Wines

95 Points! A fragrant nose of spiced cherries, ripe blackberries, dried herbs, baking spices and hints of earth follow through to a medium body with finely grained tannins. It has precision with a slight bitterness on the mid-palate. Layered and funnelled with a mineral edge. Long savory and spicy finish. Best after 2026. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! This is a old Champagne with an almost earthy profile, offering culatello , candied lemon, a lot of winter apple and restrained viennoiserie. Super fine, pinprick mousse with relaxing yet refreshing acidity, medium body, evolved flavors such as zabaglione and a long, nutty aftertaste. Slightly off dry. Drink now. - James Suckling

94 Points! Exhales stunning aromas of lemon, menthol, white flowers and orchard fruits. Tense and very fine, the palate is medium-bodied, with a perfectly layered structure and a delicate, saline, mineral finish. The aromas of Moka coffee and pastry are particularly elegant on the aftertaste. Dosage of 6 g/L, and a blend of 65% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Meunier and 15% Pinot Noir. - Decanter Magazine

95 Points! Such an elegant wine for this Grand Cru that tends towards aromatic richness, the pineapple and basil notes very delicate on the nose. On the medium-to full-bodied palate there’s more succulence, but even there the crushed-stone minerality keeps everything very cool and straight. Very long, focused finish with so great vitality and very fine tannins. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! So much candied citrus, angelica, dried sage and thyme in the nose! However, this compact and highly structured Alsace Grand Cru dry riesling is still very youthful and really needs a lot of aeration (decanting and big glasses!) to open it up. Stunning complexity of fruit, herbal and mineral character at the imposing yet very cool finish. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Drinkable now, but best from 2025. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! I think the finest vintage for the classic cuvee ever, the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape is a sensational blend of 65% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre, 12% Syrah and the balance other permitted varieties. Aged mostly in tank, it offers a massive array of smoked herbs, lavender, black raspberries, toasted nuts, truffle and garrigue. Full-bodied, ripe, decadent and concentrated, it has slightly less structure than the '09, but has more raw material. This flat-out awesome Chateauneuf will have 20 years of longevity. - Jeb Dunnuck, robertparker.com, 2015

96 Points! Rich and dense aromatics, lovely black cherry and dried flowers, the Cabernet Franc bringing all the aromas. Supple and smooth, so alive in the mouth yet this has density and depth, something to chew on. It’s not plush, but there’s texture from start to finish, with delicacy and finesse to the expression. A highly drinkable Angélus that has really benefited from dialling back on the power. Great freshness and precision, while feeling as if it will age well. Impressively keeps the structure and density but with energy. - Decanter Magazine

95 Points! This is so delicious, with lovely focused cherries, flowers, dried sandalwood and some Indian spices. Medium-bodied with fine tannins and just a touch of wood to the pure fruit and a subtle and refined finish. 40% merlot and 60% cabernet franc, the most cab franc in a long time. - JamesSuckling.com

PLEASE BE AWARE, THIS IS A PRE-ARRIVAL WINE - YOU WILL NOT BE CHARGED SHIPPING FEES UNTIL THE WINE(S) ARRIVE

97-98 Points! Very classy, the transparency of this Angelus giving brilliance to the pure fruit in such a difficult growing season. Medium-bodied, it has a compacted palate and creamy, polished tannins. Very melted and harmonized. Dark cherries, raspberries and orange peel come through beautifully with some stones. 60% merlot and 40% cabernet franc. - James Suckling

94-96 Points! A blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc aging 50% (Cabernet Franc) in foudre and the rest in new oak, the 2024 Château Angélus has a deeper ruby hue as well as a beautiful nose of black raspberries, cassis, graphite, crushed stone, and flowers. It's wonderfully pure, has medium-bodied richness, a focused yet incredibly elegant mouthfeel, and ultra-fine tannins. It's a beautiful, classy Angélus that might surprise with its longevity. - Jeb Dunnuck

PLEASE BE AWARE, THIS IS A PRE-ARRIVAL WINE - YOU WILL NOT BE CHARGED SHIPPING FEES UNTIL THE WINE(S) ARRIVE

97-98 Points! A really classic Ausone, reminiscent of the great ones of the 1980s. Medium-bodied, it has such clarity and brightness and length. Purity and precision with drive and focus from superb viticulture and winemaking. A blend of 65% cabernet franc and 35% merlot. - James Suckling

94-97 Points! A classic blend of 65% Cabernet Franc and 35% Merlot resting in new barrels, the 2024 Château Ausone sports a vivid ruby hue to go with a gorgeous perfume of black raspberries, subtle cassis, graphite, sappy flowers, and lead pencil. It's gorgeous on the palate, with medium to full-bodied richness, a pure, focused, remarkably elegant mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and perfectly integrated oak. This classy, perfumed, sensationally elegant Ausone will drink nicely with just a few years of bottle age. - Jeb Dunnuck

93-96 Points! The 2024 Ausone is pure sensuality. Intensly perfumed, pliant and silky on the palate, Ausone is haunting in its beauty. All the elements are so well balanced. Black cherry, lavender, mocha, espresso and exotic spice overtones all take shape in the glass. A wine of understated depth, the 2024 is impressive. Even in the early going, the 100% new oak is not at all evident, suggesting a wine with superior balance. The blend is 65% Cabernet Franc and 35% Merlot. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

95 Points! Very striking nose of orange blossoms and chamomile. Very juicy and well rounded, but with a fantastic vitality that’s underlined by the touch of bitterness that adds to the excitement in the dynamic and precise finish. A blend of wines from the lower, middle and upper sections of this site with limestone, sandstone and clay soils. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! Plums, currants, pine cones, mushrooms and bark on the nose. Some licorice, too. It’s medium-bodied with tightly knit tannins. Tight and fresh with fantastic tension and drive. Refined and focused. Spicy and lightly salty at the end. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! This delivers a tumble of ripe raspberry, plum and boysenberry fruit flavors, lined with violet, red tea and sweet tobacco notes that add lift and range. The long, racy, chalk-lined finish leaves a pure feel that’s not easy to achieve in this vintage. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. - Wine Spectator

97 Points! Beau-Sejour Becot is a dense, powerful wine. A rush of black cherry, plum, chocolate, new leather, licorice, spice and sweet oak builds as this towering, vertically explosive Saint-Émilion opens in the glass. This is an especially broad, expansive Saint-Émilion, much of that attributable to the clay in these soils. The 2020 is magnificent in its intensity and overall volume. Superb. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media Learn More

98 Points! Another stunning vintage from this brilliant estate that is just delivering hit after hit. Concentration and intensity right from the initial aromatics, damson, cassis and blackberry fruits that you could almost drink now until the tannins build up across the palate and remind you that this is built to last. Velvety texture, black chocolate and crushed stone minerality on the finish. One of the wines of the vintage. Tasted twice, one week apart. 60% 1st wine. A yield of 45hl/ha. -Jane Anson, Decanter Magazine

97 Points! The 2019 Beausejour Duffau-Lagarrosse is deep garnet-purple in color. It slowly expands on the nose to deliver impactful scents of blackberry preserves, Morello cherries, and warm black plums, followed by suggestions of Ceylon tea, iron ore, tilled soil, and fallen leaves. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has exquisitely ripe, silt-like tannins and energetic, nuanced black fruits, delivering a fine backbone of racy freshness and tons of mineral sparks on the very long finish. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

96+ Points! From one of my favorite châteaux on the Right Bank, the 2019 Château Beauséjour (Duffau-Lagarrosse) is 86% Merlot and 14% Cabernet Franc brought up in a mix of new and used barrels. It's a tighter, more closed 2019, yet it offers beautiful purity and focus in its cassis and black raspberry fruits as well as notes of tobacco leaf, graphite, chocolate, and chalky minerality. Rich, medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced, and again, with this remarkable purity and precision, it has enough tannins to warrant 4-6 years in the cellar and will be incredibly long-lived. It's a beautiful Saint-Emilion. It’s worth pointing out that the 2019 is the vintage bottled by Nicolas Thienpont and starting in 2021, the estate is in the hands of Josephine Duffau-Lagarrosse. - Jeb Dunnuck

100 Points! The 2020 Château Beauséjour (Duffau-Lagarrosse), made mostly by the team of Nicolas Thienpont (the final blend was put together by Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse), is another tour de force from this incredible terroir, and undeniably one of the wines of the vintage. Based on 81% Merlot and 19% Cabernet Franc brought up in 70% new French oak, it offers a sensationally pure bouquet of black raspberries, blueberries, scorched earth, graphite, and a dense, smoky, floral character that emerges with time in the glass. With a voluptuous, layered mouthfeel, gorgeous mid-palate depth, building tannins, and a liqueur of mineral-like character on the finish, it shows the density, purity, precision, and vibrancy of this vintage perfectly and displays that rare mix of richness, intensity, elegance, and length that are the hallmarks of a truly great wine. This is unquestionably in the ranks of the 2009, 2010, and 2016 and will evolve for 40 years or more. - Jeb Dunnuck

98 Points! Intense but delicate, really an exciting wine to taste where you feel the energy build through the palate. Unmistakable limestone influence with the floral aromatics, a jumble of peony, roses and violets, opening up to brambled raspberry and loganberry fruits, with fennel, oyster shell and slate. Huge ageing potential. Cabernet Sauvignon rather than Cabernet Franc in this blend, just one of the many ways in which it stands out from its peers even on the limestone plateau of St Emilion, its delicacy suggesting it is one of the most Burgundian of Bordeaux wines. This vintage was overseen during the growing season and vinification by the team under Nicolas Thienpont, but given its final blend and ageing by new co-owner Josephine Duffau-Lagarosse, along with Prisca Courtin-Clarins. - Jane Anson

PLEASE BE AWARE, THIS IS A PRE-ARRIVAL WINE - YOU WILL NOT BE CHARGED SHIPPING FEES UNTIL THE WINE(S) ARRIVE

95-96 Points! Very good poise, tension and depth, with a light peppery, mineral and citrusy touch to the fruit. Good fruit here, with medium to full body and elastic, chalky tannins. There is something quite pure and transparent in the middle. So elegant, al-dente and long. An excellent wine from this difficult vintage. 70% merlot, 10% cabernet franc and 10% cabernet sauvignon. Picking between September 26 to October 8. - Zekun Shuai, James Suckling

92-94+ Points! A blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2024 Château Bellefont-Belcier is deep purple-hued and opaque, showing remarkable purity in its black and blue fruits, graphite, crushed stone, and violet notes. Medium-bodied and concentrated on the palate, it has a pure, layered mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and integrated acidity. This château continues to never put a foot wrong, and their 2024 will absolutely be worth your time and money. - Jeb Dunnuck

95 Points! The 2019 Bellevue Mondotte, picked at 18hL/ha on a single day (October 5) has a tightly wound bouquet of blackberry, briary, blueberry and light violet petal scents, but less of the marine aromas that I picked out from the barrel sample. However, there are some lovely orange pith scents that percolate through with continued aeration, and these are accentuated after a couple of hours. The palate is medium-bodied with gentle grip, good acidity and fine backbone. This is quite a sturdy Saint-Émilion with impressive density toward the finish. It needs just a little more charm and personality, though they may develop with time. Very fine, but patience required. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

98 Points! More seamless and elegant than the more powerful, structured Pavie Decesse (these all emerge from the Perse team), the Merlot-dominated 2019 Bellevue Mondotte just about jumps out of the glass with its ripe, spicy red, blue, and black fruits as well as spring flowers, graphite, chalky mineral, and violet-like aromas and flavors. Almost Pomerol-like with its seamless, polished tannins and gorgeous mouthfeel, it's flawlessly balanced, has a deep, layered mid-palate, and a great, great finish. This stunning Saint-Emilion will benefit from just 4-6 years of bottle age and cruise for 30+ years in cold cellars. - Jeb Dunnuck

95 Points! Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2020 Berliquet, a blend of 69% Merlot and 31% Cabernet Franc, needs a fair bit of coaxing to bring out notes of blueberry preserves, black cherry compote, and blackberry pie, followed by hints of chocolate mint and lavender. The generous, full-bodied palate is jam-packed with ripe, seductive black and blue fruit preserves flavors, framed by velvety tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long with a spicy kick. This estate, recently acquired by Chanel, is already starting to show its true potential, and what a beauty! - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

97+ Points! The 2022 Château Beychevelle comes from 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot that spent 18 months in barrel. Its deep ruby/purple hue is followed by an absolutely stunning nose of crème de cassis and plum fruit intermixed with leafy herbs, spring flowers, and crushed stone-like minerality. This full-bodied Beychevelle has a pure, elegant mouthfeel, finely polished tannins, no hard edges, and a great, great finish. This is brilliant stuff that already offers pleasure today yet will cruise over the following two to three decades. It's the finest Beychevelle I've tasted. - Jeb Dunnuck

96 Points! The 2022 Beychevelle is so impressive. A wine of precision and stature, the 2022 has so much to offer. Inky dark fruit, licorice, mocha and lavender build in a sumptuous, creamy Saint-Julien. All of that intensity mounts through the mid-palate, reaching a stunning crescendo on the explosive, resonant finish. Even with all of its obvious intensity, the 2022 retains a gorgeous sense of freshness and vibrancy. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

95 Points! Intense blackberries and blackcurrants with spice and lead-pencil aromas. Medium-bodied, it has creamy and polished tannins and a long and flavorful finish. The cabernet sauvignon is singing here. 54% cabernet sauvignon, 42% merlot and 4% petit verdot. Give it three to five years of bottle age. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! Billecart-Salmon’s 2012 Nicolas François marks the first release since 2008 and stands as another success. The fundamentals remain unchanged: settling and fermentation at low temperatures, a small proportion vinified in oak barrels and partial malolactic fermentation (20% was blocked in 2012). This vintage was characterized by a prolonged flowering period, significant rainfall and mildew pressure, resulting in a small crop. The harvest of fruit, which contributed to this cuvée, took place between September 17 and 22. "It was crucial to select only the ripest fruit, as maturation varied significantly between plots," explains Billecart’s head winemaker, Florent Nys. But what of the wine itself? Disgorged in May 2023 with a dosage of 3.8 grams per liter, it exudes aromas of candied lemon, honeysuckle and ripe peach, mingling with nuances of beeswax and orange zest. On the palate, it is full-bodied, ample and enveloping, boasting a layered, concentrated core, a chalky structure and mouthwatering acidity, despite the warm vintage. It concludes with a persistent, saline finish, hinting at the savory complexity that has emerged with such notable bottle age. Compared to the 2008, which remains tightly coiled, the 2012 is broader-shouldered and more demonstrative. - Kristaps Karklins, robertparker.com

95 Points! Deep, bright red. Knockout vibrant nose combines purple and red berries, crushed stone, violet and animal fur. Lush, thick and deep but with terrific chalky energy animating the middle palate. Conveys striking depth to its red fruit and floral flavors, with the 45% new oak practically invisible today. Finishes with huge but round, noble tannins and outstanding lingering sweetness. In a more opulent style than the potentially great 2013, and probably for drinking before that wine. - Stephen Tanzer, Vinous Media