92 WS Concentrated and still youthfully tight, with bitter almond and toasted brioche notes still not fully melded into the core of Jonagold apple, creamed melon, quince and white peach. There's good cut on the finish...
90 RP "The 2009 Pinot Noir Elizabeth’s Reserve is a blend of seven vineyards. Darker in color than the Willamette Valley cuvee, it sports an alluring nose of spicy black fruits and floral aromas. In the glass it...
100 JS / 98+ RP Incredible nose of currants and blueberries. Flowers too. Licorice. Such purity on the nose of Cabernet Franc. Full body, incredible structure, with fabulous tannins and a long, long finish. Built out of...
80% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon Average age of the vines : 30 years old The Château overlooks the Dordogne valley above the village of Castillon-la-Bataille, adjacent to its prestigious...
90 JS / 89 RP Featured in James Suckling's Bordeaux Confidential Events in 2015 Tangy and juicy, with pleasant berry and plum fruit character. Drink now. - James SucklingAn excellent wine that sells for a song, the basic...
90 JS / 89 RP Featured in James Suckling's Bordeaux Confidential Events in 2015 Tangy and juicy, with pleasant berry and plum fruit character. Drink now. - James Suckling An excellent wine that sells for a song, the basic...
100 DE / 100 WA / 100 JD / 99 RP / 99 JS / 98 VM A profoundly generous wine with coffee grounds and patisserie notes revealing grilled oak that's subtle but extremely pleasing. The quality of the tannins is exceptional -...
100 RP / 96 JS Clinet has been on a hot streak lately and the 2009 appears to be the greatest wine ever made at the estate, surpassing even the late Jean-Michel Arcaute’s monumental 1989. A blend of 85% Merlot and...
100 WA / 100 RP / 100 JS Deep garnet colored, the 2009 Cos d'Estournel features a myriad of wonderfully intense notes, including blackcurrant pastilles, redcurrant jelly, kirsch and blueberry compote with hints of rose hip...
96 WA / 96 JS / 95 WS Pale to medium gold colored, the 2009 Coutet leaps from the glass with warm apple pie, dried mango, fresh straw, lemongrass, ginger and crème caramel notes. The rich, concentrated, unctuous...
95 WS / 95 JS / 94 WA / 17 JR Redolent of blackberry and dark fruits, this also features a fascinating mix of mocha, graphite and tobacco flavors. Very juicy as well, which figures into the finish of fine-grained tannins...
93 RP / 93 WA The first vintage for the cuvee, the stacked 2009 Cotes du Ventoux Il Etait Une Fois (80% Grenache, 15% Mourvedre, and 5% Syrah, aged all in new oak) is a full-bodied, sexy, opulent and mouth-filling southern...
100 JD / 100 WA The 2009 Ducru-Beaucaillou is pure perfection and a much more sexy, opulent wine compared to the 2010. Crème de cassis, licorice, spice-box, lead pencil shavings and dried flower notes all –...
90 WA Medium garnet in color, this 2009 has fragrant aromas of kirsch, mulberries, spice cake, Indian spices and black pepper with hints of earth, iron ore and lavender. Very full, rich and concentrated, it presents medium...
96 RP / 95 JS A big, powerful, masculine Pomerol with a style not dissimilar from Le Gay, the dense purple-colored 2009 Gazin exhibits black currant, black cherry liqueur, coffee, roasted herb, an exotic Asian spice...
94 DE / 91 VM / 90 JD You start to feel the dial turning up the power as this travels through the palate. Even at 10 years old, the tannins go in deep around the fruit, with luscious menthol notes on the finish. This...
96 DE / 95 VM / 95 RP / 95 JS / 93 WS Another wine that showed just a nudge better at the Decanter Premium tasting in New York - I'm thinking the double-decanting made the difference; a useful tip if you're looking...
95 WA / 93 VM The 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Origines (1,500 cases produced) is a blend of 50% Grenache, a whopping 30% Mourvedre and 20% Syrah with the latter two components spending time in new oak barrels. All of the...
100 RP / 100 WA / 97 WS Another perfect wine, the 2009 Hermitage Ex-Voto is surprisingly supple and more approachable than the two single vineyard 2009 Cote Roties, La Turque and La Landonne. The massive Ex-Voto boasts...
100 RP / 100 WA / 99 WS The 2009 Cote Rotie La Landonne is a killer wine. An extravagant bouquet of black truffles, roasted meats, licorice, ground pepper, blackberries, scorched earth and camphor soars from this muscular,...
100 RP The 2009 Cote Rotie La Mouline possesses off-the-charts richness. Like all the vintages, it comes from the Cote Blonde and is co-fermented with 11% Viognier. Its 13.5% alcohol is one of the highest in all the La...
100 WA / 100 RP / 100 JS The 2009 Haut-Brion is deep garnet colored and slightly closed and shy to begin, slowly unfurling to reveal sensuous notions of warm blackberries, plum preserves, mulberries and blackcurrant cordial...
100 JS / 98+ WA / 95 VM / 95 WS A white of incredible energy and depth of fruit with a grapefruit, stone and peach character. Some hints of minerals and tropical fruit too. It's full and agile with a great backbone of...
We recently featured this in a tasting and were quite impressed by the complexity of this wine for the price. Very open and expressive, with with a lovely earthiness and spice balanced with pie cherry notes. Excellent value...
99+ RP / 97 VM / 97 JS Proprietor Denis Durantou has produced a blockbuster Pomerol from a blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, tipping the scales at just over 14.5% natural alcohol. A riveting wine, pure, elegant,...
100 RP / 99 JS / 98 DE / 97 WS An astonishing effort from the Rothschild family, the 2009 l’Evangile may be the reference point offering from this estate for decades to come. A blend of 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet...
95-98 WS
100 WA / 100 RP / 98 JS The deep garnet colored 2009 La Mission Haut-Brion absolutely sings of warm red and black currants, chocolate-covered cherries, liquid licorice, sassafras and espresso with hint of lilacs, pencil...
100 JS / 99+ RP The second you put your nose in the glass, you know that it is 100 points. The combination of sweet tobacco, fresh flowers, currants and sultanas on the nose leaves me breathless. Turns to cocoa powder and...
96 VM / 96 RP / 96 JD / 95 WA / 95 DE / 94 JS The 2009 Larcis-Ducasse displays engaging and complex, slightly earthy aromas on the nose: red fruit mixed with roses and melted tar. The palate is medium-bodied with supple...
100 WA / 100 RP / 100 JS / 99 VM / 99 DE / 99 WS Deep garnet colored, the 2009 Latour is unashamedly youthful with bold blackcurrants, black cherries and warm plums notes plus nuances of cedar chest, aniseed, beef...
97 RP Achieving nearly 15% natural alcohol (one of the highest of the Jonathan Maltus St. Emilion estates) , this blend of approximately 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc is from vineyards that sit on limestone soils near...
99 RP One of the most distinctive wines made in Bordeaux, Le Dome has one of the highest percentages of Cabernet Franc of any claret I can think of. Composed of 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot, it exhibits a certain...
100 WA / 100 RP / 100 JS Medium garnet colored, the 2009 Le Pin comes charging out of the glass with exuberant notions of baked red and black cherries, mulberries and warm plums with touches of star anise, cigar box and...
99-100 JS The 2009 is one of the greatest Leoville Las Cases I have ever tasted, which is saying something given the many compelling wines that have been made at this estate. A final blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15%...
100 JD / 100 RP The greatest wine I’ve ever tasted from this address is the 2009 Léoville Poyferré, which is a step up over both the 2000 and the 2010. A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 6%...
96 VM / 95 RP / 95 JS / 94 WA / 94 DE / 93 WS The 2009 Les Forts de Latour is engaging and quite complex on the nose with blackberry, bilberry, hints of brine and freshly rolled tobacco, all very well delineated and gaining...
98 RP / 97 JS / 96 WA / 96 WS / 95 DE Performing even better from bottle than it did from barrel, this appears to be the finest Lynch Bages since the 2000, 1990 and 1989. According to the chateau, the 2009 has the highest...
98 JS / 96 RP A wine, with intense spice and berry character, with hints of sweet tobacco. It changes all the time from flowers to fruit and wet earth. Full-bodied, with super fine tannins and ripe fruit. It's long and...
100 DE / 100 JS / 99 RP If you want to drink a Margaux 2009 any time soon, you need to go for the Pavillon - the grand vin is still extremely young, holding back its power and impact for another five or 10 years time...
90 JS A wine, with pleasing blackberries and mushroom character, medium chewy tannins and a fresh clean finish. Full body. Try in 2014. James Suckling, 90 Points Upon tasting the 2000 vintage, Robert Parker wondered aloud...
96 WS Dark and densely packed, yet terrifically racy, with plum sauce, pastis and crushed blackberry fruit wound with charcoal and roasted tobacco leaf notes, but carried by riveting acidity. A long, singed iron note hangs...
99 WA / 99 RP / 98+ VM / 98 DE / 98 JS / 98 WS Deep garnet colored, the 2009 Mouton Rothschild gives up bold earthy notions of underbrush, tilled soil and fungi over a core of crème de cassis, plum preserves and...
99 JD / 98 WA / 98 JS / 98 WE / 97 RP / 97 DE / 96 VM / 18.5 JR The 2009 Palmer is unquestionably one of the greatest young Bordeaux I’ve tasted, and it has a rare mix of richness and elegance that’s incredible...
100 WA / 100 RP / 98 DE / 98 JS Deep garnet in color, the 2009 Pavie drifts effortlessly and profoundly from the glass with baked plums, spice cake, sandalwood, Black Forest cake and blueberry pie scents followed up with a...
100 WA / 100 DE / 100 RP / 99 JS / 99 WS Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2009 Petrus gives up glorious scents of preserved plums, redcurrant jelly, dried rose petals, blackberry compote and mulberries with touches...
93 WA / 92 WS / 93 JS / 18 JR The 2009 Brut Vintage blends 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay from 20 grand and premier cru villages in the Montagne de Reims and the Côte des Blancs. Fermented in stainless steel with...
100 WA / 100 JD / 100 RP / 98+ JS Deep garnet colored, the 2009 Pontet-Canet is a little shut down to begin, but with coaxing this baby is soon firing on all cylinders with a full-throttle nose of...
93 JS Intense aromas of orange peel, blackberries and hints of mushrooms. Full body, with a solid core of soft and velvety tannins and a fruity finish. Well structured. One of the best wines from here in years. Try after...
96+ AG / 95 JS The 2009 dAlceo comes across as much more classic in style and structure than the 2008. According to Luca di Napoli, the trick to 2009 was harvesting on the early side. Freshly cut flowers, sweet red berries,...
97 JS / 95+ WA / 93+ RP Special edition label designed by Karl Lagerfeld for the 350th Anniversary of the chateau. Complex aromas of dried citrus fruit, with very ripe plums and currants. Full and very dense, with lots of...
96 VM / 96 WA The 2009 Saint-Pierre knocks the ball out of the park. It is a stunning Saint-Julien that has blossomed in recent years. I must confess that none of the previous bottles intimated the potential shown here. It...
97 WA Now with the distance of time, the 2009 harvest was perhaps not as elegant (generally speaking) as the 2008, but mercifully cooler than the 2007. A ten-year late release, the 2009 Barolo Le Vigne Sibi et Paucis offers...
100 JD / 99 RP Pure perfection in a glass, the incredible 2009 Troplong Mondot offers off the chart notes of blackcurrants, licorice, truffles and saddle leather that just soar from the glass. This is a big, ripe,...