Wine Ratings

wines

(Domaine de la Pousse d’Or Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Red) This is also aromatically inhibited with its reluctant nose of plum liqueur, leather, humus and evident floral wisps. Here too there is excellent volume and intensity to the muscular and powerful flavors that are shaped by firm tannins that leave no doubt that this is built-to-age and a wine that’s going to need extended patience. I would add that in the context of the 2017 vintage, this is a big wine. (Drink starting 2032)Burghound | 92-95 BHThe 2017 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru offers more red fruit than the Bonnes-Mares, although at the moment this does not quite deliver the same nuance and comeliness. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin, quite linear and strict (especially for this vineyard), but with a welcome pinch of white pepper and sage towards the persistent finish. Afford it several years in bottle.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM

The 2017 Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Epeneaux has gained in depth and dimension with élevage and showed very well from bottle, unfurling in the glass with an expressive, youthfully fruit-driven bouquet of raspberries, cherries, candied peel and rose petals, framed by a subtle touch of new oak. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, velvety and fleshy, with succulent acids and elegant tannins. While this isn’t as rich, muscular or gourmand as the 2018, it’s an immensely seductive wine that will drink well comparatively young—though readers should still plan on exercising at least a decade’s patience.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPPaul Zanetti tends to make two different cuvées from the Clos des Epeneaux, one from younger vines and one from the older, left side of the premier cru, planted between 65 and 98 years ago. The combination in bottle is definitely more than the sum of its parts. This is not a blockbuster vintage for what can be an ageworthy wine, but it’s still appealing in a lighter, more approachable mode, with some tannic grip but lots of perfume, finesse and succulent berry sweetness. Drinking Window 2024 - 2029Decanter | 94 DEC(Domaine Comte Armand/Clos des Epeneaux Pommard "Clos des Epeneaux" 1er Cru Red) There is still just enough wood present to merit mentioning as it frames the herbal tea-inflected blend of both red and dark currant scents that are cut with leather and underbrush nuances. The supple medium-bodied flavors possess reasonable though not distinguished mid-palate concentration before terminating in a lingering if slightly attenuated finish. The supporting tannins are sufficiently firm that this youthfully austere effort will need at least a few more years of keeping first. A Clos des Epeneaux of relative finesse. (Drink starting 2027)Burghound | 91 BH

As always, the 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Cuvée De Mon Aïeul is all Grenache (from La Serres, La Crau, and La Guigasse) that was not destemmed and was brought up all in used demi-muids. It’s an extraordinary wine, offering a mammoth bouquet of kirsch liqueur, black raspberries, ground pepper, white flowers, and spice. Full-bodied, concentrated, and opulent on the palate, with silky tannins, it’s not going to match the 2010 or 2016, but t’s a magical, elegant, layered wine that does everything right.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDThis is lush and inviting in feel, with waves of warmed raspberry reduction taking center stage, while plum paste and cherry skin notes add range. Underneath the fruit, notes of anise, red and black tea and gently mulled spice notes course along, all supported by perfectly embedded acidity. A gorgeous wine that’s hard to lay off now because of the fruit, but there’s absolutely no rush. Best from 2023 through 2040. 375 cases made, 150 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 96 WSRich and almost painfully intense, from yields that were reduced by coulure to only about six hectoliters per hectare, the 2017 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de Mon Aieul is steadfast in being all Grenache and all whole cluster. Licorice, chocolate and super ripe plums appear on the nose, while the palate is full-bodied and velvety, with a long, warm finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPBrilliant ruby-red. An expansive, spice-accented bouquet evokes ripe red fruits, incense and potpourri, and a smoky mineral element adds urgency. Juicy, seamless and appealingly sweet, offering concentrated raspberry, boysenberry and floral pastille flavors that firm up slowly and turn spicier on the back half. Shows serious heft, but there’s a distinctly graceful quality as well. Finishes sappy, gently tannic and extremely long, leaving a suave lavender pastille note behind.Vinous Media | 94-95 VMAnother string release under this label, showing rich dark fruit and earthy notes with plenty of spice. Tarry notes as well. The palate has a very plush, ripe and rich feel with juicy, ripe dark berries and plums, really bathed in deep, long and smooth-honed tannins. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 93 JS

