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Tasted out of bottle, the 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Prestige Blanc offers a more Burgundian, chiseled, mineral-laced style to go with beautiful notes of caramelized peach, white flowers, crushed stone, and charcoal. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully textured, and elegant on the palate, it still packs plenty of oomph and has incredible length on the finish. Give bottles 2-3 years and enjoy over the following two decades or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDA rich, alluring style, with a brioche note leading the way for creamed yellow apple, candied lemon peel, white ginger and quince notes. An accent of acacia honey lines the finish, where the brioche edge takes an encore. Showy and delicious. Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Clairette. Drink now through 2023. 56 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThis is outrageously flamboyant but hard not to like. There’s great concentration and it’s highly expressive already showing some complexity. It has a nutty macadamia note and a subtle flinty reduction with rich pear fruits that shoot through with oak spice, but it’s the fruit that has the upper hand. It’s very full-bodied but has enough pep and acidity to keep things upright and rolling. A cuvée that can be overly marked by malolactic fermentation, but not this year. Grown on sandy soils, 80% fermented in concrete, 20% in new barriques. It’s matured for 14 months in old barriques, concrete and 20% new barriques. Drinking Window 2019 - 2024.Decanter | 95 DECThe brassy-hued 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc Prestige shows ample oak on the nose and palate, allied to ripe, luscious fruit. Predominantly Roussanne, fermented and aged in one-year-old demi-muids, it has developed hints of sweet corn and notes of grilled pineapple during its elevage. Opulent and lush, it’s enormously seductive now, although I suspect it will drink well for at least 4-5 years based on its impressive concentration and length.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RP

Full-bodied, very intense on the palate, great impact and lovely driving acidity with a tangy, intense finish. Great definition and drive. Really dynamic and delicious. The alcohol is a little raised and the oak quite forthright, but this is such a dynamic, vivid white Châteauneuf. Grown on sandy-clay soils of lieux-dits La Crau and La Janasse. Roussanne component aged for seven months in barrel, 75% new. Drinking Window 2021 - 2030.Decanter | 95 DECThis bright, banana-and-grapefruit-scented wine is a blend of equal parts unoaked Grenache Blanc and Clairette accentuated by a smaller proportion of Roussanne matured in French oak (80% new). This calibrated blending gives this full-bodied dry white a zesty, green-fruited flair juxtaposed by unctousness of texture and delicately smoky, vanilla-kissed notes of pastry and toast. While approachable young, the wine should evolve nicely through 2035 at least.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEBeautifully done, the 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape Blanc should be snatched up by savvy readers. Offering beautiful notes of ripe pineapple, caramelized peach, white flowers, and a touch of salty minerality, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a layered, seamless texture, beautifully integrated acidity, and a big finish. This cuvée has an incredible track record for aging, and it can be enjoyed now or cellared for upwards of 15-20 years, if you’re so inclined.Jeb Dunnuck | 94 JD

A very complex nose here with ripe, deep lemon and grapefruit aromas on offer plus some restrained chalky elements, biscuit, some roasting herbs, hints of pepper, then a little tobacco too. Very complex and full of fresh characters. The palate has a wealth of different fruit flavors like lemon, peach, nectarine, and plums. The finesse in terms of structure, detail and precision is staggering; sherbet-like elegance with immense concentration and power. A great Grande Cuv‚e. Incredibly satisfying. Based on 2006.Krug ID 14024.James Suckling | 96 JSThis mouthwatering Champagne shows a lovely sense of finesse, with firm acidity deftly married to a rich profile of crème de cassis, toasted brioche and lime blossom, accented by hints of café au lait, singed orange peel and exotic spice. Long and plush on the finish. Disgorged 2014. Drink now through 2024.Wine Spectator | 95 WSA distinctive nose with honey, toast and cashew leads to a palate that’s just as powerful and pronounced, with an exotic, dry, umami richness comprising dried crystalline fruits, peach, biscuit and cream, and a touch of well-executed oak. Good acidity and terrific length. Drinking Window 2019 - 2028.Decanter | 95 DEC(NV Krug “Grande Cuvée” Brut NV (Reims) ID #212018 Base Year 2004) This release of Grande Cuvée was disgorged in the spring of 2012 and is comprised of a cépages of forty-four percent pinot noir, thirty-three percent chardonnay and fully twenty-three percent pinot meunier, making this blend one of the highest in pinot meunier in the last decade of Grande Cuvées. As is the case with the blends from the base years of 2006 and 2005, the oldest reserve wine used here was from the 1990 vintage (though of course, this does not mean that each of these blends included the same reserve wine from 1990!) and the wine shows the racy precision of the best wines from this excellent Champagne vintage of 2004. The bouquet is flat out gorgeous and really at a fine moment in its evolution, as it soars from the glass in a constellation of tangerine, white peach, hints of lavender, stunning spice tones, brioche, a complex signature of soil, gentle smokiness and a topnote of fresh almond. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and utterly refined, with a rock solid core, seamless structure, elegant mousse and outstanding length and grip on the complex, vibrant finish. One of the finest recent releases of Grande Cuvée. (Drink between 2015-2040)John Gilman | 95 JGThe NV Grande Cuvée is absolutely stellar. This is one of the very best Grande Cuvées I can remember tasting. The flavors are bright, focused and beautifully delineated throughout, all of which make me think the wine will age well for many, many years. Lemon peel, white flowers, crisp pears, smoke and crushed rocks race across the palate in a vibrant, tense Champagne that epitomizes finesse. This release is based on the 2005 vintage and was disgorged in winter 2012/2013. The blend is: 44% Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay and 19% Meunier. Krug ID: 113001.Vinous Media | 94 VMWith its minimum of six years’ bottle aging, this is a beautifully integrated, mature wine. It has a wonderful toast character, layered over sliced pears and ripe acidity. With its complex poise between lightness and richness, this remains an intensely impressive wine.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEA brisk and powerful release of Grande Cuvée, this has the masculine charm of a linebacker as it pummels the palate with lime and seashells, lemon and tangerine flavors. The wine’s intensity and richness has a mouthwatering effect in the finish, lasting in resonant layers of flavor—powerful, yet gracious in the end.Wine & Spirits | 94 W&SOddly, the most consistent Krug wine I have been tasting lately is their non-vintage Brut Grand Cuvee, a big, boldly styled Champagne with smoky, earthy, pear, apple, and spicy aromas as well as flavors, loads of effervescence, and fine body and depth.Robert Parker | 93 RP(NV Krug Brut Grande Cuvée Champagne/Sparkling) Strong petrol aromas presently largely dominate the background notes of citrus, yeast and apple. The relatively full-bodied flavors possess admirable richness and solid power while displaying a moderately fine mousse shapes the dry but not austere finish. Some may find the distinct petrol character of the nose more than they like though I suspect that with age it will dissipate. (Drink starting 2020)Burghound | 90 BH