Wines

95 Points! The 2020 Distique 13 is the best wine I have tasted from Mangot in some time, perhaps ever. Vibrant and explosive, the 2020 offers up blueberry jam, graphite, crushed rocks, lavender, licorice and exotic spice. Distique 13 remains an unabashedly opulent, full-throttle wine, but in this vintage there is a good kick of energy that lends balance and proportion. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

93+ Points! Notes of minty blackberries, cherries and plums preface the 2020 Todeschini Distique 13, a medium to full-bodied, deep and layered wine that's more concentrated and structured than the regular Château Mangot, featuring a more elevated percentage of Cabernet and seeing élevage in barrels, foudres and amphorae. It will require a bit more patience. - William Kelley, robertparker.com

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93 Points! A blend of 50% Pinot Noir from the commune of Mareuisur-Aÿ, 15% Pinot Noir sourced from Louvois grand cru and 35% Chardonnay from Mareuil-sur-Aÿ and Chouilly, the 2020 Brut Premier Cru Special Club Millesime offers up aromas of lemon oil, lime, verbena, herbs and spring flowers. Medium to full-bodied, textured and structured, it has good freshness and is enhanced by a charming, delicate mid-palate, concluding with a saline, tense and ethereal finish. Dosage: five grams per liter. - Yohan Castaing, robertparker.com

 

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93 Points! Crafted from old vines of massal selection planting on a south-facing site in Mareuil-sur-A , the NV Brut Premier Cru Mes Favorites Vieilles Vignes offers up an elegant, complex bouquet of white peach, pear, herbs, lemon oil, pastry and tangerine. Fleshier and deeper than its siblings, it's medium to full-bodied, vinous and charming and has a delicate, vinous core of fruit that leads to a long, saline and slightly anise-inflected finish. This blend of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay (based on the 2019 and 2020 vintages in equal parts) was disgorged with a dosage of 5.5 grams per liter. - Yohan Castaing, robertparker.com

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97 Points! A strong candidate for the title of the wine of the vintage, the 2022 Hermitage Le Greal is gorgeous. Evoking a perfumed, complex and vibrant bouquet of blackberry, rose petal, violet, flowers and dark cherries mingled with lovely notes of lead pencil, it's suave and sappy, complete and deep, with a multidimensional core of fruit and beautifully refined tannins enhanced by an energetic mid-palate that segues into a long, perfumed and ethereal finish due to the use of whole bunches. Truly gorgeous. It should gain raciness with age. - Yohan Castaing, robertparker.com

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94 Points! Lots of fresh herbs and a fine twist of tobacco and smoke to the red plums and redcurrants. Tannins are chalky and present, which creates a linear but tight mouthfeel. Deliciously fine-grained. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

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94 Points! Pure and vibrant, this red features cherry, blackberry and black currant flavors, with violet, mineral, earth and wild herb details. Balanced and complex, the endless aftertaste is driven by bracing acidity. - Wine Spectator

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94 Points! One of the appellation's classic wines, the Tenute Cisa Asinari dei Marchesi di Gresy 2020 Barbaresco Martinenga delivers a soft entry to the palate with subtle cherry and sweet raspberry. Those fruit tones are laced with dusty mineral and white licorice. The wine delivers medium-weight texture, but the finish remains long and polished over time. The tannins will soften with a few more years of bottle age. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

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97 Points! A towering effort, the 2020 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes soars from the glass with pristine crème de cassis, raspberry jam, black plum, scorched earth, incense, mint, exotic spice and white pepper aromas. The precision of the individual perfumes has a laser-like quality rarely seen in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Full-bodied and framed by ever-so-velvety tannins, it reaches a spherical dimension in the mouth. The recent adoption of 3,000-liter Austrian oak barrels beautifully contributed to the shape of this wine, giving it terrific poise and tension. - Nicolas Greinacher, Vinous Media

97 Points! One of the world’s greatest expressions of Grenache year-in and year-out, the 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes is all varietal that was brought up in larger foudre. This cuvée comes from the Charbonnieres and Les Esqueirons lieux-dits, which are mostly more sandy soils. Its deeper purple color is followed by a concentrated, medium to full-bodied, powerful yet elegant Grenache offering ripe cherry and darker berry fruits, notes of ground pepper, garrigue, and licorice, ripe yet certainly present tannins, and a great finish. Reminding me slightly of the 2006, which is drinking brilliantly today, it’s going to offer incredible pleasure over its lengthy life. Give bottles 2-3 years and enjoy over the following two decades. - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! Impressive depth of colour for the vintage, this is extremely round, fresh, clear and well-defined. Tannins are present and fairly strict in style, but they're ripe, and all in all this is exceptionally promising. Not huge in fruit or body, but well-balanced and precise. from 120-year-old vines planted on north-facing clay and sand lieux-dits of Charbonnières and Esquières. Fermented in concrete, aged in foudre. - Matt Walls, Decanter Magazine

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93 Points! The 2021 Armé Cabernet Sauvignon is blended with 10% Merlot, 4% Malbec, and 2% Petit Verdot. It has pretty tones of blueberries and black cherries with nuances of lavender, thyme and underbrush. The palate is medium-bodied, chalky and refreshing, with surprising depth of crunchy fruit and floral sparks across the long, juicy finish. - Erin Brooks, robertparker.com

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93 Points! Another impressive wine at a remarkable price point, the 2023 OVR Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon grown at the family’s McDowell property in Mendocino County. It’s dry, refined, and tastes of classic Cabernet, offering green olive, currant, and a hint of soy around fine, well-integrated tannins, with tension and vibrancy able to punctuate through its full-bodied core and oak and subtle power. Drink now through 2033. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

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94 Points! Indeed the 75th iteration of this wine, the NV OVR Old Vine Red Lot 75 has been made since the 1980s, for most of those years by founder Chris Bilbro. Son Scot now continues the tradition, blending a mix of primarily Zinfandel, Syrah, and Petite Sirah with smaller amounts of Barbera, Grenache, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot with the goal of being delicious. It certainly is, offering one of the greatest values in California wine from a family producer, supple, reliable, and approachable, with full-bodied fruitiness that’s balanced and has lasting tannin structure to keep it interesting for another 10 years. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

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94 Points! Indeed the 75th iteration of this wine, the NV OVR Old Vine Red Lot 75 has been made since the 1980s, for most of those years by founder Chris Bilbro. Son Scot now continues the tradition, blending a mix of primarily Zinfandel, Syrah, and Petite Sirah with smaller amounts of Barbera, Grenache, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot with the goal of being delicious. It certainly is, offering one of the greatest values in California wine from a family producer, supple, reliable, and approachable, with full-bodied fruitiness that’s balanced and has lasting tannin structure to keep it interesting for another 10 years. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com Learn More

95 Points! Wild bramble fuit, deep spices and wild berries on the nose, with cleansing bright red fruit. This is a solid, medium-bodied Sonoma County wine with fresh, minerally acidity that dances across the palate. Nicely integrated fine tannins frame abundant fruit. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! A bright medium ruby color, the nose of the 2023 Pinot Noir Lyra is lifted and fresh, with focused, bright spice notes of ripe cranberries, cinnamon, fresh roses, and bright herbs. Medium-bodied, this carries seamlessly to the palate, with vibrant, fresh energy, fine tannins, and salty fresh accents. A phenomenal value. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

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96 Points! Even more outstanding than the 2020, the incredibly priced 2021 Reserva is young in boisterous blue fruit, with a generous, full-bodied palate of richness and upfront power. The tannins add length and breadth to the wine, which is tasting great and could go another 10-15 years. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

96 Points! Elegant yet perfectly structured, this is the most floral of the Murrieta Reservas I’ve tasted in recent years. With 8% Graciano and 4% Mazuelo, the nose is perfumed with pretty rose petal and delicate red berry fruit, as well as wild herbal aromas. Blueberry fruit typical of Tempranillo directs the palate, rounded out with a little fleshy Garnacha, and framed by subtle American oak. It offers immediate appeal but will age gracefully for many years to come. - Decanter Magazine

