Wines

95 Points! It’s really hard to believe that this is a 2020, such is the youthful energy of this extraordinary wine. I love the intense lemon blossom aroma in the nose. Concentrated, creamy and very elegant, this high-end Savennieres isn’t difficult to understand. Less fundamentally mineral than the very best, but still plenty of wet stone at the long silky finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.- JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Only just bottled so still quite introverted. Medium-bodied, with good concentration of fruit, quite robust tannins and good acidity. This will be excellent in time. Half whole bunch, and you feel just a touch of aromatic stems, but no excessive greenness or textural harshness. From three parcels around the estate of old-vine Grenache that are between 50 and 70 years old. Partially destemmed, fermented in raw cement tanks then aged in old barriques for 12 months. - Decanter Magazine

93 Points! The 2023 Saint-Romain Sous la Velle offers aromas of grapefruit, pear and white peach framed by a deft touch of smoky reduction. Medium- to full-bodied, ample and textural, with plenty of chalky extract, it’s laden with racy acids and concludes with a long, saline, lemon-tinged finish. As ever, it derives from the estate’s largest plot—two hectares of 60-year-old vines rooted in shallow soil. - Kristaps Karklins, robertparker.com

93 Points! The 2023 Saint-Romain Sous le Château has turned out beautifully, offering aromas of tangerine, pear, grapefruit zest and dried white flowers. Medium- to full-bodied, ample and layered, underpinned by racy acidity and chalky extract, it concludes with a long, saline finish. It comes from a sunny, south-facing site that the Buisson brothers typically harvest among the first. - Kristaps Karklins, robertparker.com

92-94 Points! Youthful purple. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes fresh black and blue fruits, star anise, olive, violet and tobacco. A smoky mineral accent builds steadily in the glass and energizes the spice-laced, dark berry liqueur, smoky bacon and floral pastille flavors that are underscored by a vein of juicy acidity. Clings with strong tenacity on the youthfully tannic finish, leaving behind sappy blue fruit, cracked pepper and mineral notes. - Josh Raynolds, Vinous Media

92-95 Points! Fresh pale lemon. Loads of energy here on the nose, but all perfectly balanced. Maximum minerals in this wine which Elsa thinks will be suppressed by longer oak ageing. More flesh than usual in the middle, with a fine persistence. - Jasper Morris

96 Points! A very lush and exotically floral gewurz with tremendous concentration and plenty of rose hip and caramel alongside the restrained papaya character. Very long creamy finish with a beautifully integrated sweetness that pulls you back for more. Still quite tight at the finish. Fermented for almost a year and may well show better after more bottle age. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Drinkable now, but best from 2024. - JamesSuckling.com

95+ Points! The Alsace grand cru 2021 Furstentum Gewurztraminer is very clear and precisely aromatic on the bright, elegant and intense nose that combines ripe and concentrated lychee aromas with delicate flint, pastry and orange blossom notes. Full-bodied, rich and savory on the palate and based on a tight yet elegant structure with a fine acidity and tannin complex, this is a substantial, stimulating saline, grippy-mineral and still youthful but very promising Gewürztraminer that will benefit from further bottle age. 13% stated alcohol. Diam cork. Tasted at the domaine in April and at home in August 2024. - Stephan Reinhardt, robertparker.com

95 Points! The 2023 El Terroir is a village red from San Martín de Unx that was selected from six different vineyards that were harvested quite early, at the beginning of September. It fermented with full clusters, indigenous yeasts and a long maceration. It is slightly darker than La Dama, with more clout and some more tannins but all relative to La Dama, which is superlative, because outside that context, this would be super fragrant, elegant and subtle. It has container power, lots of energy and depth and a beautiful combination of wild berries, herbs and flowers. It has a fine-boned, medium-bodied palate and good balance. It has contained ripeness and around 13.5% alcohol. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

96 Points! The Domenico Clerico 2019 Barolo Ginestra Ciabot Mentin (with 5,500 bottles made with fruit from vines planted in 1978) is a bit closed initially. This is a trait I found across a vintage that gives us good reason to bet on long bottle-aging potential. There is dark fruit and spice with licorice and grilled herb. Rusty mineral nuances also emerge slowly from the bouquet. This wine needs a double decant if consumed on the young side, but you're better off waiting. I came back to my open sample 24 hours later, and the wine was singing beautifully. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

96 Points! Aromas of raspberries, cherries and orange peel follow through to a medium to full body, with firm and very fine tannins that are chewy but fine grained. Bright acidity, too. Try after 2027. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! The front of this bottle now lists its MGA provenance, Ginestra. The Domenico Clerico 2019 Barolo Ginestra Pajana shows a more open initial impression (next to the Ciabot Mentin) with soft black fruit. The wine makes a bigger impact in terms of texture with firm structure and silky tannins. It is just a little more open-knit and accessible. Some 5,000 bottles were released, and for the first time, Pajana is aged only in large oak casks (measuring 5,000 liters). - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

94 Points! The bottled 2023 PSI is faithful to the final blend I tasted last year before the wine was bottled. It's juicy, ripe and approachable, a little showier and headier, not quite reaching 14% alcohol but almost. This year, it has some 10% Garnacha in the bottled blend, some of it mixed with Tempranillo and some of it on its own. They are planting more Garnacha for the future. It feels like a very classical old-time Ribera del Duero wine, with elegant rusticity that I love. It's perfumed and floral with notes of decayed flowers. Twenty percent of the wine matured in barrels while the rest matured in oak vats, for some 14 months. The tannins are polished, and it feels like the time in bottle has done it good; the PSI tannins usually need time. They are resolved quite quickly, but the wine does need a bit of time. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! I tasted two vintages of the entry-level wine, starting with the 2021 Pícaro del Águila Tinto. It's ripe and round, with round tannins, velvety and polished, approachable and hedonistic. It's nicely built and serious, very serious for an entry level. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

93 Points! The 2020 Angelita del Challao comes from a blend of different vineyards in the three valleys from Labastida, looking for a village wine; it was produced with 85% Tempranillo and the rest Garnacha, Mazuelo, Viura, Garnacha Blanca and other rare varieties from their own vineyards and purchased grapes. It fermented in concrete with indigenous yeasts, 40% full clusters that are foot trodden and the rest uncrushed grapes and matured in 225- and 500-liter barrels and 2,000-liter foudres—10 months with each plot separate—and then it was blended and let to settle in concrete for another 10 months. They look for a more approachable wine than Challao, with more floral aromas in a very elegant and harmonious way. The palate is medium-bodied with medium ripeness, 13.5% alcohol and very good freshness and acidity, balanced and harmonious, very tasty and with elegant, refined tannins. Really very good. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

93 Points! The king of the cellar chez Cornin is the 2021 Pouilly-Fuissé 1er Cru Les Chevrières, a lovely wine redolent of stone fruits, orange zest, pear, musky spices, flowers and honey, followed by a medium to full-bodied, deep and satiny palate that's lively, seamless and complete. Spared by both frost and hail, it's a great success. - William Kelley, robertparker.com

96 Points James Suckling
Starting to take on the tertiary character of ripe fruit and savory components with dusty tannins. Full and round with a lovely texture and a light salty, meaty and tobacco character. Forest floor. Sweet and sour. Just opening.

96 Points – Wine Advocate
There are 6,500 cases of the superb 2006 Dominus (91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot). Its dark plum/purple color is accompanied by aromas and flavors of truffles, forest floor, black cherries, black currants, and Asian spices. One of the finest wines of the vintage, it is complete, full-bodied, and seamlessly built with beautiful ripe tannins, low acidity, and a luscious, layered mouthfeel. The aromatics are even more evolved and complex than the 2005's. (RP)

95 Points – The Wine Independent
A blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot, the 2006 Dominus is deep garnet in color, with a touch of brick. It sashays out of the glass with an alluring perfume of incense, cinnamon stick, clove oil, and potpourri, over a core of blackberry pie, dried mulberries, and plum pudding, plus a hint of tobacco leaf. The full-bodied palate delivers beautiful tension to the mineral, red and black fruit layers, supported by finely grained tannins, finishing on a lingering ferrous note. (LPB)

95 Points – Wine Spectator
Quite dark and with nice juiciness along the edges, this shows slightly warmed cassis and plum pâte de fruit accents that stretch out with a mix of sweet and savory details through the focused finish, where an iron note emerges steadily. Reveals some serious tannic grip at the very end. A very solidly built wine that seems likely to remain in this phase for a while. (JM)

94+ Points – Int'l Wine Cellar
Bright red-ruby. Lovely floral lift contributes precision to the aromas of raspberry, rose petal and licorice. Sweet, high-pitched and sharply delineated; velvety but not thick. There's a juicy quality to the ripe red fruit, mineral and graphite flavors, not to mention a firm underlying spine, that promises a long and positive evolution in bottle. Quite young but not austere, finishing with building tannins and lovely lift. The lingering perfume of red fruits, pepper, flowers and licorice is unusually complex. A really superb 2006, seemingly every bit as good as the sensational 2005. (ST)

93 Points – Decanter
It is one of the most savoury, earthy, and animalistic wines in the Dominus portfolio that I tasted during my visit in early 2024. It is full-bodied with a host of rich, brandied cherry, kirsch, and spearmint, along with toasty cedarwood and dark chocolate. The tannins are present and focused, and there's a good amount of grip here. The finish has cigar box and tobacco notes. (JC)

93 Points – Wine & Spirits
Youthfully floral and tight, this vintage of Dominus is a big wine that holds all of its weight behind a powerful structure. And it's the power of that structure that is front and center-red apple-skin acidity and walnut-skin tannin-needing a ribeye with plenty of fat to bring the fruit out of its cage. Stay with it and the wine's earthiness begins to meld with the blueberry and chocolate richness. But it's all completely primary. Put this away for ten years, and drink the Napanook while it matures.