The older vines in de Vogüé’s extensive 7.2ha in Musigny date back to 1953 and make a wine that’s considerably weightier than the young-vine cuvée. This is very deep and intense in colour, exhibiting layers of dark bramble and black cherry flavours and a backbone of precise, chalky, mouthwatering acidity. A wine that needs time to digest its 35% new wood. Drinking Window 2026 - 2037Decanter | 96 DECThe 2017 Musigny Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru is complex and well defined on the nose, where touches of iodine and wild heather infuse the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with a slightly grainy texture; notes of black truffle and fresh fig complement a fruit profile that welcomes more red fruit toward the finish. Hints of white pepper and sage linger on the aftertaste. This is certainly beginning to close up in bottle, so allow a decade if you can for this Musigny to show what it is capable of.Vinous Media | 95 VMAn openly exotic nose offers glimpses of black cherry liqueur, ginger, Asian-style tea, sandalwood and orange peel. The tighter and much more mineral-driven big-bodied flavors also possess evident muscle on the powerful and dense yet beautifully refined finish that goes on and on. This is also a bit less structured though with that said, this is going to need at least 15 years to reach its apogee. In a word, terrific.Burghound | 94 BHThe 2017 Musigny Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru is showing very well indeed, unfurling in the glass with aromas of cherries, rose petal, warm spices and orange rind, framed by creamy new wood. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and velvety, with the greatest depth and dimension of any wine in the cellar, displaying excellent energy and completeness, and distinguished above all by striking length on the finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93-95 RP(Musigny “Vieilles Vignes”- Domaine de Comte de Georges de Vogüé) The 2017 Musigny old vine bottling was quite hunkered down after its recent racking, but though it was not as expressive as the Bonnes-Mares on this particular day, it showed good underlying soil signature and seemed to only be in need of more time out from the racking for everything to snap back into proper place. The wine certainly has lovely fruit elements in its mix of sappy black cherries and plums, complex soil tones, woodsmoke, gamebird, violets and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nascently complex, with a good sappy core of black fruit, fine-grained tannins and lovely length and grip on the refined and quite soil-driven finish. This wine is not as precise as is customary (and which has to be a reflection of the post-racking period in which I tasted it), but there are really good elements here and if they all fall back into place properly, it will be a lovely wine. (Drink between 2030-2080)John Gilman | 93-95 JG

Intense, featuring an energetic core of black Mission fig, açaí berry and blackberry fruit, all entwined with strands of licorice snap, singed alder, tar and cassis bush. The finish crackles with life, as the grip is substantial but supported as much by acidity as tannins, giving this a freshness that pierces through the dark fruit profile. Best from 2035 through 2055. 498 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSRichly structured, this opulent wine has powerful tannins as well as fresher black fruits. It is dense and finely perfumed with some sweetness as well as a drier core of tannins. The wine is set for long-term aging. Wine Enthusiast | 94 WE

For the third vintage in a row, this 0.32ha plot, ranging in age between 60 and 80 years, has produced the best wine at the domaine. It's a stunning grand cru that was deceptively easy to taste from barrel. Elegant, refined and sensuous, it's a soprano of a wine with beautifully pitched chalky precision, a hint of earth and subtle wild strawberry fruit. Drinking Window 2022 - 2032.Decanter | 97 DECThe 2017 Richebourg Grand Cru has a showstopping, persistent bouquet of intense blackberry, sous-bois and crushed stone. The supremely well-balanced palate offers filigreed tannin, wonderful mineralité and an otherworldly-long finish. One of the most elegant Richebourgs that I have tasted. Best Richebourg in show this year? Quite possibly. Six barrels produced.Vinous Media | 96-98 VM(Domaine Jean Grivot Richebourg Grand Cru Red) The elegant, airy and beautifully perfumed nose offers up notes of sandalwood, anise, clove, herbal tea and plenty of floral influences. There is excellent delineation and minerality to the solidly concentrated, indeed even muscular, large-scaled flavors that culminate in an incredibly long if very, very backward, austere and compact finale. This Zen-like effort is going to require an extended snooze in a cool cellar and as such, it's a wine to buy and forget that you own it for at least a decade. (Drink starting 2032).Burghound | 95 BHThe king of the cellar is the 2017 Richebourg Grand Cru, a decidedly promising wine that wafts from the glass with notes of rose petal, dark wild berries, smoke, Asian spices, espresso roast, licorice and rich soil tones. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, its satiny structuring tannins cloaked in succulent, fleshy fruit, its finish long and vibrant. The Richebourg stands apart for its amplitude and completeness this year.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93-96 RP

