Wines

97 Points! Pure berry fruit and cedar aromas, the wine has great purity. It is a straight line of freshness as well as black-currant fruits and ripe acidity. The wine is beautifully textured and firm at its core. Drink from 2028. Organic and biodynamic. - Wine Enthusiast

95 Points! This is a very pretty 2021 with a solid, beautiful mid-palate and density. Juicy fruit, slightly chewy tannins and a savory finish. Hints of graphite. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Ripe blue fruits, spring flowers, violets, tobacco, and some graphite notes all emerge from the 2021 Château Pontet-Canet, a richer, medium to full-bodied Pauillac that has polished, building tannins, terrific overall balance, and outstanding length. It picks up more classic Pauillac lead pencil notes with time in the glass (I was able to taste this on multiple occasions) and is a fleshy, beautifully textured 2021 that will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and evolve for two decades. The 2021 is based on 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Petit Verdot that was raised 50% in new oak barrels, 35% amphora, and the balance in once-used oak. - Jeb Dunnuck

93 Points! Made by Geneviève and Luc Janssens, the 2016 Proprietary Red is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc that spent 30 months in French oak. Revealing a dense purple color as well as Old World notes of dark currants, tobacco, chocolate, and spring flowers, this rich, medium to full-bodied effort has ripe tannins, a rounded, elegant texture, and a great finish. It shows the classic, balanced style of this vintage nicely. It's terrific today yet should evolve for 15-20 years as well. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! Bright, with crushed-stone and floral character on the nose. Medium body with a firm core, expanding through the palate. Vivid and bright. Lots of good energy. Crushed-stone and lightly chalky character at the end. Needs two or three years to come around. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

92 Points! The 2019 Potensac is fabulous. Bright and focused, the 2019 impresses with its energy, balance and total class. Crushed flowers, mint, cinnamon, crushed rocks and blood orange all open in the glass. The 2019 is class personified I love the purity here. The 2019 is a standout, and should be a terrific value, too. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

#BordeauxBlowout

95 Points Vinous! From the winery:The Loechel Eden Valley Shiraz is sourced from a single vineyard at the Southern tip of the Eden Valley township. It was planted half a century ago by the Loechel family to granitic loam, at 400 metres altitude.

The vineyard is planted on a steep Easterly aspect with high drainage and low yields, resulting in concentrated fruit and rich, complex wines. The vineyard is picked in three seperate components which are kept seperate throughout vinification. One third of the vineyard’s fruit is retained to produce the Loechel Shiraz which is determined at blending prior to bottling

93 Points! A vivid blend of wildflowers, yellow apples and ground ginger forms a captivating bouquet as the 2021 Soave Classico Monte Grande blossoms in the glass. This is round and supple, with cooling minerality and fresh acidity, adding wonderful lift as ripe pit-fruits and minty herbal tones resonate. A tinge of lime and a salty flourish add lovely punctuation as the 2021 finishes long and staining yet graceful and floral. What a darling. - Eric Guido, Vinous

93 Points! A restrained wine with complex, layered aromas of smoke, minerals and peat with touches of Mirabelle plums and lemon leaves. Medium- to full-bodied on the palate, with sweet fruit, zesty acidity and a vibrant, savory finish. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! This unusual gruner veltliner is brimming with floral aromas and has a wonderful interplay of restrained creaminess, bright yellow apple and pear fruit and elegant acidity on the medium-bodied palate. Long, precise finish. Sustainable. Drink or hold. Screw cap. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Chopped apples, honey and lemon pith on the nose, with an earthy minerality too. It’s medium-bodied, creamy and layered, with a long and delicious finish. Sustainable. Drink or hold. Screw cap. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! The 2020 Pinot Noir Earth Smoke is a massively different wine from its stablemate Angel Flower, giving a more expansive wine that blossoms in the mouth without any sense of weight. There's elegance and sense of precision. And do you know what? It feels special. If I were tasting blind, aromatically, I'd think it were a cool climate Syrah with sandalwood, fennel, agave and white pepper characters in abundance alongside pure cherry fruit. The finish is fresh and precise. - Rebecca Gibb, MW, Vinous Media

95 Points! The brightness and transparency of the aromas are impressive, with fresh flowers, blue fruit, crushed stones, lavender and orange blossoms. Medium-bodied, with a tight and focused palate of linear and integrated tannins. Fresh and tangy. Vivid at the end. A unique expression of the vintage and St. Emilion, with so much crunchy fruit. 68.2% merlot, 31.3% cabernet franc and 0.5% malbec. - James Suckling

93 Points! The 2020 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills Cuvée is a terrific introduction to the range. Crushed red berry fruit, mint, spice, rose petal and a touch of whole cluster savoriness are all beautifully delineated. This is such a gorgeous and expressive Pinot. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

93 Points! Aromas of strawberry fruit leather give way to notes of turned earth and crushed black basalt. The palate is savoury, with underlying dried fruit flavours. Montmorency cherries, garden soil and clove, evolve into notes of savoury herbs and streaks of graphite minerality. - Decanter Magazine

96 Points! This is the best American sparkling wine I've ever tasted. The 2019 vintage base also includes 25% reserve wines from the 2017 and 2018 harvests. This Grand Reserve Chardonnay made from the cool Sta Rita Hills is crafted with a Champagne pedigree, and it shows. This Blanc de Blancs from across renowned Sta Rita Hills vineyards has undeniable Old World charm and sophistication. The aromatics boast ample toasted biscuit notes and great yeasty complexity from the 30 months on lees. The palate has a fantastic depth of fruit, spiced pear, cardamom, nutmeg and bruised apples. There is a subtlety of savoury biscuits and hints of almond cream. Elegant, yet bold and wildly delicious. - Clive Pursehouse, Decanter Magazine

93 Points! The NV Chardonnay Grand Reserve (Sparkling) is compelling, especially in the way it straddles the line between still and sparkling wine. Creamy and resonant in the glass, the Grande Reserve is laced with apricot, white flowers and chamomile. This is a superb showing for the entry-level wine in what will soon be a range of sparklers from Racines. This release is a blend of fruit from Wenzlau, Bentrock, La Rinconada and Sanford & Benedict .... These new releases from Etienne de Montille’s Racines kick off with the first sparkling wine made in collaboration with Rodolphe Péters. The new Grande Reserve, all 2018 in its first release, will gradually become a multi-vintage blend in the style of Péters’s Cuvée de Réserve Champagne. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

100 Points! An incredible debut wine, showing beautiful aromas of strawberries, cantaloupe, flint and dried seaweed, as well as iodine and dried flowers. Medium- to full-bodied, with Musigny-like power, a magical flex of tannins and closed, poised fruit. Endless. Nothing like this in California pinot noir. Drinkable now, but wait five years if you have the patience. - JamesSuckling.com

98 Points! Aromas of seaweed, fresh and dried strawberries, salt and white pepper. Medium- to full-bodied, showing persistence, intensity and structure, with firm, muscular tannins. Long, lightly chewy finish. Needs three to four years to soften, but a solid wine. Best in 2028 and beyond. - JamesSuckling.com

93+ Points! The young, balsamic and still faintly medicinal entry-level white 2023 Louro is dense, ripe and powerful at 13.9% alcohol, pungent and intense with a bitter twist in the finish. It's very tasty, almost salty, with cleanliness and precision, combining power with freshness and elegance. This is quite impressive and a preview of the rest of the 2023s to come. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points, Wine Spectator's #10 Wine of the Year 2024! Oozing with character, this succulent and mouthwatering white offers a fleshy, juicy mix of perfectly ripe peach, mango and lemon bar flavors, with fresh herbal accents of lemon verbena and vetiver. Offers accents of freshly grated ginger, tangerine and crunchy sea salt on the finish. Drink now through 2036. - Wine Spectator

95 Points! The 2022 Chardonnay Russian River Valley is also a bright silver straw color and has a slightly deeper tone. Revealing notes of smoky wet stones, lemon balm, green apples, and fresh flowers, it has a bit more medium-bodied richness. with a lovely. light-on-its-feet feel in this vintage. - Jeb Dunnuck

93 Points Tim Atkin, MW!

* ETA Second week of March...

96 Points! The 2012 Brut Millésime blends 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir, with Chardonnay mainly from Montagne de Reims and a small portion from Côte des Blancs, giving it a slightly unusual yet eternally sleek Chardonnay bent. It spent a decade on the lees. Its nose is a smoky wonder, combining ripe, almost tropical fruit with a gorgeous toasty sense of grilled almonds. An overtone of candied orange peel flashes up momentarily. The palate brings wonderfully golden plum fruit, ripe yet fresh, juicy and utterly aromatic, verging on apricot and always surrounded by a toasty, warming frisson of grilled nuts, pervaded by a streak of finest freshness. This is immensely youthful, captured with brilliantly pure fruit and lasting expression that rings long in a toasty umami echo. - Anne Krebiehl MW, Vinous

96 Points! A graceful Champagne that waltzes across the palate, with a fine, plush mousse carrying a lovely range of ripe black cherry, pureed raspberry, candied ginger, Mandarin orange peel, grilled nut and pastry flavors enlivened by a vibrant spine of lemony acidity. To a certain extent, the precision and elegance belies the focus and breadth on display, so sip this slowly and enjoy as it opens in the glass and expands on the palate, echoing on the finish. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Drink now through 2040. - Wine Spectator

96 Points! A Champagne of great intensity and concentration, pure citrus oil, candied lemon and toasty exotic fruit. It's exceptionally soft and satin-like, creamy and comforting, then a stony, saline intensity draws out the finish. For the first time in the history of Rare Champagne, the house has released a vintage that is older than its previous release. This 2012 comes after the 2013 was released in 2023. Cellar master Émilien Boutillat says this is because when tasting the 2012, he and the team found a connection between this and the iconic 2002, so it deserved a little bit of extra time in the cellars before release. – Decanter

#PiperRare

98 Points! Originally a part of the legendary Piper-Heidsieck Champagne house, Rare is moving their Champagne Millésime to a new brand and want it to stand alone. (Think Delamotte and Salon.) The 13th vintage for this cuvée, the 2013 Champagne Millésime is a blend is 70% Chardonnay with the rest Pinot Noir, with the majority of the blend coming from the Montagne de Reims Grand Cru and Premier Cru. A bright yellow hue, its aromatics are exquisite and well-balanced, with fresh notes of key lime, candied apple, fresh croissant dough, fresh pineapple, and honeysuckle. Medium to full-bodied, it fills the palate with a rounded and supple texture and a pillowy mousse. It’s long on the palate and has a silky personality as well as a long, pristine finish. It has fantastic balance of decadence and freshness, and I could drink this all day. It’s going to have a long drinking window. Drink 2024-2044 and beyond. Disgorged December 2022. - Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck.com

#PiperRare

93 Points! Medium amber with a green rim. Aromas of burnt orange, tobacco, toffee and herbs, with a hint of potpourri adding an exotic component. Broader and deeper than the Charleston, offering sappy orange marmalade, chestnut honey and toffee flavors underscored by tangy acidity. Shows a sweet, nutty quality on the smoky, gently spicy finish. I like this wine's heft and thrust. - Josh Raynolds, Vinous Media

95 Points! This smells like apricot tarte tatin with notes of toasted nuts and caramelized bananas. Very crisp and concentrated this has tremendous energy in spite of the intense maturation character, the touch of sweetness pushed way into the background. Super-long finish that’s both rich and refreshing. Drink or hold. - Stuart Pigott, JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! They now work a lot to produce this wine, a blend of 11 wines selected from the 17 they made. It's a wine that represents Bierzo and is from a year when they used more grapes from sandy soils. It has 13.16% alcohol and a pH of 3.66; it's serious and restrained but juicy and easy to drink. Seventy percent of the wine matured in barrel and the rest in troncoconic oak vats. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com