Wines

93 Points! A wild and exotic white with pineapple and cooked-pear character that turns to baked pears as well. Full-bodied, dense and layered. 70 per cent semillon and 30 per cent sauvignon. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! A textbook example of excellent dry white in 2023: you get the sumptuousness of ripe Sémillon with nectarine juiciness and the verve and citrus punch, in this case kiwi, from the Sauvignon Blanc. No malolactic fermentation to maintain acidity, given the summer heatwaves, and voilà. This wine also has some classy pear on the finish, but above all a juicy mid palate. - Decanter Magazine

93 Points! A timid nose of pears, grapefruit and nectarines with stony austerity. The medium- to full-bodied palate shows precise texture and a growing saline note that adds complexity, turning incisive yet textural. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points – Georgina Hindle, Decanter
“A great Pomerol in the making. Really floral and so perfumed with violets and iris notes. Juicy and bright with strawberry and red cherry, the acidity up front while the fine tannins gently coat the sides of the mouth in a chalky powderiness. Monumental precision and freshness.”

96 Points – Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux
“Packed full of muscular tannins, each strand feeling luscious and silky, deep intense fruit, this is Pomerol at its heart, black chocolate, cocoa bean, olive tapenade, red rose petals, creamy blueberry fruits.”

95–97 Points – Jeb Dunnuck
“A Merlot-heavy blend of 78% Merlot and 22% Cabernet Franc, the 2025 Clos Du Clocher has a brilliant nose of juicy red and blue fruits with notable complexity in its spicy wood, flowers, and graphite-like nuances. Rich and medium to full-bodied, with wonderfully polished tannins and a great finish.”

94–96 Points – Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider
“The intense floral aromatics promise to capture your attention. The palate is silky, vibrant, and fresh with lift and refinement to all the sweet red berries and pit fruits. The finish is refined, long, and lifted.”

94–96 Points – Lisa Perrotti-Brown
“The 2025 Clos du Clocher bursts with vivacious notes of juicy black plums and boysenberry preserves, opening out to reveal hints of crushed rocks, tapenade, and espresso. Very bright, shimmery Pomerol and a real head-turner.”

100 Points! I’ve never before smelled a wine like this. The captivating aromas are amazing, with lavender, sage, dried potpourri, blackberries, tar, pepper and black licorice. Full-bodied with super tannins that fan out and caress the palate. It’s ethereal and endless. A pure syrah from the owners of Clos Apalta, from unique mountain vineyards. Just over 6,000 bottles made. Try to give this four or five years of bottle age. Best after 2028. - JamesSuckling.com

100 Points! Starting off a trio of truly magical wines, the 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape La Combe Des Fous checks in as 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah, and the rest Vaccarèse and Cinsault raised in tank and demi-muids. Sensationally pure cassis and blackberry fruits as well as complex notes of lavender, Provençal garrigue, ground pepper, and flowers all define this full-bodied 2019, which displays the vintage’s ripe, perfumed style while bringing more finesse, elegant, and purity than just about every other wine out there. It’s the finest vintage of this cuvée I’ve tasted and has another 15-20 years of prime drinking ahead of it. - Jeb Dunnuck

92-94 Points! The 2023 Le C du Sec du Château Closiot, a 100% Sémillon wine that underwent malolactic fermentation and matured in one-quarter new barrels, reveals aromas of ripe orchard fruits, baked pear, vanilla pod, white fruits, lemon and spices. It is medium to full-bodied, with a textural and layered palate that includes a fleshy core of fruit, bright acids and a deep, concentrated mid-palate, concluding with a long, chalky and tense finish. Crafted by Jean-Marie Guffens, this promising wine offers a broad drinking window, indicating its potential for both immediate enjoyment and aging. - Yohan Castaing, robertparker.com

93 Points! Sleek yet well-structured, with expressive flavors of raspberry and pomegranate accented by crushed stone, rose petal and black tea as this builds tension and polish toward refined tannins. - Wine Spectator

93 Points! Perfumed nose of red currants, sour cherries, frozen raspberries, crushed stone and wild herbs. Medium-bodied with bright acidity. Precise, agile and seductive, with a vibrant core of succulent berries and a lift of white pepper toward the persistent finish. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Cristiano Garella turned out a compelling set of wines at Colombera & Garella. These wines offer a fascinating and contemporary look at Alto Piemonte. "Our Lessona comes from a parcel that would have never ripened in the 1970s," Garella told me. "Today, that cooler exposure is a positive." The wines are fermented in cement and/or steel and then aged in cask tailored to the size of production, with no fining or filtration. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

This wine literally tastes like summer, bright, sunny, quenching. A blend of Vermentino (Rolle), Clairette and Sauvignon.

93 Points! Based on 65% Rolle, 20% Sauvignon Blanc, and 15% Clairette fermented in stainless steel and kept on the fine lees for five months, the 2025 Coteaux D'Aix En Provence Blanc reveals white peach, white currants, and citrus-like fruits intermixed with salty minerality and white flowers on the nose. It's medium-bodied, vibrant, fresh, and focused on the palate, with clean acidity and a great finish. It's a serious, brilliant white from this producer that's going to absolutely shine on the dinner table. Drink bottles over the coming 2-3 years, although I wouldn't be surprised to see it keep longer. - Jeb Dunnuck

93-95 Points! The 2020 Volnay 1er Cru Les Santenots-du-Milieu is excellent, wafting from the glass with a deep bouquet of wild berries, plums and cassis mingled with hints of spices, grilled meats and rose petals. Medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, it's deep and tightly wound, with powdery structuring tannins and lively acids. This is a serious Santenots that will require some bottle age, and it's among the best that I can remember tasting chez Lafon over the last decade. - William Kelley, robertparker.com

93 Points! Plum pastries with violets and spiced blueberry fruits. The palate has
impressive plushness and rich, fleshy appeal. Long finish. Try from 2022. - JamesSuckling.com 

93 Points! From a 13-hectare estate located north and slightly west of the village of
Saint-Emilion, the 2015 Château Corbin is mostly Merlot blended with 17% Cabernet Franc, all of which comes from sandier, clay soils. It offers ample notes of ripe cherries, strawberries, dried herbs and bouquet garni, with a beautiful floral quality developing with time in the glass. - Jeb Dunnuck

92 Points! A blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc aged for 18 months in barrels, 40% new, the 2015 Corbin is medium garnet-purple colored with cigar box and spice box notions accenting the core of red and black plums, blackberry preserves and earthy layers plus a hint of lavender. The palate is medium to full-bodied, firm, elegant and well balanced with grainy tannins, finishing lively and long. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, robertparker.com

93 Points! A new cellar at Annabelle Corbin's estate for the 2016 vintage allowed for greater precision in the delivery. There's a clear roundness to the cherry, loganberry and juicy cassis fruits here. The 50% new oak is present, offering charred and tarred flavours that aren't subtle but full of life. It's well constructed, supporting the fruit through the palate. A great life ahead. - Decanter Magazine

93 Points! Brimming with blackberries, supple tannins and lively acidity, this is an immediately attractive St.-Emilion that’s easy to enjoy with food now, but has the structure to age for some years. - JamesSuckling.com

93+ Points! Blended of 89% Merlot and 11% Cabernet Franc aged in 50% new and 33% one-year-old French oak for 18 months, the medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2016 Corbin has quite a meaty nose with smoked meats and beef drippings over a core of black plum preserves with hints of bay leaves and garrigue. The palate is medium to full-bodied, firm and grainy with a great core of muscular fruit and an earthy finish. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, robertparker.com

From the winery: Radian Vineyard is the most southern and westerly vineyard in the Sta Rita Hills AVA, and it is perhaps the coolest vineyard we work with, being battered by cool winds off the Pacific Ocean year round. In 2022 Radian Vineyard fully embodies the characteristics of the vintage demonstrating its extreme climate through its texture - rustic, deep, and brooding (for Pinot at least). However, Radian always shows off its finesse through the nose. Think of red fruits, florals, and cedar.

97 Points! Dried tropical fruits like mangoes and green papaya, with lemons and green apples. Limes, too. Full-bodied yet tight and compacted with great length and persistence. Muscular yet fresh. 66% sauvignon blanc and 34% semillon. Drinkable but needs five or six years to soften. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

96 Points! Ripe and expressive on the nose, aromatically complex with notes of carmalised lemons, honey, peach and wet stones. Clarity and precision from the start, such a well defined palate with striking high acidity, crisp and sharp citrus fruits and a salty undertone. Soft spicing comes in towards the finish suggesting this needs more time and will have a long life ahead but the nuanced bitterness, freshness and lift are all so appealing. Excellent weight and balance too with a bright and long finished - a gourmet style with plenty to like. - Decanter Magazine

96 Points!  The 2020 Château Cos D'Estournel Blanc, a blend of 66% Sauvignon Blanc and 34% Semillon, brings another level of density as well as complexity. Honeyed pineapple, melon, crushed stone, and spicy, savory herbs notes all define the aromatics, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a beautifully layered, elegant mouthfeel and a great finish. It's a gem of a white and ranks with the crème de la crème of the vintage. It should keep for 10-15 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

96 Points! This stands out for its structure, subtle power, balance and finesse. Perfumed and softly sweet on the nose, ripe and concentrated, glorious and inviting. Creamy and chalky at the same time, lovely texture and density with bright and concentrated strawberry and red cherry fruit. Crisp, sweet, salty and sour, a lovely combination of flavours and textures with great drive and an undercurrent of minerality and salty wet stone finish – real St-Estèphe signature. - Decanter Magazine

95 Points! Floral aromas with violets, lavender and currants. Lead pencil, too. Medium-bodied, with fine tannins that caress and please. Elegant and sophisticated. Linear line of tannins running through this. Needs two or three years to soften. Hold for now. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The 2019 Couhins is rich and textured right out of the gate.  Plum, blood orange, spice, new leather and licorice infuse the 2019 with quite a bit of character. Firm tannins wrap it all together, finishing real depth and density. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

93 Points! Very pretty blueberry and chocolate with some walnut and bark undertones. Pretty, pure fruit here. Medium to full body with creamy, polished tannins and a flavorful finish. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! Quivering with fragrant florals, fresh orchard fruits and passionfruit nuance that enrobes the soft, succulence of the palate. Expressive and complex with a fine seam of grapefruit acidity that carries the finely-tuned aromas to the finish. - Decanter World Wine Awards

93 Points! Intense Key lime, lemongrass and pear flavors are fleshy, bright and precise in this white, showing details of tangerine, kiwifruit and grapefruit, with sleek notes of saline and green tea, plus a hint of white pepper on a mouthwatering frame. - Wine Spectator

96 Points! The nose is very savory, earthy and botanical, with red roses, sandstone and minerals. The palate is dense and concentrated, with fresh, pure fruit flavors. Full-bodied and structured with a long finish. This is drinkable now but built to age. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! This is the 30th Anniversary bottling of the wine known colloquially as Mt Jeff, with fruit from four of the five Cristom estate vineyards, with only Marjorie not playing a role in this bottling. Pure Willamette character on the nose, with forest floor, tart cranberries, and mint leaves, is balanced by a kiss of sea salt. The palate is a melange of juicy red berries, salty mineral glimpses, and savoury amaro herbals. A classic, after all these years. - Decanter Magazine

93 Points! Dynamic and sinewy in structure but framed by handsome flavors of black cherry and raspberry that are accented with black tea and forest floor. Finishes with refined tannins. - Wine Spectator

96 Points! The 2019 Château Croix De Labrie is gorgeous and jumps out in the vintage. Almost all Merlot brought up in new barrels, it offers a beautiful bouquet of red and black currants, spicy oak, dried herbs, and flowers, with a beautiful loamy earth and chalky minerality emerging with time in the glass. With remarkable purity and finesse, it's full-bodied, has a great mid-palate, silky tannins, and a great finish. It could be drunk today with a decant but will ideally be given 4-5 years of bottle age. I suspect it will have 20-25 years of overall longevity. - Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com

98 Points! Fabulous aromas of blackberries, blueberries, pine needles and spices, such as nutmeg and allspice. White pepper, too. Full-bodied and very tight with a solid core of fruit and ultra-fine yet powerful tannins. It’s got so much energy and drive. Vibrant at every level. Precise and not overpowering, yet so structured. 97% merlot and 3% cabernet sauvignon. Made from biodynamically grown grapes. This needs time to soften. Try after 2026. - James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com