Wine Ratings

wines

Saturated ruby-red. Pure, highly perfumed aromas of black cherry, currant, plum, minerals, tobacco, leather and fresh herbs. Very ripe, suave and spicy; at once subtle and gripping. Lovely cabernet character dominating today. Very firm, long finish is youthful but not hard-edged. Showing extremely well.Vinous Media | 93+ VMThe 1996 may not be as profound as I had predicted from cask, but it is an exceptional wine. Dark ruby-colored, with a complex nose of dried herbs, Asian spices, and black cherry jam intermixed with cassis, it possesses outstanding purity, and considerable tannin in the finish. This classic, medium to full-bodied, traditionally made wine improves dramatically with airing, suggesting it will have a very long life. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2028.Robert Parker | 92 RPFully mature and drinking wonderfully well, the 1996 Château Calon Ségur has a classic nose of green tobacco, cedarwood, currants, and sous bois. Playing in the medium-bodied end of the spectrum, it has a wonderful sense of purity, polished tannins, solid mid-palate depth, and outstanding length. This is classic, focused, old school yet pure, balanced Bordeaux goodness. It has another two decades of prime drinking ahead of it. The blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, brought up in 50% new French oak.Jeb Dunnuck | 92 JD(Château Calon-Ségur) Along with the 2001, the 1996 vintage at Calon-Ségur is one of my favorite from the merlot-centric era at the estate, probably because the vintage favored cabernet sauvignon so clearly in the Médoc and a bit more of this grape was included in the blend at Calon in this vintage. The bouquet is deep, vibrant and youthfully precise, wafting from the glass in a mix of cassis, dark berries, cigar ash, dark soil tones, a touch of curry and a gentle framing of cedary wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and impressively tangy, with a fine core of fruit, currently a quite tightly-knit personality, well-integrated tannins and very, very good length and grip on the focused and still quite youthful finish. This is going to be a lovely wine in another eight to ten years’ time and should prove to be quite long-lived. I love to imagine what the current team at Calon would have done with a vintage such as 1996 today! (Drink between 2020-2050)John Gilman | 92 JGCurrant and fresh herbs. Full- to medium-bodied, with plum flavors and a medium finish.--’95/’96 Bordeaux retrospective. Drink now.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

(Château Lagrange) The 1996 Lagrange is a deep, pure and beautifully made vintage for this property. The bouquet is complex and classy, as it offers up a lovely mélange of pure black cherries, a touch of plum pudding, tobacco, fresh herb tones, a lovely base of soil and a touch of toasty oak. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, long and rock solid at the core, with a suave personality, ripe, well-integrated tannins, sound acids and fine grip on the long, palate-staining finish. This will be a terrific Lagrange in due course. (Drink between 2015-2050).John Gilman | 93+ JGThe 1996 Lagrange has long been my favourite vintage from the 1990s. It was picked from 26 September to 11 October. This is a level up in quality over the previous vintage with far more delineation and complexity: blackberry, wild hedgerow, sandalwood and light dried blood aromas. The palate is fully matured with firm tannin, but sufficient fruit to back it up. This is well balanced with plenty of freshness, tart cherries, allspice and light Moroccan spice notes on the harmonious and persistent finish. Excellent. Tasted at the Lagrange vertical at the estate.Vinous Media | 92 VMWonderful aromas of blackberry, light spices and currant follow through to a full-bodied palate, with chewy tannins and a long finish. Still tannic and tight.--’95/’96 Bordeaux retrospective. Best after 2008. 24,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 91 WSThis impeccably run, Japanese-owned property has fashioned a superb 1996. Opaque purple-colored, with a backward yet promising nose of classically pure cassis intermixed with pain grille and spice, this medium to full-bodied, powerful yet stylish wine possesses superb purity, a nicely-layered feel in the mouth, and plenty of structure. It will not be an early-drinking St.-Julien, but one to lay away and enjoy over the next 2-3 decades. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2022.Robert Parker | 90 RP

