a fine minerality on the wonderfully vibrant, delineated and complex finale that delivers excellent length. This is still developing and though it could be approached now with 30 minutes or so in a decanter, I would suggest holding it for another 5ish years.Burghound | 93 BH

Massive, concentrated and powerful, this offers lush, heady flavors of dark plum, blackberry and cherry tart, with touches of anise. Shows plenty of grip as well, with a long, rich finish of dark chocolate, toffee and cream. Best from 2040 through 2060. 2,190 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 98 WSA powerful, spicy wine, luscious in its peppered berry fruits and sweet tannins. The structure is dramatic, offering a smooth texture as well as a drier core. With its weight, density and dark, final character, this is a wine for serious aging.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEBright, saturated dark ruby. Spectacularly multifaceted nose combines high-pitched medicinal cherry, briary black raspberry, pungent menthol, dried herbs, incense, Indian spices and a whiff of passion fruit. Boasts great creamy depth and vinosity to its black raspberry and licorice flavors, with huge sweetness buffered by spicy minerality. The note of passion fruit carries through on the palate. Really reverberates on the back end, finishing with powerful tannins and a rising whiplash of flavor. This got better and better with extended aeration, with the tannins making it obvious that it will be extremely long-lived.Vinous Media | 96+ VMVery grapy and leafy with hints of spices on the nose. Full body, medium sweet with fine, chewy tannins. Powerful, long finish with nuts and shaved chocolate. This young Fonseca has grip. 6,000 cases produced of this foot-trodden wine. Try in 2022.James Suckling | 95 JS David Guimaraens blends this wine from three vineyards, the style focused on Cima Corgo suppleness from fruit at Panascal in the Távora Valley, along with Cruziero and Santo António in the Pinhão Valley. The 2011 is hugely powerful, presenting a solid wall of schist tannins with the gentleness of perfect ripeness. The wine shows no seams, just a vast, dynamic blackness, a meaty, tarry, berry fruit drama that will play out for decades.Wine & Spirits | 95 W&SThe 2011 Late Bottled Vintage Port is an unfiltered field blend that comes with a bar top cork. It comes in at 108 grams per liter of residual sugar and was bottled in 2016, according to the label. Rather gorgeous, this fresh, tight and powerful Fonseca is perfectly focused, extracted and tightly-wound, finishing with intensity of flavor laced with some herbs and a hint of garrigue. Yet, everything is always in a very controlled fashion brilliantly supported by its structure. This is a beauty, another super 2011 LBV.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RP

Whereas the Cuvée Catherine is built on fruit, the 2011 Pinot Noir Bodega Headlands Cuvée Elizabeth is a much more inward, structured wine. Here the flavors are bright, precise and endowed with considerable energy. Cranberry, pomegranate, crushed rocks, rose petals and savory herbs are all supported by veins of underlying acidity and minerality that should allow the 2011 to develop beautifully in bottle. All of the 2011 Pinots have really blossomed over the last year, but none to the extent of the Cuvée Elizabeth, which today is stunning.Vinous Media | 97 VMThe 2011 Pinot Noir Kistler Vineyard (made primarily from the Calera clone), which sees one-third new oak and is 100% destemmed, possesses lots of raspberry and black cherry fruit intermixed with hints of underbrush and forest floor, and a nice meatiness to its texture.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RP

Clinet has produced a blockbuster wine, even in the lighter, less consistent vintage of 2011. It reveals a dense purple color as well as an abundance of black cherry, black currant and blackberry fruit intermixed with licorice, incense and a touch of camphor. Full-bodied, opulent and fleshy with a substantial finish, this showy, dramatic 2011 should drink well for 15-20 years. Brilliant!Robert Parker | 95 RPThis is alluring, with lovely blackberry, boysenberry and fig pâte de fruit flavors gliding along, lined with subtle charcoal and black tea notes and carrying through to a lush yet defined finish. A hedonist’s delight on the surface, offering inlaid grip for balance. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2015 through 2030. 4,580 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSThis is a rich Pomerol for the vintage with plenty of berry, chocolate and toasted-oak character. Full body with round, soft tannins. Needs two or three years to come together.James Suckling | 92 JSBlackberry fruits dominate this ripe wine. It is already delicious, with a round and well-cushioned structure.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEThe 2011 Clinet has a perfumed nose, quite floral and perhaps more Saint-Émilion in style rather than Pomerol, though I appreciate its mineral undertow. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly more pliant tannins, fresher than its peers with spicy red fruit with a bitter but focused finish. This is a fine Clinet that is drinking perfectly now, though many vintages surpass this in recent years. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting.Vinous Media | 90 VM

