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Moving to the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon, this cuvée is too often underrated and I think it’s one of the most classy, balanced, high quality Cabernets coming from the valley. Deep purple-colored with beautiful blackcurrant fruits interwoven with lots of tobacco, crushed rocks, leafy herbs, and graphite, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, ripe, present tannins, and stunning balance. It’s going to benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and keep for 25 years or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDThe 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is blended of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc, aged in barrel for 21 months in two-thirds new oak. It was bottled one week prior to this tasting. Deep garnet-purple colored, it leaps from the glass with bold, beautiful black fruits—blackcurrant pastilles, plum preserves and boysenberries—with hints of baker’s chocolate, yeast extract, tapenade and Indian spices plus a waft of forest floor. Full-bodied, rich and spicy in the mouth, it sports soft, plush, well-played tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and fragrant.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPThe 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon captures all of the radiance of the year in its super-ripe fruit and racy contours. Medium in body yet extravagantly ripe, the 2017 is going to need at least a few years in bottle to shed some baby fat. A rush of dark cherry, plum, spice, lavender, licorice and menthol gives the 2017 much of its immediacy and overall appeal.Antonio Galloni | 94 AGVery pretty blueberries and chocolate with hints of spice. Medium body, creamy tannins and a savory finish. Shows poise and balance. Delicious now. Why wait on this? Drink or hold.James Suckling | 93 JSFleshy and forward at first, with delicious plum and blackberry compote flavors laced with dark licorice and roasted cedar notes. Fleshes out with some air in the glass, showing nice length, a well-buried iron note and latent grip for cellaring. Best from 2021 through 2032. 860 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

The 2017 Maya is a blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Cabernet Franc and was bottled one week before I tasted it. Very deep purple-black in color, it opens with profound earthy notions of truffles, damp soil, crushed rocks and tar over a core of Black Forest cake, black raspberries, blueberry compote and aged meat plus touches of wilted roses and unsmoked cigars. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is solidly structured with firm, fine-grained tannins and wonderful freshness lifting the multilayered blue and black fruits with a long, perfumed finish. Stunning.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97+ RPThe tiny production 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Maya is another thrilling wine. The normal blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Cabernet Franc that was brought up in two-thirds new French oak, it offers a full-bodied, concentrated, yet sensationally elegant style as well as fab notes of crème de cassis, chocolate, graphite, and scorched earth. It’s a primordial example of this cuvée that has ripe tannins, a stacked mid-palate, and a great, great finish. Do your best to give bottles 4-6 years of bottle age.Jeb Dunnuck | 97+ JDThe 2017 Maya is not only gorgeous, it also appears to have handled the rigors of the growing season more successfully than the others. Ripe red cherry and plum fruit, blood orange, pomegranate, mint and spice all build as this racy, sumptuous wine shows off its considerable allure. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc are just magic here.Antonio Galloni | 96 AGTiny production from the eastern hills of Oakville. If you love Bordeaux wines it’s such a treat to taste a blend of just Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, something that you rarely see in the Médoc. It works extremely well, with an aromatic kick of raspberry leaf and violet flowers but the key to the body is coffee, bilberry, rosemary, mulberry and cloves. Great acidity set against power and concentration. The savoury edge that makes Cabernet such a delicious food-friendly wine is here, and is extremely elegant and refined but with a punch and undertow. Good stuff, with long ageing potential. 75% new oak. Drinking Window 2022 - 2042.Decanter | 95 DECThe plum and chocolate, as well as hazelnut and dried-flower character is prevalent here. It’s full-bodied, yet very refined with lovely, polished tannins and a long, crisp finish. Balanced and focused. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 95 JSSolidly built, with ganache, plum, fig paste, smoldering tobacco and loam notes rolled together, ending with a muscular feel on the dark finish. Reveals a strong tug of terroir. Will need some time to stretch out fully. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2022 through 2035. 800 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

A fist of late summer cherries, raspberry and bilberry fruits set out their stall, all with the juicy character that confirms, even in a hot vintage like 2017, Opus can deliver balance and sculpted elegance. Beautiful grip, creamy texture with a strikingly powerful tannic frame. As the wine stays in the glass the floral aromatics begin to bloom up. A brilliant Opus. 20 days maceration - around half what it would have been a decade ago. 54% native yeast, as part of their native yeast project. 5% Merlot and 1% Malbec complete the blend. Harvest spread out over September 5 to October 8, just before the fires, by which time they had less than 10% of the fruit still out on the vines. 3.7pH. Drinking Window 2023 - 2045.Decanter | 96 DECOpus One had picked 91% of their fruit before the fires started in 2017, and only two lots were eliminated from consideration. The 2017 Opus One, bottled in July 2019, is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.5% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 4.5% Merlot and 1% Malbec. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it slowly grows on the nose, revealing compelling notes of baked black cherries, mulberries, black raspberries, warm cassis and blackberry pie with nuances of spice cake, yeast extract, tapenade, licorice and dusty soil with a waft of wild sage. Medium-bodied, the palate has a lively skip in its step, featuring bags of juicy raspberry and cassis-laced fruit and a refreshing line, supported by ripe, plush tannins, finishing long and graceful.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPA remarkable wine for the year, the 2017 Opus One is a dense, full-throttle beauty. Plush fruit and soft, silky contours give the 2017 its racy personality. Exotic, beautifully perfumed and impeccable in its balance, Opus One is one of the most complete wines of the vintage. In 2017, Opus One has a distinctly red-toned fruit profile that distinguishes it from the surrounding vintages.Antonio Galloni | 95+ AGLots of currant and floral notes on the nose. Hints of mint and spice. Medium-to full-bodied, round and savory with creamy, juicy tannins. Hints of citrus underneath. Bright, fresh and delicious. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 95 JSThis features currant and plum fruit, with tobacco, loam and singed savory notes, maintaining range and driving through the finish. The structure is fine-grained, delivering a lingering hint of acidity. A more subtle expression of Cabernet. Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Best from 2022 through 2036. 27,800 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

Extremely enticing aromas of blackberries, brambleberries, sweet tobacco, bark and mushrooms follow through to a medium to full body that grows on the palate and crescendoes to medium, round tannins, juicy fruit and a long, flavorful finish. Rolls along the palate. Excellent, persistent finish. Try after 2024, but already a joyous glass.James Suckling | 98 JSMedium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 L'Eglise Clinet begins a little closed and broody, soon unfurling to reveal powerful notes of baked black plums, chocolate-covered cherries and blueberry preserves with hints of chargrill, mocha and aniseed plus a touch of tar. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is a powerhouse of crunchy, vibrant black fruit, framed by wonderfully ripe, rounded tannins and oodles of freshness, finishing long and savory. Bravo!Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPThe 2017 L'Eglise-Clinet is dark, sensual and wonderfully rich. It opens with a silky, captivating bouquet laced with the essence of dried flowers, mocha, chocolate, spice and blackberry jam. While L'Eglise-Clinet is light on its feet for such a big, imposing wine, the 2017 is going to need a number of years to come into its own. Even in the early going, though, it is super-impressive. Revisiting it with a bit of air reveals a Pomerol of soaring intensity and explosive energy and vivid, striking beauty. I loved it.Antonio Galloni | 97 AGFor me, this is one of the successes of the vintage in Pomerol, although not fully escaping the roadblocks of 2017. There is a real sense of precision and elegance here, with floral, violet aromatics and a note of liquorice, and it deals its power in a measured way, one hand at a time - it's a wine to sit with and enjoy. There was no frost at this estate. The Merlot was picked between 12-22 September, and the Cabernet Franc on 22 September. The 70% new oak is a touch present on the close of play, but those tannins are pliable and enjoyable, promising to cradle the fruit for the long haul. Drinking Window 2027 - 2038.Decanter | 95 DECVery lush, with warmed fig, plum and blackberry preserve flavors rolling through, laced with ganache, alder and espresso notes. A tarry edge frames the finish, where the fruit drips slowly. For the hedonist crowd. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2022 through 2038.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

The 2017 Ornellaia Bianco is a slightly tweaked blend compared to the 2016 and includes a splash of Viognier. The blend is 91% Sauvignon Blanc and 9% Viognier, which is a combination you don't see often, yet it makes sense, and the Viognier plays the role of Semillon seen in Bordeaux Blanc releases. Coming from a dry, hot year, it has a beautiful bouquet of Meyer lemons, honeysuckle, flowers, and hints of barrique. This carries to a seamless, full-bodied white that's flawlessly balanced, has a bright core of acidity, ample mid-palate depth, and a great finish. It's one seriously classy white I'd be thrilled to drink any time over the coming 4-5 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDA really beautiful, layered white with sliced lemons, limes, stones and hints of steel. Some lemon curd. Tight and solid with fine phenolics that give it structure and focus. Extremely poised and dignified. Drink now or hold.James Suckling | 95 JSThe previous vintage of this wine was made soley with Sauvignon Blanc, but as expected, the Ornellaia 2017 Ornellaia Bianco sees a small percentage of Viognier added to the blend. The exact percentage of the two components is 91% Sauvignon Blanc and 9% Viognier. If you are a fan of these grape varieties, as I am, this wine will appeal to all your basic pleasure points. Showing medium rich concentration and a creamy textural fiber, it reveals some of the weight that we associated with this hot and dry vintage. However, any trace of over-ripeness is mitigated by the cool soils that, in this case, consist of deep calcarious clay broken up by rocks at a breezy 80 to 100 meters above sea level. This consistency is perfect for locking in moisture even in drought vintages. The wine is fermented in oak, but no malolactic fermentation occurs, and the wine instead rests on the fine lees with frequent stirring. Orchard fruits and Cavaillon melon give the wine a sturdy center of gravity. Some 5,000 bottles were made, and this wine was released in April 2020.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPThe 2017 Ornellaia Bianco is impressive, especially within the context of the warm, dry year. Bright and focused, the Bianco shows the natural richness of the vintage - that is impossible to escape - but it also retains quite a bit of energy. Orchard fruit, citrus and floral notes are beautifully delineated throughout. Once again, the Bianco is a wine of real distinction.Vinous Media | 94 VMSubtle peach, passion fruit, elderflower and earth flavors converge in this white. There is a touch of oak adding a vanilla accent. Though lush in texture, this is also intense and long, with an echo of passion fruit and salty elements. Drink now through 2024. 75 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

Camphor, star anise, tobacco and underbrush are just some of the aromas you’ll find on this stunning red. Full-bodied and elegantly structured, the savory palate doles out ripe Marasca cherry, rasberry compote, baking spice and licorice set against youthfully assertive, noble tannins. Give it time to fully develop. Drink 2027–2037. Kerin O’Keefe | 98 KOCamphor, star anise, tobacco and underbrush are just some of the aromas you’ll find on this stunning red. Full-bodied and elegantly structured, the savory palate doles out ripe Marasca cherry, rasberry compote, baking spice and licorice set against youthfully assertive, noble tannins. Give it time to fully develop. Drink 2027–2037.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEThis has very pretty sweetness of fruit to it, with dried strawberries and cherries, as well as walnuts and light cocoa powder. It’s medium-to full-bodied with creamy tannins and a subtle finish. Better in three or four years. Try after 2025.James Suckling | 95 JSA release of about 5,000 bottles, the Brovia 2017 Barolo Rocche di Castiglione offers a very elegant take on a wild and hot vintage that was not always easy to tame. The wine’s aromatic profile can be described as ripe for sure because you get a generous dose of fragolino di bosco (wild strawberry), peach and orange blossom. Like the Villero, that ripeness is mitigated by the pretty mineral note that frames the bouquet. That dusty crushed limestone is more prominent in the case of the Rocche di Castiglione. However, the mouthfeel is a touch more compact and slenderer in the case of this wine. The tannins are silky and fine, but it would be nice to come back to this bottle in five years or more when the wine has had the chance to flesh out further.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPThe 2017 Barolo Rocche di Castiglione is delicate and perfumed from the outset. Crushed flowers, sweet red berry fruit, cedar, mint and licorice all open in the glass. The 2017 is a classic Rocche - gracious, medium in body and super-finessed. The ripeness of the year comes through in the wine’s flavor profile, but all the elements are so well balanced. The only thing missing is a bit of depth, and that leaves the finish feeling just a bit dry.Vinous Media | 92 VM

There was no frost at d’Yquem in 2017, and botrytis was very regular and even this vintage. The nose opens with very pure notes of freshly sliced oranges, yuzu and lemon barley water with hints of white pepper, fresh ginger and lime cordial. The incredibly rich, unctuous sweetness (148 grams per liter of residual sugar) is beautifully marbled with bright, vivacious citrus fruit and spice flavors, while lifted by well-knit freshness, and it finishes with epic length and great depth.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97-99 RPThis is a great Yquem, delivering thrilling purity and intensity. The nose offers intense aromas of fresh and dried apricot and peach pastry, as well as freshly baked creme brulee, candied and fresh orange and kumquat. Some marmalade, too. Smooth, glossy texture with flavors of grilled orange, dried apricot and an exceptionally long finish with a powerful, driving push to the end. A flicker of toasty-oak influence arrives late, but this wine has completely consumed the oak. The 2017 Yquem is a very powerful wine from a very rich and exceptional vintage. The acidity has a big hand in balancing the richness. Pithy finish. The phenolics deliver some great depth. Rain at the beginning of September prompted an extensive infection of noble rot. The harvest lasted from September 26 to October 13. Great quality and one of the best since the legendary 2001. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2017 Yquem is destined to be one of my favourite recent vintages. It has brilliant delineation on the nose with acacia honey, saffron, white flowers and a subtle crushed stone element. So much energy is palpable. The palate is supremely well balanced, surfeit with energy, spicy and feisty and yet paradoxically beautifully controlled and pixelated towards the extended finish. It’s not unlike the brilliant 2014 in style. Tasted at the château. Vinous Media | 97 VMVery flattering and unctuous in feel, with coconut, creamed papaya, toasted hazelnut and warmed peach and tangerine cream flavors gliding along in unison, all framed by warm brioche and piecrust notes on the finish. Remarkably rich, yet poised and pure. Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Best from 2025 through 2045. 4,166 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSStill very youthful with light golden colours, showing flashes of green in the glass. Intensely aromatic with tropical fruit notes, pineapple, roasted apricot, honey and lime zest. Full-bodied and rich on the palate with plenty of botrytis notes showing through. Although unctuous and weighty, this Yquem retains plenty of acidity which freshens the palate and balances the concentrated fruit. Sandrine Garbay noted that 2019 reminded her of 2017, with the 2019 showing a little more opulence. Served with a dish of roasted pollock and smoked mussels, this was a wonderful combination, showing the sweetness and purity of Yquem. Residual Sugar: 148g/L. (Drink between 2024-2050)Decanter | 95 DEC