Wonderful aromas of cassis and berries, with hints of spices. Full-bodied, with fine tannins and a delicious fruity aftertaste. Harmonious wine. Kirwan makes serious wine now. Best after 2004. 7,330 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

A dense, traditionally crafted wine for those with patience, the 2000 Calon-Segur rivals the estate’s finest wines of the last two decades, the 1995, 1988, and 1982. But be forewarned, this wine has already closed down, something totally in character with all top vintages from this estate. This blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Franc exhibits a plum/purple color along with gorgeous aromas of creosote intermixed with spring flowers, black cherries, cassis, licorice, and stony, liquid minerals. A powerful, tannic, full-bodied and opulent wine, it possesses considerable structure that is reasonably well-concealed by considerable glycerin and intensity. Look for it to be at its best between 2012-2040. Patience, patience, patience!Robert Parker | 94 RPThe 2000 Calon-Ségur still appears quite youthful on the rim. The well-defined nose offers brambly red fruit, red currant, crushed strawberry, rose petals and cedar, and some sous-bois just loitering in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with refined tannins. This has mellowed since I tasted it in London five years ago, and touches of tobacco and tart red cherries enliven the finish. I have always loved this millennial Calon-Ségur and now it is à point and drinking beautifully. Aged in 50% new oak and 50% one-year-old for 12 months (less than nowadays.)Vinous Media | 93 VMThis is a solid, huge wine, with rich but very dry tannins. With its dense, almost black color, and its sense of brooding power, it promises long aging. It will never be in the opulent Bordeaux camp, despite its prominent new wood flavors, but will probably outlive all but a handful top wines.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEThis shows a noticeable leafy edge, with tobacco, light cedar, bay and worn leather notes holding sway over a core of lightly mulled red currant and plum fruit flavors. Not as dense as the top examples, but everything pulls together nicely through the fine-grained finish.—Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2020.Wine Spectator | 90 WS(Château Calon-Ségur) The 2000 Calon-Ségur is a very closed, very grumpy wine at the present time, and this is a characteristic that it shares at the present time with a great many wines from this vintage. The blend here included forty-two percent merlot in 2000 and the wine offers up a very deep-pitched and adolescent bouquet of black fruit, inky tones, damp, dark soil, dried eucalyptus, coffee grounds and cigar smoke. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, closed down and quite dense at the core, with a gritty edge to its firm and chewy tannins, little generosity at the present time, but also with impressive grip on the closed, but very, very long finish. The length on the backend here really gives me some hope for the future of this wine, but it is really in a very difficult place for current assessment and I do not have a strong sense of whether or not this wine will always be a bit charmless, or if this is simply a passing phase and it will blossom to deliver some of Calons’ inherent breed with sufficient bottle age. (Drink between 2025-2065)John Gilman | 88-92+ JG