Dark, bright-rimmed purple. Powerful red and dark berry preserve and cherry cola scents are complemented by exotic spice, incense and floral oil notes. Sappy and densely packed, offering palate-staining black raspberry, cherry liqueur, violet pastille and spicecake flavors braced by a core of juicy acidity. Youthfully chewy tannins build steadily on a strikingly long, penetrating finish that leaves behind smoky mineral and juicy dark berry notes.Vinous Media | 97 VMThe brightness and intensity here is fantastic with density and firmness that is most impressive. Squared-off tannins give this classicism and beauty. Full body. Extremely long and powerful. One to watch.James Suckling | 97-98 JSI also tasted the 2017 Pingus, which had a tough competition with the bottled 2016 and a barrel sample of the 2018 (and the fermenting 2019, but that doesn’t really count). 2017 was a weird vintage for the zone, as the year was marked by one spring frost that decimated the crop and completely changed the balance of the year. In 2007, they put a windmill in one of the plots, and although the plot was not able to escape the frost, it was not as acute as it was in the Flor de Pingus vineyards, where they lost up to 40% of the crop. At the Pingus vineyards, they lost some 25% of the grapes. They started the élevage in used barriques, where they wine matured for 12 months, and then moved the wine to larger barrels so they could extend the aging. There are alternate sensations of ripeness and herbal aromas. You can see a little bit of the tannic style of a concentrated year (1995, 2004, 2014), which is very different from fluid years like 2016 or 1996, with a rustic Ribera character. They saved the vintage with their knowledge of their vineyards, whereas in the past, a vintage like this could have been a disaster. Sometimes wines like this can have an unexpected development in bottle... 5,700 bottles were filled in July 2019.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RP

The Dujac holdings in this large and heterogeneous Gevrey grand cru are divided between four blocks, totalling 0.75ha and planted in the 1950s and 1970s. This is a very smart expression of the terroir, showing notes of Asian spices, dense, savoury fruit flavours and sappy, fine-boned tannins. The oak integration is quite brilliant here. Drinking Window 2025 - 2032.Decanter | 96 DEC(Charmes-Chambertin- Domaine Dujac) When Jeremy moved from the Echézeaux to the Clos St. Denis in our tasting progression, I asked why the Charmes was going to be served out of its customary place in the rotation. He responded that “I really, really like the Charmes this year and we will see if my faith in the wine has been misplaced.” However, not surprisingly, when we got to the wine, Jeremy’s impressions were vindicated and the wine showed stellar potential- even hard on the heels of the great Clos de la Roche! The bouquet is pure and simply outstanding in 2017, offering up scents of red and black cherries, black plums, a very complex base of soil, gentle meatiness, woodsmoke, raw cocoa and cedar. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, deep and rock solid at the core with sappy fruit, excellent focus and grip, fine-grained tannins and a very long, soil-driven and complex finish. I am not sure I have ever tasted a better young vintage of Charmes-Chambertin from Domaine Dujac. (Drink between 2027-2075).John Gilman | 95 JGThe 2017 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru is showing brilliantly from bottle, bursting from the glass with aromas of sweet cherries, cassis, orange rind, spices, black truffle, espresso roast and rich soil tones. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, fleshy and mouthfilling, with a layered and nicely concentrated core, ripe tannins and succulent acids, concluding with a long and expansive finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94+ RP(Domaine Dujac Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru Red) The sauvage-suffused nose reflects a discreet touch of wood on the cool and pure essence of red berry fruit nose that projects plenty of floral, earth, forest floor and anise elements. The rich and muscular medium weight plus flavors display touches of salinity and youthful austerity on the otherwise sneaky long but compact finish. This isn't elegant or especially dense but it is a relatively dense 2017 and one that should age well. (Drink starting 2029).Burghound | 91 BH

This is well-packed, offering the vivid plum, boysenberry, cassis and açaí berry fruit profile of the vintage, along with a dark edge of tar, baker’s chocolate and salted licorice that courses underneath. The long finish lets the fruit play out, keeping singed alder and chai spice hints in the background. Smolderingly seductive. Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Cão, Sousão and Tinta Roriz. Best from 2035 through 2060. 3,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSThe 2017 Vintage Port is a field blend, mostly Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinto Cão and Sousão, aged for 18 months in old wood vats. It comes in with 99 grams of residual sugar. This was bottled in May 2019, about a month before tasting, but I made sure at least some of it had a lot of air. Aromatic, wonderfully fragrant and laced with eucalyptus, this then shows typical Noval focus and power. A couple of hours in a glass simply increased the power. More intense than the very fine 2016, it grips the palate and shows rather significant astringency. As wonderfully aromatic as this is, there the 2016 might have the edge.Too closed and muscular once past the aromatics, this rather dry Port needs some time. It is harder to read than the 2016 was, but this should overtake it in time. Have some patience with this one.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPThe 2017 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port was picked from August 21 to September 28 under perfect conditions. It has a tightly wound bouquet that requires a lot of aeration. Eventually it reveals fabulous, detailed aromas of cassis, bilberry jam, crushed stone and pressed violets, later hints of orange blossom and quince. The palate is pure class. Saturated tannins, wonderful structure but the headline is the intensity of fruit. I cannot remember a Noval with this penetration, almost overwhelming the senses as layers of effervescent black plum and cassis fruit segue into a spicy finish that fans out like there is no tomorrow. Is this the best Quinta do Noval ever?Vinous Media | 97 VMThe straight 2017 Vintage Port is stunning stuff. It packs serious power and richness while staying beautifully polished and, dare I say, elegant. Notes of crème de cassis and liquid blackberries define the attack, but it offers an incredibly layered, nuanced, complex style in its notes of herbes de Provence, violets, spicy wood, licorice, and Asian spice aromas and flavors. While it’s no doubt a full-bodied Port, it stands out just as much for its incredible polish, balance, and purity. This a brilliant effort is more approachable than the Nacional bottling yet is nevertheless going to evolve for 50-60 years or more on its flawless balance.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDBig grip in this wine with dark blackberries, blueberries and floral notes. Fine tannins. Ripe but sweet and pretty. Shows a lovely finish. Try after 2027.James Suckling | 97 JSNoval spills over into two valleys from Pinhão to Roncão which contribute two very different terroirs to the blend, though both predominantly south-facing. It displays heady Douro aromas of open, ripe, plummy fruit with a touch of dust and eucalypt, wild and aromatic. The palate is dense, smooth and seductive on the palate with firm, schistous tannins rising on to a fresh, linear finish. Beautifully defined and integrated. Just 3,500 cases declared. Drinking Window 2035 - 2060.Decanter | 96 DECThis is a solid wine with dark tannins and a definitely dry character that will allow it to age well. Its power and its density are impressive, with rich black currant flavors backing up the tannins. Drink from 2030.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEJet black, this shows the arid vintage in its desert-rose scents and in the umami savor of tiny dried black currants. There’s black-cherry density inside the concentrated tannins, which need a decade to begin to relax.Wine & Spirits | 93 W&S

The La Tâche was the palest of all the DRC 2017s, almost to the point of transparency. This is a floral, open knit expression of the monopoly Grand Cru, which is very far from being a blockbuster this year. Scented and appealing, with notes of avatar of roses, fresh leather and peat smoke on the nose, lots of whole bunch spice and structure, racy acidity, a hint of salinity, succulent red berry fruit and remarkable palate length. A layered, understated red. Drinking Window 2029 - 2037.Decanter | 98 DECThe 2017 La Tâche Grand Cru is another of the more expressive wines in the range. It opens with striking mid-palate pliancy and also possesses a level of inner sweetness the other wines don’t have, and yet there is plenty of the tannic clout that defines the Richebourg as well. Time in the glass allows all of those elements to emerge fully, especially the aromatics that are such a La Tâche signature. Creamy, ample and wonderfully expressive, 2017 is superb today. I would cellar the 2017 for at least a few years, even if it is incredibly alluring right now. Harvest took place on September 6 and 7.Antonio Galloni | 96 AG(Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche Grand Cru Red) Other than perhaps a great Musigny, La Tâche is the most aromatically compelling wine in Burgundy with its perfumed fireworks in a glass with a nose that is ultra-spicy, exuberantly fresh and impressively broad-ranging array of rose petal, exotic and herbal tea, lavender, plum, violet, sandalwood, soy and a whiff of hoisin. There is a beguiling sense of underlying tension to the supple and almost easy-going mid-palate of the deceptively forward medium-bodied flavors that progressively tighten up on the dusty, exceptionally stony and saline if ever-so-mildly warm finish that flashes excellent depth and superb persistence as well as plenty of youthful austerity. This is a La Tâche of contrasts as the mid-palate suggests early accessibility yet the firm core of tannins makes clear that the 2017 LT will require extended keeping if you wish to experience it at its peak. (Drink starting 2037).Burghound | 96 BHWhile the 2017 La Tâche Grand Cru is one of the most approachable recent vintages of this great monopole, it's still really too soon to be opening bottles. However, these things happen, and it's certainly a striking wine, unwinding in the glass with detailed aromas of wild berries, plums, exotic spices, orange, rose petals, peony and coniferous forest floor. Full-bodied, satiny and seamless, its beautifully refined tannins and succulent acids are cloaked in an ample core of fruit. Like many of the best 2017s, its charm is deceptive, as there's a lot waiting in reserve here, and even a few years' patience will bear dividends.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPAs usual, La Tâche is altogether bigger, denser and darker in its fruit expression. Black currant, black cherry, licorice, spice and earth notes ply the vibrant profile as this builds to a long finish (96 points, non-blind)Wine Spectator | 96 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

Hand-picked and sorted 1868 planting, 50% crushed, 45% whole berry, 5% whole bunch. You’d stand up for royalty, and that’s this wine. To use the spit bucket is lèse-majesté. Just savour it, drop by drop, as it magically finds its way down your throat. It’s got the full rainbow of cool-grown shiraz flavours, a conjunction with a year made for it by Dionysius and, glory be, comes with a screwcap. Drink to 2067James Halliday | 99 JH

(Chambertin “Clos de Bèze”- Domaine Armand Rousseau) The 2017 Clos de Bèze from Domaine Rousseau is an equally compelling wine in the making, but it is a bit the inverse right now of the Chambertin, as it is a bit more reserved on its youthful nose, but more open and flamboyant on the palate. The bouquet is very, very pure, precise and promising, offering up scents of red and black raspberries, cherries, raw cocoa, a very complex base of minerality, lovely spice tones and a very well-done framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, pure and sappy at the core, with superb transparency and grip, ripe, seamless tannins and a very long, very energetic and vibrant finish. The wine is already suave and caressing on the attack, with all of this sappy reserve at the core and yet, it finishes completely defined by its complex minerality. A great wine. (Drink between 2030-2100).John Gilman | 98 JG(Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru Red) While the wood treatment is certainly evident it remains reasonably subtle on the overtly cool and restrained nose that is markedly spicy with its broad-ranging combination of exuberantly fresh aromas of dark cherry, raspberry, rose petal, violet, plum and a suggestion of earth. There is excellent power and punch to the large-scaled flavors that are a combination of power and refinement while being blessed with an abundance of sappy dry extract that imparts a seductive quality to the mouthcoating, hugely long and firmly structured and chiseled finish. While the Chambertin appears to have a slight edge at this very early juncture due to having slightly better complexity, it's going to be interesting in 20 to 25 years' time to see which is the better wine! (Drink starting 2027).Burghound | 96 BHSumptuously oaked and always poured last in any tasting at Domaine Rousseau, this is riper and plusher than the straight Chambertin bottling, with the power and density to age well, framed by 100% new wood and showing a bloody, ferrous undertone. Drinking Window 2027 - 2035.Decanter | 96 DECThe 2017 Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze Grand Cru has quite a high-toned bouquet, a touch of boot polish coming through and then receding to reveal very complex floral aromas. The elegant palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins, perfect acidity and fine proportion. Maybe it is missing a little weight on the back end, but it is still a refined Clos-de-Bèze that will age with grace. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2017 tasting.Vinous Media | 94 VMThe 2017 Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru bursts from the glass with extroverted aromas of dark, plummy fruits that mingle with notes of chocolate, licorice, sweet oak spice, grilled meats and espresso. On the palate, it's full-bodied, rich and ample with broad shoulders, a generous core of fruit and more mid-palate amplitude and tannic bite than the Chambertin.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92-94 RP

The 2017 Gigondas Le Lieu Dit is, as always, the most finesse oriented and elegant in the lineup. Coming from a sandy, cooler parcel just outside the domaine and all Grenache (70% destemmed) brought up in old demi-muids, it offers a more ruby color as well as a massive perfume of wild strawberries, kirsch liqueur, dried soil, and flowery incense. Full-bodied, incredibly pure, and perfectly balanced, it’s another straight-up thrilling wine from Brechet that will benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and keep for 10-15 years or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDSaturated crimson. Intense aromas of red berry liqueur, exotic spices and incense pick up a smoky mineral nuance as the wine stretches out. Sappy and energetic in the mouth, offering impressively concentrated raspberry, cherry and spicecake flavors and a strong suggestion of candied lavender. Finishes seamless, alluringly sweet and extremely long, with resonating red fruit and floral notes and supple tannins that add shape and discreet grip.Vinous Media | 94-95 VMThis mixes red and black currant fruit with notes of sage, alder and tobacco, ending with a tug of chalky minerality. Features perfume, flesh and a little more grip than most in the vintage. Best from 2020 through 2032. 50 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 94 WSThe 2017 Gigondas le Lieu Dit incorporates 30% whole clusters yet shows no green, stemmy characters at this stage of its evolution. It’s loaded with purple raspberries, framed by incredibly silky tannins, lush and ripe without any warmth evident on the long finish. Tasted twice, showing more tannic grip and woody notes on one occasion.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RP

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

The 2017 Pouilly Fumé Prédilection is from several terraces on Muschelkalk soils and located closer to the Loire, so they benefit from cool afternoon breezes and nights. The wine opens pure and crunchy on the nose when young, with stony aromas intermixed with notes of white fruit but gets more and more floral with bottle age. The palate is powerful, dense and complex, showing serious substance, tannins and length but also elegance and terroir expression. The finish is lush but also pure and salty and structured by very fine tannins. It’s a crystalline, refined and elegant style with a very long finish. Tasted in February 2021.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPThis wine takes its minerality from the chalk soil in which the vines grow. It has considerable texture as well as perfumed richness and dense white fruits accented by spice. The wine is ready to drink.Wine Enthusiast | 91 WEVery pure and smoky, with a peach, apricot and elderflower fragrance and a fabulously expressive mineral acid undercurrent.Decanter | 90 DEC

The 2017 Nizza LaCourt is soft, supple, rich and open but not at all heavy. Raspberry jam, mocha, spice, new leather all build as this succulent forward Nizza shows off its considerable appeal. The 2017 hits all the right notes. It is a terrific effort from the Chiarlo family.Antonio Galloni | 93 AGDark-skinned fruit, cedar and scorched earth aromas lead the nose. The structured, balanced palate offers Marasca cherry, blackberry jam and licorice alongside polished tannins. Drink 2023–2029.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEThe Michele Chiarlo 2017 Nizza Riserva La Court is a beautifully enriched and generous wine that gives ample volume and depth to the Barbera grape. This food-friendly option shows the dark fruit (blackberry and plum) to pair with most pasta or meat dishes. It also offers just enough acidity to cut through any recipe that is heavy on cheese or cream. This bottle is ready to drink now.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPBright blueberry and boysenberry aromas and flavors highlight this vibrant red, with flashes of earth and toasty oak spice. It’s very discreet in the end, where light oak tannins come into play. Drink now through 2024. 1,000 cases made, 150 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

Wonderful aromas of blueberries, blackberries, mushrooms, pine and blackcurrants. Some violets, too. Full-bodied, yet so refined and polished with wonderful fruit and a linear tannin structure that integrates beautifully into the wine. It’s so balanced and beautiful. Hard not to drink now, but better after 2023.James Suckling | 98 JSThe 2017 Proprietary Red brings everything up a solid notch. Dense purple/plum-hued, with gorgeous, Graves-like nose of blackcurrants, chocolate, scorched earth, tobacco leaf, and gravelly earth, this beauty hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a polished, elegant texture, building yet sweet tannins, and a great finish. Very much in the style of the 2017 vintage with its nicely concentrated, elegant, reserved yet endearing style, it’s going to drink nicely for 20-25 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDThe deep garnet-purple colored 2017 Proprietary Red sails out of the glass with open-knit, compelling scents of Black Forest cake, blackberry pie and black currant jelly with suggestions of Indian spices, garrigue, rose oil and sandalwood. The full-bodied palate is richly fruited and jam-packed with opulent black fruit preserves and exotic spice layers, framed by a wicked backbone of freshness and plush, well-managed tannins, finishing with impressive length and perfume.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96+ RPThe 2017 Sloan is very nicely done. As is typical of the year, Sloan is on the lighter side in 2017, and yet all the elements are impeccably balanced. Black cherry, spice, licorice, lavender and chocolate open with a bit of time in the glass. Soft, succulent and quite gracious, the 2017 will drink well with minimal cellaring. I suspect it will always retain some of the nervous tension that is to be expected for a wine made from fruit picked a bit earlier than would have been optimal and with fewer barrel ferments, both choices imposed by the fires that year.Antonio Galloni | 94 AG

This rich, wood-aged wine comes from 40- to 50-year-old vines on an estate at the southern limit of the Madiran appellation. It brings together dense tannins and old-vine concentration. The acidity, black-plum flavors and tannins will keep this wine developing for many years. Drink from 2023.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WE

Complex scents of black cherry, liquorice, spice and smoke. Bright entry to the palate; refreshingly spicy, with layers of lemon sorbet and sweet raspberry. Restrained but full-flavoured with a long, appealing, rounded finish. Beautiful blend.Decanter | 95 DEC

New leather, truffle and camphor aromas mingle with a whiff of wild berry on this earthy red. The ripe, accessible palate doles out fleshy black cherry, crushed raspberry, culinary spice and game alongside taut, fine-grained tannins. Drink 2022–2027. Kerin O’Keefe | 93 KONew leather, truffle and camphor aromas mingle with a whiff of wild berries on this earthy red. The ripe, accessible palate doles out fleshy black cherry, crushed raspberry, culinary spice and game alongside taut, fine-grained tannins. Drink 2022–2027. Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEA mix of macerated cherry, plum and balsamic notes of mint, wild thyme and eucalyptus highlight this balanced red, with a light viscosity and fine length. Best from 2023 through 2036. 5,000 cases made, 3,760 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

This is a large grand cru and quality is not uniform, but the domaine’s 0.8ha parcel is well situated on the mid-slope. The rich, cherry-scented nose is clearly ripe but also ethereal and heady, and there’s a touch of mint to give a cool edge. Firm and concentrated on the palate, this has generous fruit and firm but elegant tannins. There’s a silky texture and an intense, stylish finish with fine acidity. Poised and long.Decanter | 94 DECVery pretty deepish purple, this has precisely the chiselled, racy detailed, lacy aspect which I want in Echezeaux. A wonderful volume of fruit, cashmere texture yet in a soft smooth comforting basket of red fruits, and great length. This is ‘strict in its boots’ says Charles, but I may have missed something in translation there!Jasper Morris | 94-97 JMThe 2017 Echezeaux Grand Cru is also showing beautifully, unwinding in the glass with scents of plums, peonies, exotic spices, orange rind and grilled squab. Medium to full-bodied, supple and enveloping, it’s lively and complete, with fine depth at the core, powdery tannins and a long, rose-inflected finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93+ RPA still youthfully fresh and very pretty nose reflects an abundance of floral characters along with plenty of spice influence to the dark currant and cool cherry scents. The sleek and tautly muscular medium weight flavors possess very good if not exceptional concentration where the copious sap imparts a beguiling texture on the still firm, balanced and sneaky long finale. At only 7 years of age, and in magnum format, it’s no surprise that this should still be decidedly compact and backward and the ’17 Ech is going to need most of the next decade to arrive at its peak.Burghound | 93 BHThe 2017 Echézeaux Grand Cru comes from a 1.09-hectare parcel in the lieu-dit of Rouge de Bas; this cru includes 100% whole bunches. It has a tightly wound bouquet at first, gradually unfurling to reveal quite intense dark berry fruit laced with tea leaves and bay leaf. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin, crisp acidity, quite a masculine style and a stoic, rather aloof finish that might just require more flesh to counter the influence of the whole bunch stems. Let’s see how this matures in bottle.Vinous Media | 92-94 VM

Light in colour, with a certain attractive evolution in the bouquet, very sensual, lifted raspberry and alpine strawberry. This is a Vosne-Romanée which is all about the delicacy, perfumed and succulent up front, lighter behind. Perhaps just a little soft at the finish but with a heavenly fruit quality. Just the style that Charles Lachaux is trying to achieve. Tasted: October 2020.Jasper Morris | 91 JMAromatically the nose possesses a similar fruit profile but it’s notably spicier. There is also a bit more concentration to the medium-bodied flavors that possess a more refined mouthfeel before terminating in a saline and lingering finish. The refinement is mostly due to the dense but fine tannins and this should age well for its level.Burghound | 89-91 BH

The 2017 Chapelle-Chambertin from Madame Tremblay is also a stunning wine, but it is a bit more reserved out of the blocks than the flamboyant and supremely elegant Echézeaux and will need a few more years to blossom. The youthful nose is pure and sappy, offering up scents of plums, black cherries, raw cocoa, violets, gamebird, a hint of hazelnut, woodsmoke, a wisp of orange zest and a lovely base of smoky new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full and sappy at the core, with a beautiful structural chassis, lovely soil signature, ripe, fine-grained tannins and stunning length and grip on the perfectly balanced and youthful finish. All this great wine needs is time in the cellar to fully blossom. (Drink between 2030 - 2085)John Gilman | 97 JGCécile Tremblay’s top wine is made with grapes from a very old 0.35ha block in this small Gevrey grand cru. Exotic yet refreshing, it’s supple and appealing but has good underlying tannins, acidity and minerality, joined by intense red cherry and strawberry fruit.Decanter | 95 DECLike many wines from this charming, demonstrative vintage, Tremblay’s 2017 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru can already be drunk with pleasure. Exhibiting aromas of red berries and plums mingled with notions of orange rind, warm spices and vanilla pod, it’s full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with a round, giving core of fruit framed by supple tannins and lively acids. Expect it to put on additional depth with further bottle age, much like its 2007 counterpart.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPThis is also quite floral with its cool and strikingly pretty aromas of softly spiced red and dark berry and earth scents that are trimmed in gentle wood nuances. The mouthfeel of the medium-bodied flavors is quite simply gorgeous as it’s at once caressing and lacy yet potent and powerful, all wrapped in an intensely mineral-driven finish that goes on and on. This is a superb Chapelle.Burghound | 93-96 BHNotably deeper colour, this has much darker fruit on the nose, some black fruit notes, powerful though on the palate and with great energy. Fresh finish, with good, even weight throughout. Her holding is in the Gemeaux part of the appellation which resist dry conditions, especially as these are old vines. Very good finale I must say. Tasted: November 2018.Jasper Morris | 93-96 JMThe 2017 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru has around 80% whole bunches this year. It has a very perfumed bouquet of raspberry, crushed strawberry, vanilla pod and a touch of iodine, all very well defined. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black and red fruit, perhaps not as complex as the Echézeaux, and a touch of brown spice surfaces toward the finish. Very fine.Vinous Media | 92-94 VM