Wines

95 Points! It’s really hard to believe that this is a 2020, such is the youthful energy of this extraordinary wine. I love the intense lemon blossom aroma in the nose. Concentrated, creamy and very elegant, this high-end Savennieres isn’t difficult to understand. Less fundamentally mineral than the very best, but still plenty of wet stone at the long silky finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.- JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! One of the great dry white wines of the Loire. This dry chenin blanc is rich and concentrated, but also graceful and delicate. Full-bodied but so elegant and precise, with a wet stone minerality that builds in a spectacular manner in the very long, refined finish. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! The 2023 Vouvray Sec Le Mont is precise, upright and flinty. It's less immediately charming than the styles we've seen in recent warmer vintages, but it was only tasted three weeks after bottling—this is one to revisit. There's just the right amount of juicy, peachy flesh within this light-bodied yet concentrated wine. It has the potential to charm but does so without showing off. Flinty and tightly sewn together, it has curves in the right places, but you're just going to have to wait for it to take shape. - Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous Media

94 Points! Ripe red and black fruits, leather, ground pepper, and crushed stone notes all emerge from the 2022 Vacqueyras, a rich, concentrated, age-worthy Vacqueyras that brings the ripe, sunny style of the vintage backed up by serious concentration and structure. Based on 45% Syrah, 41% Grenache, and the rest Mourvèdre, aged in a mix of barrels, demi-muids, and concrete eggs, it will benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and drink brilliantly through 2034. - Jeb Dunnuck

92-94 Points! Youthful purple. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes fresh black and blue fruits, star anise, olive, violet and tobacco. A smoky mineral accent builds steadily in the glass and energizes the spice-laced, dark berry liqueur, smoky bacon and floral pastille flavors that are underscored by a vein of juicy acidity. Clings with strong tenacity on the youthfully tannic finish, leaving behind sappy blue fruit, cracked pepper and mineral notes. - Josh Raynolds, Vinous Media

92-95 Points! Fresh pale lemon. Loads of energy here on the nose, but all perfectly balanced. Maximum minerals in this wine which Elsa thinks will be suppressed by longer oak ageing. More flesh than usual in the middle, with a fine persistence. - Jasper Morris

95 Points! Such an exciting and radical gewurz with intense pink grapefruit character, but after a little aeration the rosewater and exotic fruit character of the grape comes through delicately on the nose. Powerful, yet so cool, dry and restrained. Then comes the extraordinary finish that has a freshness which almost knocks you off your chair. The final impression is of wet stone and very dry. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! The Domenico Clerico 2019 Barolo Ginestra Ciabot Mentin (with 5,500 bottles made with fruit from vines planted in 1978) is a bit closed initially. This is a trait I found across a vintage that gives us good reason to bet on long bottle-aging potential. There is dark fruit and spice with licorice and grilled herb. Rusty mineral nuances also emerge slowly from the bouquet. This wine needs a double decant if consumed on the young side, but you're better off waiting. I came back to my open sample 24 hours later, and the wine was singing beautifully. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

96 Points! Aromas of raspberries, cherries and orange peel follow through to a medium to full body, with firm and very fine tannins that are chewy but fine grained. Bright acidity, too. Try after 2027. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! The front of this bottle now lists its MGA provenance, Ginestra. The Domenico Clerico 2019 Barolo Ginestra Pajana shows a more open initial impression (next to the Ciabot Mentin) with soft black fruit. The wine makes a bigger impact in terms of texture with firm structure and silky tannins. It is just a little more open-knit and accessible. Some 5,000 bottles were released, and for the first time, Pajana is aged only in large oak casks (measuring 5,000 liters). - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

94 Points! I tasted two vintages of the entry-level wine, starting with the 2021 Pícaro del Águila Tinto. It's ripe and round, with round tannins, velvety and polished, approachable and hedonistic. It's nicely built and serious, very serious for an entry level. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! 2021 was a very good vintage for Dominio del Bendito, and the 2021 Las Sabias shows the freshness of the year with the ripe, concentrated, powerful house style. You don't really feel the 16.5% alcohol in this wine, and it comes through as full-bodied but balanced, with ripe fruit and tannins and integrated oak after spending 16 months in French oak barrels. It is finer-boned than other years. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

98 Points! When worlds colide. The tension between the cool, dark side (think Darth Vader) and the enormous brightness of the stone fruit (think Luke Skywalker) makes this astonishing riesling Spatlese extremely compelling. The most beautiful pineapple and grapefruit aromas. Fabulous freshness at the stunningly straight and pure finish. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

94+ Points! The swan song vintage of this cuvée, Doyard's 2015 Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru mingles aromas of citrus oil with notions of buttery pastry, dried white flowers and warm biscuits. Medium to full-bodied, layered and structured, with chalky dry extract and lively acids, it's a taut, compact wine that will require a bit of bottle age to unwind. - William Kelley, robertparker.com

98+ Points! From more than 100-year-old vines, the 2023 Ürziger Würzgarten In der Kranklei Riesling Auslese Alte Reben (Gold Capsule) is from a 2.2-hectare plot in the south-facing, terraced cru on red slate. Deep, clear and pure on the fragrant yet intense and refreshing nose that shows lemongrass, ginger and herbal as well as saline slate aromas. Very generous and lush yet also refined and filigreed on the palate, this is a savory and stimulating saline Auslese with fine, crystalline acidity and candied lemon and grapefruit aromas on the long finish. There are 140 grams per liter of residual sugar, which do not taste extraordinarily sweet but round and generous. The grapes were picked in early October with 15% of botrytis. 8% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine from AP 15 24 in January 2025. - Stephan Reinhardt, robertparker.com

98+ Points! The 2023 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese (Gold Capsule) was picked as early as September 20 at 115° Oechsle and with 20% botrytis berries and opens with a generously intense and concentrated bouquet with ripe, rich and lush yellow fruit and lemon aromas intertwined with flinty as well saline notes of crushed slate. Generous yet refined and very delicate on the palate, this is a fruit-intense and enormously saline and refined Auslese with highly delicate acidity and the finesse and fleshy fruit from 30- to 40-year-old vines raised on single poles in the second étage of the cru that was never consolidated. There has never been any drought stress here. In 2023, there was a low yield of just 20 hectoliters per hectare, and 500 liters were made (plus 30 liters of Trockenbeerenauslese). 7.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine from AP 22 24 in January 2025. - Stephan Reinhardt, robertparker.com

98+ Points! The 2021 Kinheimer Hubertuslay Riesling Eiswein shows a slatey nose with apricot, physalis and lychee as well as broken slate aromas. Lush and sweet as well as refined and saline on the palate, this is a rich and generously fruity but very delicate and balanced Eiswein with fine, crystalline acidity cutting through dense and fleshy apricot fruit. This Hubertuslay Eiswein is from the first run and is much sweeter and richer than the "generic," possibly more "typical" Eiswein from the second and third run off the press, which makes the wine crystalline, refined, elegant and sharp in a positive sense. However, given the richness and finesse of this Hubertuslay Eiswein, it is stunning. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in July 2022. - Stephan Reinhardt, robertparker.com

96 Points! Employing 15% whole-cluster fermentation, the 2022 Pinot Noir Clow Ridge Vineyard is an exquisite study in elegance and subtle flavor, with floral red fruit and a balanced approach to acidity, sourced from an organically farmed, high-density vineyard on the northwestern edge of the appellation; this is only the second vintage for Drew from this site. Structured to age, it will do well in the cellar for 7-10 years, tasting of earthy dried herb, forest, and mushroom, savory in flavor profile and texture. This is a "wow" wine." - Virginie Boone, JebDunnuck.com

95 Points! Packed with vibrant red fruit flavors on a brilliant texture with great acidity, the wine also shows a touch of richness and plumpness that leads to a lingering finish. Medium-bodied. The raspberry, tart cherry, rhubarb, mint and mineral notes are captivating. Aged in 20% new oak. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! The 2022 Syrah Valenti Ranch is a super-classic Mendocino Ridge wine. It offers a beguiling mix of dark Syrah fruit along with a host of savory/earthy undertones, all framed by beams of tannin that lend energy. Complex and pedigreed to the core, the 2022 is an absolute delight. In a word: gorgeous. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

94 Points! Graceful yet dynamic, with multilayered raspberry and blueberry flavors framed by fresh violet, orange peel and cinnamon as this builds richness and tension toward refined tannins. - Wine Spectator

95 Points! Wonderful aromas of lavender, roses and pure red fruit. The palate is silky and elegant, with mineral tension and flavors of pomegranates and wild berries. Fine tannins, tea and hibiscus in the long, floral finish. Medium-bodied. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! This is very structured and intense with blackberries, currants, walnuts and chocolate. Fresh tobacco as well. Full-bodied, it has lovely fruit and a flavorful finish. A succulent and juicy red. One of the best ever from here. Leave it alone for two or three years. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! Inky black and blue fruit, crushed stone, graphite, and smoky tobacco notes all emerge from the 2022 Château Du Tertre, a rich, powerful wine from this château that has medium to full-bodied richness, ripe, velvety yet building tannins, and a great finish. Based on 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc, 15% Merlot, and the balanced Petit Verdot, it spent 18 months in 60% new barrels. Give bottles 4-6 years and enjoy over the following two decades. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! The 2022 du Tertre has realized the potential it showed from barrel, offering up complex aromas of cassis, plums, pencil shavings and violets, followed by a medium to full-bodied, layered and velvety palate that's rich and textural, with lively acids, powdery tannins and a long, delicately minty finish. It's an unusual blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc, 15% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, which no doubt contributes to its singular style. - William Kelley, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate