Search results for: 'paraje de classe'

98 Points! Cassis, tobacco, wet stones, iron and baking spices to the nose, showing class, restraint and complexity. Medium- to full-bodied on the palate with super fine tannins. Dry, super elegant and silky with a lengthy, polished finish. Really Bordeaux-like. Juicy and long. 54% cabernet sauvignon from Gualtallary, 25% cabernet franc from Altamira and 21% malbec from both areas. The highest portion of cabernet franc this year helped retain its nervy freshness! This is classy and beautiful. Harvested on March 12th and 13th. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! Wonderfully aromatic and nuanced on the nose, so alive and open. Energetic and lively on the palate, this has so much spark and brightness to it. Really compelling from the first sip, the tannins ample and cushioning the slick black fruit and accompanying savoury spices. Feels lean and taught, but with so much flair. Really a lovely expression, so generous and well defined. Youthful as you'd expect right now but when this softens it will be a beauty. Just gorgeous, with a minty fresh finish. - Decanter Magazine

From 100+ year-old Grenache vines in Bas de La Crau...

97 Points! The 2022 Châteauneuf Du Pape Cuvee Speciale is on another level, with a blockbuster perfume of ripe black cherries, melted licorice, jus de viande, lavender, and roasted garrigue. A rich, opulent style of Châteauneuf du Pape, it brings full-bodied richness while staying graceful, weightless, and flawlessly balanced, with ripe tannins and incredible length. This tour de force 2022 should be snatched up by savvy readers and enjoyed over the coming 15 years or so. - Jeb Dunnuck

97–98 Points – James Suckling
“A serious Aile d'Argent with sliced green mangoes, pears and green apples. Full-bodied. Framed with phenolics and minerals. Complex and real. A touch of flint and cedar at the end. Super finish. A blend of 63% Sauvignon Blanc, 29% Sémillon, 7% Sauvignon Gris and 1% Muscadelle.”

94–96 Points – Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent
“The 2025 Aile d'Argent pops from the glass with vivacious notes of Bosc pears, white peaches, and pink grapefruit, giving way to hints of honeysuckle, orange peel, and beeswax with a touch of jasmine tea. Medium-bodied, the palate is satiny-textured and crisp with intense orchard fruit flavors and a long, fragrant finish. The blend is 63% Sauvignon Blanc, 29% Sémillon, 7% Sauvignon Gris, and 1% Muscadelle. It has a pH of 3.13 and the alcohol is 13.6%. It is due to age in French oak barrels for 9 months, 45% new. No malolactic was performed this year.”

93–95 Points – Jeb Dunnuck
“A blend of 63% Sauvignon Blanc, 29% Sémillon, 7% Sauvignon Gris, and a splash of Muscadelle, the 2025 Château Mouton Rothschild Aile D'Argent Blanc offers bright green citrus, crushed stone, minty herb, and savory aromatics, with an incredibly mineral-driven character. On the palate, it's medium-bodied, with bright, racy acidity and a clean finish. This exotic, complex, perfumed white is going to benefit from a few years in the cellar and I suspect have a long drinking window.”

94 Points! A more modern-styled cuvée from 100% galets roulés terroir, the 2023 Châteauneuf Du Pape Barberini is based on 60% Grenache, 25% Syrah, and 15% Mourvèdre. It was partially destemmed, vinified in concrete, and aged 15 months in 60% new French oak, 20% foudre, and 20% concrete. It brings more intensity in its notes of bright blackberries, Provençal garrigue, spicy wood, and pepper. This beautifully balanced, medium to full-bodied, elegant 2023 has ripe, polished tannins, no hard edges, and a gorgeous finish. With 416 cases produced, it will benefit from just a few years of bottle age and keep for 10-15 years in cold cellars. - Jeb Dunnuck

93 Points! A juicy, open version, with impressive purity and style. Fine-grained tannins keep a firm grip on the notes of wild raspberry, strappy cherry and apple wood smoke, while focused mineral density stretches from beginning to end. Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah. - Wine Spectator

98 Points! The 2020 La Gaffelière is superb. Rich, dense and explosive. Black cherry, gravel, licorice, grilled herbs and menthol race out of the glass. Deep, pliant and explosive, the 2020 is magnificent. At this stage, the 2020 is an infant, but that won't be a problem in a few years. This vivid, statuesque Saint-Émilion is nothing short of thrilling. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

98 Points! The 2020 La Gaffeliere is composed of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color, it soars out of the glass with expressive notes of redcurrant jelly, plum preserves, and kirsch, plus nuances of dark chocolate, violets, pencil lead, and fragrant soil with a waft of crushed rocks. The medium-bodied palate is so tightly wound, featuring very fine layers of red and black fruit intertwined with floral and mineral nuances, supported by highly pixilated, super-ripe tannins and amazing tension, finishing very long and with the energy of an atomic bomb. This is stunning! - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, TWI

96 Points! Savory berries, plums, iron, minerals, tobacco, ink and blood oranges. Very bright, juicy and structured, with sensational balance, aged savoriness and brightness that are typical of Tondonia reds. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! The 2012 Viña Tondonia Reserva comes from a very dry year, with 25% less rain than the average (at the time), resulting in lower yields of very healthy grapes that delivered wines with nice balance between alcohol and polyphenols, making it very apt for the aging in barrel. It had a slightly longer élevage in barrel, six years. The wine is aromatic with a developed profile, spicy and tertiary (forest floor, a touch of brick dust and iodine), complex and nuanced. The palate is full and round, with polished tannins and a long, dry finish. It has a textbook Tondonia nose and profile. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

95 Points! Viña Tondonia can seem austere in its (comparative) youth, especially when compared with sweeter Bosconia, but this is a wine that will reward patience. Picked earlier to assuage the effect of a warmer site, this blend of Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and 5% each of Graciano and Mazuelo is structured and focused, with redcurrant, forest floor and green herb notes. Give it time. 2025-32. - Tim Atkins, MW

95 Points! The 2012 Viña Tondonia is a blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano, cultivated on the meander of the Ebro River in Rioja Alta. This garnet wine reveals aromas of ash and plum marmalade, with a faintly herbal core and hints of oaky cedar. Dry and lean, the fairly chalky texture lingers long, concluding with a compact, flavorful and lasting finish. The 2012 is a beautiful old-school Rioja. - Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous

97 Points! Another gem of a wine from this estate, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Aida Estate includes 1% Petit Verdot and spent 20 months in French oak. It has a darker red and blue-slanted fruit profile as well as some classic tobacco, scorched earth, and graphite aromatics. These all carry to a medium to full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon with a seamless, layered, elegant mouthfeel, ripe, building tannins, and a pure, focused style that will benefit from 3-4 years of bottle age. The balance, purity, and sheer class here are top notch, and this will see its 20th birthday in fine form. - Jeb Dunnuck

96+ Points! The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Aida Estate is very close in quality to the 29 Estate bottling, with perhaps a touch more concentration and tannin. There's less herbal nuance to the fruit, leaving black cherries to take the lead, backed by cedary oak and hints of dusty earth, while the palate is full-bodied and structured, leaving little doubt regarding this wine's potential longevity. Thankfully, the considerable tannins are fully ripe, leaving a softly dusty sensation to linger on the finish. - Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

97 Points! The 2022 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Trois Sources comes from a terroir similar to the Reserve and is based on 70% Grenache, 10% Cinsault, 5% each Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Counoise, and the rest a mix of varieties. Ripe blackberries, roasted garrigue, loamy soil, licorice, and a kiss of graphite all emerge on the nose, and this beauty hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a layered, seamless mouthfeel, beautiful yet building tannins, and a great finish. It's slightly more open and expressive than the Les Hauts-Lieux, yet I suspect both of these cuvées will cruise for two decades. - Jeb Dunnuck

100 Points! An utterly brilliant Pomerol and the finest wine from this estate to date, surpassing even the 2016, the 2019 Château La Conseillante checks in as 84% Merlot and 16% Cabernet Franc and was raised in 70% new French oak. A wine of incredible finesse, purity, and precision, its deep purple hue is following by an incredible array of blueberries, crème de cassis, spring flowers, damp earth, and violets. Flawlessly balanced, full-bodied, and concentrated on the palate, it has a beautiful mid-palate, ultra-fine, utterly seamless tannins, and a heavenly finish. It doesn't have the sheer density or outright power of some of the other top Pomerols, but as I wrote in the barrel sample review, no one marries elegance with opulence as well as Conseillante. This magical Pomerol will take a decade to hit full maturity and will evolve for 30 years or more. This is haute couture at its absolute pinnacle, and as I wrote in the barrel review, hats off to Marielle Cazaux for producing one of the top wines of the vintage. - Jeb Dunnuck

99 Points! The transparency and vibrancy here is impressive. From the very start it’s so aromatic, showing crushed-berry, dark-chocolate, coffee and cedar character. Full-bodied, yet tight and wonderfully tailored, with tannins that are fine-textured, but intense and so long, giving this wine great length. A joy to taste, but needs many years to soften and come together. Wonderful development here. Try after 2028. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

98 Points! The 2019 La Conseillante was stellar from the sample sent to "Martin Towers" in spring 2020, and the news is that there is no change in bottle. Allowed to open while gossiping away with winemaker Marielle Cazaux (you have to catch up when you are unable to see people regularly), the 2019 unveils an awesome, extraordinarily pure bouquet that seduces the senses, featuring dark cherries, blueberry, pressed violet and a touch of blood orange, all displaying wonderful delineation. The palate is medium-bodied and cohesive, with fine-grained tannins and a judicious touch of black pepper toward the finish, which fans out gloriously while maintaining a sense of class. The best La Conseillante since the 2010? No - better. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

This wine was born in the 70s and is the result of blending plots of schist and mica schist located around the family cellars. A beautiful classic from Muscadet Sèvre & Maine which tells the story of the Luneau-Papin estate with each harvest.

96 Points! The 2022 Hub comes from 40-year-old vines in a high-elevation plot in Guarilihue, located on shallow red granite soils containing a balanced proportion of iron and sand. It opens with a deep, transparent perfume that continually generates additional lift and dimension the longer it remains in the glass. The palate is the quintessence of ethereal, featuring a racy, floating texture that gently grips before fully releasing into a mineral-drenched, layered, refined finish that endlessly regenerates chalky intensity. The purity and power held in the structure of this wine are captivating, and there is no need to cellar it further—although I do not doubt it will develop beautifully over the coming decade. - Matthew Luczy, robertparker.com

95 Points! Arresting floral aromas of pepper funk with watermelon, pomegranates and rose hips. Crushed flowers, too. Delicate and fragile with subtle reduction that makes it even more seductive and provocative. Ethereal and tense at the same time on the palate, showing very little heft. Chalky, firm tannins grip the finish, giving a dusty feel to the fruit. Super delicious now, but better in one or two more years. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! The eponymous 2024 Artuke is a juicy and tasty carbonic maceration red, a modern rendition of the classical "cosechero" wines. It is perfumed, aromatic and heady, with aromas of bubble gum and flowers and a velvety palate with almost unnoticeable tannins. It's a young and unoaked Tempranillo with some 5% white Viura grapes from the village of Baños de Ebro and was kept in concrete until it was bottled...This is a bargain to buy by the truckload and drink unashamedly. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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

98 Points! The Grand Vin from this terrific Pomerol estate, the 2022 Château Clinet checks in as 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon that spent 19 months in 80% new barrels. It's a beautiful Pomerol that clearly ranks with the greats from this address, offering a vivid purple hue, classic notes of cassis, leather, graphite, and black cherries, full-bodied richness, and a layered, seamless mouthfeel. It's another remarkable 2022 that brings the richness and depth of the vintage while staying light on its feel and flawlessly balanced. It has plenty of upfront appeal even today, yet there's ample structure here as well, and it's going to evolve beautifully over the coming 30 years or more. - Jeb Dunnuck

96 Points! Streamlined and sleek, silky smooth but also gorgeously textured, clean and clear with grip and interest. Less fleshy and chewy than some, more charming and elegant with tannins that have a weight in the mouth. There is clear power and concentration underneath the juicy acidity with a straight backbone and direct energy from start to finish. Appealing layers of salinity, blackcurrant fruit, creamy vanilla, cool cola touches and crushed stones on the finish. Feels well made and sophisticated. 3.74pH. A yield of 34hl/ha. Earliest harvest ever starting on 6 September for Merlot and 20 and 21 September for Cabernet Sauvignon. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter.com

