Bordeaux

ETA: Early Winter 2026

Jeb Dunnuck, 96 Points A blockbuster of a Les Forts. Deep ruby/plum hue followed by textbook Latour notes of currants, melted crayon, graphite, and lead pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, dense, and concentrated on the palate, with a powerful structured mouthfeel, remarkable purity, perfectly ripe tannins, and a great, great finish. It might be the finest Les Forts I've tasted. Hitting 13.1% alcohol, it's approachable today yet has another 30 years of longevity. Drink 2026-2056.

James Suckling, 96 Points Blue fruits and lead pencil come through here. Medium to full body. Firm and silky tannins and a crisp and citrusy finish. Nice zest. Floral and fruity. Al dente fruit. Needs four or five years to show its excellence. Try after 2028.

Antonio Galloni, Vinous, 95 Points The 2020 Les Forts de Latour is superb. Hints of gravel, dried herbs, game and licorice weave through a core of dark red/purplish fruit. Spice, cedar and sweet pipe tobacco follow. The purity of the flavors is just striking. Initially a touch reticent, the 2020 fleshes out beautifully with a bit of air. I would give this at least another year or two in bottle. A magnificent Forts de Latour.

100 Points! Rose petals, sandalwood and currants with some plums and fruit tea. Full-bodied, tight and focused. Incredibly straight and minerally. Toned muscles here. Tannic. Traditional and unwavering. Try in 2024. - James Suckling

95 Points! Honey, apple tart and lemon rind. Full-bodied, medium-sweet and very spicy with intense flavors of mace, apple and honey. Long finish. Thick and powerful. - Wine Spectator

92 Points! Plenty of savory fruit with tobacco and chocolate. Medium body. Creamy, fine texture. Juicy and delicious already. Blend of 52.5% cabernet sauvignon, 44% merlot, 2.5% petit verdot and 1% cabernet franc. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! The 2019 Faugères is one of the most elegant wines I have ever tasted from Silvio Denz's Saint-Émilion estate. Silky, aromatic and super-expressive, Faugères is absolutely exquisite. Crushed red berry fruit, mint, dried flowers and cinnamon are some of the many nuances that open in the glass. There is plenty of the textural richness readers have come to expect over the years, but the 2019 is less over the top than some previous vintages. And that's a good thing. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

95 Points! A full-bodied red with fine tannins and plenty of plum, milk-chocolate and walnut aromas and flavors. It’s creamy and attractively textured. Rather flamboyant for the vintage. Generous and formed. - JamesSuckling.com

95+ Points! The 2020 Ferrière is a powerhouse. Gravel, scorched earth, licorice, cloves, lavender and inky dark fruit saturate the palate. A virile, potent wine, Ferrière shows the more virile side of Margaux off to great effect. Readers will find a wine of tremendous gravitas. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous 

95 Points! Complex aromas of crushed berries, walnuts, wet earth and spice follow through to a full to medium body, chewy yet juicy tannins and a savory finish. This needs time to soften but I like the character and intensity. 68% cabernet, 27% merlot, 3% petit verdot and 2% cabernet franc. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Drink after 2025. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! Seductive fragrance on the nose, perfumed, clean and pure. Rich yet direct too, I like the sleekness with clarity, energy and a vibrancy to the dark fruits edged with clove and liquorice. Tannins are firm and grippy, taking hold of the palate, showing off the muscular side. Feels well made with a full body and persistence from start to finish. Nicely approachable. - Decanter Magazine

92 Points! This is absolutely ready to drink now, showing some lovely perfume that runs through the extremely well balanced palate. It's one of the few that was hard to spit out because the juice grabs you right from the first attack, but it's not in any way a blockbuster. Enjoy this with simple food, don't crowd the flavours, as this is delicacy personified. A great second wine for lovers of gentle elegance, this tiptoes along nicely. - Decanter Magazine, 2017

94-95 Points! A tangy and bright white with sliced lemon and light mango, as well as crushed stone and vivid energy. Medium body with a solid core of fruit and a long, flavorful finish. Purity and energy. 100% sauvignon blanc. - JamesSuckling.com

100 Points! Very aromatic, with a real airy quality of jasmine, lilacs, crushed stone, pear skin and apple, as well as some citrus. Full-bodied and dense with a creamy, phenolic texture that lasts for minutes at the end. Structured like a red wine. Reserved, compact and intense, and holding back for the future. Drink after 2028 and onwards. - JamesSuckling.com

97-98 Points! This shows real precision and sophistication. Tight and dense palate that is concentrated but not heavy, with intensity and minerality. Sea salt and white pepper at the end. This is really at the top level of dry white Bordeaux now. 70% sauvignon blanc and 30% semillon. - JamesSuckling.com

95-97 Points! The 2023 Château Cos D'Estournel Blanc includes slightly more Semillon and checks in as 70% Sauvignon and 30% Semillon, raised in just 7% new French oak, with the rest in once-used barrels. A selection made mostly in the cellar, it has a vivid gold hue as well as a stunning nose of ripe lemon, honeyed flowers, mint, crushed stone, and subtle hints of toast. Gorgeously textured, medium to full-bodied, and balanced, with the bright, almost racy acidity of the vintage, it's pure class. - Jeb Dunnuck

95 Points! The brightness and transparency of the aromas are impressive, with fresh flowers, blue fruit, crushed stones, lavender and orange blossoms. Medium-bodied, with a tight and focused palate of linear and integrated tannins. Fresh and tangy. Vivid at the end. A unique expression of the vintage and St. Emilion, with so much crunchy fruit. 68.2% merlot, 31.3% cabernet franc and 0.5% malbec. - James Suckling

100 Points! The 2016 Pavie a blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc. Very deep purple-black in color, it needs a little coaxing to begin, slowly unfurling to reveal a fragrant perfume of violets, chocolate-covered cherries, crushed blueberries and eucalyptus over a core of preserved plums, kirsch, black raspberries and crème de cassis plus hints of licorice and chargrilled meat. Full-bodied and built like a brick house, it has a solid foundation of firm, super ripe, grainy tannins and seamless freshness interknit with the black fruit preserves and minerally layers, finishing very long and very decadent. Superb! - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, robertparker.com

99 Points! Turning the dial up considerably, the 2016 Château Pavie leaps out of the glass with a thrilling bouquet of crème de cassis, toasty oak, graphite, white truffle, crayons, and flowers. A blend of 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon brought up in 85% new French oak (the new oak has been dialed back in recent vintages), this full-bodied Pavie is made in a more elegant, seamless style compared to prior great vintages, yet it still has brilliant depth of fruit and concentration, ripe, present tannins, a seamless texture, and an awesome finish. -  Jeb Dunnuck

98+ Points! The 2016 Pavie is simply magnificent. Gracious, perfumed and exquisitely beautiful, the 2016 has it all. I can't remember seeing a Pavie with this much translucent energy and nuance. Black cherry, plum, lavender, spice and menthol all infuse this explosive, young wine with tremendous character. In the glass, the 2016 is vivid, aromatically deep and full of saline-infused energy. It is without question one of the wines of the vintage. As it turns out Gerard Perse also opened the 2008. Although the two vintages (2016 and 2008) in question are quite different in style and quality, the trajectory Pavie has taken in recent years is evident. The 2016 is a thrilling wine. That's all there is to it. The blend is 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

97 Points! The Grand Vin 2022 Château Palmer is based on 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot, from tiny yields of 22 hectoliters per hectare. It's a deep, unctuous, fabulously textured 2022 that does everything right. Ripe blackcurrants, blueberries, liquid violets, and freshly sharpened pencil notes define the aromatics, and it's full-bodied, with a pure, layered, seamless mouthfeel, a remarkable floral character, and a great finish. It's a ripe, opulent, incredibly sexy Palmer that will benefit from a decade of bottle age and evolve gracefully over the following 30-40 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

98 Points! Lots of creme de cassis with cedar, dried flowers, blackberries and dark cherries. Opulent and flamboyant. Full-bodied and layered, this grows with plush, velvety tannins that caress every inch of your palate. Extremely long and attractive in the finish. Well-designed in this ripe year. 51% merlot, 45% cabernet sauvignon, and 4% petit verdot. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! The 2022 Palmer was cropped at just 22hL/ha due to the berries being 25-30% smaller than usual. It bursts forth on the nose with precocious black cherries, blueberry, violet and touches of marmalade and tobacco in the background. Complex and expressive. The palate is structured, with the tannic backbone, that winemaker Thomas Duroux talked about, lending this Palmer a sense of verticality. Hints of black pepper emerge with time, multi-layered, a powerful Margaux and yet the IPT is actually lower than elsewhere (76). Quite linear on the tobacco-infused finish, which is just quintessential Palmer. Do reserve a bin in your cellar for this and let it gather dust for at least a decade. 14.4% alcohol. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

98 Points! The 2022 Palmer is a wine of sublime beauty and refinement. Silky, caressing and super-expressive, the 2022 is also one of the most surprising wines of the year in that it does not show the drought or heat of the growing season at all either in its flavor profile or feel. Succulent black cherry, plum, leather, licorice, spice and dried herbs lend notable complexity throughout. The 2022 starts off rather slow, and then really explodes on the back end. It is a magnificent wine in every way. Drinking window : 2030-2052 - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

97 Points! Sharp, energetic, racy and electric. The power and concentration is evident in the dark, rich, concentrated fruit with tannins that grip and take hold with a crushed stone texture, liquorice, graphite, tobacco and cool mint spice. The expression is exceptionally delineated with focus and push from start to finish. Quite bold and charged, but I love the succulence, the perfumed fruit, chalky sensation and overall sense of confidence. In high definition in terms of sharpness and tang to the fruit. A big wine but delivered with poise. 3.79pH. 13% press wine. Harvest took one month from 7 September to 5 October. 70% grand vin, 30% Alter Ego. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter.com

96 Points! Velvety tannins, perfumed floral nose, opening to cedar, mint leaf, red cherry puree, all expanding outwards through the palate, with finely boned tannins adding a touch of control. Plenty of tertiary notes of truffles, campfire smoke and saffron-laced spices, but the fruit is still very much in tact. As it opens further you get intense aromatics of violet and exotic spices. You could sit with this for hours, just enjoying how finessed Cabernet Sauvignon can become with age - and how the clay that underpins the gravels on so much of Palmer's vineyard has helped keep freshness. Exceptional, and it has been delivering at this level for at least a decade. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux, September 2021  

95 Points! The 1990 Palmer has long been one of my favorite vintages; at 31 years of age, it is still utterly sublime. It opens wonderfully in the glass with blackberry, forest floor, crushed iris petals and just a touch of dried blood. You would actually think that this comes from a cooler growing season. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannins. This has evolved since I last tasted it, mellowed and lost some of its plumpness, becoming more linear and almost reserved towards the finish. There's a touch of green bell pepper on the aftertaste. Wonderful. - Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2022

99 Points! Decadent and rich aromas of black cherries and plums with wet earth and sandalwood. Turns to dried mushrooms. Full-bodied, tight and closed with big, polished tannins, yet this is very closed and shy right now. Despite this, underneath it shows such depth and beauty. Tangy acidity. This is a combination of 2005 and 2009. - James Suckling

99 Points! The crème de la crème from the northern Médoc is the 2015 Mouton Rothschild and this incredible wine flirts with perfection. Made from 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot, this inky purple-colored effort offers sensational Cabernet flare in its crème de cassis, graphite, lead pencil shavings, floral, and Asian spice aromas and flavors. It is full-bodied, dense, and incredibly concentrated, yet still has the sexy, opulent, seductive style of the vintage front and center. It will be a candidate for perfection in 10-12 years and is going to be one of the longest-lived wines in the vintage. Hats off to Philippe Dhalluim and his team for this incredible effort that’s a step up over just about every other northern Médoc out there! - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! Still remarkably dark, intense and youthful in appearance, this Mouton shows more flamboyant characters on the nose than other vintages, with spices, cigar-box and blackcurrant leaf all to the fore. Rich, dense and fleshy palate with plenty of stuffing for further ageing. An impressive Mouton which lives up to the ‘star’ billing for the 1995 vintage with nearly all of the components in great balance. The only question mark regards the firm, slightly drying tannins, which still need to fully integrate. I suspect they will, but the 1995 may not quite reach the height of the 1996. Harvested 12 September to 27 September. 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc. - Andy Howard MW, Decanter Magazine, September 2021 

95 Points! Produced in the magnificent new cellars at Montrose, this big, tannic wine is powerful and concentrated. It has something of the classic severity of a wine from this estate, but that's mitigated by the ripe, generous blackberry fruitiness and the final freshness of a 2012. A great success, to drink from 2022. - Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast, May 2015

94 Points! From a blend of 37% Merlot, 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, Montrose managed to take advantage of the good weather that returned in October, and brought in its last grapes on 20 October. Its gravelly soil also meant it fared far better than the more clay-led St-Estèphe terroirs. Great structure with a wonderful floral aroma and touches of cedar, with good persistency. Astringency on the tannins suggests a good life ahead. - Decanter Magazine, Apr 2015 

94 Points! The 2012 Montrose has a taut and focused bouquet with crisp blackberry, tobacco and light earthy scents on the nose. Fine vigour and class evident here. The palate is medium-bodied with chewy tannins on the entry, fine acidity, lightly spiced with a nicely proportioned and focused finish. This is a solid, almost swarthy Montrose, though it is surpassed by more recent vintages. Tasted twice at Bordeaux Index's Ten Year-On tasting and blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting.- Neal Martin, Vinous Media Feb 2022 

96+ Points! The 2021 Léoville Las Cases has turned out beautifully in bottle and clearly numbers among the very finest wines of the vintage. Unfurling in the glass with aromas of dark berries and cassis mingled with notions of cigar wrapper, violets and pencil shavings, it's medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated with a deep and multidimensional core of fruit framed by beautifully refined tannins and girdled by lively acids, concluding with a long, penetrating finish. Serious and structured without being austere, it's a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc and a mere 5% Merlot. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate

97 Points! A classic Leoville Las Cases with blackcurrants, blackberries, stone, graphite and lavender aromas that follow through to a medium body with firm and refined tannins and a juicy finish. Plenty of subtle flavor at the end. Racy tannins. 80% cabernet sauvignon, 15% cabernet franc and 5% merlot. Already very integrated and attractive but will be even better in three or four years. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! Utterly captivating on the nose, fragrant and floral with soft orange flecks, sweet cedar and cinnamon. Textured like heavy silk, weighty with a hold to the tannins that says ‘I’m a serious wine’, offering energy and focus. Precision and density, finessed layering that lets the wine deepen and expand over time. Not immediately as attention-seeking as some, but this is classy no doubt and ultimately calls for another sip, and then another. A gorgeous wine that is all the better for what it’s not saying at this point. - Decanter Magazine

95 Points! Wide, powdery, fine but firm tannins; a lovely density to this. Concentrated and intense, very straight and streamlined. Finessed and focused. Clearly powerful, the energy is apparent, but all the elements are kept quite tight and controlled, so you're not getting so much expansion or nuance necessarily. Still, well worked with clarity to the fruit and tannins. Wet stone, liquorice, toasted caramel all giving elements of wood but integrated and supportive. Feels like a sleeping giant, will be good in time, sleek and stylish. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter Magazine

“Deep garnet-purple colored. Sashays out with bold notes of raspberry coulis, black cherries, and mulberries, leading to hints of forest floor, crushed rocks, and lavender oil. The medium-bodied palate is bright and shimmery with layers of red berries and mineral, framed by super-silky tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and layered.” 94-96, Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, May 2025

“Solid and very precise, showing wonderfully integrated tannins with drive and focus. Polished and extremely poised. Medium-bodied, this has creamy texture and a long, vibrant finish. Reminds me of the superb 1995. A blend of 64% merlot and 36% bouchet (cabernet franc).” 94-95, James Suckling, May 2025 

“The 2024 Les Pensées was picked September 23 to 30. This has quite a complex bouquet with blackcurrant, bilberry and light estuarine scents percolating through with time. The palate is quite arresting, one of the few Merlot wines with genuine grip and heft, but it maintains refinement on the peppery finish. The 2024 feels long and sustained and worthy of bottle age. It will develop wonderfully in time.” 92-94, Neal Martin, Vinous, Apr 2025 

*Pre Arrival - Jan 2027