(blended with 7% cabernet franc): Enticing nose melds redcurrant, cherry, anise, milk chocolate and a floral element. Suave, sweet and graceful, showing a lovely sugar/acid balance to the red fruit, mineral and sexy oak flavors. Boasts sneaky flavor intensity and subtle length, finishing with smoother tannins than the Helms. A very successful, refined 2011 cabernet.Vinous Media | 92 VMFairly massive, with deep, rich fruit and ample tannins. The core flavors are centered on currant, plum and blackberry. Cedary oak and crushed rock loaminess are evident on the chewy finish. Best from 2016 through 2025. 308 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

Amazing aromas of blackberries, blueberries, mushrooms and violets. Full body with a dense, precise palate and a firm, intense finish. Masculine but formed and polished. This needs at least four or five years to come even more together.James Suckling | 97 JS(picked on November 1): Red-ruby color, the darkest of these 2011s. Dark berries, coffee and licorice on the nose, with a sexy animal character adding interest. Less sweet than the Lotus but with noteworthy finesse of texture to the flavors of blue fruits, menthol and dark spices. Very pure and laid-back today, finishing with sneaky length. The tannins seem much more successfully integrated with the wine’s fruit than they appeared to be in barrel a year ago. Winemaker Cameron Vawter noted that the 2011s were racked only after the malolactic fermentations and again for the blending.Vinous Media | 93 VMThe 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Hershey Vineyard, which comes from a site on Howell Mountain, is still youthful, with a dense plum color as well as a powerful, masculine nose of blackcurrants, chocolate, graphite, and scorched earth. It stays tight, compact, and structured on the palate, with lots of tannins, and it remains to be seen if there’s enough fruit to handle all the structure. At the end of the day, I think it does. Give bottles another 3-4 years and it should keep for another decade.Jeb Dunnuck | 92 JDThe fruit for the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Hershey Vineyard was picked on November 2, and it is certainly one of the stars of the vintage, reflecting the success Howell Mountain enjoyed in this vintage. It possesses excellent ripeness along with mulberry, blueberry and black raspberry fruit intermixed with hints of wet rock and graphite. Ripe, lush and medium to full-bodied with sweet tannin, this beauty, because of the precociousness and forward character of the 2011s, is best consumed over the next 10-12 years.Proprietor Hi Sang Lee has resurrected this once historic estate in Rutherford where the winery was first constructed in 1883 by H. W. Helms. There are four cuvees as of 2010, the Crystal Springs Vineyard on Howell Mountain, the Helms Vineyard in Rutherford, the Hershey Vineyard on Howell Mountain and the Lotus Vineyard in Napa Valley. They also produce a wine called Onda, which is meant to be a more forward styled, lower priced effort. Kudos to Hi Sang Lee and his son for resurrecting this historic estate.Robert Parker | 90-92 RPA rich, powerful expression of dense loamy earth, tobacco, black licorice, mineral and dark berry flavors. This never lets up, framed by persistent, gutsy tannins. Drink now through 2022. 304 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

Menthol and soft wood nuances frame the restrained but spicy aromas of black fruit and high-toned floral scents. There is good richness to the relatively full-bodied generous flavors that possess a silky texture, all wrapped in a lightly structured and impressively persistent finish. There is a bit of wood on the finish that offers only moderate complexity at present though my score assumes that more will develop over the next 3 to 5 years. As was the case when I originally reviewed this ultra-elegant effort, there is noticeable gas on the finish so if you’re going to try a bottle young I would advise decanting it first.Burghound | 92 BHSuchots can also often be quite black fruity in personality, but this is not the case with the 2011 Hudelot version, which offers up a fine bouquet of cherries, blood orange, Vosne spice, fresh herb tones, fine soil nuances and a bit of cedary wood. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and shows off lovely mid-palate depth, with ripe tannins, bright acids and excellent grip and focus on the long and dancing finish. A very elegant and intensely flavored Suchots. (Drink between 2021 - 2050)John Gilman | 92+ JG(picked at 13.1% potential alcohol): Medium red with an amber edge. Highly aromatic nose combines strawberry, musky brown spices, dried flowers and cinnamon. Juicy and penetrating in the mouth, with a bit of unabsorbed CO2 accentuating the tartness of the cranberry, pomegranate and soil flavors. Very savory wine, with enough stuffing and flavor intensity to maintain its balance. Finishes with firm tannins and very good tangy length.Vinous Media | 90 VM

Bright red cherries, cranberry, spices, mint, hard candy and anise all jump from the glass in the 2011 Pinot Noir de Villiers Vineyard. Hints of crushed flowers and tobacco follow, adding lift, inner perfume and a sense of sweetness. The de Villiers is the most open and radiant of these 2011s today, partly because it is the only single-vineyard Pinot in the range made from fully destemmed fruit.Antonio Galloni | 90+ AGTight, with a gritty, earthy edge to the firm strawberry, dark berry, violet, spice and cedar notes, gaining depth and ending with a persistent finish. Should gain with age.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

The 2012 Château d’Issan, builds on the richness of the second wine and adds more body, structure and density. It has an inky purple color and a stunning nose of spring flowers, blueberry and blackberry fruit as well as touches of incense and graphite. Medium to full-bodied and stunningly concentrated, this 2012 is a great success in the vintage, one of the superstars. Moreover, its precociousness suggests it could be drunk in the next 4-5 years or cellared through 2025. I underrated this wine dramatically in my report of April, 2013 (Issue 206).Robert Parker | 95 RPThe complexity of the construction here is striking. This has relatively high acidity, but the depth of cassis and bilberry fruits balances things out, along with touches of slate, cigar and pencil lead. The tannins retain a fairly strong hold right now. Successful in both 2011 and 2012, proving once again just how consistent Issan is. 50% new oak. Drinking Window 2021 - 2040.Decanter | 94 DECThe 2012 d'Issan has a very perfumed and expressive bouquet with ebullient blackberry, iodine and cedar scents, very focused and classy with seamlessly integrated new oak. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, perfect acidity, compact at the moment but brimming over with mineralité and tension. This seems to have blossomed in bottle after a patchy showing in barrel and now it comes highly recommended. Tasted at the d’Issan vertical held at the property.Vinous Media | 93 VMThis is an excellent red now with sweet tobacco, truffles and berries. Full body, vevlety tannins and a savory finish. This shows the Issan character of decadence and richness.James Suckling | 92 JSA ripe and fruity wine with some chocolate extract as well as black-currant fruitiness. This is a soft wine with attractive final acidity.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE(Château d’Issan) At Château d’Issan, it seems likely that some of the family disagreements that led to little major investment at the property (at least one of the Cruse cousins here had no interest in capital projects) in recent times are now part of the past, as Emmanuel Cruse has found a partner to buy out his less than happy cousins at the property and a new era has been launched here. The wines in recent times at Château d’Issan have been truly exceptional, and one can imagine a future where the superb quality of late is only a jumping off point for even greater pedigree as time goes by. In any case, the 2012 Château d’Issan is a very good example of the vintage, offering up a complex and stylish nose of dark berries, cassis, cigar ash, dark soil tones, smoke and a touch of new oak. On the palate the wine is fullish, suave and well-balanced, with a very good core of fruit, moderate tannins and very good length and grip on the fairly low acid and complex finish. This is a very good result for 2012. (Drink between 2020-2040).John Gilman | 90 JG