Wine Ratings

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Wow. This really shows wonderful depth and complexity on the nose with blueberries, fresh flowers and hints of stones. It’s full-bodied, with ultra-refined tannins and a long, long finish. Gets better and better with age: gorgeous now but will improve for many years to come. Excellent.James Suckling | 93 JSTasted at BBR’s 2005/2009 tasting in London. This is a great 2005. The Cantemerle is developing a very attractive, lifted nose with more cedar and crushed stone, hints of freshly rolled tobacco and briary. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, gentle grip, leading to a foursquare but precise finish that does not dare put a foot wrong. Sedate at the moment but sure to open up with time. Classic Bordeaux.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 91 RP-NMShows blackberry and plum skin aromas, with hints of vanilla. Medium- to full-bodied, with soft, velvety tannins and a pretty, fruity aftertaste. An elegant, balanced style. Lingers on the palate. Best after 2012. 33,330 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

Impressive richness and clarity of red and dark berries. Lightly spiced-pastry aromas, too. The palate has a very crisp, polished and groomed tannin texture, as well as super fresh flavors that carry long. Great wine. Try from 2022.James Suckling | 95 JSWith structured tannins and red berry notes, this is already showing an elegant structure. It is the fruit that sings here, gently supported by the fine, dusty tannins.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEBased on 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, the inky colored 2015 Château Cantemerle offers a terrific bouquet of black currants, smoked herbs, earth, and hints of charcoal. Ripe, concentrated, rounded, and undeniably delicious, with ripe tannin, it’s a terrific vintage for Cantemerle to drink anytime over the coming 10-15 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 91 JDDeep and bright with a good attack of brambles, gooseberry and raspberry. It just doesn’t quite deliver the suave tannins that you look for in such a brilliant vintage, although the relatively high 6% of Petit Verdot alongside the classic Cabernets and Merlot blend often gives a slight rusticity to them in the early years. One of the few wines in the Margaux region where I prefer the 2016, but this is still a lovely wine. Eric Boissenot consults. Drinking Window 2023 - 2040.Decanter | 91 DEChe 2015 Cantemerle offers classic blackberry and cedar scents on the nose, quite tertiary in style but with impressive focus. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, a fine line of acidity, just the right amount of chewiness and a brisk man, lightly spiced finish. Alongside Camensac, this is another well-crafted Médoc, conservative in style, but a wine that presses the right buttons.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 90 RP-NMFresh, featuring ripe plum and cassis notes gilded with a floral hint and backed by subtle cedar, tobacco and iron notes. Textbook typicity. A rock-solid value. Best from 2019 through 2027. 33,333 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

This showcases just how well the Margaux (or Margaux-adjacent) area did in 2015. The finessed quality of the tannins stands out as a signature of the estate throughout the entire vertical, and is on display again here. As the wine opens there is a slow and unhurried peeling back of layers, with an unrolling of menthol and cassis-laced Cabernet aromatics (there is a full 70% in the blend this year, and it works extremely well). Excellent balance and grip with touches of violet aromatics. 50% new oak. Drinking Window 2023 - 2040Decanter | 94 DECJust a hint currant bushl on the nose. This is loaded with healthy tannins on the palate that drive the long finish. Quite an uncompromising young wine that will be better from 2020, but the fundamental harmony is very convincing. Full and flavorful.James Suckling | 93 JSManaged by Caroline Frey (of Paul Jaboulet Aîné in the Rhône Valley), the 2015 Château La Lagune is an impressive, elegant, concentrated Haut Médoc that’s going to be even better with short-term cellaring. Cassis, toasty oak, Asian spices, and black tea notes all emerge from this medium to full-bodied, layered and lengthy Haut-Médoc. Count me in as a fan and it’s up with the top wines produced from this estate.Jeb Dunnuck | 92 JDThe 2015 La Lagune is terrific. Powerful and dense on the palate, with big, potent tannins, it will need at least a few years to fully come together. Hints of tobacco, cedar, licorice and smoke add shades of aromatic nuance. This is a fabulous effort. Don’t miss it.Antonio Galloni | 92 AG

Impressive ripe blackberry and darker plum fruits with notes of earth and warm stones. The palate has a supple, even-paced and fresh fruited heart of red cherry and plum fruits. Smooth tannins flow long. Try from 2021.James Suckling | 93 JS

From the same winemaking team as Château d’Issan in Margaux, this wine has a sophisticated character. Ripe tannins and structure from Cabernet Sauvignon are perfumed with wood aging. The wine is ready to drink.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEA plummy and juicy red with a medium body, medium-round tannins and pleasing redcurrant and cedar undertones. Just opening now. Cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 91 JS

(Château Cambon la Pelouse, Haut-Médoc, Bordeaux, France, Red) Gorgeous nose full of softly sweet blackcurrants. Energy and life here, straight away you get the rush of bright red and black fruits, strawberries and black cherries filling the mouth with fruit juice and mouth watering acidity. Then the tannins take hold giving support and depth. This feels well made with intensity and precision. The focus is on the bright fruit with good acidity. An easy drinker and one to approach to enjoy it’s youthful energy but you could also hold on to it for a few more years. (Drink between 2023-2035)Decanter | 92 DECThis is really nicely crafted with creamy and lightly chewy tannins that add layers and density to the wine. It’s medium-to full-bodied with lovely fruit and a chocolate and walnut undertone. Cabernet sauvignon and merlot. This needs time to come together. Try after 2023.James Suckling | 92 JSThe 2019 Cambon La Pelouse has a vivacious bouquet with bright brambly red fruit laced with cedar and graphite, the latter lending it a Pauillac-like personality. The palate is medium-bodied with a pastille-like entry, fleshier than some other Haut-Médoc wines though I need a little more persistency on the finish to warrant a higher score.Vinous Media | 90-92 VMDelivers warmed plum and blackberry notes that are laced with a smoldering cast iron hint, while a backdrop of anise and apple wood adds nice energy to the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Drink now through 2030. 12,500 cases made, 500 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

Dark brambles on the nose. Great intensity and sculpted fruit here, this has some dark fruits and definite liquorice aspects to the palate but feels really precise and controlled. It’s smooth with soft tannins and good presence until the end. Also has great freshness and cooling mint cordial tang on the finish. I love it. Drinking Window 2022 - 2035.Decanter | 92 DECThis is full and plush for an Haut-Medoc with medium to full body. Lots of blackberries and fresh herbs with redcurrants, too. Chewy, but polished. Give it two or three years to soften. Best after 2024.James Suckling | 92 JSThe 2019 Beaumont, cropped at 50hL/ha, has a lovely, delineated bouquet of blackberry, briary and light tobacco notes. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, and not quite as supple as before, though I appreciate the tangy seaweed note toward the finish. Just what you want from a Cru Bourgeois Supérieur.Vinous Media | 91 VMThis estate has produced a fine, elegant wine. Black fruits and a hint of chocolate do not detract from the firm structure that is a fine passport for the future. Dense, dry but never excessive, this is a wine for medium-term.Wine Enthusiast | 91 WEThe 2019 Beaumont has turned out very well, wafting from the glass with aromas of sweet berry fruit, pencil shavings and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, supple and enveloping, with a fleshy core of fruit, lively acids and melting tannins, it’s charming and nicely balanced. It’s the finest wine from this large château that I can remember tasting.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90 RPBlack cherries, plums, Asian spices, and sandalwood notes all emerge from the 2019 Château Beaumont, a nicely concentrated, medium to full-bodied Haut-Médoc with good depth of fruit and juicy acidity. This château always makes a solid wine, and the 2019 is no exception.Jeb Dunnuck | 90 JD

Tight and linear with blackcurrant and lemon rind character. Medium-bodied and racy with very fine tannins and a bright finish. Shows energy and focus. Drinkable, but better in three or four years.James Suckling | 94 JSThis magnificent medieval castle controls a vineyard that is just inland from Saint-Julien. With its ripe perfumes and rich tannins, the wine has a powerful potential set against the tightly juicy black currant fruits.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEThe 2020 La Tour Carnet was impressive from barrel. Now in bottle, it has a composed and understated bouquet that grows in stature with aeration. A second bottle had a more accentuated marine scent. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, nicely judged acidity, very harmonious with an expressive, lightly spiced and persistent finish. Excellent.Vinous Media | 92 VMCrisp and crunchy, though quite chalky and creamy with licks of liquorice and wet stone. Quite high-toned, feels tight and very coiled right now with clear cedar, cinnamon and clove spice. The fruit profile is good, ripe blackcurrant and blueberries, but the whole frame is constricted almost straight away. Does feel clean though with firmness. It has a classicism in the sleek nature - well formed with estate signature. Decanter | 92 DECAromas of raspberries, crème de cassis, cigar wrapper and loamy soil introduce the 2020 La Tour Carnet, a medium to full-bodied, velvety and polished wine that’s more harmonious and better balanced than Magrez’s Grands Chênes. This large estate has eaten up many of the Haut-Médoc’s non-classified growths over the past decade to arrive at a surface area of over 130 hectares today.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RPAlmost always a winner, the 2020 Château La Tour Carnet offers a terrific, medium-bodied, concentrated style as well as classic notes of ripe currants, darker cherries, spicy wood, and graphite. It has the vintage’s more focused, classic, structured style, with ripe tannins and outstanding length. It’s well worth seeking out and is going to evolve for at least a decade.Jeb Dunnuck | 91 JD

94–96. Barrel Sample. This fine estate has produced a powerful, rich wine that has fine potential. Solid, foursquare with dense tannins that will gracefully meld into the fruit, the wine should age well.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WE(Château Cantemerle, Haut-Médoc, Bordeaux, France, Red) This has the tight tannins of the vintage with damson and an edge of bitter dark chocolate, but it is a success all the same - confident, succulent, elegant and classic. Philippe Dambrine retires as director of the estate as of this vintage, replaced by Laure Canu from Château Angélus. A yield of 45hl/ha, 40% new oak, 6% Petit Verdot completes the blend. (Drink between 2028-2042)Decanter | 93 DECLots or richness and fruit for this winery, showing blackberry, blackcurrant and dark-chocolate character. It’s full and layered. Well done.James Suckling | 93-94 JSLots of darker currants, cedarwood, lead pencil, and tobacco-like notes emerge from the 2020 Château Cantemerle, and it’s medium-bodied, with lots of fruit and texture, building tannins, and a great finish. Drink this classic, nicely structured, balanced beauty over the coming 10-15 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 89-91 JDDeep purple-black in color, the 2020 Cantemerle reveals a great intensity and purity of blackcurrant cordial, stewed plums and black raspberry scents, plus hints of dried Provence herbs, Indian spices and woodsmoke. The medium-bodied palate delivers approachable chewy tannins and just enough freshness to support the savory-laced black fruit flavors, finishing with an herbal lift.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 88-90 RP