Search results for: 'paradis de point'

94 Points! The 2023 Red Wine is a fabulous Grenache/Syrah blend. Red-toned fruit, blood orange, dried herbs, lavender and mocha are all beautifully dialed up. Floral overtones add striking finesse and lift. What a gorgeous and vivid wine this is. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

94 Points! The 2023 PharoahMoans Red Wine is a 50-50 blend of Carneros Grenache and Pope Valley Syrah, but despite omitting Mouvèdre, it is the best vintage of this wine this taster has sampled. Pretty florals—violets and roses—join tea-like, potpourri-ish nuances and berry fruit in this medium- to full-bodied wine. Lively, fresh and complex, the palate is framed by silky tannins and displays ample length on the finish. It's a super value, as long as you're not hung up on Bordeaux varieties or fancy mid-valley AVAs. - Joe Czerwinski, RobertParker.com

94 Points! This Rhone-style blend is unusual in Napa Valley and gives dark, earthy, savory flavors on a firm texture. Full-bodied, moderately tannic and restrained in fruit flavors, instead emphasizing singed herb, oak smoke, star anise and espresso flavors. A 50-50 blend of grenache and syrah grapes. Drink now or hold. - Jim Gordon, JamesSuckling.Com

94 Points! The second wine of Troplong Mondot, the 2018 Troplong Mondot Mondot come mostly from designated parcels and is 100% Merlot. It shows the new style of this estate beautifully and offers remarkable purity in its black raspberry and cassis fruits as well as complex notes of white flowers, violets, and spice. Medium-bodied, silky, and beautifully balanced, it has a terrific floral quality as well as ultra-fine tannins, no hard edges, and an attractive, chalky minerality on the finish. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! A really sexy second wine from Troplong with black cherries and stone. Medium to full body, firm and silky tannins and an attractive finish. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Orange peel and fruit with chocolate. Medium-bodied with round and polished tannins. Very pretty fruit and finesse. So pretty. Drink or hold. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

93 Points!  Cooler soils can be a little austere in this structured vintage of 2020, and you'll find angular tannins on the opening beats, speaking of the limestone, along with salinity, energy and clear purity of blueberry and raspberry fruit. Lovely, a lyrical take on St Emilion limestone from the Durantou family, Olivier Gautrat director. The first year with Noemie Durantou as winemaker, having taken over from her late father Denis. Cellar master Olivier Gautrat. - Jane Anson

94 Points! A bright yellow/silver color, the 2023 Chardonnay Sangiacomo Vineyard Grower Collection is lifted on opening, with bright aromas of citrus zest, lemon confit, wet stone, beeswax, and pineapple rind. The palate is supple and rounded, with full-bodied richness, but it’s not heavy. It has a pleasing waxy texture and a clean finish. Drink 2025-2032. - Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck.com

94 Points! Mouth coating, ripe tasting and practically sweet with its abundant fruit flavors, this wine is a showstopper. Butter, toast and lemon zest aromas lead to baked apples, poached pears and marzipan flavors that are thankfully backed by persistent acidity that keeps the palate refreshed. - Wine Enthusiast

95 Points! This has a lovely core of fruit with aromas of nectarines, grilled lemons and flint. The midweight, textural palate shows balanced acidity, finishing with a slight phenolic grip. Moving out of the cooler 2023 bottling, this is far more generous and open. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! For fans of Chardonnay without malolactic fermentation, Shafer's 2024 Chardonnay Red Shoulder Ranch remains a standard-bearer. Ripe pineapple, pear and honeysuckle mark the nose, while the full-bodied palate is loaded with opulent mango fruit that's expansive and lush but brought back into focus on the crisp citrus-and-green-apple finish. - Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

97 Points! Transparent and minerally, showing dark-cherry and forest-floor aromas with some ink and blood undertones. Medium-bodied with beautiful integration and excellent length that goes on for minutes. Firm tannins. Vivid. From ungrafted vines planted in the 1970s. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! This wine is expressive and bright, a part of the 00's assemblage series, crafted from different sites in the Willamette Valley. Aromas of woodland berries and pine boughs offer a fresh contrast to the forest floor and red cherries. Ripe red strawberries, and mint leaf on the forepalate, finishing with layered darker fruits, rich forest floor and salty ocean minerality. - Decanter Magazine

93 Points! Juicy and fruity with currants and fresh tobacco aromas and flavors. Some lead pencil. Medium body. Fine tannins and a creamy texture. Lovely finish. Better after 2025. - JamesSuckling.com

91 Points! Offering up aromas of cassis, minty blackberries, lilac and pencil shavings, the 2021 Haut-Batailley is medium to full-bodied, supple and polished, with a succulent core of fruit and delicately chalky tannins. For many years, significant parts of this property were left unplanted, but as of 2022, all 41 hectares are now under vine; so, there'll be more of this Pauillac—with its new, more modern style—to go around. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate

94 Points! The 2021 Pinot Noir San Saba Vineyard is striking.  Bright, aromatic and full of punch, the 2021 delivers tons of savory flavor intensity in its deceptively mid-weight frame. Crushed red cherry fruit, rose petals, mint, chalk and white pepper abound. This layered, delineated Pinot hits all the right notes. Impressive. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

94 Points! Sour cherry, oregano, marjoram and bay leaf aromas make for an engaging nose of fruit and herb on this bottling from a vineyard just below the Santa Lucia Highlands. The palate snaps with strawberry and raspberry flavors that are cut by the eucalyptus leaf and wild sagebrush impacts. - Matt Kettmann, Wine Enthusiast

94 Points! A tight, structured Rioja with blackcurrants, sandalwood, coffee and cassis on the nose, followed by a chewy, toasty and medium- to full-bodied palate. Firm, dusty tannins. Compact. Better after 2026. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! Beautiful nose with lifted herbal notes hovering over the lush black and blue fruit. Tannins are fresh and well presented lending fluidity to the fruit. The mineral backbone as further support to the framework. An alluring, long finish of zesty citrus married with herbal intensity (oregano and thyme). - Decanter Magazine

93 Points! The 2020 Imperial Reserva was produced with a blend of Tempranillo and 15% Graciano, Mazuelo and Garnacha grapes that were put through optical sorting and fermented in oak vats by vineyard, and the wine matured for 24 months in barrels, 70% French and the rest American. It has a shy nose that takes time to open up in the glass, but it is surprisingly harmonious and balanced and fresh for the year. It has a little more ripeness, but there's no excess at all; it has 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.65 and 5.44 grams of acidity. It has notes of spices, cigar box and ash, berries and wild herbs and a sleek and polished palate with resolved tannins.  - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! Sliced cooked apples, mangoes and hints of bread dough come through nicely with a medium to full body and creamy texture. Dried-apple, pie and lemon undertones on the palate. Tangy and lively at the end. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The VGW is a flagship bottling from 00, their Willamette Valley blend that sources from some of the top sites in the appellation. Sourcing includes Seven Springs, Koosah, Royer, along with Johan and Shea, among others. The VGW gets the 00 treatment, hyperoxidised, and a very reductive approach in elevage, with 12 months in barrel and no battonage. It’s lithe, airy on the nose, fresh herbs, and sea air alongside lemon zest and thyme. The palate shows restraint and elegance, zippy lemon pith, green mangoes and sea salt through the finish. - Decanter Magazine

93 Points! The 2023 Chardonnay VGW is herbal upon first pour in an incredibly attractive way, mixing chlorophyll with fresh mint, then stone dust, flint and crushed Granny Smith. Round textures contrast with mineral depth as yellow apple blends with apricot and crunchy minerality adds form. Acidity is cooling in feel yet plays a supporting role in the background. The 2023 tapers off with impressive balance, slightly chewy yet cleansing and fresh. - Eric Guido, Vinous

94 Points! The 2023 Pinot Noir Cumberland Reserve opens with aromas of raspberry liqueur, mocha, floral perfume, and savory notes of fresh sage. Medium-bodied, it offers ripe, detailed tannins, balanced acidity, and a long finish. While this vintage hints at opulence, the wine remains beautifully balanced and refreshing. It’s a stunning introduction to the vintage and a benchmark for the region as an appellation wine. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

94 Points! Bright and seductive, this pinot offers fresh cherries, crushed wild berries, violets, wet rocks and subtle spices on the nose. Racy and mouthwatering, with spicy and minerally tension, it has a medium body, a dusty texture to its tannins and a lingering and racy finish. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The 2023 Pinot Noir Cumberland Reserve is incredibly fresh, with a bouquet of dusty dried flowers, lavender pastille, nuances of cedary spice and wild blueberries. Ripe wild berry fruits and crisp mineral tones glide across the palate over a layer of pure silk. The finish is long and tense, yet remains remarkably fresh as violet tones resonate over a bed of silken tannins. The Cumberland Reserve represents amazing value. Already enjoyable, it will also excel in the cellar. - Eric Guido, Vinous

The best Syrah in South Africa? You be the judge. Her last reserve from 2018 was 97 points from Neal Martin and this one's better...

96–97 Points – James Suckling
“Excellent GPL, medium- to full-bodied with a great expression of dark fruit that is evenly distributed. It’s fresh and precise with grainy, integrated tannins that should only integrate more. A blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot.”

95–97 Points – Wine Advocate (Yohan Castaing)
“The 2025 Grand-Puy-Lacoste reveals a classic, refined bouquet of cassis, dark berries, cedar and lead pencil, with discreet floral nuances. Medium- to full-bodied, structured and precise, it’s built around a well-defined core of fruit framed by finely grained, youthful, filigreed tannins with a tensile profile. Less demonstrative than some of its peers in Pauillac, it privileges balance and typicity over sheer power, concluding with a long, elegant and mineral finish. Produced from a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot, this is the first vintage vinified in the estate’s new gravity-fed cellar, enabling more precise parcel selection.”

94–96 Points – Jeb Dunnuck
“A Cabernet-dominant blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot from yields of 30 hectoliters per hectare, the 2025 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste is gorgeous, with ultra-classic Pauillac aromatics of red and black fruits, lead pencil, graphite, and crushed stone. Medium-bodied on the palate, it has a concentrated, layered mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It's up there with the top vintages of this cuvée, and it doesn't get more Pauillac than this.”

94–96 Points – Neal Martin, Vinous
“The 2025 Grand-Puy-Lacoste has a very poised bouquet with blackberry, cassis, cedar and subtle graphite aromas that unfold with superb precision. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins, beautifully judged acidity and impressive purity. Fresh and focused, this possesses all the classic hallmarks of Grand-Puy-Lacoste, leading to a long, refined finish. A superb Pauillac in the making.”

97 Points! Floral character such as orange blossoms and cassis with lead pencil aromas that follow through to a medium body and a lovely balance of fruit and freshness. It’s long and caressing with everything in place. Crisp. Best ever? 60% cabernet sauvignon, 22% merlot, 16% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! Rocking levels of darker currants, chocolate, tobacco, and spicy notes all emerge from the 2022 Château D'Armailhac, a blockbuster from this château that has ripe, velvety tannins, a beautiful mid-palate, and outstanding length. Based on 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, this is easily the finest Armailhac I’ve tasted. It already offers pleasure today yet deserves 4-6 years of bottle age and will evolve for 20-30 years if well stored. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! The 2022 Chateau d'Armailhac was picked from 8 to 27 September and matured in 50% new oak. This has a very pure and sensual bouquet with precocious black plum, cassis violet and espresso scents. The palate is medium-bodied with muscular tannins on the entry, though I find just a little more complexity compared to the Clerc Milon this year. There's a gently and discrete crecendo toward its delineated and minerally finish. Excellent. This is more like the d'Armailhac that I was familiar with, say, ten years ago. It will surely be irresistible once it reaches its peak. You've been warned. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

94 Points! Deep garnet-purple colored, it gallops out with powerful notes of black currant jelly and plum preserves, followed by hints of dusty soil, dried lavender, and tapenade. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers plenty of black fruit preserves flavors with seamless freshness and grainy tannins, finishing satisfyingly earthy. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW

PLEASE BE AWARE, THIS IS A PRE-ARRIVAL WINE - YOU WILL NOT BE CHARGED SHIPPING FEES UNTIL THE WINE(S) ARRIVE

95 Points! The 2022 Chateau Poesia is made from 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, fragrant notes of red currant jelly and Morello cherries come bounding out of the glass, followed by hints of violets, cinnamon stick, and underbrush. The full-bodied palate is packed with expressive black and red berry preserves flavors, framed by plush tannins and wonderful tension, finishing long and perfumed. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW

93 Points! A ripe and lightly savory nose with iron, graphite, minerals, mature plums and orange rind. Juicy and structured, this has medium to full body and a tightly wound finish. Give it two more years in bottle. Try from 2027. - James Suckling

94 Points! The 2022 Poesia, which suffered minor frost damage in early April, has a more marine-tinged bouquet thanks to its clay/limestone soils. Blackberry and blueberry fruit, fine delineation, taciturn at first, but it opens well in the glass after aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with a fresh, peppery entry. The limestone comes through nicely here. But it's quite backward on the finish and therefore it will require 4-5 years in bottle. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

94 Points! The 2022 Poesia is a heady, opulent wine. Inky dark fruit, herbs, lavender and chocolate abound. In this vintage the Franc is up to 30% and that comes through in the wine’s distinctly savory profile. This exotic, flamboyant Saint-Émilion possesses tremendous aromatic presence to play off its opulent fruit. The oak needs to integrate, but then again, this is an en primeur sample. Frost lowered yields to 30 hectoliters per hectare instead of the more typical 45 or so. Drinking window : 2032-2047 - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

94 Points! The 2022 Château Poesia is 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc that's from more limestone soils brought up in a mix of barrels (50% new) and tank. It brings more elegance and finesse compared to the Château D'Arce and has beautiful black raspberry and red plum fruit intermixed with smoky tobacco, chalky minerality, and a huge floral, incense-like character. It's full-bodied, has a pure, layered, elegant mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and a beautiful finish. - Jeb Dunnuck

96 Points! The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is a classic Mount Veeder wine loaded with strong savory and mineral accents. Black fruit, graphite menthol and licorice lend complexity to this huge, explosive Cabernet Sauvignon. The tannins are pretty fierce at this stage, so readers should plan on being patient. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

94 Points! Black raspberries, cassis, spring flowers, and tobacco notes dominate the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon, a beautiful, classic, medium to full-bodied, incredibly satisfying Cabernet that does everything right. Drink this complex, perfumed, elegant beauty over the coming two decades. The blend is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec, aged in 81% new French oak. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! Deep, dark fruit and moody, spicy, savory accents on a bold, fine-grained tannic texture backed by great acidity. It is structured, concentrated, layered and intense. It becomes broader and richer with each sip and lingers in the finish, echoing black cherries and star anise. Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Matured for 10 months in 30% new French oak, the 2023 Pinot Noir Laurelwood District has nuanced aromas of red and black cherries, licorice, saline, holiday spice and earth. The medium-bodied palate boasts expansive, fragrant flavors. It has an elegant frame of velvety tannins and bright acidity and a long finish with a flourish of spicy accents. - Erin Brooks, robertparker.com

94 Points! Bing cherries, wild strawberries, and even some blue-like fruits emerge from the 2021 Syrah Thompson Vineyard, a medium to full-bodied Syrah revealing classic pepper, violet, and gamey, meaty aromatics, ripe, polished tannins, and a gorgeously textured, dense mid-palate. This perfumed, exotic, complex Syrah will evolve for 10-12 years at a minimum. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! The 2021 Syrah Thompson Vineyard is a bright, savory wine. Black pepper, lavender, mint, spice and graphite meld into a core of blue-toned fruit. This vibrant, sculpted Syrah captures all the energy of the cool year without any excesses. This is the first year with some stem inclusion, about 17%. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

96 Points! The 2021 Brunello Di Montalcino Montosoli pours a deeper ruby hue and opens with compact aromatics of black raspberries, tea leaf, cocoa, rosemary, and crushed stone. Medium to full-bodied, it has a firm core of tannins and a refreshing spine of acidity that keeps everything lifted and precise. It’s still tightly wound and will benefit from another couple of years in bottle, then drink beautifully for 15 years or more. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

95 Points! A lively Brunello with aromas of plums, ripe cherries, cedar and teak that follow through to a medium body with fine tannins and a crisp finish. Crunchy and linear. Lovely energy at the end. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! A well-rounded. textural and succulent white with notes of fresh lemons, blanched almonds, sage and some stones. It’s medium-bodied with a mineral drive. Succulent green apple character, with a positive bitterness throughout. It’s precise, lively and textured with a salivating, floral finish. Drink or hold. - jamessuckling.com

93 Points! Prominent quince, white peach, vanilla, melon, candy, apricot jam, cedar and pastry introduce the 2022 Condrieu Invitare. Viscously textured and offering excellent purity of fruit, the 2022 is neatly balanced by moderate levels of soft acidity. Offering a little more ripeness and expression than the 2021, this complex 2022 Condrieu should drink well over the next three years. - Nicolas Greinacher, Vinous Media