96 Points! The 2022 Clinet is terrific. Vibrant, aromatic and beautifully sculpted, Clinet is also a terrific example of the energy quality-minded winemakers were able to achieve in 2022. Crushed rose petals, spice, blood orange, mint and white pepper give Clinet a compelling upper register of presence in the bouquet. Wonderfully delineated, Clinet builds effortlessly into the mid-palate and finish, where a closing burst of red/purplish fruit framed by clean mineral notes leaves a lasting impression. This is stellar. Tasted two times. Drinking window : 2030-2052 - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

97 Points! Intense aromas of dark violets and blueberries as well as terra-cotta follow through to a full body, yet it’s tight and focused with beautifully framed fruit from polished tannins and a long and rather endless finish. A complete and fresh Pomerol in 2022. - JamesSuckling.com

From 40+ year-old vines in the Cru of Goulaine. Fermentation takes place over 27 days with native yeasts. Wine is aged 32 months on the lees before bottling. Nose of crystallized lemon and very ripe orange. The wine is round and supple on the palate with great minerality and a very long finish. 

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

97 Points! Another excellently consistent wine from Gruaud in 2022 that gives terroir typicality with crystalline purity and such overall charm. Smooth and supple, silky but firm, generous but serious. Gorgeous acidity keeps the palate lifted and fresh while the concentrated fruit and quite present tannins give the structure and frame. I love the detail and purity, powerful and strong but refined. Direct with energy and juicy, vibrant acidity. Mineral, graphite and liquorice aspects grip the palate and linger on the finish with soft spices. Has a very moreish quality with approachability but the racy core and intense backbone suggests long ageing potential. 3.8pH. 3.45g/l total acidity. 40% production. 13% press wine (only Cabernet Sauvignon). - Georgina Hindle, Decanter.com

97+ Points! The 2022 Château Gruaud Larose is largely Cabernet Sauvignon yet includes 14% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc that was brought up in 95% new barrels. It's an inky-hued 2022 that has a killer nose of crème de cassis, lead pencil shavings, liquid violets, and a beautiful, crushed stone-like minerality. This powerful, full-bodied Gruaud Larose has plenty of mid-palate depth, fine, polished tannins, and a great finish. It's probably best hidden in the back of the cellar for a decade if possible, but it should be incredibly long-lived. I think it's as good as the 2018 and one of the absolute classics from this château. - Jeb Dunnuck

96 Points! Quite a discreet nose of dark fruit and minerals, with excellent depth. Uncoiled power and intensity, with a full body and firm but polished tannins that dissolve into a long and close-knit finish. It goes on for almost a minute. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! The 2022 Gruaud Larose was picked from 7 to 24 September and includes a little more pressed wine this year: 13.5% exclusively from Cabernet Sauvignon due to the quality. This latest vintage matured for a planned 18 months in 95% new oak. Significantly, this is the first year under organic certification (notice two storks on the label signifying this. Maybe they are carrying a little Gruaud baby?) At 13.64% alcohol, this is less than many other properties for those seeking slower intoxication. It has an impressive bouquet with pure blackberry and raspberry fruit, black truffle and sous-bois scents. I am impressed by its delineation and focus; frankly, these are the nicest aromatics I've encountered for a while at this address. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannins. I cannot remember a Gruaud at this nascent stage that exhibits this level of energy and tension deriving from the Cabernet Sauvignon extracted at the beginning of vinification. There's much more precision here. Mineral-driven toward the finish, this easily surpasses vintages made at the estate over the last decade and more. Perhaps like the legendary Gruauds of old (1982, 1961, 1928, even 1870)? Gruaud reborn. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

96 Points! Bottled in May 2024, the 2022 Gruaud Larose has turned out beautifully, wafting from the glass with aromas of dark berries, violets, vine smoke, pen ink and tar. Medium to full-bodied, dense and layered, it's rich and broad, with terrific depth at the core, sweet structuring tannins and a long, expansive finish. Checking in at 13.6% alcohol, it's the estate's first organic-certified vintage. - William Kelley, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

92 Points! Inky colour, pencil lead and smoke concentration, where the tannins lend a sense of pressure bearing down on the fruit, keeping things moving and building in tension through the palate. Tiny edge of peony and iris flower as it opens in the glass. Harvest September 9 to 25th. Extremely well extracted, this is not a delicate wine but it is a measured one, and it has the sense of slowly building towards the close of play that is most enjoyable. 30% of overall production in HBII this year. Not vinified in the cellar, but will be aged in it. - Jane Anson, Decanter

94 Points! A sculpted Champagne, rich but still elegant, with well-honed acidity and a panoply of flavors set on the raw silklike mousse. Delivers grilled macadamia nut and biscuit, white cherry and nectarine fruit, crystallized honey, lime blossom, star anise and smoke accents. Long, salty finish. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Disgorged January 2023. Drink now through 2033. - Wine Spectator

98 Points! Originating from decomposed granite soils containing mica, quartz, silt and sand, the 2022 Miles holds the top position in the Pedro Parra cellar. It presents an enchanting bouquet of dark fruits, exotic spices and fresh flowers that is both commanding and elegant, focused and expansive. The silky palate merges the finest elements found throughout the collection and unites them: textural richness, vibrant energy and a gripping tannic foundation. It ends with a juicy, tense and almost sweet intensity, although it finishes bone-dry and lingers with remarkable persistence, nuance and depth. Within a cellar filled with wines intended to transcend their varieties and express only their origins, this bottling achieves that objective most clearly. - Matthew Luczy, robertparker.com

95 Points! Probably the most well-rounded or balanced Pedro Parra cru that according to Parra is the Rumbo Al Norte of Comando G. What is certain here is the complexity and depth, with subtler white pepper funkiness but a little more fruit in a complex, nuanced mode. Grapefruit, minerals, rose petals, white pepper reduction and dried watermelon. A little rounder and creaminer than Parra’s Newk, with fresh, dusty tannins that extend to the lengthy, nicely austere finish. A little richer than the 2021. Drink from 2025. - JamesSuckling.com

98 Points! Starting out, the 2017 Tychson Hill is gorgeous, revealing a saturated purple color as well as a sweet bouquet of blackcurrants, ground herbs, chocolate, toasted bread, and subtle yet high class oak. Full-bodied, beautifully textured, and flawlessly balanced on the palate, it has silky tannins, a stacked mid-palate, and a big finish. This is a backward, primordial beauty that’s going to need 4-5 years of bottle age yet shine for 30 years or more. - Jeb Dunnuck

98 Points! The berries at Tychson Hill vineyard were very small in 2017. “This wine totally required baby steps with the extraction,” said winemaker Allison Tauziet. Very deep purple-black in color, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Tychson Hill Vineyard leaps from the glass with vibrant black cherries, warm blackberries and blackcurrant scents with hints of violets, dark chocolate, lavender and camphor plus a fragrant waft of rose hip tea. Medium to full-bodied, the structure is taut, restraining all the tightly packed, energetic black fruit layers, with a wonderfully fine-grained texture and bags of freshness, finishing long and mineral laced. Still very tightly wound, this one needs time, but it should handsomely reward patience. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, robertparker.com

96 Points! There’s extraordinary energy in this wine. It displays a dark nose of black cherries, bramble fruit, violets, forest, licorice, bark, carob and leather. Density and tension dominate the full-bodied palate, with firm, velvety tannins. It’s slightly austere in the finish at the moment, yet it’s crunchy and full of potential. Try from 2026. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! The 2022 Tignanello is all class and refinement. Crushed flowers, mint, white pepper, blood orange and cinnamon all grace a Tignanello defined by a decidedly sophisticated personality. The 2022 has started to flesh out nicely, especially in the mid-palate, but it remains very much on the understated side of things relative to most vintages. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

95 Points! Tignanello in 2022 is a blend of 78% Sangiovese, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Cabernet Franc. Pot-pourri-infused red and black berry aromas introduce a succulent palate of good intensity. It's well balanced and bright, with cashmere tannins supporting a core of sapid hedgerow berries outlined by crushed rock minerality and bitter herbs. The finish is slightly disjointed, displaying a touch of alcohol warmth and wood which is yet to fully integrate, but given time it should come good. - James Button, Decanter Magazine