Wines

94 Points! The 2019 Ried Loibenberg Riesling Smaragd comes from three very different spots of this large cru. The wine opens with a clear and crunchy, ripe, concentrated and fleshy stone fruit aroma intertwined with flinty and herbal (woodruff) notes. Very elegant and refined on the palate, this is a complex, fresh and salty, beautifully vibrant, vital and aromatic Loibenberg Riesling with a firm, structured, finely grippy, bitter, crunchy and salty finish. Excellent! 13% alcohol. Tasted at the domain in June 2021. - Stephan Reinhardt, robertparker.com

99 Points! One of the few 2022 Tuscan wines where you can really see that this will benefit from a few years in bottle, right now it is, hovering on the edge of something delicious, vibrating over the tannic architecture, feathered, campfire smoke, fennel, blackberry, liquorice and crushed peonies, and the bitter fennel and slate scrape, dense, contrast of textures and flavours like only truly great wines can do, a reflection of skilful construction. A gorgeous wine, slowly stretching out in the palate, 65% new oak for ageing.- Jane Anson

97 Points! Tasted a few months after it was bottled, the Ornellaia 2022 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia will be coming to market in March 2025. The blend is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Petit Verdot. The wine sees 18 months of aging with up to 70% new oak, but the trick, proprietor Lamberto Frescobaldi tells me, is drawing from a large group of coopers with different toast levels and forests. "I don't want to make a wine of any one tonnellerie," he says. The oak element is crucial to the identity of this wine that reveals dark fruit, blackberry, sweet spice and cinnamon. Most of the vines were planted in the 1980s, and the average age of the plants is over 20 years old. Fruit comes from many parcels, including Bellaria, Bellaria Nuova, Bellaria Alta, Pero, Fosso, Vigna Vecchia and Stallina. Indeed, some 80 wines are made before final blending. The 2022 vintage will be remembered for its full-bodied appeal, concentrated fruit and generous oak renderings. Petit Verdot plays a slightly larger role in this vintage and was one of the surprise hits of 2022. It serves to elongate the wine and adds to its length. The wine's abundant fruit weight cedes to elegantly integrated tannins. This vintage will appeal to die-hard Ornellaia enthusiasts. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

99 Points! One of the few 2022 Tuscan wines where you can really see that this will benefit from a few years in bottle, right now it is, hovering on the edge of something delicious, vibrating over the tannic architecture, feathered, campfire smoke, fennel, blackberry, liquorice and crushed peonies, and the bitter fennel and slate scrape, dense, contrast of textures and flavours like only truly great wines can do, a reflection of skilful construction. A gorgeous wine, slowly stretching out in the palate, 65% new oak for ageing.- Jane Anson

97 Points! Tasted a few months after it was bottled, the Ornellaia 2022 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia will be coming to market in March 2025. The blend is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Petit Verdot. The wine sees 18 months of aging with up to 70% new oak, but the trick, proprietor Lamberto Frescobaldi tells me, is drawing from a large group of coopers with different toast levels and forests. "I don't want to make a wine of any one tonnellerie," he says. The oak element is crucial to the identity of this wine that reveals dark fruit, blackberry, sweet spice and cinnamon. Most of the vines were planted in the 1980s, and the average age of the plants is over 20 years old. Fruit comes from many parcels, including Bellaria, Bellaria Nuova, Bellaria Alta, Pero, Fosso, Vigna Vecchia and Stallina. Indeed, some 80 wines are made before final blending. The 2022 vintage will be remembered for its full-bodied appeal, concentrated fruit and generous oak renderings. Petit Verdot plays a slightly larger role in this vintage and was one of the surprise hits of 2022. It serves to elongate the wine and adds to its length. The wine's abundant fruit weight cedes to elegantly integrated tannins. This vintage will appeal to die-hard Ornellaia enthusiasts. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

94 Points! A supple, fluid red marked by flavors of macerated cherry, raspberry and boysenberry. Well-structured, with flashes of graphite and tobacco as this builds to the long, compact finish. All the components are there, this just needs time. Sangiovese and Merlot. - Wine Spectator

94 Points! Made with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, the Tenuta San Guido 2022 Guidalberto gives you a good taste of the same DNA that brings us one of Italy's greatest wines, Sassicaia, but it's offered in a more immediate style here (thanks to the addition of the Merlot). This warm vintage opens to medium-dark concentration and very plump aromas that take you immediately to blackberry and blackcurrant sitting out in the sun at your local farmers market. The wine shows a soft and gentle side with a pretty level of elegance transmitted through the fruit freshness and the light oak spice that is discernible here but delivered with grace. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

94 Points! Lots of mint with sage and fresh rosemary to the currant and orange character on the nose, as well as some ripe raspberries. The palate is very refined with creamy and crunchy tannins that run the length of the wine. It shows a crunchy and energetic personality. Give it a year or two to come together, but it’s showing brightness for the vintage. Drink after 2027. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! A deep and complex wine with aromas of raspberries, bay leaves, leather, black pepper and smoke. The full-bodied palate shows velvety tannins, zesty acidity, a savory character and umami length. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! Showing apricots, peaches and sage, this is layered and savory. On the palate, it’s vibrant and refined with silky texture, crisp acidity and a long finish. From organically and biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! The 2021 Pinot Meunier, fermented and matured without new wood, is nuanced and very easy to drink. It has intense aromas of cranberry sauce, red cherries and blackberries, plus nuances of wild fennel, amaro, underbrush and floral perfume. The medium-bodied palate has precise, tea-textured tannins, seamless freshness and a long, spicy finish. "This is a climate-change superstar," notes winemaker Jason Lett. The variety "has extremely wooly buds, which protects them," he continues. "The white fuzz on its leaves reflects the sun—it's an adaptation, like plants in the desert that are often fuzzy." - Erin Brooks, robertparker.com

90 Points! Based on 90% Sauvignon Blanc and 10% Sémillon, the 2023 Sauvignon Blanc offers honeyed melon, orange, and ripe citrus, as well as some minty nuances. It's medium-bodied, nicely balanced, has good acidity, and a clean finish. It's an impeccably made Sauvignon Blanc to drink over the coming 3-5 years. It's closest in style to a Bordeaux Blanc and will shine with food. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! The 2020 Franc de Pied is incredibly reductive when it was first opened and needed a lot of time and a swirl with a copper coin. If you can be patient ( 5 minutes with a penny in your glass, or your currency’s equivalent), It’s worth the wait. It reveals itself to be a richly fruited, savory style that fills the mouth with a balloon of chalky silkiness. The limestone element really shows itself on the long finish grained texture and sinew. As you’d hope from Saumyr-Champigny, there’s no sense of weight or heft. Detectable now but has the structure to develop over the coming two decades. - Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous

94 Points! With an enticing and subtle nose of lemon blossom, this is a dangerously fresh and delicate riesling Kabinett for a region often considered unsuitable for the production of this light-bodied style. Wonderful elegance and wet-stone minerality at the long, barely off-dry finish. From organically grown grapes. Vegan. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! From the Duncan family of Silver Oak fame comes Timeless, a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant proprietary blend crafted by winemaker Nate Weis with grapes from the Duncan's Soda Canyon Ranch Vineyard. The site is a 113-acre ranch in the estate in the benchlands of the Vaca Mountains just north of Napa. The blend is rounded out with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. In 2020, this wine offers a fragrant, bright, and lifted nose with lovely red and black currants, savoury sagebrush, tobacco, and dried red florals with blood orange. Medium-bodied with a gorgeous tapestry of crunchy red cranberry, plums, and cherry. Crushed stone mineral notes form a solid base from which baking notes of dark chocolate emerge. The tannins are persistent, building, and turn chalky as they resolve. This wine has plenty of acid grip and a beautiful, quiet intensity. It has excellent cellar potential. - Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter

94 Points! The 2018 Ghemme Dei Manzoni is powerful and quite brooding in bearing. Macerated cherry, spice, orange peel, leather, tobacco, incense and dried flowers all meld together. In the glass, the 2018 is wonderfully exotic and complete, with tons of nuance and persistence that just builds over time. It's a reference point wine for the appellation done in a strapping, old school style that is all about structure, tannin and size. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

94 Points! A combination of Wente and Calera clones, the 2022 Chardonnay Cuvée Susan Hyde Vineyard features scents of crushed stone, struck flint and a hint of pencil shavings, in addition to fruity notes of melon, pear and pineapple. It's medium to full-bodied in the mouth, plump and even a bit custardy-oily, then finishes long and creamy. - Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

94+ Points! The 2022 The Steading is juicy, fleshy and aromatically abundant. It is routinely a reliably satisfying wine, and it has been ever since I started drinking wine. Framed by this fine, fresh, late vintage, the Steading looks better than ever, with raspberry, licorice, mulberry, star anise and a hint of aniseed. Super! 15% alcohol, sealed under natural cork and wax. - Erin Larkin, robertparker.com

94 Points! The 2022 The Steading is juicy, fleshy and aromatically abundant. It is routinely a reliably satisfying wine, and it has been ever since I started drinking wine. Framed by this fine, fresh, late vintage, the Steading looks better than ever, with raspberry, licorice, mulberry, star anise and a hint of aniseed. Super! 15% alcohol, sealed under natural cork and wax. - JamesSuckling.com

99 Points! The 2021 RunRig is an impossibly bright and vibrant wine, with intense power and structure to match the impermeable fruit. Not much more can be said of this wine other than that it came from a magnificent vintage that experienced healthy winter rains in the lead up to the growing season and dry conditions throughout the growing season. The wines have been lauded, and in the case of a wine like this, it is evident why. Like the 2018 vintage, you could drink this anytime, but one would counsel patience. - Erin Larkin, robertparker.com, September 20025

96 Points! So much black fruit, black walnuts, blueberries, wet earth, black truffles and some graphite. Medium to full body with lots of tension and focus. It runs very long with a salty undertone and some bitter, burnt lemon. Yet ever so subtle and refined. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! The 2020 Château Tour Saint Christophe showed spectacularly well, and based off past vintages, this shouldn't surprise anyone. Based on 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc raised in 40% new barrels (the balance is in second- and third-fill oak), it offers a full-bodied, incredibly pure, balanced style revealing subtle oak, terrific darker, almost blue fruits, lots of chocolate, leafy herb and mineral nuances, and gorgeous tannins. It's worth pointing out that this will be the last vintage made by the talented Jérôme Aguirre. This terrific Saint-Emilion will evolve for two decades. - Jeb Dunnuck