A typical Palmer showing finesse alongside strength. I love the blackberry, plum, chocolate and cedar character. It’s very long and beautiful. The velvety, textured tannins are impressive.James Suckling | 97 JSThis has turned out to be a prodigious Palmer. The saturated purple color offers up sexy, full-bodied, almost masculine notes of roasted meats, blackberries, and creme de cassis intermixed with notions of toast, smoke, and camphor. Only 50% of the production made it into the 2000, a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 47% Merlot. The wine is opulent, rich, and full-bodied, with tannin that has become sweeter with age. Its best showing yet, most importantly, has been from bottle. This is a great Palmer that should rival the best of recent vintages, which have all been stunning, as this estate continues to go from strength to strength. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2030.Robert Parker | 96 RPStill tight, with a core of black currant, blackberry and plum fruit flavors that is quite youthful, while hints of dried anise, tobacco and singed alder are starting to peek through on the finish. There’s a really vibrant iron note cutting through the finish too. Hold off for now.--Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Best from 2018 through 2028.Wine Spectator | 96 WSNow at 20 years old, and absolutely singing, after a sometimes frustratingly slow start to its life. The tannins are ripe but rich and still broad-shouldered, and it will probably still show at its best with a good plate of food to draw out the mouthwatering acidities. Dense, powerful, complex, with a menthol-laced finish, no signs of going anywhere yet. No Petit Verdot in the blend in this vintage, because the then director Bouteiller didn’t feel it was adding to the overall balance achieved by the already rich and concentrated Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Harvest September 21 to October 7. Drinking Window 2020 - 2043.Decanter | 96 DECThe 2000 Palmer is a very different “beast” than the 2001, and I use that word intentionally. This is much more feral on the nose, and quite ferrous, presenting leather and dried herbs, smudged red berry fruit, and a hint of fig that emerges with time. The brettanomyces sticks out a bit here. The palate is medium-bodied with dry tannins and good density, very earthy in style and certainly more evolved than the succeeding vintage, yet you cannot help falling for its charms. It evolves wonderfully in the glass, actually closing in a little toward the finish, and suggesting that contrary to what the nose suggests, it will repay further cellaring. Excellent.Vinous Media | 94 VMAt this stage, this is very closed, very tight, giving little. But it is possible to discern that this is going to be a beautiful wine. There are flavors of sweet raisins and the fruit has a new world richness, but the structure of dry tannins is always present. It looks as though it has a good, long life.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WE

The 2001 Calon-Ségur has a delightful bouquet, very pure and a little more vivacious than the preceding vintage, featuring lovely brambly red fruit, rose petals, autumn leaves and a touch of cigar box, all well defined and focused. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, a little more cohesive than the 2000, and slightly granular in texture, with a graceful, elegant and quite persistent finish. This is one of the few châteaux where it’s difficult to choose between the 2001 and 2000. Drinking perfectly now.Vinous Media | 94 VM(Château Calon-Ségur) The 2001 Calon-Ségur was comprised of fully forty-seven percent merlot, which is too bad, as it might have been even finer with a higher percentage of cabernet sauvignon in the blend. That said, this is a very strong bottle from this era and I have little doubt that it will ultimately surpass the more highly-touted, but currently far more closed 2000 vintage at this property. The bouquet offers up a very promising blend of red and black cherries, cigar smoke, dried eucalyptus, gravel, cigar ash and cedary wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nascently complex, with a classic claret profile, firm, ripe tannins, excellent focus and balance and a very long, youthful and potentially superb finish. This should prove to be one of the strongest vintages produced in the more merlot-centric style at Calon-Ségur during the stretch from 1975 to 2005. (Drink between 2022-2050).John Gilman | 92 JGShowing beautifully, the 2001 Calon-Segur is now fully mature, yet should hold at this stage for another decade or two. Beautiful currants and assort dark fruits, notes of lead pencil, tobacco, and forest floor, medium to full body, and integrated, silky tannins all define this elegant 2001 that’s a joy to drink today. It’s not going to get any better, but it’s a beautifully regal Claret that offers loads of pleasure.Jeb Dunnuck | 91 JDI suspect this 2001 will shut down (as most young Calon-Segurs do), although it appears more forward and evolved than the huge, backward, but totally dormant 2000. The plum/ruby-colored 2001 reveals aromas of damp earth, cranberries, cherries, herbs, and forest floor. While lighter than its older sibling, it is medium-bodied, elegant, and should emerge from its post-bottling sleep in 4-5 years, and drink well for 14-15. Think of it as a lighter-weight 1988 (one of the stars of the vintage).Robert Parker | 90 RPElegant and spicy, with blackberry and earth character. Medium- to full-bodied, with silky tannins and a medium to long finish. Not quite up to par with the barrel sample, but outstanding. Best after 2006.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

Stunning now. A fabulous nose of currants, crushed raspberry and blackberry. Full- bodied, with perfectly integrated tannins and a long, caressing finish. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 96 JSThe tannins dominate this dark, brooding wine. At this stage, it seems to have closed up, leaving the fruit and acidity buried. But with this concentration, the future looks promising. There is a long aging potential here.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WELagrange produced a joyous cabernet in 2005, with the lovely textural fatness and kindness of tannin that places it clearly in St-Julien. The dark fruit has youthful energy, the tannins a woodsy undertone, like biting into a fresh grilled porcini. The purity of the flavor makes it delicious; that fruit purity is the factor distinguishing the best wines of the vintage. In the case of Lagrange, it will make the wine approachable through the course of a long life; though if you find pleasure in the details, wait on this until it’s at least ten years old and check on it at twenty.Wine & Spirits | 94 W&SThe 2005 Lagrange was picked from 21 September until 10 October. It has a harmonious and vigorous bouquet with blackberry, cedar, tobacco aromas and just a light estuarine scent that emerges with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannins and much more mid-palate presence than prior vintages. There is more body and grip, a sense of boldness towards the finish that should stand it in good stead for long-term ageing. Superb. Tasted at the Lagrange vertical at the estate.Vinous Media | 93 VMCurrant, mineral, plum and light toasty oak follow through to a full body, with ultrasilky tannins and a long, caressing finish. This is thoroughly beautiful. Superbalanced and very pretty. Best after 2011. 24,165 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSLagrange 2005 is an impressive effort, if perhaps trying just a bit too hard. If the nose still shows a fair bit of wood, although the wine has the ripe blackcurrant fruit to balance this out. The tannins are firm and somewhat angular on the palate, giving a slightly austere feel to the finish. The blend is 46% Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% Merlot with 9% Petit Verdot, picked from 21 September, and aged in 60% new casks. Drinking Window 2021 - 2040.Decanter | 92 DEC(Château Lagrange (St. Julien)) I really like the 2005 vintage of Château Lagrange, which will be an outstanding example of the vintage in due course. The bouquet is starting to show some nice secondary signs of development, though the wine remains still quite youthful on the palate. The nose wafts from the glass in a mix of black cherries, dark berries, cigar smoke, dark soil tones, nutty new oak and a topnote of tobacco leaf. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and rock solid at the core, with fine focus and grip, nascent complexity and a long, ripely tannic and tangy finish. The 2005’s fairly firm tannins and good acidity are going to make this an extremely long-lived wine, but they will also demand a bit more patience before starting to drink the ’05 Lagrange. (Drink between 2025-2085).John Gilman | 92+ JG

This is a beautiful Giscours with tension and finesse. It’s full-bodied and shows plenty of berry and spice character, not to mention a long, silky-textured finish. It seduces you with each sip. Why wait?James Suckling | 95 JSThis chateau gets better and better. The wine has power, but it is harnessed by the intense fruits, the blackberry flavors, the density and the wood. With the power, though, comes elegance, resulting in a wine that is ready to develop over many years.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEThis is a powerful wine with good ageing potential. The nose is ripe and creamy with plenty of dark fruit and spice complexity. The palate is rich, full and gourmand with Cabernet-cassis notes coming through. There’s a big tannic frame that shows the more masculine side of this Margaux. The finesse may be missing but there’s a lot of wine here. Drinking Window 2021 - 2040.Decanter | 94 DECThe 2005 Giscours captures all the natural radiance of the year in its stylish, racy personality. Sweet tannins wrap around a core of sweet red berry fruit, kirsch, rose petal, mint, spice and blood orange. Soft, curvy and sensual, Giscours is a winner in 2005. It doesn’t quite offer the grandeur of the very finest Left Bank 2005s, but it has plenty of that richness.Antonio Galloni | 93 AGDisplays blackberry, cherry and hints of sweet tobacco. Full-bodied, with soft, velvety tannins and a long, caressing finish. Very pretty and solid. This is structured and chewy. Needs time. Best after 2013. 20,830 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSTasted at the Château Giscours vertical, the 2005 Château Giscours is a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot picked between September 22 and October 6. Conspicuously deep in color, both the aromatics and palate replicate the strong performance from earlier this year. The bouquet offers very fine intensity with blackberry and cedar, here a tinge of cassis that becomes accentuated with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, slightly grainy tannin. It is very well balanced and almost Saint Julien in style. It is clearly very focused with a sustained, mineral-rich finish that (as I said before) contains real energy. This is an excellent Giscours that will age nicely over the next 20-25 years. Tasted June 2015.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 92 RP-NM

Beautiful ruby red colour, rapsberry puree and cocoa dusting aromatics, still young, a wonderfully embracing tannic frame, rapsberrry, blueberry and loganberry fruits, slate-scraping minerality, just a gorgeous wine that is bursting out of the glass and still has so much more to give. Balanced, mouthwatering, persistent, just at the start of its long and pleasure-filled life, showcasing so much that is wonderful about 2005. Get on board. This is a 2 point higher score than the last time I tasted in April 2021, reflecting that the 2005s are just right now beginning to open up.Jane Anson | 96 JATasted from an ex-château bottle at BI Wine & Spirits Calon-Segur dinner in London, the 2005 Calon Segur is on par with the wonderful 2000. The only real difference is that this needs more time in bottle. It has a captivating nose: blackberry and boysenberry fruit coming at you at full pelt; dried blood and bacon fat developing as secondary aromas just behind. There is fine delineation here - an underlying mineralité sure to surface with time. The palate is very intense and disarmingly youthful, almost ferrous on the entry with layers of ripe black fruit that segue into an earthy finish (with a curious light tang of Marmite on the aftertaste!). It is a fabulous Calon Ségur, though the millennial wine might ultimately possess greater precision. We will see. Tasted March 2015.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 94 RP-NMTight and dense still but so integrated and seamless in texture. Aromas of chocolate, hazelnuts, dried spices and currants. Full body, superfine tannins and a texture that is so caressing and beautiful. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 94 JSHas a beautiful nose of crushed berry, spices and nutmeg, with a hint of coffee. Then turns to licorice. Full-bodied, with supersilky tannins and a long finish of vanilla, berry and cinnamon. Beautifully crafted. Best after 2014. 17,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSFirm and structured, the Calon-Ségur remains surprisingly muscular. Produced from a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and a splash of Petit Verdot, all aged in new casks, this shows a bright redcurrant and mint nose with a bit of spice and smoke. The feel on the palate is tannic and firm, perhaps lacking a bit of generosity at this point, but the rich extract suggests that with time it should come around. Drinking Window 2021 - 2040.Decanter | 93 DECDeep, bright ruby-red. Deeply pitched aromas of black raspberry, black cherry, leather, smoked meat, earth and menthol. Chewy, brooding and deep, with concentrated black cherry, menthol, mineral and leather flavors framed by a powerful spine of acids and tannins. Really saturates the palate on the tannic back end. I’d give this classic St. Estephe a decade of aging, at which time this wine may well merit an even higher score.Vinous Media | 92+ VM(Château Calon-Ségur) The 2005 vintage at Calon-Ségur was comprised of more than fifty percent merlot, and while the wine is a good wine in its way, it lacks the brightness, soil signature and classic profile of the wines from 2006 forwards. The bouquet is deep, reserved and shows admirable depth in its constellation of dark berries, tobacco leaf, woodsmoke, espresso, herb tones, a touch of hoisin sauce, dark soil and nutty new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nascently complex, with good purity at the rock solid core, firm tannins and excellent length and grip on the black fruity and still very youthful finish. Qualitatively, this is clearly the equivalent of the 2006, but I have a far stronger preference for the style of the latter vintage, as this is just missing a bit of spark from all of its merlot in the blend. A very good wine, but not a classic Calon-Ségur. (Drink between 2022-2050)John Gilman | 92 JG

Exhibits blackberry, mineral, currant and dark chocolate. Full and velvety, with lots of fruit and chewy tannins. Long and caressing, with incredibly sweet fruit and tannins on the finish. Goes on for minutes. A thoroughly gorgeous wine. Best after 2015. 6,615 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WSA beautiful wine, once again, from this property that has been on a superb qualitative roll for several decades. Dense ruby/purple with notes of graphite, background oak, youthful crème de cassis and blackberry fruit as well as a floral underpinning, it is medium to full-bodied, textured, rich and impressive. Still in a somewhat adolescent stage, it should hit full maturity in another 2-3 years and last at least two decades.Robert Parker | 96 RP(13.8% natural alcohol) Bright ruby-red. Superripe berry and chocolate aromas, with a whiff of surmaturite Fat, sweet and large-scaled, offering extraordinary volume and an almost syrupy thickness leavened by surprisingly sound acidity. This saturates the entire mouth yet manages to avoid coming off as heavy. Finishes very long and sweet, with thoroughly integrated tannins. "The best vintage since 1961," notes Jean-Luc Zuger. "This is the kind of wine I like." He advises early drinkers to give this 2005 about four hours in a decanter.Vinous Media | 93 VMThis under-the-radar third growth Margaux produced a lovely wine in 2005. The blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot presents aromas of dark plum and blackberry fruit with notes of spice, sweet chocolate, and a firmly earthy edge. The texture on the palate features plenty of well-managed tannins, lovely density, and satisfying length. This has the substance to age for another 20 years.Decanter | 93 DECBig, ripe and juicy—a Dolly Parton wine. With exuberant fruitiness this is attractive now, but there are solid, firm tannins, so the wine will perhaps grow up.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE

Tasted at Bordeaux Index’s tasting and at the château, the 2006 Calon Segur was current winemaker Vincent Millet’s first vintage. In many ways, you can see it as one of the last of the "old style" Calon Segur wines with a higher percentage of Merlot than nowadays (the 2006 consists of 33% Merlot), while I aver that the tannins are not as fine as they are nowadays. The Merlot component is vividly expressed on the nose with ravishing ripe red cherries, kirsch and strawberry, just slightly smudged by the alcohol. The palate is medium-bodied with chewy tannin, quite sexy in style but it does not have the class of more recent vintages and it seems to have remained tough up on the finish. It will loosen up with time, so afford this another 6-8 years in bottle. Tasted January 2016.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 93 RP-NMNot a wine that will please everyone. This has the austerity and backward thinking of 2006 mixed with the sleek fruit of Calon; rich, dark and not at all showy. Instead, it is subtle, delicate and thoroughly lovely. Drinking Window 2017 - 2038.Decanter | 93 DECFocused and fresh, with violet and blackberry aromas and vanilla undertones. Full-bodied, with very pretty berry fruit character, fine tannins and a long, caressing finish. Refined. Best after 2014. 14,445 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS(Château Calon-Ségur) The 2006 Calon-Ségur (as noted above) was the first vintage produced under the guiding hand of Vincent Millet and this wine was a return to the classic cépages at the estate of predominantly cabernet sauvignon, after the detrimental increase in the percentage of merlot in the blend between 1990 and 2005. The wine is very, very closed today, but it is going to be a lovely wine with sufficient bottle age, as the wine is very well-balanced and simply needs time alone in the cellar to resolve its considerable chassis of tannin. The deep and still quite youthful nose reluctantly offers up scents of black cherries, curry, blossoming notes of dried eucalyptus, dark soil tones, cigar ash and a stylish base of new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full- bodied and completely in its dumb phase, with a very good core, ripe, chewy tannins, lovely focus and a very long, currently quite hermetically-sealed finish. This is a good eight to ten years away from blossoming, but it will be excellent if given sufficient patience. (Drink between 2022-2050).John Gilman | 92 JGAromas of perfumes and blueberries with minerals. Medium-to-full body, fine tannins and a tangy, fresh finish. Attractive tension and austerity to this. Savory and juicy. Drink now or hold.James Suckling | 91 JSBright ruby-red. Perfumed, terroir-driven aromas and flavors of redcurrant, licorice, iron, cinders, woodsmoke, minerals and pepper, plus a whiff of meat. At once dense and suave, with herbal and peppery nuances contributing to the wine’s impression of insinuating vinosity and inner-mouth aromatic character. Almost rustic in its soil tones but not in its refined texture. Finishes with building tannins and a juicy freshness. A wine worth following.Vinous Media | 90+ VMThis wine’s rich red fruit rides above firm, stony St-Estèphe tannins, the contrast providing some delicate detail and more serious depth. As the tannins increase their grip with air, the fruit gets redder, like the skin of a ripening plum. Calon-Ségur, on a hill just outside the village of St-Estèphe, often grows vin de garde; this vintage should be a keeper.Wine & Spirits | 90 W&S

Subdued on opening, but with 30 minutes in a carafe it spills out rich pencil lead and liquorice notes, with blackberry fruits and smoky vanilla spice. Classic Margaux 2006, with fairly high acidity that emphasises a floral character, alongside refined tannins. Just beginning to evolve towards an older wine. An unusual vintage at Cantenac Brown, where they produced only 30% of the first wine, reflecting a new regime of greater precision in harvesting and sorting. 60% new oak. Drinking Window: 2022 - 2040Decanter | 93 DECA gorgeous nose of blackberry and plum jam, with a vanilla bean hint. Full-bodied and soft-textured, with round, chewy tannins and lots of fruit. A little loosely knit now, but will come together beautifully with age. Best after 2012.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

The 2008 Palmer has a very intense bouquet with blackberry, raspberry, crushed violet and iris scents, blossoming in the glass whilst retaining superb delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with fine but quite rounded tannin that frame the pure blackberry and raspberry fruit. There are touches of white pepper and clove towards the finish, completing quite a superb Margaux from Thomas Duroux. Equal with Château Margaux? It might even be better... (Tasted at BI Wine & Spirits annual 10-Year On tasting).Vinous Media | 95 VMThis has a deeper grip of fruit, one of the best so far, delivering spades of Margaux typicity and a gorgeous balance of seamlessly linked fruit, tannin and acidity. This is the right time to be drinking this wine, but it will still unfurl further. Flavours of pencil lead, brambly blackberry fruits and a cedar swirl. A gold for me, in a silver vintage. Drinking Window 2018 - 2032Decanter | 95 DECRich and concentrated, touched easily by toasty wood. The tannins are so sweet, blending easily into the powerful texture of black berry fruits with, hints of licorice. This is a ripe wine, its acidity always present.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEA stunning success for the vintage, and possibly the Margaux of the year, this wine, which achieved 13.5% natural alcohol, is a blend of 51% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Petit Verdot. Loads of barbecue smoke, licorice, incense, blackberry, new saddle leather and forest floor notes jump from the glass of this dense, purple-colored wine. Extraordinarily intense and full-bodied, with plenty of tannin, but not the formidable structure of the 2010, this is going to be one of the longest-lived wines of 2008. It is full, rich, layered, and should be reasonably approachable with 3-4 years of bottle age, and will also keep for 30+ years.Robert Parker | 94 RPA wine that’s just now starting to hit prime time, the 2008 Palmer is a blend of 51% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Petit Verdot that was brought up in plenty of new oak. This medium to full-bodied effort offers a youthful, vibrant ruby/purple color as well as a smoky, dark-fruited style as well as notes of chocolate and earthy minerality. With beautiful concentration, still-present ripe tannins, and a great finish, it’s a great drink today, yet I suspect it has another 30 years in it. It’s a beautiful Palmer that shows the classic style of the vintage.Jeb Dunnuck | 94 JDPalmer knows what to do. Plenty of blackberry and licorice aromas and flavors follow through to full body, with chewy tannins and a vanilla, cedar and chocolate aftertaste. Needs time to mellow. Layered and beautiful. Best after 2012.James Suckling | 93 JSOffers dark plum, mulled currant and blackberry notes, with flashes of roasted apple wood and maduro tobacco, plus cocoa and espresso. There’s nicely rounded flesh and a long, integrated finish that has some extra grip. Clearly apart from the Margaux pack in 2008. Best from 2013 through 2019. 7,080 cases made.Wine Spectator | 91 WS