Search results for: 'mostly a'

97+ Points! Moving to the tiny production 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Quartz, which is mostly Grenache with around 25% or so of Syrah, it has a rich, full-bodied, dense, and almost backward style to go with powerful black fruits, ground pepper, and violet aromas and flavors. I love its purity of fruit, and it builds nicely with time in the glass, showing more mid-palate depth as well as ripe tannins. It’s a stunning bottle of wine, but patience will be required. Hide bottles for 4-5 years and enjoy over the following two decades. - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! With its colorful fantasy label, the Domenico Clerico 2019 Barolo Aeroplan Servaj shows dark fruit and a velvety texture with rusty nail and pencil shaving. This vintage carries more overall concentration and structure, and the results are both rich and extremely beautiful. Fruit comes from vines planted in 1994. The wine ages in large oak casks mostly, with about 10% in barrique. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

97 Points! The 2021 Sauvage Vineyard Pinot Noir is supremely pretty. It's elegant and fine and still powerful, thanks to the Bannockburn area; however, the wine itself shows rose petals and spring flowers, graphite and pencil lead, white pepper and tapenade. Svelte and sleek, this is composed and detailed and so, so good. I am (mostly) resisting hyperbole and adverbs here. This is a standout wine from a superstar producer—an asset for the region and indeed the country (and the New World in general). 13.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. - Erin Larkin, robertparker.com

97 Points! Starting with the 2021 Grenache Estate Blend, this blend of 70% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 11% Cinsault, and 4% Roussanne comes all from the Adams Ranch Vineyard and was aged 20 months in new and used mostly French oak. It has a deeper ruby/plum hue as well as a beautiful nose of ripe black raspberries, darker cherries, spicy herbs, sandalwood, and ground pepper. It's complex, medium to full-bodied, has a broad, layered, seamless mouthfeel, and an incredible finish. It's a brilliant Grenache that has so much to love. It will evolve like a great Châteauneuf du Pape and have 15 years or more of overall longevity. - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! Beautiful aromas of currants, blackberries and flowers follow through to a full body with ultra fine tannins that are polished and so long and persistent. Linear and very, very fine, yet structured. Try after 2025, but already very impressive to taste. - JamesSuckling.com

97-98 Points! This shows real precision and sophistication. Tight and dense palate that is concentrated but not heavy, with intensity and minerality. Sea salt and white pepper at the end. This is really at the top level of dry white Bordeaux now. 70% sauvignon blanc and 30% semillon. - JamesSuckling.com

95-97 Points! The 2023 Château Cos D'Estournel Blanc includes slightly more Semillon and checks in as 70% Sauvignon and 30% Semillon, raised in just 7% new French oak, with the rest in once-used barrels. A selection made mostly in the cellar, it has a vivid gold hue as well as a stunning nose of ripe lemon, honeyed flowers, mint, crushed stone, and subtle hints of toast. Gorgeously textured, medium to full-bodied, and balanced, with the bright, almost racy acidity of the vintage, it's pure class. - Jeb Dunnuck

98 Points! This is one of the most structured L’Ifs I have had with currants and cherries, and chalk and salt undertones. Full and muscular. Long, long finish. The tannins and fruit go on and on. Give it three or four years to soften. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! Coming mostly from vines near Troplong Mondot and based on 79% Merlot and 21% Cabernet Franc, the 2020 L'If is a smoking good Saint-Emilion that sports a deep ruby/purple hue, notes of ripe black fruits, chocolate, graphite, earth, and tobacco, full-bodied richness, and sweet, integrated tannins. The balance here is spot on, and while this opens up with air, it shows the structured, classic, incredibly impressive style of the vintage perfectly. Give bottles just 4-6 years if you can (it offers pleasure even today) and enjoy over the following two decades. - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! The 2019 Prado Enea Gran Reserva is their more traditional Rioja, a blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano, mostly from Rioja Alta (Sajazarra, Cellorigo and Fonzaleche) at 550 to 700 meters in altitude, but the Garnacha is from different plots in the zone of Tudelilla at a high altitude. They didn't produce Prado Enea in 2017 or 2018, so this is the follow-up of the superb 2016. The bunches were harvested into 200-kilogram boxes, destemmed, put through optical sorting and fermented in small oak casks with indigenous yeasts. The élevage in barrel was extended to 36 months. The nose is phenomenal, keeping the essence of Muga with a touch of Garnacha perfume; it's still young and undeveloped for its age, not yet tertiary. The wine is full-bodied but fine-boned and has 14.7% alcohol, a pH of 3.46 and 5.81 grams per liter acidity. Still young, the wine has power and elegance and very good aging potential. 119,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2023. The next vintages will be 2021 and 2022, and after that perhaps 2025, but certainly no 2023 or 2024 wine. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

99 Points! A gorgeous wine, yet one that's going to demand bottle age, the 2019 La Mondotte comes from a tiny vineyard located just beside Pavie Decesse and is always a blend of mostly Merlot with roughly 15-30% Cabernet Franc, brought up in new French oak. Mulled blackcurrants, darker cherries, tobacco leaf, chocolate, lead pencil, and burning ember-like nuances all emerge from this brilliant wine, and it's full-bodied, concentrated, and powerful, with good acidity, building tannins, and a great, great finish. It holds onto the more classic, focused style of the vintage, yet it's a beast of a wine that brings the goods. Hide bottles for a solid 7-8 years or more, count yourself lucky, and it's going to have 30-40 years of longevity. - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! This has a fragrant nose of blackberries, red tea, cloves, bark, orange zest and dark chocolate. Sandalwood and tile, too. Full-bodied with chewy yet supple tannins and fresh acidity. Seamless and rich. Long and muscular. Try from 2027. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

98 Points! A linear and very compacted Bellevue with blackberries, blueberries and chocolate. Full and tight with racy tannins and a long and flavorful finish. Racy and focused. 100% merlot. Give this until 2028. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

98 Points! The 2020 Bellevue Mondotte is another powerhouse from the team at Pavie. All Merlot from the upper plateau above Château Pavie (the soils here contain a touch more clay), this full-bodied, deep, concentrated 2020 has a tight, unevolved bouquet of darker raspberries, cassis, truffly earth, and chocolate. Balanced, structured, and incredibly pure, it's mostly potential at this point and needs to be forgotten for 5-6 years. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com

97 Points! A towering effort, the 2020 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes soars from the glass with pristine crème de cassis, raspberry jam, black plum, scorched earth, incense, mint, exotic spice and white pepper aromas. The precision of the individual perfumes has a laser-like quality rarely seen in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Full-bodied and framed by ever-so-velvety tannins, it reaches a spherical dimension in the mouth. The recent adoption of 3,000-liter Austrian oak barrels beautifully contributed to the shape of this wine, giving it terrific poise and tension. - Nicolas Greinacher, Vinous Media

97 Points! One of the world’s greatest expressions of Grenache year-in and year-out, the 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes is all varietal that was brought up in larger foudre. This cuvée comes from the Charbonnieres and Les Esqueirons lieux-dits, which are mostly more sandy soils. Its deeper purple color is followed by a concentrated, medium to full-bodied, powerful yet elegant Grenache offering ripe cherry and darker berry fruits, notes of ground pepper, garrigue, and licorice, ripe yet certainly present tannins, and a great finish. Reminding me slightly of the 2006, which is drinking brilliantly today, it’s going to offer incredible pleasure over its lengthy life. Give bottles 2-3 years and enjoy over the following two decades. - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! Impressive depth of colour for the vintage, this is extremely round, fresh, clear and well-defined. Tannins are present and fairly strict in style, but they're ripe, and all in all this is exceptionally promising. Not huge in fruit or body, but well-balanced and precise. from 120-year-old vines planted on north-facing clay and sand lieux-dits of Charbonnières and Esquières. Fermented in concrete, aged in foudre. - Matt Walls, Decanter Magazine

100 Points! The 2020 Château Beauséjour (Duffau-Lagarrosse), made mostly by the team of Nicolas Thienpont (the final blend was put together by Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse), is another tour de force from this incredible terroir, and undeniably one of the wines of the vintage. Based on 81% Merlot and 19% Cabernet Franc brought up in 70% new French oak, it offers a sensationally pure bouquet of black raspberries, blueberries, scorched earth, graphite, and a dense, smoky, floral character that emerges with time in the glass. With a voluptuous, layered mouthfeel, gorgeous mid-palate depth, building tannins, and a liqueur of mineral-like character on the finish, it shows the density, purity, precision, and vibrancy of this vintage perfectly and displays that rare mix of richness, intensity, elegance, and length that are the hallmarks of a truly great wine. This is unquestionably in the ranks of the 2009, 2010, and 2016 and will evolve for 40 years or more. - Jeb Dunnuck

98 Points! Intense but delicate, really an exciting wine to taste where you feel the energy build through the palate. Unmistakable limestone influence with the floral aromatics, a jumble of peony, roses and violets, opening up to brambled raspberry and loganberry fruits, with fennel, oyster shell and slate. Huge ageing potential. Cabernet Sauvignon rather than Cabernet Franc in this blend, just one of the many ways in which it stands out from its peers even on the limestone plateau of St Emilion, its delicacy suggesting it is one of the most Burgundian of Bordeaux wines. This vintage was overseen during the growing season and vinification by the team under Nicolas Thienpont, but given its final blend and ageing by new co-owner Josephine Duffau-Lagarosse, along with Prisca Courtin-Clarins. - Jane Anson

97 points, Vinous' #6 Wine of 2024! Light and elegant, the 2021 Cheval des Andes is 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 48% Malbec, 3% Petit Verdot. It achieves a feat that only cool years can provide: smooth texture, agile palate and just the right amount of freshness for a nuanced build. As it breathes, it begins to reveal notes of fresh cherry and plum, with a hint of menthol, maraschino cherries and a touch of pepper. It opens further with aromas of sandalwood and oak that complete the framework. This is a somewhat leaner, more ethereal Cheval than other years, but it has a higher level of precision. It's a wine inspired by Bordeaux, executed in a Bordeaux style, with Mendoza terroir. A wine without edges, it’s a polished red in the early stages of a long, balanced life. - Joaquín Hidalgo, Vinous Media

98 points! The finest vintage of this wine I've tasted, the 2021 Cheval Des Andes is based on 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 48% Malbec, and the balance Petit Verdot. It has a decidedly Bordeaux-like nose of ripe currants, leafy tobacco, cedarwood, and a kiss of flowers, with perfectly integrated background oak. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has a layered, seamless mouthfeel, ripe, polished tannins, and a great finish. It has this remarkable sense of purity and class, and while it's incredible today (especially with a decant), I wouldn't be surprised to see it evolve gracefully for two decades. - Jeb Dunnuck

98 points! Complex aromas of blueberries, pie crust, fresh flowers and currant bush with hints of baking spices like nutmeg. Medium- to full-bodied with extremely fine tannins that are integrated and gorgeous. Graceful and refined, with super length. Interestingly, 20% of the wine was aged in large oak casks (2,500 liters), mostly from Slovenia. Try after 2027 but a joy to taste now. - JamesSuckling.com

98 Points! Since Gerald Gabillet's arrival in Mendoza in 2018, Cheval des Andes wines have gained in elegance and precision. In a great vintage like 2021, the results are spellbinding. Near-equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec, with 3% Petit Verdot; the fruit comes from an old vineyard in Las Compuertas and a newer property in the Uco Valley. A fruity, floral wine, with minty hints and a subtle layer of oak that contributes spice and cedar notes. The palate is silky and energetic, with a vibrant freshness and polished, grippy tannins that channel it nicely into the long, perfumed finish. - Decanter Magazine Learn More