93 Points – Wine Enthusiast
Unless you knew that this was Dominus and had tasted older vintages, you might not be impressed. In its youth the wine is tannic and dry and linear. However, it is Dominus and it does need cellaring. Right now it shows blackberry, black currant, cedar and baker’s chocolate flavors. Will slowly open and reach maturity after 2011, and could easily develop for far longer. Cellar Selection

98+ Points – Vinous
The 2017 Dominus is one of the truly epic, grand wines of the vintage. Rich, dense and explosive, with tremendous concentration and sheer power, the 2017 Dominus captures all the personality of this site along with the natural opulence of the year. Inky dark fruit, lavender, menthol, licorice, plum, gravel and a host of dark spice notes infuse the 2017 with seemingly endless layers of nuance. Over the last two years I have tasted several hundred Napa Valley Cabernets, both from barrel and bottle. There is no question that Dominus belongs among the elite in 2017; it is simply a breathtaking wine. Certainly readers looking for a Napa Valley Cabernet to cellar should put Dominus at the top of their lists. (AG)

97 Points – Jeb Dunnuck
The grand vin is the 2017 Dominus, which is based on 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, harvested between September 21 and October 3, and aged in 40% new French oak. Chateau Lafite-like notes of blackcurrants, lead pencil shavings, cedary tobacco, and gravelly earth all emerge from the glass, and it's full-bodied, has a terrific sense of elegance, lots of tannins, and a great finish. 2017 doesn't get much better. (JD)

97 Points – James Suckling
Very intense aromas of fruit, yet complex subtlety. Blue fruit, licorice and blackberries with flowers and perfumes. Full-bodied, round and chewy with black tea, currants and hints of leather and incense. Coffee undertones. Extremely long and exciting.

96 Points – The Wine Independent
A blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot, the 2017 Dominus is deep garnet-purple in color. It spills from the glass with open-knit scents of fruitcake, blackberry pie, and plum preserves, plus suggestions of Chinese five spice, dusty soil, and unsmoked cigars. The medium to full-bodied palate is chewy with dried berries and earthy layers, finishing firm. (LPB)

93 Points! Powerful and structured, but also blessed with a ton of Amalfi lemon and dried pear character. This is a very strong 2021 dry Pfalz riesling that’s been built for the long term and will repay any and all the patience you put into maturing it. From biodynamically grown grapes. Vegan. Drink or hold.- JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! Employing 15% whole-cluster fermentation, the 2022 Pinot Noir Clow Ridge Vineyard is an exquisite study in elegance and subtle flavor, with floral red fruit and a balanced approach to acidity, sourced from an organically farmed, high-density vineyard on the northwestern edge of the appellation; this is only the second vintage for Drew from this site. Structured to age, it will do well in the cellar for 7-10 years, tasting of earthy dried herb, forest, and mushroom, savory in flavor profile and texture. This is a "wow" wine." - Virginie Boone, JebDunnuck.com

95 Points! Packed with vibrant red fruit flavors on a brilliant texture with great acidity, the wine also shows a touch of richness and plumpness that leads to a lingering finish. Medium-bodied. The raspberry, tart cherry, rhubarb, mint and mineral notes are captivating. Aged in 20% new oak. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! Graceful yet dynamic, with multilayered raspberry and blueberry flavors framed by fresh violet, orange peel and cinnamon as this builds richness and tension toward refined tannins. - Wine Spectator

95 Points! Wonderful aromas of lavender, roses and pure red fruit. The palate is silky and elegant, with mineral tension and flavors of pomegranates and wild berries. Fine tannins, tea and hibiscus in the long, floral finish. Medium-bodied. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! This is very structured and intense with blackberries, currants, walnuts and chocolate. Fresh tobacco as well. Full-bodied, it has lovely fruit and a flavorful finish. A succulent and juicy red. One of the best ever from here. Leave it alone for two or three years. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! Inky black and blue fruit, crushed stone, graphite, and smoky tobacco notes all emerge from the 2022 Château Du Tertre, a rich, powerful wine from this château that has medium to full-bodied richness, ripe, velvety yet building tannins, and a great finish. Based on 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc, 15% Merlot, and the balanced Petit Verdot, it spent 18 months in 60% new barrels. Give bottles 4-6 years and enjoy over the following two decades. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! The 2022 du Tertre has realized the potential it showed from barrel, offering up complex aromas of cassis, plums, pencil shavings and violets, followed by a medium to full-bodied, layered and velvety palate that's rich and textural, with lively acids, powdery tannins and a long, delicately minty finish. It's an unusual blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc, 15% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, which no doubt contributes to its singular style. - William Kelley, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate