Wines

94 Points! The Cesari 2015 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Il Bosco delivers on the basic promises of a wine made with the appassimento process. There are plenty of rich, dried fruit layers with fig, prune and raisin. This full-bodied blend of 80% Corvina and 20% Rondinella wraps thickly over the palate, imparting big ripeness, texture and intensity. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

95 Points! From vines that were planted in 1910. This is aromatically similar to the regular cuvée but there is notably more concentration, power and dry extract to the broad-shouldered flavors that pushes the very firm tannic spine to the background on the hugely long, palate coating and driving finish. This opulently full-on effort is a manifestly old school Clos de Vougeot that is not only very much built-to-age but is going to require lots of it. In a word, excellent. - Allen Meadows, Burghound

93 Points! The 2015 Viña Cubillo Tinto Crianza reflects the warmer conditions of the year, and with the riper fruit they picked to produce this wine, they still managed to keep around 13.5% alcohol. The Cubillo vineyard has more clay, and sometimes clay soils take heat better and make the wines fresher than those from poorer soils. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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

94+ Points! This property is owned and managed by the Vauthier family of Château Ausone. The 2015 Moulin Saint-Georges is blended of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, 85% new. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it reveals a gorgeous plum preserves, licorice and blackberry pie-laced nose with touches of cedar chest, cigar box, black olives and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated and very firmly textured with grainy tannins, it has a lively backbone supporting the generous black fruit, finishing with lingering savory notes. Give it a good 5 years or more in bottle and drink it over the next 20+ years.- Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

95 Points! Blackberry, fresh herb, wet earth and tar aromas follow through to a full body, with powerful tannins and density yet an agile and polished, textured finish. Much better than 2014. The second wine of Clos Apalta. Try it in 2021. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! This wine has a very youthful color and seems to be close to full maturity, without the density of the 1998, or its successor, the perfect 2000. It has abundant foresty notes, plenty of spice box, blackcurrant and black cherry fruit, some background toasty oak, medium to full body and sweet tannin. A very delicious wine, it offers a complex and fragrant style. It should be drunk over the next 12-15 years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com, 2015

95 Points! The 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Herb Lamb Vineyard is performing significantly better out of bottle than it did from cask. This 200-case cuvee spent 26 months in oak. Its opaque purple color is followed by a gorgeous perfume of graphite, creme de cassis, and licorice, and full-bodied, layered, concentrated flavors with superb balance and density. Surprisingly sweet tannin as well as an explosive finish have developed over the last year. - Robert Parker. robertparker.com, 2002

95 Points! A wine with purity and integration, offering black-cherry, blueberry and orange-peel aromas and flavors. Hot stone, too. Full-bodied and very tight with integrated tannins that go on. Needs time to show it all. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! This red is opulent and bursting with cherry, raspberry, rose and earth flavors, and an underlying spiciness from the new oak. Harmonious and long, refined tannins detail the finish. Best from 2023 through 2043. - Wine Spectator

98 Points! The 2015 Cristal is a blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay. No malo-lactic was employed, and 25% wine was aged in oak. The dosage is 7 grams per liter. An exquisitely delicate yet complex perfume of clover honey, freshly shaved ginger, marzipan, and jasmine slowly emerges from the nose, giving way to a core of pear tart, persimmons, and apple butter. The palate is an exercise in finesse, featuring very fine bubbles and fantastic intensity with a myriad of spice and floral nuances, finishing with impressive persistence and jaw-dropping poise. This is a style for those that embrace purity, soft-spoken expression, and impeccable crafting. It won't disappoint those who love Champagne in its initial youthful perfume flushes, yet will undoubtedly reward the patient with a richer, toastier, more obvious and opulent style with 5-10 years+ of cellaring. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

97 Points! For the warm and dry vintage this has tremendous freshness and elegance. The complex nose of citrus blossom, mint, lemon and lime zest opens up slowly as this aerates in the glass. The wine’s ample structure is still quite firm, which is a vintage characteristic, the mousse very fine but also very lively for an eight-year-old champagne. Cristal fans will love this as it is, but a year or two more in the bottle will do a lot for the very long mineral finish of this youthful masterpiece. A cuvee of 60% pinot noir and 40% chardonnay, picked from all 45 Cristal vineyard plots. Tasted at the Cristal vertical tasting at the champagne house on July 6th, 2023. Drink from release. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! This is very minerally and stony, with chalk and salt and oyster-shell undertones. It’s full-bodied and layered, yet remains intense with a lively finish. Done dry. Umami. No dosage. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Field blend from a single plot in Cumieres. Better in a few years. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! The 2015 Champagne Starck Brut Nature is forward with vinous and spicy aromas of saline and red currant, orange blossom, and smoke. It is expansive on the palate while maintaining a core of fresh acidity, with peach, dried flowers, and wet stone. This complex and unique expression is full of energy and has great gastronomic appeal. Drink 2022-2040. - Jeb Dunnuck

96 Points! A great 2015 vintage champagne! Super-elegant synthesis of pinot noir and chardonnay character with a dazzling interplay of complex red apple, citrus and delicate floral aromas with racy acidity and chalky minerality, that is animating for mind and body. Unusually graceful finish for the vintage. 70% pinot noir from Verzy, the highest point of the Montagne de Reims, that’s also very close to the forest. 30% chardonnay from Chouilly, another rather cool location. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! The 2015 Blanc de Blancs is a fabulous choice for drinking now and over the next decade or so. Soft and creamy, the 2015 is immediately caressing in its embrace. Citrus confit, white flowers, spice and a hint of pastry all meld together. There is something effortless about the 2015 that is hard to describe. The 2015 is not the last word in complexity, but it is supremely delicious. Terrific for the year. Dosage is 8 grams per liter. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

94 Points! Fragrant, with wafts of lime blossoms and exotic cardamom, anise and saffron spices, this weaves a firm streak of racy acidity with a satiny texture and finely detailed notes of crushed blackberry, ripe yellow peach, blanched almond and a crackle of fleur de sel, which lingers on the lively, lasting finish. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Disgorged March 2022. Best from 2025 through 2033. - Wine Spectator

94+ Points! The swan song vintage of this cuvée, Doyard's 2015 Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru mingles aromas of citrus oil with notions of buttery pastry, dried white flowers and warm biscuits. Medium to full-bodied, layered and structured, with chalky dry extract and lively acids, it's a taut, compact wine that will require a bit of bottle age to unwind. - William Kelley, robertparker.com