Wines

91 Points! Lots of red and black berries, pepper, graphite, and spicy garrigue emerge from the 2023 Vacqueyras Tradition, a blend of 47% Grenache, 37% Syrah, and 16% Mourvèdre that was aged 35% in concrete eggs and 65% in barrels. It's medium-bodied and has a concentrated, focused, nicely structured mouthfeel with notable purity and outstanding length. This will keep for a solid 8-10 years in cold cellars. - Jeb Dunnuck

91-93+ Points! Deeply hued, the 2022 Rasteau offers blueberries, peppery herbs, and violets in a beautifully concentrated, round, open, and expressive style with impressive mid-palate depth. Drink over the coming 10-12 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

Exciting find! An extremely polished, gulpable Madiran from south-facing 60+ year-old vines on clay limestone and gravel. Very refined tannins for the genre...

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

Coming from three different parcels near the northern Rhône (as well as some declassified Côte Rôtie), the 2021 Collines Rhodaniennes Les Lezardes shows the fresher, cooler style of the vintage yet still brings lots of character. Red and black fruits, peppery herbs, flowers, and a touch of game all define the nose, and it's medium-bodied, crisp, and balanced on the palate. - Jeb Dunnuck

95 Points! Rising aerial freshness, this gently hovers out of the glass, with a petrichor note on the nose. Light-bodied, but no lack of impact or intensity. Deeply textural, with a mass of ripe tannin, it finishes dry and saline. Great freshness and energy. Whole-bunch fermented with natural yeasts, followed by 16 months élevage in old barrels. - Decanter Magazine

100% Garnacha from the Dama parcel planted in 1903 at 650m ASL in San Martín de Unx • fermented spontaneously in tank • raised for 36 months in neutral 500L and 600L French oak 

93 Points! The first vintage released by Rafael Perez when he took over the estate, this is 100% Garnacha fermented in stainless steel and then aged for 24 months in French barrels of different sizes. It is a very pretty and elegant red with lavender and mint aromas reminiscent of the surrounding forest of San Mart¡n de Unx. The palate is direct with vertical acidity but enough generosity and juicy wild strawberry fruit. A well crafted wine. - Tim Atkin, MW

97 Points! With its colorful fantasy label, the Domenico Clerico 2019 Barolo Aeroplan Servaj shows dark fruit and a velvety texture with rusty nail and pencil shaving. This vintage carries more overall concentration and structure, and the results are both rich and extremely beautiful. Fruit comes from vines planted in 1994. The wine ages in large oak casks mostly, with about 10% in barrique. - Monica Larner, robertparker.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

93 Points! The 2020 Angelita del Challao comes from a blend of different vineyards in the three valleys from Labastida, looking for a village wine; it was produced with 85% Tempranillo and the rest Garnacha, Mazuelo, Viura, Garnacha Blanca and other rare varieties from their own vineyards and purchased grapes. It fermented in concrete with indigenous yeasts, 40% full clusters that are foot trodden and the rest uncrushed grapes and matured in 225- and 500-liter barrels and 2,000-liter foudres—10 months with each plot separate—and then it was blended and let to settle in concrete for another 10 months. They look for a more approachable wine than Challao, with more floral aromas in a very elegant and harmonious way. The palate is medium-bodied with medium ripeness, 13.5% alcohol and very good freshness and acidity, balanced and harmonious, very tasty and with elegant, refined tannins. Really very good. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

Dominique Gruhier is oneof the greatest red winemakers in Epineuil, an area 10 miles north of Chablis that has traditionally been suited exclusively to Chardonnay! But climate change has provided Gruhier a 'helping hand' and now his reds from old vines on these steep kimmeridigian soil slopes produce some of the most compelling Pinot Noir north of the Cote d'Or. Amazing value here...

The vines for Cuvée Juliette were planted in 1978 on the Côte de Grisey, on a steep southeast-facing slope (45% grade), shallow clay-limestone Kimmeridgian soil.

100% whole cluster, ambient yeast fermentation with pump-overs, aged for 12 months in barrels (30% new), SO2 added a few months before bottling, approx. 25-30 ppm total at bottling.

100 Points! One of the legendary Dominus, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is unquestionably in the same league as the 2018, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2010, and 1991, and to my mind, wine simply doesn't get any better. Sporting a dense purple hue as well as an incredible perfume of blackcurrants, crushed stone, cedar pencil, smoke tobacco, and baking spices, it s rich, full-bodied, and voluptuously textured, with ripe yet building tannins. It reminds me slightly of the 2010 (maybe the 2013), and I suspect it will have a similar evolution. Hide bottles for 7-8 years, and it will evolve gracefully for 30+ years. Hats off to the team of Christian Moueix and director Tod Mostero. - Jeb Dunnuck

100 Points! The 2021 Dominus, 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc, is opaque purple-black in color. It needs a lot of coaxing to lure out scents of freshly crushed blackcurrants, blackberry preserves, stewed plums, and boysenberries giving way to subtle nuances of violets, licorice, and tar plus a touch of cedar in the background. The full-bodied palate is taut with densely laden, muscular black fruits framed by a firm grainy texture and well-played tension, finishing on a lingering ferrous note. A stunning vinous record of time and place, this is a 50-year+ Napa Cabernet to be experienced across generations. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, TWI

100 Points! The 2023 Dominus is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot. Opaque purple-black in color, it slowly unfurls to reveal a powerful core of blackcurrant jelly, ripe black plums, and fresh blueberries, followed by hints of menthol, crushed rocks, dried sage, black truffles, and black olives. The full-bodied palate is both generous and energetic, displaying an impressive array of savory and earthy nuances among the dense black fruit layers and a rock-solid frame of grainy tannins and beautiful tension, finishing with epic length. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW

99 Points! Black currant, pencil shaving, subtle sandalwood, wet earth, forest floor and violet aromas follow through to a medium- to full-bodied palate with ultra-fine tannins that integrate perfectly at the end. A polished and caressing texture that goes on for minutes. The balance and drinkability of this Dominus is terrific, and it will age beautifully. A blend of 87% cabernet sauvignon, 9% cabernet franc and 4% petit verdot. From organically grown grapes. Very drinkable now, but will age beautifully. - JamesSuckling.com