Search results for: 'plot de 30'

96 Points! The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Catena Alta, sourced from Agrelo in Luján de Cuyo, also includes 7% Cabernet Franc. Aged for up to 18 months in French oak barrels, both new and used, this garnet wine with a purple sheen reveals balsamic and spicy notes intertwined with a black fruit core. Further hints of blueberry and currants layer atop a subtle oak backdrop. Dry and plush on the palate, the juicy and supple texture lingers with a fragrant and enduring flavor—a rich yet nuanced continental Cabernet. - Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous Media

This bottling is made up of 100% Muscat of Alexandria from multiple old mountainside vineyards located in the Valley of the Lagares, Almáchar, of the Málaga DO where the inclinations are up to 70°.

The result is pure liquid joy, floral, bright, vivid, sparkling (duh), with fresh tropical fruit aromatics and a shocking opulence on the palate balanced by bright acidity. Fruity but not blatantly sweet, rather refreshing actually, the alcohol here is a moderate 10.8%, giving it a more serious air than its Asti brethren, more like a gorgeous Clairette de Die for all you French wine nerds.

#Fruity_Sparklers

Benoît et Celine Blet cultivate 10 hectares of biodynamically farmed vineyards in Oiron (département Deux-Sèvres in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, about 50 kilometers south of Saumur) that are planted with Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc and Gamay de Bouze. The domaine was founded in 2004, and I am always blown away by the huge personality of the wines that will be even finer and more complex after some years in the bottle. This is one of my favorite Loire producers, but unfortunately, I have never managed to visit the domaine. - Stephan Reinhardt, robertparker.com

94 Points! Like the 2019 vintage also reviewed here, the Sassotondo 2017 Maremma Toscana Ciliegiolo San Lorenzo boasts dark color saturation and concentrated fruit, but in the case of this wine, you get softer, more open-knit tannins. Ciliegiolo can famously live up to the hot vintages, especially when the variety is planted in cooler volcanic soils like the kind found in this vineyard cru. The slightly evolved bouquet shows cherry liqueur, almond paste, blue flower and crushed stone. There is a lively, almost nervous quality of the fruit that keeps things edgy and fresh. The mid-weight finish is silky and long. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

93-95+ Points! The 2020 Mercurey 1er Cru Clos de Champs Martin Cuvée Carline unwinds in the glass with a deep bouquet of wild berries, vine smoke, raw cocoa, cloves, anise and peonies. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, it's layered and complete, with a tightly wound core of vibrant fruit framed by beautifully refined tannins and concluding with a long, saline finish. Less demonstrative than its 2019 and 2018 predecessors, I suspect it will emerge as the finest of the trilogy in the fulness of time, but it will require patience. - William Kelley, robertparker.com

93 Points! The effusive nose of candied citrus, ripe pear and brioche pulls you into this fresh and creamy champagne that hits all the pleasure buttons for a non-vintage Brut. Then the chalky freshness at the finish pulls you back for another sip. Excellent balance! 100% pinot noir. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! Incredible value for a blanc de noirs (100% Pinot Noir) grower Champagne from the grand cru vineyards of Bouzy. It shows gorgeous aromas of stone fruit, citrus and strawberry, with complex brioche nuances, remarkable balance, ongoing elegance and a rich, refined, persistent finish. - Stacy Slinkard, Decanter Magazine

Each bottle of LALO is 100% pure. We distill only twice to maintain the integrity of our agave, and add no flavors or additives. With LALO, our ingredients are only agave, yeast and water to honor the complex essence of agave.

LOOK at the platinum color; the body and texture. FEEL the viscosity and the quality of the liquid and notice how the aromas stay on your hands. SMELL the top notes of cooked agave, sweet potato, cinnamon and a hint of dulce de leche. SIP and experience the taste of those aromas. Sip again and notice citrus and tropical fruit notes.

98 Points! The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard RBS, which is also from Clone 337 but from different blocks on the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, saw oak with 90% new Darnajou and 10% new Taransaud. This wine seems slightly more expansive, shares the black ruby/purple color with all of it siblings, and has a boatload of crème de cassis, incense, licorice, graphite and vanilla along with plenty of spice box and forest floor. This is a killer, full-bodied, super-duper, opulent Cabernet Sauvignon to drink over the next 20 years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

40% Chardonnay, 40% Poulsard and 20% Savagnin co-planted in the Val de Vallière gorge, on a slope facing the village of Montaigu. Vineyard tended biodynamically, Demeter inspection and certification since 2003: applications of horn manure, silica and herbal teas. Hand-harvested with sorting in the vineyard. The three varieties are slowly pressed together. Fermentation and ageing in oak barrels without any added SO2, with regular topping-up. No addition of yeast, sugar, or any other additives. Aged 7 months in barrel over winter, bottling takes according to the the lunar calendar, still without the addition of any SO2.

98 Points! The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is showing even better than it did last year, which is not unusual when tasting the wines of Todd Anderson and Mac Sawyer. Dense ruby/purple to the rim, with the classic Pauillac-like nose of creme de cassis, cedar wood, a hint of tobacco leaf, and very subtle smoke, the wine displays charcoal and roasted herbs, full-bodied power, wonderfully sweet tannins, and a long, long finish. This is a 20- to 25-year wine that should just get better and better as it ages, but it is accessible enough to drink now. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

95 Points! The 2019 Bellevue Mondotte, picked at 18hL/ha on a single day (October 5) has a tightly wound bouquet of blackberry, briary, blueberry and light violet petal scents, but less of the marine aromas that I picked out from the barrel sample. However, there are some lovely orange pith scents that percolate through with continued aeration, and these are accentuated after a couple of hours. The palate is medium-bodied with gentle grip, good acidity and fine backbone. This is quite a sturdy Saint-Émilion with impressive density toward the finish. It needs just a little more charm and personality, though they may develop with time. Very fine, but patience required. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

98 Points! More seamless and elegant than the more powerful, structured Pavie Decesse (these all emerge from the Perse team), the Merlot-dominated 2019 Bellevue Mondotte just about jumps out of the glass with its ripe, spicy red, blue, and black fruits as well as spring flowers, graphite, chalky mineral, and violet-like aromas and flavors. Almost Pomerol-like with its seamless, polished tannins and gorgeous mouthfeel, it's flawlessly balanced, has a deep, layered mid-palate, and a great, great finish. This stunning Saint-Emilion will benefit from just 4-6 years of bottle age and cruise for 30+ years in cold cellars. - Jeb Dunnuck

100 Points! Off the charts in every way (if I had to pick a desert island wine, this would be in the top handful), the 2000 Château La Mission Haut-Brion is deep, rich, layered, multi-dimensional, and full-bodied, with a sensational perfume of currants, tobacco, roasted herbs, graphite, and some iron nuances. Powerful and concentrated on the palate, it's nevertheless weightless, with silky, pure, graceful tannins and not a hard edge to be found. Just absolutely sensational, and if this doesn't do it for you, nothing will. Count yourself lucky if you have bottles in the cellar, as it's going to continue drinking amazingly well for another 30, 40, 50+ years. Drink 2026-2076. - Jeb Dunnuck, April 2026

100 Points! One of the wines of the vintage, the 2000 has barely budged in its evolution since it was bottled and released in 2002. After ten years in bottle, it still reveals a dense opaque purple color along with a potentially sensational bouquet of blueberries, black currants, graphite, asphalt and background oak. Extremely powerful, full-bodied and superbly concentrated with good acidity and high but round tannins, this massive La Mission-Haut-Brion should take its place among this estate’s most hallowed vintages when it hits full maturity in another one to two decades. I was surprised by just how youthful this wine tasted at age 12. If tasted blind, I would have guessed it to be around 4 to 5 years old. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com, 2012

I recently tasted the Massimo Pastoris Canavese Nebbiolo La Cucca 2021 and I can honestly say that it is one of the most compelling Nebbiolos under $30 I’ve ever tasted…ever. The nose jumps out of the glass with flowers, spice, tar, a hint of forest floor, red fruits…too many notes! On the palate the wine has a positively silky texture for Nebbiolo, so polished, so drinkable, impeccably balanced, flaunting the finest Pinot Noir-esque characteristics of this grape without any of the harshness or bitterness that we see from its cousins to the south.

In short? An incredible wine that literally made the hair on my neck stand up….at $26.98 this wine is clearly one of the coolest red wines we have in the store and an absolute ‘must’ tasting (and smelling) experience!

From the importer: The Nebbiolo La Cucca leads with elegance over structure, by design, and when compared to Langhe and Alto Piemonte, it’s more aromatically delicate with finely delineated fruit and florals. The denomination is Canavese, even if it’s on the extreme east of the appellation and bears little resemblance to Canavese reds elsewhere in this extensive DOC...The elegance is accentuated with the use of a combination of medium-sized old wood and cement vats. Both Cristiano and Eugenio believe that morainic soils require this “third way” of making Nebbiolo. While Caluso isn’t ground zero for the world’s attention to Piemonte and Nebbiolo, these wines capture its purest essence, making them formidable in style and craft alone.

96 Points! This shows incredible depth and density for the vintage with dark berry, dark chocolate, spice and chalk character. Full body, firm and velvety tannins and a long and powerful finish. Needs five or six years to soften. Try in 2020. - James Suckling

95 Points! The 2012 Pavie celebrates its reclassification and upgrade to Class A St.-Emilion by sporting a new black label with gold print. Fortunately, every Pavie has benefitted since Perse began a complete makeover of this estate in 1998. From 47-year-old vines, the 2012 has an inky purple color, judicious toasty oak in the nose interwoven with copious blackberry and blackcurrant fruit, Christmas spices, as well as licorice and graphite. Full-bodied, rich and moderately tannic, it will require 5-7 years of bottle age but should drink well for 20-30 years. Kudos to Chantal and Gerard Perse for their extraordinary commitment to quality, which is so evident in this more challenging vintage than some of the great years like 2009 and 2010. Very low yields of 28 hectoliters per hectare were obtained from this 92-acre estate. - Robert M. Parker, Jr. - Wine Advocate

100 Points! One of the most powerful and significant La Fleur-Petrus I have ever tasted with incredible depth and power. It’s full and so layered with fine and intense tannins. It shows very dark fruits, dark chocolate with hazelnuts, and milk chocolate with almonds. This will age for eternity. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

100 Points! The finest vintage from this address I've ever tasted, as well as a perfect wine, the 2020 Château La Fleur-Petrus reveals a dense purple hue to go with a deep, layered, full-bodied, yet flawlessly balanced style carrying a smorgasbord-like array of red and black fruits, chocolate, dried flowers, spicy oak, and damp earth. It's not a powerhouse in the style of Trotanoy, Vieux Château Certain, or say, Clinet, but is all about finesse, elegance, and complexity. This magical Pomerol will benefit from 4-6 years of bottle age and cruise for 20-30 years in cold cellars. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com

93 Points! The appellation 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon checks in as 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, and smaller portions of Malbec, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. It's another fabulous wine from this estate, offering pure cr me de cassis, classy oak, new leather, and graphite-driven aromas and flavors. With medium to full-bodied richness, plush, integrated tannin, and the vintage's fresher, focused style, it tastes like it costs three times the price. Drink bottles over the coming decades. Bravo. - Jeb Dunnuck

93 Points! Aromas of ripe blackcurrants, dried raspberries, spices, cedar and bark. Full-bodied with a mellow, fruit-forward character and creamy texture to the tannins. Delicious and smooth with a velvety finish. - JamesSuckling.com