95 Points! Their flagship wine comes from one of the finest vintages in recent times. The 2021 Marqués de Murrieta was previously called the Reserva and still qualifies as such, but it's not included in the name now. It was produced with 86% Tempranillo, 8% Graciano, 4% Mazuelo and 2% Garnacha Tinta from their 300 hectares of vines in their Ygay estate on limestone and clay soils with alluvial influence. The grapes were picked between the 27th of September and the 15th of October, and each plot and variety was vinified separately in stainless steel, matured in American oak barrels for 26 months, then blended and kept in concrete for a few months until bottling, which was a longer élevage this year. It's very spicy, peppery, with a combination of berry fruit and some incipient tertiary aromas, hints of forest floor and truffle. It's very Rioja, with clout, elegance and freshness and the elegant tannins that are the signature of 2021. It comes in at 14.3% alcohol with a pH of 3.6, denoting ripeness and balance. It's delicious, fresh and available. Bravo! - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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96 Points! Aromas of black berries, black olives, black truffles, autumn leaves and earth. Grilled orange peel. Very complex. Medium-bodied with very fine tannins and a complex and complete finish. Nicely persistent and focused. 26 months in American oak. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! The 2016 Gran Reserva is a meticulously crafted blend of 82% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 8% Mazuelo sourced from the esteemed Ygay Estate in Rioja Alta. It aged for up to 26 months in American oak barrels. This wine epitomizes the essence of Rioja reds when vineyard management and winemaking precision align with a distinct stylistic vision. Presenting an opaque garnet hue, it entices with a bouquet of complex aromas: plum marmalade, herbal undertones, maraschino cherry, dried fruits, licorice and subtle hints of balsamic and menthol. On the palate, it offers a dry and robust profile with a velvety, juicy texture. The finish is long, balanced and harmonious. The 2016 vintage exemplifies a wine crafted for aging, just beginning to reveal the nuances and intricacies of a bouquet that will evolve with time. - Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous Media

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94 Points! The 2020 Château Marquis D'Alesme Becker showed well, and this tiny Margaux estate continues to producer fabulous wines under the helm of Marjolaine de Coninck. Based on 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, it has a juicy, medium-bodied, round, even sexy style that carries lots of cassis and assorted darker, blue fruits, notes of spicy wood, flowers, and violet, soft tannins, terrific balance, and great finish. Coming from a mix of gravelly, sandy soils and aged in 50% new French oak, this beauty hit 14% natural alcohol (no doubt helped by the large Merlot component) and is going to benefit from just a few years of bottle age. It's going to see its 20th birthday in fine form. - Jeb Dunnuck

93 Points! Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2020 Marquis d'Alesme opens with vibrant notes of crushed black currants, Morello cherries, and mulberries, plus wafts of violets, star anise, and forest floor. Medium-bodied, the palate is both elegant and intense with velvety tannins and compelling tension, finishing long and perfumed. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

 

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96 Points! Elegant, soft, silky, and sensuous, the wine is rich, ripe and almost over-flowing with waves of polished, sweet, fresh, plums, dark cherries, licorice, 5 spice, espresso bean, and dark chocolate on the backend. Over the past few years, they have really picked up the volume here at Chateau Marquis d'Alesme. For a wine from the Margaux appellation at this level of quality and price, my tip of the day is, buy it! Drink from 2026-2050 - Jeff Leve, the Wine Cellar Insider

95 Points! Carefully constructed tannic architecture, moreish sapidity, crushed roses, blueberries, blackberries, edges of fennel and pomegranate, love it. Real grip, length and balance. Harvest September 26 to October 12. - Jane Anson

95 Points! The 2019 Marquis d'Alesme Becker was very impressive from barrel. Now in bottle, it has retained those engaging aromas of blackberry, raspberry, cedar and a pinch of spice, well defined and quintessentially Margaux. The palate is understated on the entry, smooth and sensual in texture, with gorgeous, very pure red fruit. I adore the harmony of this wine, and the way it sashays toward the finish. Deceptively approachable, this will mature beautifully in bottle. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media Learn More

95 Points – Georgina Hindle, Decanter
“Sultry nose with ripe red fruit and soft jasmine and fragrance – dried flowers, pot pourri. Juicy and filling with a lovely light hand in terms of tannins. Mouthwatering and lifted, nothing feels heavy and you're left with a smile on your face.”

95 Points – Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux
“Closed on the nose, elegant with fine but plentiful tannins that layer up fast in the palate. Violet and peony floral notes, clear savoury edge of blue fruits. This is precise, well structured, with huge potential for ageing but also for pleasure.”

93–95 Points – Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider
“Cigar wrappers, flowers, cedar, mint leaves, currants, blackberries and licorice scents blend together to create the nose. Elegant, soft, and polished, the layers of fruit with their refined character and lift make this a standout wine.”

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