France

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

98 Points!  A linear and transparent red with violets and dark fruits with sliced tangerines. Full- to medium-bodied with firm and racy tannins. Brightness and energy. Hints of chocolate and malted milk. Lovely purity to it. Drink after 2026 and onwards. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

99 Points!  The 2020 L'Eglise-Clinet, made from 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, is deep garnet-purple in color. It opens with wonderfully fragrant notes of violets, dark chocolate, aniseed, and forest floor, leading to a core of preserved plums and black cherry preserves, plus a touch of cast-iron pan. The medium to full-bodied palate explodes with tons of juicy black fruit layers, supported by velvety tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long with a whole array of baking spice, black berry, and minerally accents. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

97+ Points!  I loved the 2020 Château Pape Clément, and this beauty is up there with the top wines in Pessac. Checking in as equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, aged 18 months in 90% barrels and 10% in foudre, it offers a deep purple hue to go with a powerful, concentrated profile displaying both red and black fruits, lots of spicy, chocolate, flowery incense nuances, full-bodied richness, and an almost salty, bloody character on the finish. This beauty shows the concentrated yet utterly classic, focused, elegant style of the vintage and has so much to love. It's going to be even better with 4-6 years of bottle age and will see its 30th birthday in fine form. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com

98 Points!  Lots of blackberry, iodine and crushed stone here. Some black pepper and graphite, too. Full body and medium, fine tannins that have a powdery texture and open in the mouth. So much going on. Iodine and iron undertones with some raw mushroom bring you back for more. Muscular. This is for the cellar. Drink after 2027. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

99 Points!  A blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, the 2020 Larcis Ducasse is deep garnet-purple colored. The nose is still a touch locked down after the recent bottling, slowly unfurling to offer up notes of crushed black cherries, juicy black plums, and wild blueberries, with an emerging undercurrent of dark chocolate, licorice, tar, and sassafras, plus an earthy touch of damp soil and moss-coated tree bark. The full-bodied palate has jaw-dropping seamlessness with wonderfully fine-grained tannins and beautiful freshness lifting the densely laden black and blue fruit to a very long, achingly perfumed finish. This stunning wine was tasted on three different occasions with consistent results. Although this is tantalizingly delicious right now, thanks largely to those plush, densely pixilated tannins, if you're looking for that next-level experience that comes with tertiary development, try not to touch it for 7-10 years, then enjoy it over the following 40 years+. -  Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

99 Points!  The Grand Vin comes from a tiny 11.15-hectare vineyard that has been in the Gratiot family since 1893. Located on the south-facing Côte Pavie, between Château Pavie and Château Bellefont-Belcier and consisting of clay on top of limestone soils, the vineyard has recently been going through a replanted phase using a selection massale and a higher density planting. The grapes are hand-sorted, vinification occurs all in concrete and spans four weeks, with the élevage in 50% new French oak. A normal blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, the 2020 Château Larcis Ducasse reminds me of the 2005 and is up with the top handful of wines on the Right Bank. It has a brilliant perfume of red and black fruits, white truffle, leafy tobacco, and Asian spices. This carries to a full-bodied, concentrated, powerful Larcis-Ducasse with ultra-fine yet building tannins, perfect balance, a stacked mid-palate, and one heck of a great finish. It's going to flirt with perfection in 7-8 years (I'm probably underrating it a point) and have 30 years of overall longevity. Tasted numerous times with consistent results. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com

99 Points! Very classy and refined with subtle complexity and linear structure. Floral and perfumed. Medium- to full-bodied. Fine velvety tannins and a bright finish. Racy and fine. Really intense. Juniper and fresh sage. Bitter lemon. Botanicals. Bright. 88% merlot and 12% cabernet franc. Drink or hold. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

98 Points!  Glamour and seduction in spades at L'Evangile giving classic Pomerol typicity with a kick. Floral and expressive on the nose with pink and purple flowers, pink peppercorns, white and dark chocolate, raspberries and black cherries. Gorgeous texture on the palate, rich, deep, potent in the weight and tannic frame - chalky, ripe, mouthfilling, gently chewy giving bounce to the blackcurrant, plum, strawberry and cherry fruit while the minerality and salinity give a cool, fresh undercurrent. Clearly youthful and strict but such long length, really direct and focussed. Sleek yet muscular, everything feels precise and sculpted with a lingering clove and cinnamon edge giving the angles and tension right now. Clean and straight with precision, shape and style, tons of energy and juiciness. A great wine. - Decanter Magazine

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

100 Points! Although it emerges from a similar terroir and the same winemaking team, the 2018 Château La Mission Haut-Brion is a dramatically different wine than the Haut-Brion and has a more concentrated, dense, powerful style that is all potential at this point. Dense purple-hued, with lots of crème de cassis, black cherries, smoked meats, lead pencil, graphite, and crushed stone aromatics, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a concentrated mid-palate, masses of ripe tannins, integrated acidity, and one hell of a finish. This blockbuster, backward, monster of a La Mission Haut-Brion needs to be forgotten for a good decade (or more) but is going to be just about immortal. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com

99 Points! The 2018 La Mission Haut-Brion is a blend of 53.5% Merlot, 42.9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3.6% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, it emerges from the glass with a first wave of stewed black and red plums, mulberries and black raspberries scents, followed by pronounced notions of warm cassis, clove oil, violets and chocolate box, with hints of cast-iron pan, pencil lead and forest floor coming through after a few minutes. The medium to full-bodied palate shimmers with energy, delivering layers of red and black fruits with earthy and mineral sparks and a texture so satiny you need to remember to look for it, finishing with amazing vibrancy. This is so wonderfully evocative and singular, and yet it feels like its holding something back. It makes for an impressive glass right now, but give it a good 5 years in bottle to allow further nuances to emerge and expect it to seriously reward those who can wait a good 12-15 years, when it should really hit its stride. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

98 Points! The Grand Vin 2018 Château Haut-Bailly checks in as 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. It spent 18 months in 60% new French oak. This is a beautiful, classic expression of this terroir, and its dense purple hue is followed by gorgeous black cherry and cassis fruits interwoven with ample tobacco leaf, cedary herbs, earth, truffle, and floral nuances. While 2018 was a hot, dry year (at the end of the season anyway), this shows a mix of cooler-climate, vibrant aromatics paired with a rich, concentrated, fresh style on the palate. It has plenty of tannins, flawless balance, and a great finish. A beautiful, elegant 2018, it's going to need 5-7 years of bottle age and keep for 3-4 decades. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com

99 Points!  Complex and expressive nose, offering red and dark fruit, spices and pepper with wood and mushroom undertones. Fresh mussel shell and a hint of ink, too. Full-bodied with a fine texture and great balance between the acidity and the controlled, tannic structure. Very long finish. Goes on and on. Tiny production, 21 hectoliters per hectare. Try after 2025. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com Learn More

97+ Points! Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2018 La Mondotte strolls nonchalantly out of the glass with expressive scents of plum preserves, blueberry compote and chocolate-covered cherries, followed by suggestions of candied violets, licorice, hoisin and black truffles with a waft of ground cloves. It's medium to full-bodied with seriously impressive tension and wonderfully ripe, velvety tannins supporting the generous black fruit preserves layers, finishing with amazing length and loads of panache. It will require a good 4-5 years to unlock some of its finer nuances, then drink this powerhouse over the next 25+ years. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, robertparker.com

98 Points! Blackberry, plum, mushroom and wood undertones. It’s full-bodied with firm, ripe tannins. Savory and fleshy texture on the palate. Well balanced. Flavorful finish with length. Such polish and composure for a young wine. So classy! Try after 2026. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

100 Points! The 2018 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a rock star of a wine and is based on a unique blend of 37% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 29% Merlot that was brought up in 80% new French oak. Offering a deep ruby/purple color as well as a thrilling bouquet of blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, chocolate, violets, damp earth, and truffle, it hits the palate with a full-bodied yet almost understated, building style that carries ripe, supple tannins, gorgeous amounts of smoky black fruits, and an endearing, layered, multi-dimensional texture that keeps you coming back to the glass. A dead ringer for a great vintage of Haut-Brion, it is far from unapproachable today yet needs 7-8 years of bottle age for the fireworks to develop and will have 50-years or more of longevity! Hats off to Guillaume Pouthier for a magical, seamless, singular beauty! - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com

98 Points!  Even without knowing any of the story behind the bottle, you would be hard-pressed to pass this wine by. It has obvious intensity but as you sit with it the softness and approachability of the tannins becomes apparent, helped by the inviting floral edge to the nose, adding peony and violet lift. The black fruits running through the palate are tight but silky and seductive - this has a higher Cab count than usual because the Merlots were more affected by the challenges of the vintage. The palate pulses, switching between richness and delicacy, feeling expertly handled. You get the feeling that you can relax - they've got everything covered! It will inevitably close down in a few years, but until then you could almost go for it with a good carafe. - Decanter

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

100 Points! The 2020 Angelus is a blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc, with the tiniest splash of Petit Verdot. It has a deep garnet-purple color and needs considerable swirling and patience to release a whole array of red and black fruit scents - kirsch, raspberry coulis, blackberry preserves and mulberries - followed by hints of violets, molten licorice, tar, sassafras, and black truffles. The medium to full-bodied palate is pure energy, featuring a firm backbone of exquisitely ripe, fine-grained tannins and compelling tension to support the very tightly knit layers, finishing very long with a whole firework display of mineral and floral sparks. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

99 Points! Blackberry and plum character with chocolate, too. Oyster shell. Full and very firm with a linear sensibility. Tight and powerful. Very pure fruit. Tension and energy there. Polished tannins. Some coffee bean and chocolate. Give this at least five or six years. 60% merlot and 40% cabernet franc. Try after 2028. - JamesSuckling.com

98 Points! This is a glorious 2020 with such pure fruit of currants and blackberries, as well as dark chocolate. It’s full and layered and opens in the glass to a lovely layer of fine, velvety tannins that are bright and citrusy. Crunchy. It really opens and shows so many layers. Spectacular. Drink after 2027. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

97+ Points! The Grand Vin 2020 Château Croix De Labrie is brilliant and the finest wine I've tasted from this estate. Dense purple-hued, with a liqueur of limestone-like minerality intermixed with ripe black cherries, boysenberry, spring flowers, and graphite, it's full-bodied, has a wealth of fruit and texture, sweet tannins, and remarkable purity. Its oak is perfectly integrated, and it brings richness as well as an incredible sense of precision and purity. This brilliant Saint-Emilion will be drinkable in just 3-4 years and will evolve for two decades. Tasted twice with consistent notes. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com

100 Points! The wine of the vintage in Saint-Julien, if not all of the Médoc, the 2019 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is based on 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot, aged in 100% new French oak, that hit a natural alcohol of 14.2% with a monster IPT (number of tannins) of 88. It's certainly one of the most concentrated Saint-Juliens, revealing a dense purple hue to go with a stacked bouquet of crème de cassis, freshly sharpened pencils, damp clay, tobacco, and hints of spring flowers. Concentrated, full-bodied, and powerful, it has incredible tannins, flawless balance, and a gorgeous finish. While most estates today are playing it safe and producing more ethereal, elegant wines that drink well right out of the gate, thankfully, this estate continues to make concentrated, powerful, age-worthy wines, and this heavenly beauty is as good as it gets! It will need a decade of bottle age to hit the early stages of maturity and will evolve for 50 years or more. Bravo to Bruno Borie! - Jeb Dunnuck

99+ Points! The 2019 Ducru-Beaucaillou is composed of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it slowly grows and unfurls on the nose to reveal notions of smoked meats, black truffles, licorice, and crushed rocks with a core of creme de cassis, blueberry preserves, candied violets, and cedar chest, plus an exotic waft of cumin seed. Medium to full-bodied, firm, and grainy, the palate has layer upon layer of tightly packed black fruits and earthy accents, finishing with epic length and a provocative spiciness. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

98 Points! One of my favorite wines (although it's hard to find), La Violette makes a rich, sexy, yet always elegant and seamless style of Pomerol. Their 2019 Château La Violette is deep purple-hued and offers an incredible perfume of blue fruits, iron, tobacco, spice box, flowers, and loamy earth. Full-bodied on the palate, it shows the pure, elegant style of the vintage, has beautiful tannins, perfect balance, and a great, great finish. There's lots of creamy background oak that needs time to integrate, but this is another remarkable release from this team. Give it a few years and enjoy over the following 20-25. - Jeb Dunnuck

95 Points! The 2019 La Violette offers typical ravishing scents of blueberry, crème de cassis and violet (of course), modern yet irresistible and well-defined, and better than in previous years. The palate is medium-bodied, fleshy yet balanced, with supple tannins, copious, lightly spiced red fruit and a pure, concentrated finish. A delicious Pomerol that offers hedonic pleasure. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

99 Points! The 2019 Château Pavie is another beauty that offers more density and sexiness than just about every other wine in the vintage, yet it is still an unnecessarily restrained expression of this terroir, which is the fad in Bordeaux these days. Based on 50% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Franc, and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon that was brought up in 80% new French oak, this deep purple-hued effort has a great bouquet of ripe black cherries, darker currants, tobacco leaf, violets, and graphite, with a beautiful sense of minerality and salinity on the palate. Full-bodied, concentrated, and powerful, it has plenty of background oak, a deep, layered mid-palate, terrific tannins, and a great finish. It shows the more understated, elegant style of the vintage yet is still pure Pavie. Hide bottles for 5-7 years and enjoy over the following 30+. - Jeb Dunnuck

99 Points! Pavie has finally reached its replanting goal, and the 2019 Pavie is a blend of 50% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Franc, and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet-purple colored, it needs a little swirling before it tumbles effortlessly out of the glass with vibrant notes of cassis, fresh, ripe plums, crushed blackberries, and violets, plus suggestions of menthol, mossy tree bark, crushed rocks, and cumin seed. Full-bodied, it has a rock-solid frame of super-firm, grainy tannins and a racy backbone cutting through the densely layered black fruits, finishing with epic length and minerality. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

99 Points! A true wow wine, the deep, concentrated 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Hauts-Lieux (there's 20% Mourvèdre) offers awesome notes of blackcurrants, smoked meats, graphite, crushed rocks, and licorice. Extraordinarily concentrated, perfectly balanced, structured, and long, it's another sensational wine from this estate. - Jeb Dunnuck

100 Points! One of the wines of the vintage is the 2018 Château Pavie, and Gérard Perse continues to produce one of the greatest wines in the world, in just about every vintage. Based on 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2018 shows the slightly more restrained style of the estate today yet still brings classic Pavie richness, depth, and grandeur. Revealing a deep purple color as well as a sensational bouquet of crème de cassis, damp earth, tobacco, chalk, and lead pencil shavings, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, incredible purity, a dense, concentrated mid-palate, and a liqueur of rocks-like sense of minerality on the blockbuster finish. There's a backward, inward style here that actually reminds me of the 2000. This is another magical, probably immortal wine from this terroir that marries power with elegance perfectly. Don't miss it! - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com

99 Points! The 2018 Pavie is a blend of 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine has a 3.58 pH and 14.48% alcohol. Very deep garnet-purple in color, it bursts from the glass with a fabulously expressive nose of crème de cassis, baked plums and blueberry preserves, leading to an impressive array of nuances, featuring notions of dark chocolate, camphor, licorice, rose petals and fertile loam, plus hints of crushed rocks and iron ore. The rich, full-bodied palate offers layer upon layer of opulent black and blue fruits with loads of exotic spice sparks and pretty floral and mineral accents, supported by firm, super plush tannins and remarkable tension, finishing with epic length and depth. This could only be Pavie. It makes for a seductively stylish glass now, but patience will be rewarded if it is afforded 5-7 years in bottle, at least, then drink it over the next 30+ years. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate