Wines

95 Points! An extremely well-aged and understated Rioja, showing discreet complexity with plums, oranges, leather, dusty red berries and minerals. Juicy and bright on the palate with a zesty nature to the berry and orange citrus. Silky, taut tannins and a long yet elegant finish. Lots of finesse here, with almost pinot etherealness. Tempranillo, graciano and mazuelo from selected plots. 36 months aging, with American oak in use, too. Drinkable now, but can hold for another 10 years. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon CCS, fashioned from clones 4 and 337, included for the first time some fruit from the Las Piedres vineyard as well as from the Beckstoffer To-Kalon vineyard. It was aged 20 months in 100% Darnajou barrels and finished at the same alcohol level of 14.5 %. With a dense, purple color that is opaque to the rim, it offers up notes of incense, camphor, toast, black currants and blackberry. This deep, opulent fleshy and forward style of wine seems to have hit full maturity relatively early and has sensational texture, purity and a finish of close to 50 seconds. This is a spectacular wine that should drink well for 15-20 more years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com, 2014

94 Points! The 2004 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is showing beautifully, wafting from the glass with aromas of rich dark berry fruit, cigar wrapper and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with velvety tannins and a seamless, charming profile, it is really beginning to drink with some style. It's one of the wines of the vintage and continues to represent terrific value. - William Kelley, robertparker.com, 2022

94 Points! A real sleeper effort from the Perse family, the 2004 Pavie has a dense, bluish purple color and a wonderful, sweet kiss of blackberry, licorice, spice box and roasted herbs. The wine is rich, deep, full-bodied and absolutely remarkable for the vintage. This is certainly a candidate for one of the wines of the year and seems still relatively youthful and promising. Drink it over the next 20 years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com, 2015

98 Points! From a single 9-acre parcel, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon True Vineyard exhibits extraordinary aromas of acacia flowers and violets along with an irrefutable minerality, an abundance of blueberry and blackberry fruit, outstanding texture, full-bodied richness, great depth, and ripe tannin. This Cabernet will benefit from 4-6 years of cellaring, and should evolve for 40 years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

95+ Points! The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is their finest regular offering to date. This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon possesses a dense, full-bodied personality, an inky/purple color, plenty of graphite, subtle toast, blueberry and blackberry fruit, striking minerality, a layered texture (something Thomas Brown seems to get in all of his wines), and a long finish. It is the kind of Cabernet Sauvignon that seems to pass the torch of quality and greatness from the old boys who started here, but have now been dramatically surpassed in quality by newcomers such as Outpost and nearby neighbor O’Shaughnessy, to name a few. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

95 Points! Named after the famed luxury car, Maybach has none other than Thomas Brown as its winemaker, who produced this debut vintage of 340 cases from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from a single-parcel on the Silverado Trail in the Oakville sector. This is a deadly serious wine, and when compared to the price of a Maybach car, a great value. A beautifully sculptured style of wine with deep purple color, with a sweet nose of creme de cassis, pain grille, spice box, and loamy soil notes, the wine has fabulous intensity, great purity (as one might expect given the winemaker), sweet silky tannins, and a terrific finish of close to 50 seconds. This is a stunning opening salvo from the Maybach family, and a wine that should age easily for 20-25 years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

95 Points! The 2004 Latour is perhaps evolving slower than I expected, although it remains one of the finest Left Bank wines of the vintage. It has that quintessential graphite-scented bouquet intermixed with blackberry and cedar, although the liquorice note that I observed previously has receded. Again, there is wonderful definition. The palate is full-bodied but surprisingly more sultry than I expected, especially here where I was able to directly compare it with the other 2004 First Growths. It delivers the "authority" you expect from Latour, although I might be inclined just to give it another 2-3 years in bottle. Tasted September 2016. - Neal Martin, robertparker.com

97 Points! The Bordeaux-styled reds begin with the 2007 Camaspelo, a blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 8% Cabernet Franc. The already complex aromatics reveal mineral, Asian spices, incense, violets, black currant and black cherry. In the mouth it offers a lovely combination of power and elegance, along with ripe tannins, leading to a lengthy, fruit-filled finish. Give it 4-6 years of additional cellaring and drink it through 2022. - Jay Miller, robertparker.com

98 Points! The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is showing even better than it did last year, which is not unusual when tasting the wines of Todd Anderson and Mac Sawyer. Dense ruby/purple to the rim, with the classic Pauillac-like nose of creme de cassis, cedar wood, a hint of tobacco leaf, and very subtle smoke, the wine displays charcoal and roasted herbs, full-bodied power, wonderfully sweet tannins, and a long, long finish. This is a 20- to 25-year wine that should just get better and better as it ages, but it is accessible enough to drink now. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

96 Points! The 2004 Barolo Riserva Runcot offers up an intriguing array of licorice, tobacco, spices, plums and prunes. The purity of the fruit here is beyond striking, and the wine shows great intensity as well as superb overall balance. The Runcot saw 45 days of maceration on the skins and spent 36 months in 100% new French oak, all of which it has absorbed with impeccable elegance. I imagine the 2004 Runcot will continue to gain weight in bottle, but even if it doesn’t, it is pretty special today. What a beautiful wine! Anticipated maturity: 2014-2029. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

Producer tasting notes: "Monte Real Gran Reserva marks the local expression of the Tempranillo variety. Color Intense cherry red, with a good layer, with subtle tile rims. Direct nose with expression of fruit infused with blackberries, black cranberries, macerated plums, which give way to an explosion of black pepper, clove, which as it oxygenates with time, gives way to the fineness of the roast showing hints of vanilla, chocolate pure black, and a balsamic touch. Juicy on the palate, smooth, fine palate, slightly creamy mid-palate, combined by liquor notes of black cranberries, sweet spices, liquorice. He moves in his run with firm tannins and notable acidity, denotes very spicy and aniseed touches pleasant, accompanied by juiciness and character. The finish is elegant, delicate and marked by the acidity that supports its body, keeps it agile and alive until the end." - Bodegas Riojanas

This is a juicy, spicy wine! The nose shows a little darker and somewhat more confectionary cherry component along with some sweet earth and intertwined mineral tones. In the mouth there is still a surprising vibrance to the dark cherry core with insistent elements of brown spices and mineral, though the mineral notes are more subtle than typical Nuits and perhaps affected by the wine’s inherent ripeness and bottle age. Delicious on opening, it is perhaps a truer test of this wine’s health that it showed little sign of oxidation the following day, shocking given this wine is over a decade and a half old. The color is a clear bright ruby with lighter but still red edges. Complexity, spice, and more bass notes here as befits this village.

97 Points! The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is unlike any wine I have ever tasted from Dunn. Layer after layer of flavor saturates the palate in this opulent, full-throttle Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2007 possesses dazzling textural richness, depth and sheer intensity. Purists may prefer more structured vintages, but for a producer known for such slow maturing wines, the 2007 is a huge pleasure to taste today. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2037. - Antonio Gallonmi, robertparker.com