Search results for: 'mostly a one plot'

99 Points! An enticing aroma of violets, cherry blossoms, fresh blue and black fruit and great structure define this beautiful, age-worthy wine. Subtle layering of fruit and oak spices between firm, fine-grained and supportive tannins gives it a calm intensity. So elegant and polished. Hints of cinnamon and graphite accent blackcurrant and blueberry flavors that linger and grow in a long finish. Already attractive to drink, but best after 2029. - JamesSuckling.com

97+ Points! The 2021 Opus One is one of the most elegant, polished Opus Ones in recent memory. Pliant and supple, with super-refined tannins, the 2021 has a ton to offer. It boasts gorgeous textural depth and resonance, not to mention superb balance. Dark red/purplish fruit, flowers, spice and mint caress the palate, framed by silky, ripe tannins that are the hallmark of a superior vintage. I can't wait to see how the 2021 develops. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media 

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

99 Points! The purity of fruit is really something else here, with currants and fresh flowers, such as violets and roses. Flower stems as well. Fantastic length and structure to the wine, with tightness and focus. Wonderful fruit. Graceful. A blend of 78% cabernet sauvignon, 8% merlot, 7% petit verdot, 6% cabernet franc and 1% malbec. Try after 2028. - James Suckling

91 Points! The 2022 Sauvignon Blanc—it includes 20% Sémillon—was mostly fermented and aged in stainless steel, with 25% going into oak. The result is a gently grassy-herbal wine loaded with grapefruit and nectarine-tinged fruit, plus hints of fig and melon. It's medium-bodied, plump and creamy on the mid-palate, then long and silky on the finish. It's nicely complex and composed. - Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

90-93 Points! from a .31 ha holding of 60+ year old vines. Moderate wood can be found on the ripe aromas of mostly plum and black currant with background hints of earth and the sauvage. There is again very good volume and solid concentration to the tautly muscular larger-scaled flavors that also coat the palate with dry extract on the youthfully austere, compact and firm finale. - Allen Meadows, Burghound #89

91 Points! Subtle but not invisible wood is present on the cooler aromas of Granny Smith apple, essence of pear and a plentitude of citrus elements. The rich, generous and full-bodied flavors possess good power while delivering fine length on the palate soaking, clean and dry finale where a touch of rusticity slowly emerges. Solid quality here. - Allen Meadows, Burghound #92

99 Points! Composed of mostly Semillon, along with 31% Sauvignon Blanc and a small but fragrant addition of 1% Muscadelle, the 2021 La Proportion Doree comes from 30-year-old, dry-farmed vines and was barrel fermented. It pours a bright yellow color and takes on another gear in the glass, cascading open with generous aromas of fresh currants, candle wax, jasmine, and a lift of white pepper spice. Medium to full-bodied, its structure offers fantastic definition, and it has a concentrated, rich texture, an even spine of acidity, and exceptional length. This is a stunning textural blend to enjoy over the coming 10-12 years. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

94 Points! Lead-pencil aromas with currants and plums, too. Full body, silky tannins and a focused and very refined finish. It's the tannins that drive things. An excellent second wine of Lafite. Needs two or three years to soften. Start drinking in 2021. - JamesSuckling.com 

92 Points! The second wine of Lafite Rothschild is the 2015 Carruades De Lafite and is a beautiful wine in its own right. Based on 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc brought up mostly in used barrels, it has classy notes of cassis and lead pencil shavings as well as a medium to full-bodied, elegant, beautifully balanced style on the palate. It’s not a massive wine by any stretch, yet it exudes class and elegance, and is already a joy to drink. - Jeb Dunnuck

99 Points! Perfectly ripe black and blue berries on the nose with blackcurrants, too. Crushed fruit. Complex and perfect. Full and intense. You feel the intensity of the tannins, yet it is not overpowering. They are in a sophisticated and elegant state. Muscular and formed finish. Gorgeous in every sense of the word. Strength with finesse. Drink after 2030. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

99 Points!  Just about pure perfection, the 2020 La Mondotte comes from a tiny parcel of limestone soils on the upper plateau, not far from Troplong Mondot. Mostly Merlot with a small amount of Cabernet Franc, its deep purple hue is followed by a brilliant bouquet of crème de cassis, crushed stone, graphite, mulled black cherries, and hints of truffle. Full-bodied, incredibly elegant yet also concentrated and flawlessly balanced, it's as good as anything in the vintage. Give bottles 4-6 years in the cellar, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following 2-3 decades. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com

92 Points! The estate’s 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley is an excellent choice for drinking over the next few years. Juicy dark berries, flowers, mint and cloves all come together nicely in the glass. Today, the 2010 is open and expressive, with soft, silky tannins and tons of near-term appeal, all qualities entry-level Cabernets should have. The 2010 is mostly valley floor fruit, with dollops of Panek, Corona and GIII. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

92 Points! The white 2019 Le Domaine is mostly Sauvignon Blanc, with 30% Verdejo, and comes from a warm year (not as warm as 2017) when Sauvignon Blanc achieved perfect ripeness. The wine has good ripeness, 13.5% alcohol, very good freshness, a subtle nose that is not that varietal (as it's often the case) and a soft palate with great balance and purity. It finishes with a faint bitter touch. The oak is neatly integrated. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

92 Points! A fantastic balance of very zesty acidity and juicy fruit. I love the interplay of citrusy freshness and apples on the light-bodied palate. Elegant finish. From organically grown grapes with Fair'n Green certification. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

Mostly from Oberhäuser Felsenberg and Kieselberg. Stony, weathered volcanic soils of porphyry and melaphyr, with slate and quartzite.

Fermentation & Élevage: A mixture of stainless steel vats and neutral 10+-year-old 1200L German stückfass from Hösch

The idea here is to make a village wine, basically, though it’s sold and marketed as a Gutswein or Estate bottled basic wine. The Estate wine combines the two major soils that dominate the holdings for the estate, giving the drinker a look into what Dönnhoff is all about. The basic wine is a calling card and thus Cornelius wants to make statement.

The geology of the middle Nahe is notably shaped by its eons-old clay slate formations and rich volcanic soils. The concentration of porphyry and melaphyre stone in and around the old Oberhausen vineyards – Kieselberg and Felsenberg, help provide the perfect berry base for Gutsriesling.

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

94 Points! The grapes for the 2021 Reserva (sold as Crianza in Spain), mostly Tempranillo with some Garnacha Tinta, Mazuelo and Graciano, were picked late in a cooler year when they finished the harvest the 20th of October, with plenty of times for the grapes to develop full aromas and flavors and complete ripeness. It fermented destemmed and lightly crushed in oak vats with indigenous yeasts, separating qualities, villages and soils, and matured in 80% French and 20% American oak barrels, 20% of them new, for 24 months, with racking every eight to nine months. It's a textbook example of their style in a very good year, with power, concentration and clout, elegance and freshness. It was a very harmonious year; the cycle was long and the tannins ripened to perfection. It's terrific... - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! The winery’s flagship, the wine that introduced Muga to the world, the 2021 Muga Reserva is Tempranillo-dominant, with Garnacha, Mazuelo, and Graciano filling in the gaps. A larger-production wine, it offers tremendous quality, fermented in wooden vats using indigenous yeasts, the grapes separated by quality, soil type, and village origin. This one in particular is from a beautiful vintage and practically beams in full-bodied concentration, with supple, silky tannins and light touches of oak spice, cedar, balsamic, and white pepper. A new release, it should continue to thrive another 15-20 years. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

From the winery: Our second label wine, KEOLA is comprised of barrels and lots from the same vineyards that make up our top-tier Aaron cuvées. These barrels are declassified lots and extra barrels that simply don't find their way into our flagship wines, thus we blend them into KEOLA, our everyday drinking red that massively overdelivers for the price point. Juicy, vibrant and intensely aromatic, its a medium-bodied, absolutely delicious wine that goes with any place, any dish, and any time of day. Comprised mostly of Petite Sirah, Syrah, and Mourvèdre it's a rich and savory, with a blue/red fruit profile and notes of grilled meats and sage/underbrush. The palate is luscious and juicy, loaded with flavors of macerated cherries, cocoa powder, toasty oak, and licorice. Aged for 18 month is 100% French oak, 50% new, it's a wine that will certainly age in the cellar, but we recommend cracking it open now and enjoying it through the remainder of this year!

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

93 Points! The super bargain of the portfolio has to be the red 2017 Viña Cubillo Tinto Crianza, which this year shows more development and faster aging, with more tertiary notes than the other reds from 2013 and 2014 that I tasted next to it. The frost of April 2017 killed 100% of the vegetal mass at Cubillo, and the grapes they picked were exclusively from the second generation, therefore fruit that ripened in a much shorter cycle, as the harvest was also earlier. It has notes of damp earth, mushrooms, truffles and forest floor, dry leaves and decayed flowers and herbs. It has a polished palate and is medium-bodied, with mostly resolved tannins, and it feels a little lighter. But it's still worth it. It was produced with a blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and 5% each Graciano and Mazuelo from vines averaging 53 years of age. It fermented in their old oak vats and matured in used American oak barrels for three+ years. It has 13.5% alcohol, a 3.0 pH and 6.5 grams of acidity. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

92 Points! Moving to the Pinot Noirs, the 2022 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills comes from a mix of sites (mostly Fiddlestix, radian, and Sanford & Benedict) and saw 15 months in neutral oak. Its medium ruby hue is followed by a complex, medium-bodied 2022 that has some gamey, iodine-like character in its savory red fruits, leafy herb, bay leaf, and forest, earthy nuances. I love its overall balance, and it has terrific complexity and a satisfying, lively, upfront style that will drink nicely through 2032. - Jeb Dunnuck

