French

"Possibly the wine of the vintage, the 2008 Pavie has the elegance of the Pavie Decesse and the power of the Mondotte. It’s a brilliant, sexy beaut...

" This is very suave, with mocha and smoldering tobacco flavors laced with fig, plum and blackberry notes. A flash of sweet tapenade and iron helps...

"This big, smoky wine has great richness and a big, concentrated structure. The feel is dark, solid, based on spice, new wood and ripe black plums ...

"The 2008 Angélus offers a still youthful, vibrant color as well as a classic Angélus bouquet of spice box, black currants, tobacco, and hints of w...

"Clinet is always an enjoyable wine to taste, and at 10 years old it is starting to approach its perfect moment, particularly in this relatively ea...

"Pale to medium gold colored, the 2009 d'Yquem bursts from the glass with gregarious crème caramel, allspice, dried apricots, mandarin peel and pin...

"This is an incredible young Yquem that is so vinous like a great vintage of Montrachet but then on the palate it turns to Yquem with spice, dried ...

"The 2001 Yquem reveals a hint of green in its light gold color. While somewhat reticent aromatically, with airing, it offers up honeyed tropical f...

"This has a little more reticence initially on the nose than La Mission, but after a few minutes the rich texture begins to reveal itself, with cha...

"I am breathless with the dark-berry, lavender and burnt-orange aromas. Some salt. Just so formidable and deep. Stunningly sexy on the palate with ...

"A brilliant sweet wine that tops out on my scale, the 2001 Château D'Yquem is now fully mature yet still vibrant and pure, with an incredible nose...

"The 2015 Ducru-Beaucaillou is phenomenally great. Inky, powerful and explosive, the 2015 pulses with energy in all of its dimensions. Creme de cas...

"Pale to medium lemon-gold color, the 2010 d'Yquem has retreated into its shell at this youthful stage, offering spritely suggestions of lemon curd...

"The 2016 Valandraud is exceptionally beautiful. Powerful and explosive in the glass, the 2016 is superb today. Dark cherry, plum, mocha, spice, es...

"A wine that will be a candidate for perfection at maturity, the 2015 Valandraud is a heavenly wine that exhibits a deep, saturated ruby/purple col...

"Complex nose of blackberries, currants, oyster shells, iodine, gravel, cloves, dried leaves and bark. Medium-bodied with firm, very fine tannins. ...

"Makes a classic impression from the outset with ripe but contained, red and dark-berry aromas, framed in cedar, blackcurrants and violets. The pal...

"This is a great vintage from Lafite. The profile is rich in feel, with a seriously firm tannic structure. Solid, complex and with great authority,...

"Deep and typical on the nose with blackcurrants, black tea, leather and graphite. The aromas draw you down to the palate. Full-bodied, creamy and ...

"An immensely structured wine, this is complex, concentrated and yet so contained. The wine impresses with its balance, layers of succulent black-c...

"Offers a deep well of dark currant, blackberry paste and plum preserves fruit that aqquires time to unwind fully, as it’s shrouded in warm earth, ...

"Such a seductive soft perfume to the nose, delicate yet generous aromatics of cherry and rose. The palate is juicy and fresh, charming yet energet...

"The 2018 La Gaffelière is hands down one of the wines of the vintage. Towering in its stature and vertical lift, the 2018 dazzles right out of the...

"Dark cherry, plum, spice and cacao with earthy notes and wood undertones. Cloves, too. Full-bodied, yet in control and poised. Balanced, complex a...

"The 2016 Cheval Blanc is blended of 59.5% Merlot, 37.2% Cabernet Franc and 3.3% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet-purple in color, the nose is incre...

"Reminding me of the 2010 with its incredible stature and class (as opposed to the more opulently styled 2009), the 2016 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou ...

"The 2018 Figeac is a regal, aristocratic Saint-Émilion. Vertical in feel, Figeac possesses stunning energy and vibrancy right out of the gate. Dar...

"While the tannins give this wine a firm character, it is the perfumed, ripe Cabernet Franc that is so expressive and gives the wine its structured...

"Tasted on two separate occasions, the 2016 Château Pape Clément never failed to disappoint, offering a huge, powerful, full-bodied personality as ...

"The clarity to this wine is impressive. Wealth of dark-plum and black-fruit essence not to mention orange citrus. Everything is dialed up to the l...

"A warm mocha note drapes elegantly over a prodigious core of steeped red and black currant and blackberry fruit while waves of black tea, anise, f...

"This is muscular yet so well defined and toned. Full-bodied with deep and dense fruit on the palate, yet powerful and rich at the same time. So mu...

"The 2018 Cos d'Estournel is a racy, powerful Saint-Estèphe that is going to need quite a bit of time to find its center. Today, it is tightly woun...

"Another magical wine from this property, the 2009 Château Cos D'Estournel reminds me slightly of the 2005 with its incredibly rich, powerful, opul...

"The 2015 Canon was a benchmark wine that seemed to revitalize this historic estate. I was crossing my fingers that it would not disappoint in bott...

"Deep purple in colour with violet edging, this is beating fast with juicy bramble fruit and life. You can feel the texture of the berries in the m...

"There is ripeness and opulence to this, in an almost exotic and sassy way. Crushed berries with chocolate and spice. Floral and cashmere undertone...

"Based on 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% each of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot, the 2018 Château Margaux is a magical, incredibly sexy...

"Very attractive aromas of currants, tile and sandalwood with black and red currants. It’s full-bodied with a tight, dense center-palate that remai...

"Layered, textured, deep, cigar box, cassis and earth, managing to simultaneously stretch out, and burrow down. The edges open slowly but surely an...

"From mature vines and a majestic site, the completely destemmed fruit - fermented without punching down - gives a complete wine that is seductive ...