Wines

96 Points! A plush and opulent Pavillon Rouge with plums, boysenberries and hints of cedar and chocolate. Full-bodied, this has lovely powdery tannins and a long and flavorful finish. Juicy and delicious, it's so attractive now that it’s hard not to drink. Second wine of Chateau Margaux. 64% cabernet sauvignon, 24% merlot, 7% petit verdot and 5% cabernet franc. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! Bottled in July, the inky-hued 2022 Château Margaux Pavillon Rouge offers a classic nose of ripe black raspberries, cassis, spring flowers, spice oak, and graphite. This leads to a medium to full-bodied Margaux with remarkable purity, a pure, layered, elegant mouthfeel, plenty of tannins, and a great finish. - Jeb Dunnuck

95 Points!  This is a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, it erupts from the glass with flamboyant notes of baked plums, licorice, and boysenberry preserves, leading to hints of sandalwood, dusty soil, iron ore, and dried roses. The full-bodied palate is rich and plush, jam-packed with black fruit preserves flavors, finishing long and spicy. So gorgeous. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW

94 Points! Beautiful vivid colour, bright and intense. Dark chocolate, cherries and subtle perfume on the nose. Bright and lively thought also lean and straight on the palate. A generous weight and intense grip to the tannins. It’s on the tense side, focussed with extreme precision to the fruit profile with racy acidity unpinning the tannins which are at the fore. Feels refined and elegant, more serious than some other second wines in its construction but is classy, juicy, sculpted and softly plush. The fruit has bite and tang, with liquorice and graphite edges and spiced accents giving angles but all enjoyable and really building to the whole. Great freshness and length. 7% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 3.61pH. 84 IPT - highest IPT, highest before was 2018 which was 82. 15% press wine. 31% production. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter.com

94 Points! The 2022 Pavillon Rouge is a rich, ample wine. It is also one of the most opulent, creamy editions of Pavillon Rouge I can remember tasting. Supple and juicy, with tons of mid-palate richness and volume, the 2022 is shockingly intense in its texture. At the same time, the tannins are so polished, with no hard edges or angular contours. In 2022, Pavillon Rouge is a wine of extreme and total pleasure. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

94 Points! The 2022 Imaginador collects the fruit that doesn't go into the five single-vineyard bottlings and presents them with the clarity and precision many producers strive for in their top cuvées. It leads with a spice-driven nose, adding flourishes of dried flowers and smoke with time. The palate embodies the weightlessly saturated profile that defines the entire portfolio, concluding with ultra-refined tannins and stony persistence. This is a superb introduction to a world-class set of wines. - Matthew Luczy, robertparker.com

93 Points! Reductive notes of racy bramble berries, pomegranates, rose hips and white pepper funk. Nice fruit on the palate, but kept nicely bone-dry, with tense, firm tannins and a fresh finish. Very slightly metallic. 100% whole clusters fermented in open steel tanks, 60% to 80% aged in foudres.- JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Pale ruby in color, the 2018 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley has aromas of earth, tar, black cherries and tea leaves with spicy accents. The palate is light-bodied, silky, spicy and fresh with a long finish. It's a lifted, elegant expression this vintage. - Erin Brooks, robertparker.com

93 Points! This is the first vintage of the 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Mulino from Pertimali, a lower-elevation cru that’s noted for the high level of marine fossils found in its soils. Here I find a classic display of dried roses, black cherry, dusty earth and freshly-tanned leather. It envelopes the palate in fleshy textures offset by a mix of tart wild berries, zesty acids and savory spice, as building tension puckers the cheeks, seeding them with fine-grained tannins. This comes across as structured yet remarkably balanced, and it’s a beautiful expression of the vintage. Lose your bottles in the cellar for two to three years, and then reap the rewards. - Eric Guido, Vinous Media

96 Points! Intense aromas of black cherries, lavender and spice, such as nutmeg. Some sandalwood and bark, too. Full-bodied with a solid core of fruit and tannins for the vintage. Rather chewy, suggesting that additional bottle age is needed. Try after 2026. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! Rich with compact and velvety layers, the 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino offers fleshy aromas of fig, black licorice, mocha, and roasted sage. It is full-bodied and displays more freshness and transparency on the palate, although it remains fully ripe, with black cherry, plum, turned soil, and macerated violets. It has full and present ripe tannins, a hint of crushed rock, and a saline, savory finish. With its liqueur-like richness throughout, this is a fantastic expression, but it needs a couple of years in the cellar before drinking over the following 10. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

93 Points! Ripe and juicy, this red reveals plum, cherry, earth, tobacco and menthol aromas and flavors. Well-structured, delivering dense, dusty tannins and ample fruit to match, with a long, complex finish. - Wine Spectator

92-94 Points! The 2011 Pinot Noir La Caprice, which was harvested before any damaging rains arrived and is above the fog line on the Sonoma Coast, exhibits classic notes of black raspberries, graphite, flowers, red and black fruits, spice and forest floor. Not quite as rich or dense as the 2010, or as structured and chewy as the 2009, the evolved, seductive 2011 should provide enormous pleasure over the next 10-12 years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

92 Points! I like the peach and white stone fruit aromas, brightened by white pepper and salty minerality. Clean, balanced and medium-bodied, with distinctive gruner pepperiness yet nicely restrained. Drink now.- JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! Aromas of wild herbs and undergrowth with plenty of fresh red fruit, too. This has a sleek, firm feel with ample, juicy and fresh tannins that deliver a succulent, fine-grained feel. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! Tasted with Lisa and Philip Togni in their winery atop Spring Mountain in February of 2024. The Tanbark Hill was bottled in June of 2023. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged up to 20 months. The tannins are quite assertive at this young stage, in classic Spring Mountain Togni fashion, with a fine granularity about them. The wine feels quite complete, teeming with pure dark berry fruits and very fresh. Deeply mineral-tinged dark berries and black currants are framed by a wine with noticeable coiled-up energy and tension. It’s mostly mouthfeel at this stage and will soften with a few more years. - Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter Magazine

93 Points! The medium to full-bodied 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Tanbark Hill Vineyard delivers complex notes of mountain fruit, with hints of sage and bay leaf accenting cassis, blueberries and raspberries. In the mouth, it's firmly buttressed by grainy tannins, with terrific acids that linger on the finish in mouthwatering fashion. This, Togni's "early-drinking" wine, should age two decades with ease. -  Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

93 Points! The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Tanbark Hill Vineyard is one of the most potent vintages of this wine I can remember tasting. Dense and textured, the 2021 shows ample dark fruit and complex earthy/savory undertones that add balance. The 2021 benefits from the addition of some excess fruit that would have been used in the main label but that, for practical purposes, ended up in the tanks for the Tanbark Hill. Readers will find a wine of breadth, power and character. In this vintage, the Tanbark Hill gives a very good idea of the quality and style of the Grand Vin. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

92+ Points! The 2016 Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut Millésime from Philippe Gonet is more autolytic and reductive than the Signature Brut Blanc de Blancs, evoking aromas of pastry, baked bread, white peach and citrus oil. Medium to full-bodied, enveloping and delicate, it’s charming with a fleshy core of fruit and a versatile open-knit character on the finish. This is a great effort with a dosage of five grams per liter. - Yohan Castaing, robertparker.com

94 Points! The 2021 Poggio de Colli, 100% Cabernet Franc, is stunning. It’s peppery and floral throughout, with masses of crushed strawberry and raspberry spiced up by tangerine zest. This impresses further with its wiry textures offset by tantalizing acidity. A core of tart wild berry fruit cascades across the palate, underscored by saline minerals and hints of citrus. Fine-grained tannins emerge through the finish as the 2021 tapers off spicy yet fresh, leaving the mouth watering despite its structure and intensity. This is a ripe vintage for Poggio de Colli, yet it is still a glorious Cabernet Franc that will pay dividends in the cellar. - Eric Guido, Vinous Media

93 Points! I like the intensity here of dark plums, oyster shells, tar, dried flowers and chocolate. Rich and flavorful with a full body and muscular tannins, sturdy, but not at all heavy. Try in 2025. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! The 2023 Riesling Pfaffenberg has subtle citrus and a darker aspect that disappears on the palate. The body is zesty, driven and energetic, with stony determination and citrus wings, grapefruit, tangerine and all the tangy stuff. Despite this soaring nature, this is anchored in stone. The 2023 is compelling, strait-laced, precise and oh-so juicy. Wonderfully dry. - Anne Krehbiel MW, Vinous Media

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

95-96 Points! A dense wine with good richness and concentration. Slightly chewy, with an almost full body and a tight-grained finish. Long, structured and powerful. Not a lighter year for Pichon Baron, thanks to the low yield of just around 20 hectoliters per hectare. 87% cabernet sauvignon and 13% merlot. - Zekun Shai, James Suckling

94-96 Points! Beautiful stuff, the 2024 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron has ripe currant and cassis fruit intermixed with classic lead pencil, graphite, and tobacco nuances. It's medium-bodied, with a pure, layered, and elegant mouthfeel, notable tannins, and outstanding length. The 2024 is based on 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Merlot, hitting 12.7% alcohol with a pH of 3.71. - Jeb Dunnuck

92 Points! The 2021 Syrah Santa Barbara County is scented of black raspberries, candied blackberries, cracked pepper, smoked meats and green olive. The medium-bodied palate is bright and chalky with restrained yet nuanced fruit and a long, latent finish. I would be inclined to drink it on the earlier side after a couple hours in a decanter, and its freshness will allow it to pair widely at the table. - Erin Brooks, robertparker.com