Wine Varietals

wines

A stunning wine marked by finesse and delicacy. This is ethereal but also deep, with moss and mineral aromas followed by delicate yet naturally racy sweet berries, decadent roses, spices and forest floor. Almost full-bodied for a pinot, but this is much more about texture than anything else. Tense, round and elastic, with a ripe but minerally finish that expands at the end and goes on and on. Real depth in an airy, super-delicate way. 80% whole bunches and 20% new oak barrels. So good to drink now, but this is age-worthy and is likely to morph into something stunning in a decade.James Suckling | 99 JS Though well-marked by new oak for now, this red features ripe cherry, blackberry, violet, sandalwood and mineral aromas and flavors. Silky and elegant, yet there’s underlying intensity and power. Harmonious in its youth, with its full potential and pedigree on display on the long, detailed aftertaste. Best from 2029 through 2050. 422 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 98 WSThe 2022 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru is a blend of 11 different cuvées and includes, for the first time, the plot of "30 Rangs". This vintage includes 80% whole bunches, and like La Richemoine, it is deftly subsumed on the nose, which blossoms with vivacious red berry fruit, forest floor, white truffle, and light autumn leaf scents. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, a svelte Clos des Lambrays with a slightly chalky, mineral-rich finish. Very tender and complex, this is undoubtedly a great wine with a long-term future.Vinous Media | 96-98 VMThe 2022 Clos des Lambrays contains 80% whole bunches (100% in the very old vines, a lower proportion elsewhere). A fine even deep ruby purple. The bouquet is backward with still a suggested intensity of fruit that can easily cope with the stems. Beautifully suave with an enveloping dark red fruit, a very graceful finish on silky, refined tannins, and we don’t often say silky for Morey St Denis. They are caressing, according to Jacques. The floral touch works throughout, beautifully long and sensual. Drink from 2032. Tasted Nov 2023.Jasper Morris | 96-98 JMProduced from two large parcels of differing vine ages - one that is approximately two-thirds of the blend and is now 50+ years of age and a second, smaller group of vines that are approximately 25+ years of age; made with 80% whole clusters and 80% new wood.Burghound | 93-96 BH

Opulent, yet with racy acidity underneath, this red bursts with cherry, strawberry, floral, mineral and spicy oak aromas and flavors. Silky and airy, gliding effortlessly across the palate. Yet there’s ample support in the form of dense, finely wrought tannins, and the finish seems to go on forever, with a flash of cinnamon along with mineral and spice details. Best from 2030 through 2050. 20 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 98 WSNicolas Groffier has done a superb job with his Amoureuses; he will separate the upper and lower parts in 2022. Just under Musigny, he explains, there is a lot of sand, which helps the vines ripen to a greater degree. This cuvée has a black plum and cassis fruit character with notes of earth and smoke. The texture is fuller and more powerful, with great ripeness and depth. One should wait seven to ten years to open this monumental wine and drink over the next thirty.Decanter Magazine | 97 DECAlso made with 30% new wood and 100% whole bunches. A fine fresh purple, albeit a little less dense than the clay version. The bouquet is lighter, more airy, this is more cerebral, a romantic lover (I think that bit was a contribution from Nicolas!). With a delicious purity of cherry and alpine strawberry topnotes, less body behind. Really markedly different! Delicate and sensual together. I am going to give my preference, albeit fractional, to Grâce des Argiles as that seems to be the wine which is more typical of my expectation of Amoureuses. Drink from 2030-2040. Tasted Nov 2023.Jasper Morris | 95-97 JM

Here is another masterpiece from vintner Martino Manetti (and winemaker Paolo Salvi, following in the footsteps of long-time key figures Giulio Gambelli and Estate Manager Bruno Bini). The Montevertine 2022 Le Pergole Torte is 100% Sangiovese made in a similar winemaking style as the others, although both botte and barrique are used here. It opens to a dark garnet appearance that is velvety and rich yet shiny on the inside with a ruby brightness that is specific to this Tuscan grape. This is an amazing wine, so precise and balanced. I love the boldness of the vintage, and I am delighted by how elegantly it unfolds over the palate. The wine is contoured and pretty in terms of texture, and yet there are mineral notes that add freshness and vertical lift. This portfolio offers good scale with three wines, an entry-level, middle-level and top-end wine, each offering a distinct identity. Production is 30,000 bottles. This is one of my favorite wines from 2022, a vintage with highs and lows. This is definitely a high.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPA spicy and deep wine with licorice and bergamot aromas. The fruit is bright and layered, with plums and red cherries. But it’s on the palate where you feel the quality of this wine. It’s full-bodied with ripe, velvety tannins and long, refreshing acidity. Polished aftertaste. Made for the long haul, but also very drinkable now. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 98 JSThe 2022 Le Pergole Torte is every bit as magnificent as it was last year. Deep and expansive in the glass, with stunning depth, the 2022 stains the palate with layers of dark fruit, mocha, new leather and cedar. The 2022 starts to blossom with just a bit of time in the glass, leading to a finish that explodes on the back end. As has been the case for some time, the differences between Montevertine and Pergole Torte are increasingly mostly about style. The 2022 spent a year in Damy French oak barrels followed by a second year in cask. It will require a number of years to shed some baby fat to be at its most expressive.Vinous Media | 97+ VM

A fresh, linear, eye-opening young wine that’s delicious and appetizing, and will develop more complexity and nuance with time in the bottle. Stunning aromas of black cherries, vibrant raspberries and cedary spices lead to mouthwatering red cherry, cranberry, star anise and mineral flavors that expand on the palate. Drinkable now and best from 2030.James Suckling | 98 JSI tasted the 2023 Pinot Noir Le Caprice as a sample just before it was bottled. It has slowly unfolding aromas of cranberry, red cherry, tea leaves and mint, becoming more floral as it airs in the glass. The palate is layered and concentrated with woodsy, earthy flavors evocative of a forest. It’s structured by silky tannins and vibrant acidity and boasts a flourish of spicy accents on the long finish. A total of 979 cases were made, and the wine will be released in April of 2025.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93-95 RP

The iodine, blackberry and rose-stem character comes through clearly. Plenty of fruit and depth. Medium-bodied with fine tannins that caress the palate and provide endless flavors of Indian spices, flint, nutmeg and light crust. Such refinement and integrity. Drinkable now, but better in three or four years.James Suckling | 98 JSLovely cherry fruit with hints of lavender and rosemary. The texture is silky and dense, almost fat. There is more clay here, and less limestone than in Les Cras, and the tannic structure is not as firm. The grapes are from Drouhin’s massive 6.75ha here, not far from Pommard; they are partially destemmed and fermented on native yeasts before ageing in cask (25% new) for 14–18 months.Decanter Magazine | 93 DECThe 2023 Clos des Mouches Rouge seems just a touch riper in personality than the les Cras this year, thus having just a bit more mid-palate amplitude of sappy black fruit and just a bit more length on the lovely finish. The bouquet is excellent, offering up notes of black plums, black cherries, coffee bean, woodsmoke, gamebird, dark soil tones, a hint of graphite and cedary oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very sappy at the core, with a good foundation of soil tones, ripe, buried tannins, lovely focus and grip and a long, nascently complex and very promising finish. (Drink between 2036 - 2080)John Gilman | 93+ JGThe 2023 Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches (Domaine) is showing nicely, bursting with aromas of sweet berries, spices, orange zest and new oak. Medium to full-bodied, succulent and lively, with chalky grip on the finish, it will offer a broad drinking window.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91-93 RPThe 2023 Beaune Clos des Mouches Rouge 1er Cru comes from 35 separate plots with different geology. It’s comprised of ten different lots picked over a week. This opens with dark chocolate and white pepper scents. It has slightly darker fruit on the nose and is a little more introspective at first. The palate is medium-bodied and quite sapid with a firm structure on the entry and a touch of licorice on the finish. This should be very fine once in bottle.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMDeep purple, with a fresh energy. Intense fresh dark raspberry, with just the right structure, tannins present but refined, adequate acidity, a touch of velvet and very persistent. Drink from 2028-2035. Tasted Nov 2024.Jasper Morris | 91-93 JMAn exuberantly floral nose presents ripe aromas of spice, black cherry and a top note of kirsch. The notably finer, though not denser, middle weight flavors are shaped by remarkably fine-grained tannins on the lightly stony bitter pit fruit-inflected finale. This balanced effort could use more depth so at least a few years of cellaring should prove beneficial.Burghound | 90-92 BH

This cabernet sauvignon really shines, with subtle paprika, tobacco ash and vibrant red currants on the nose. Nuanced blackberries, blueberries, fine spices and a hint of cigar box. This fresh, lovely Sena comes from a warmer year than 2021 or 2022, with softer tannins. It’s super refined but driven, long and flavorful. More approachable and less structured and direct this year, with impeccable drinkability. 60% cabernet sauvignon, 19% malbec, 15% carmenere and 6% petit verdot. 18 months of aging, of which 90% is in French oak barrels, including 70% new and around 10% in foudres. Drinkable now, but it’s built for the next 20 years.James Suckling | 99 JSThis vintage of Seña marks the transition between ’eras’ with harvest still under the oversight of Francisco Baettig ahead of the arrival of Emily Faulconer, who then briefly left on maternity leave, with Baettig covering for her. The baton has been successfully passed on and Baettig left a fabulous vintage for Faulconer to start her trajectory at Errazuriz: full of detail and with remarkable purity of flavour. 2023 was a hot vintage in Chile but the Seña site benefited from wide temperature amplitude, allowing the fruit to retain the fine and lively acid that frames the wine from start to finish - and a long finish it is. A mineral nose, with gunpowder and graphite, preludes flavours of ripe wild strawberry, maraschino cherries, plum sorbet and cherry pit. Liquorice, bayleaf and sage, sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg, give nuance and definition. Lingering, spicy touch of spicy wild rocket. Drinking superbly now but with a great life ahead of it.Decanter Magazine | 98 DECUsing a higher proportion of Carménère than is typical, the 2023 Seña opens with its signature fresh, lifted bouquet driven by mint, spice and red fruit aromas, developing graphite accents and a vanilla-tinged undercurrent with aeration. The palate beautifully balances a suave polish with tensile focus, releasing into a rich, slow-moving finish underpinned by mineral-driven nuances and a touch of refreshing salinity. This impressive showing from Seña in a warm vintage retains admirable freshness and verve. The blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Malbec, 15% Carménère, 6% Petit Verdot matured for 18 months in barrique and a small portion of foudre.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPThe 2023 Seña is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Malbec, 15% Carménère and 6% Petit Verdot from Ocoa. This aged for 18 months in 70% new French oak barrels, 20% second-use barrels and 10% in large foudres. It opens with forest floor and boldo aromas, followed by lavender, violet and black fruit. The expression is clean and precise. This is dry and taut, with fine-grained, reactive tannins and a long, juicy palate. Despite the warm year, it retains freshness and a graceful character, with a lingering finish and subtle power.Vinous Media | 95 VMElegant yet chiseled, this leads with subtle floral, cocoa bean and tea leaf notes that join the vibrant core of raspberry, Santa Rosa plum and red currant. A wave of mineral freshness lends tension, while hints of cassis and cigar box swirl in alongside a callback to the core fruit. Ends with juicy length and polished tannins. Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Carmenère and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2038. 12,000 cases made, 2,000 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

Last year, Álvaro Palacios defined the 2023 Moncerbal as juicy and crystalline, an energetic red from 2.1 hectares in this paraje from Corullón where the soils are shallow and the vines are on steep slopes at 610 to 730 meters above sea level. It’s 92% Mencía and 8% Jerez that fermented with some full clusters and indigenous yeasts in oak vats with manual punching down of the cap. Like most of the 2023s, it had an élevage of around 10 months and has contained alcohol, 13%, and in this case a slightly lower pH, 3.6. It’s paler and also the most aromatic, floral, ethereal and insinuating. This is a vineyard that excels in less warm vintages, but it’s also a vineyard that has suffered a lot from the drought in the last few years and needs some time to recover. Still, this has the textbook herbal side, with finesse and precision. It’s perfumed, floral and showy, with notes of tangerine peel and also fennel and aniseed, pungent, mysterious and intoxicating... There is a transparency, symmetry and elegance. This is super approachable already. 6,446 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2025.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPTasted en primeur and, as with Villa de Corullón, this Moncerbal was a little reduced on the nose. In contrast, the palate was remarkable: alight with vivid acidity, bright cherry and pomelo fruits, wrapped with notes of creamy chocolate and structured by very fine tannin. Enjoy it soon, but will also benefit from ageing.Decanter Magazine | 96 DECThe 2023 Moncerbal is a Mencía from Corullón in Bierzo. It opens with pomegranate and blueberry notes, evolving toward wild herbs, a touch of sun-warmed cherry and a hint of laurel. The palate shows a delicate talc-like texture and a gentle tightness that gains energy from the interplay of alcohol and freshness. Moderate yet expressive, it presents a compact character within the Bierzo context.Vinous Media | 93-95 VM

Black cherries, currants, leather, savory herbs, and a beautiful sense of minerality all emerge from the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Tierra Rioja Vineyard. I love its remarkable purity and freshness, and on the palate, it’s full-bodied with flawless overall balance, building ripe tannins, plenty of mid-palate depth, and a great finish. It’s an incredibly structured, layered, impressive beauty that deserves 4-5 years of bottle age. Drink 2029-2049.Jeb Dunnuck | 98+ JD

All Grenache sourced mostly from the Chapouin lieu-dit with a splash from Janasse, the 2023 Châteauneuf Du Pape Cuvée Chaupin shows a medium ruby hue followed by a pretty, perfumed, remarkably elegant profile. It has a core of sweet red and black berry fruits, absolutely heavenly Provençal aromatics of herbes de Provence, black olive, pepper, and flowers, plus ripe, velvety tannins, flawless balance, and a great finish. Partially destemmed and aged 12 months in 70% foudre and 30% demi-muids, this heavenly 2023 will drink beautifully over the coming two decades. There are roughly 1,500 cases produced. Drink 2025-2045.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDAs always, a pure Grenache Noir sourced from sandy soils, the 2023 Chateauneuf du Pape Chaupin is a terrific effort. Mingling aromas of wild herbs, dark berries, baked mulberries and garrigue, it avoids the excesses of over-ripeness or overt spice, instead delivering a beautifully controlled expression. Medium- to full-bodied, dense and layered, it displays impressive concentration and a sense of coiled energy, its muscular core of fruit framed by a fine chassis of ripe tannins. The finish is long, delicately spiced and impressively persistent. This will reward patience, as time in bottle should bring greater harmony and finesse.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95+ RPHuge in scale, with a potent, warm, sappy profile. Its opulent rush of ripe cherry and licorice is well-framed by polished, firming tannins. Alder, anise and lavender smoke stream through; the finish is well-supported and reined in. Concentrated and broad-shouldered. This is for fans of the hedonistic style yet still shows drive and complexity. Best from 2027 through 2040. 3,333 cases made, 112 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 94 WSA solid, well-composed and flavorful red with cherries, sweet strawberries, warm herbs and a hint of baked orange. Full-bodied with fine tannins giving a refined texture. Juicy and driven, with a long, flavorful and well-structured finish. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 94 JSStrawberry compote, raspberry jam, licorice and crushed violets introduce the expressive 2023 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Chaupin, with ripe black cherry adding more complexity. Neatly structured through firm tannins, the full-bodied 2023 packs ample flavor concentration and density, doubling down with blackberry flavors and garrigue on the long, savory conclusion. This won’t need as much time to come around as the Vieilles Vignes from the same vintage tasted alongside.Vinous Media | 93 VM

A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, the Fattoria Le Pupille 2023 Saffredi represents a classic expression from a fresh vintage that ultimately performed far better than expected despite mid-season mildew pressure. The estate continues to refine its use of wood to emphasize brightness and fruit purity, a shift that is especially evident here. The wine shows notes of dark cherry, ripe blackberry, spice and hints of creamy chocolate. While the 2022 vintage emphasized harder tannins, this vintage is defined by generosity and luscious fruit. The Cabernet Sauvignon in particular appears crunchy, youthful and fresh, giving the wine energy and forward momentum.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RP

The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Vixen Block Wildfoote Vineyard represents the last vintage Bevan received fruit from the site, following the purchase of the property by Shafer Vineyards. It’s a fitting send-off, delivering seamless, complex swirls of purple raspberries, fine suede and lovely floral notes. Full-bodied yet silky, it’s framed by fine-grained tannins, which wash gently across the long, generous finish. The wine neatly captures the complexity and textures of the Stags Leap District, wrapping the tannins in an elegant final bow.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 99 RPMore blue fruits, crème de cassis, liquid violets, and scorched earth, as well as a beautiful floral character, define the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Wildfoote Vineyard Vixen Block. It’s a full-bodied Cabernet with fine, polished tannins, flawless overall balance, and a blockbuster of a finish. This ripe, sexy wine still plays in the fresher, focused style of the vintage and is good for 20-25 years of prime drinking. Drink 2025-2050.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDThe 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Wildfoote Vineyard Vixen Block is inky, deep and pliant. Rich blue fruit, licorice, spice, menthol and lavender are all dialed up in this unctuous, full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon from Russell Bevan. This is classic Stags Leap, done in a decidedly extroverted style. Sweet floral notes explode on the captivating finish.Vinous Media | 97 VM

The 2024 Pinot Noir Sea Field is powerful and tightly wound. Dark-toned fruit, leather, cedar, spice, incense and dried rose petal infuse the 2024 with tons of complexity. This potent, deep Pinot Noir packs a tremendous punch. There’s a lot of wine here, but this needs time to soften and for the mid-palate to emerge. There’s a striking, crystalline purity here.Vinous Media | 95 VM

Spellbinding aromas of rose petals, strawberries, citrus and bark, with hints of lemongrass. Medium-bodied, tight and structured, this offers a captivating combination of linear intensity and calmness, so classy and sophisticated. A continued benchmark for American pinot noir. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2024 Pinot Noir Royal St. Robert is fabulous. Deeply pitched spice notes, blood orange, new leather, cedar and sweet pipe tobacco meld into a core of sweet red cherry fruit, mint, spice and cedar. This is one of the finest vintages of the Royal St. Robert I have ever tasted, going all the way back to Raen’s early days.Vinous Media | 94 VM