Wine Varietals

wines

Pale gold in color, the 2009 Doisy Daëne features expressive notes of honeyed lemons, dried mango slices, apricot tart and Seville orange marmalade with a touch of shaved almonds. The palate delivers mouth-filling stone fruit and citrus preserves layers with great purity and a lively backbone, finishing wonderfully zesty and youthful.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPQuite high-pitched now, with lots of green plum and green almond notes laced with bright honeysuckle and heather. The background shows more lemon shortbread, grapefruit pâte de fruit and persimmon, while the finish offsets the sweetness with a lively quinine note. Distinctive, but will need time to come together. Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Best from 2015 through 2030. 4,509 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSA fresh and aromatic bouquet sets off this light, dancing style of wine. It has acidity and a lemon curd flavor, proving to be sweet and citrusy at the same time. It’s developing well.Wine Enthusiast | 91 WEThe 2009 Doisy-Daëne is missing a little cohesion at the moment. Scents of dried honey and caramelised pears with nice definition but I would like more energy. The palate is better than the nose: fresh on the entry with honeyed, mango, quince and spice, well balanced with good botrytis on the finish. If the aromatics improve it will merit a higher score. This may be going through a dumb phase. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 90 VM(Château Doisy-Daëne (Barsac)) Doisy-Daëne has been on a real tear for this entire decade and the 2009 will be yet again another outstanding bottle of wine and one of the great steals from the vintage. The bouquet is deep, pure and classy, as it offers up a lovely mélange of pears, pineapple, orange blossoms, gentle notes of honey comb, spring flowers and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and racy, with great focus, fine mid-palate depth and excellent length and grip on the bouncy and light on its feet finish. A terrific vintage of Doisy-Daëne. (Drink between 2016-2040).John Gilman | 90-92+ JG

The 2009 Raymond-Lafon has a slightly smudged bouquet although it gains clarity with time, offering pineapple and peach skin, lanolin and honeysuckle aromas. The palate is well balanced with a fresh entry, slightly edge thanks to the acidity with good concentration and persistence towards the tropical-tinged finish. Good potential. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 94 VMPale gold colored, the 2009 Raymond-Lafon gives compelling marmalade, honey nut, pineapple upside down cake and burnt sugar notes with wafts of petrol and paraffin wax. Opulent with savory undertones, the palate delivers loads of citrus fruit sparks among the richness, with a racy backbone and long, fruity finish. While showing some evolution, this still has plenty of cellaring potential.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPRich and intense, with dried pineapple, candied lemon peel and heather honey notes, followed by spice, crème brûlée and lemon meringue. The long, pure finish has great power and precision. Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Best from 2013 through 2030. 3,330 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

This is notably fresher than the Chapelle with a strikingly elegant and highly complex nose that displays perfumed and notably ripe red currant and cassis aromas that are liberally laced with warm earth and spice hints. There is good intensity and detail to the opulently textured medium weight plus flavors that are blessed with a seemingly endless reserve of sap on the gorgeously long finish. This is a really impressive effort and if the palate complexity can eventually match that of the nose, this should be able to achieve, or perhaps even exceed, the upper end of my predicted range.Burghound | 94 BHThe 2009 Griottes is a dead ringer for the 1985 at the same stage of development, as the wine soars from the glass in a very ripe and very pure mélange of red and black cherries, cocoa, a great base of soil, grilled meats and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very opulent on the attack, with a great core of fruit, lovely, tangy acids and superb backend grip and focus on the complex and ripely tannic finish. This is voluptuous and almost syrupy in its sappiness, much like the 1985 was in its infancy. Superb wine. (Drink between 2018 - 2050)John Gilman | 94+ JGThe 2009 Griotte-Chambertin is another big, super-ripe wine loaded with dark fruit. This is almost port-like in its intensity, with endless layers of blueberries, blackberries, spices and white flowers that build towards the substantial, textured finish. The Griotte is a totally seductive wine endowed with fabulous harmony and tons of personality. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2039.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91-94 RPThe 2009 Griotte-Chambertin is another big, super-ripe wine loaded with dark fruit. This is almost port-like in its intensity, with endless layers of blueberries, blackberries, spices and white flowers that build towards the substantial, textured finish. The Griotte is a totally seductive wine endowed with fabulous harmony and tons of personality.Vinous Media | 91-94 VM

The 2009 Bonnes Mares opens with gorgeous aromatics that lead to a muscular core of fruit. The wine finds its inner elegance on the mid-palate and finish, where hints of candied fruit and violets come together, adding lift and elegance. The combination of aromatic expressiveness and nuanced fruit elevate this to a very high level. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2034.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93-96 RPThe 2009 Bonnes Mares opens with gorgeous aromatics that lead to a muscular core of fruit. The wine finds its inner elegance on the mid-palate and finish, where hints of candied fruit and violets come together, adding lift and elegance. The combination of aromatic expressiveness and nuanced fruit elevate this to a very high level.Vinous Media | 93-96 VMModerate reduction kills an evaluation of the nose. However there is marvelous density to the serious and muscular broad-shouldered flavors that brim with tannin buffering dry extract and flat out incredible length, indeed it’s possible that this, along with the Richebourg, possesses the longest finish of any wine in the range. A stunner of a Bonnes Mares built for the long haul.Burghound | 93-96 BH