Branon (750ML)Â Â $143.89 Â Â Â Â Buy Now
97 RP
Everyone at the tasting where this wine was presented was rocked (or should I say shocked) by the greatness of this wine. It needs no defense. I rated it 96 seven years ago, and it comes from a beautiful vineyard in Pessac-Leognan near Haut-Bergey. Made by Helene Garcin and her winemaking team at the time, Michel Rolland and Jean-Luc Thunevin (now replaced by Dr. Alain Raynaud), 650 cases of this wine were produced. It has a deep, opaque bluish/purple color and a gorgeously sweet nose of incense, asphalt, blueberry liqueur, coffee, bacon fat, and a hint of meat juices. Full-bodied and dense, with silky tannins but enormous richness, length, and texture, this is a stunner to drink now or to age for another two decades.
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Pavillon Rouge Du Chateau Margaux (750ML)   $199    Buy Now
94 JS
Glorious aromas of freshly picked raspberries, with tiny hints of cream and minerals. Full-bodied, with superfine tannins and a long, long finish of berries and cherries. Super second wine from Margaux. Best Pavillon Rouge I have ever tasted. Best after 2010. James Suckling
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La Mission Haut Brion (750ML)Â Â $899 Â Â Â Buy Now
100 RP
One of the wines of the vintage, the 2000 has barely budged in its evolution since it was bottled and released in 2002. After ten years in bottle, it still reveals a dense opaque purple color along with a potentially sensational bouquet of blueberries, black currants, graphite, asphalt and background oak. Extremely powerful, full-bodied and superbly concentrated with good acidity and high but round tannins, this massive La Mission-Haut-Brion should take its place among this estate’s most hallowed vintages when it hits full maturity in another one to two decades. I was surprised by just how youthful this wine tasted at age 12. If tasted blind, I would have guessed it to be around 4 to 5 years old. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050. Robert Parker
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Gigault Cuvee Viva (6.0L) Â Â $549 Â Â Â Buy Now
91 WS
This is extremely well-crafted. Dark colored, with wonderful milk chocolate and ripe berry aromas. Full-bodied, with well-integrated tannins and plenty of refined and rich fruit. Give this time. Super quality from a weak appellation. Best after 2006. 2,250 cases made. - James Suckling
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Leoville Las Cases (1.5L) Â Â $799 Â Â Â Buy Now
100 JS / 99 RP / 99 JD / 98 DE
A classic Las Cases with masses of mineral, floral and blueberry character. Full and chewy, with so much power. It’s just opening now. - James Suckling
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Pavie (1.5L) Â Â $1500Â Â Â Buy Now
100 RP / 100 JD
100 Points Robert Parker: Just beginning to come around and strut its enormous potential, this wine at age 15 has been evolving like a glacier. The wine has an inky, opaque, plum/purple color and a stunningly rich nose of mulberries, bramble berries, blackberries, licorice and incense as well as touches of toast and graphite. Fabulously concentrated and full-bodied, with a multidimensional mouthfeel, this profound Pavie is in mid-adolescence. It should evolve and continue to drink well for at least another 30-40 years. This is clearly the first compelling effort made by the Perse family. Robert Parker
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Haut Brion (1.5L) Â Â $2352Â Â Â Buy Now
100 DE / 99 RP
Is this as good as the 1989? Certainly it is lush and powerful, lingering and expanding in the mouth with sweet tobacco and cigar box notes, along with still young blackcurrant and blackberry fruits, all given lift by the trademark Haut-Brion aromatics. It beds in and shakes off early reticence after a good hour in the glass, suggesting that this is only just leaving its primary phase and has many decades left ahead of it. A great wine that highlights the success of Haut-Brion under the partnership of estate director Jean-Bernard Delmas, father of current director Jean-Philippe Delmas, and owner Joan Dillon the Duchess of Mouchy (president of the company until 2008 before handing over to her son Prince Robert of Luxembourg) A supremely confident wine that is hard to fault in its depth of expression.- Jane Anson - Decanter
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