From the winery:

A longtime favorite, the 2023 SRH Pinot Noir combines wines from a “who’s who” of the most famous vineyards in our region. This wine comes from: Fiddlestix (42%), Radian (15%), La Rinconada (15%), Bentrock (8%), 10ninths (7%), Sanford & Benedict (5%), Spear (5%), and Rancho La Vina (3%). The very cool 2023 produced a superb SRH blend with grapes being picked over a remarkable 5-week period from Early September to Mid-October. Temperatures throughout the late summer and early Fall were moderate, and ripeness gained gradually until the last lots could be picked at Radian on October 12.

The deliberate inclusion of 20 separate blocks (9 distinct clones) at 8 vineyards is intended to create great complexity in the final blend, which we think is accomplished here. The wine shows wildly different berries (cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, loganberries) and red and black cherries, along with rhubarb, cola, and a panoply of baking spices (nutmeg, cardamom, cloves) and floral notes such as red rose and blood orange. The medium bodied wine has a silky texture and great length buoyed by great acidity and present tannins. The most approachable of our Pinot Noirs, the SRH will drink well right out of the gate, improve for 5-7 years and last another 8 after that at least.

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

100 Points! The 2022 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has turned out even better in bottle than I anticipated, bursting from the glass with aromas of cassis and blackberries mingled with scents of licorice, violets and pencil shavings. Full-bodied, layered and enveloping, it's suave, seamless and complete, with faultless precision, pristine integration of tannin, controlled sweetness and a long, expansive finish. The 2022 manages to unite the sensuality that's the estate's calling card and the ripeness of the vintage on the one hand, with a sense of Pauillac classicism on the other, threading the needle to deliver one of the finest wines of the vintage and a benchmark Pichon Comtesse. It's a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc that spent 18 months in barriques (three months more than was formerly the case), two-thirds of which were new. As I wrote en primeur, there's more than a hint of the 1982 about this wine, and like the 1982, the 2022 will offer an exceptionally wide drinking window. - William Kelley, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

99 Points! What perfect aromas of blackcurrants, lead pencil, violets, blood oranges and blood. Some iron. Medium- to full-bodied, this has incredible tannins that are completely loaded and integrated, melting into the wine with such a glorious mouthfeel. The finish goes on and on, lightly austere in the most sophisticated way. Racy and rigorously focused. 78% cabernet sauvignon, 17% merlot and 5% cabernet franc. Try after 2030, but already a new benchmark for this estate. - JamesSuckling.com

98 Points! This brims with notes of dark currant, blackberry and black cherry preserves that sparkle subtly with reserved energy, while sweet tobacco, licorice snap, chestnut, violet and ink notes work harmoniously through the long, crumpled velvet finish. A late humus echo provides a beautiful counterpoint, which just makes you want to go right back and start the experience all over with another sip. A total stunner. - Wine Spectator

99 Points! Shiny and striking, this delights from the first sip giving a burst of strawberry and citrus acidity before salty minerality comes in the form of chalky tannins, graphite, pencil lead and slate. Really quite mineral. It's sleek and classically styled, no overt ripeness of fruit although there's concentration in the frame and power that thrusts the flavours forward. Detailed and joyous, it's pent up with muscles and tension but where other wines are showcasing that brawn now, this also delivers a ton of juicy acidity and lift which makes this so joyful. I love it. 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter.com

98 Points! Looking at the flagship 2022 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse De Lalande, it's based on 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc that spent 19 months in two-thirds new oak and one-third in once-used barrels. Its similarly deep purple hue is followed by a magical, heavenly 2022 that has a layered, full-bodied profile that brings an incredibly floral character as well as a huge core of darker currant fruits, ripe, polished, velvety tennis, no hard edges, and a thrilling finish. It’s a quintessential Comtesse that brings the forward, supple elegance of the château while still offering plenty of classic Pauillac depth, structure, and character. Give bottles 5-7 years and enjoy over the following 40+. - Jeb Dunnuck

98-100 Points! A blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc, the 2022 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is deep garnet-purple in color. After a little coaxing, aromas of blackcurrant jelly, juicy plums, and wild blueberries waltz out of the glass, followed by nuances of red roses, damp soil, tar, and licorice. The medium-bodied palate is tightly wound, with impressive tension created by mineral-laced, crunchy black fruit layers, framed by firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and savory. pH 3.8. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

97+ Points! The 2022 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is a wine of somber intensity, one that will require years to be at its best. Dark fruit, leather, incense, licorice, plum and mocha slowly open in the glass. Pichon Comtesse is often more demonstrative at this stage, but the 2022 is decidedly reticent. I expect it will be slow to reveal all of its character. I tasted the 2022 three times and found it consistently closed. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media