Wines

97 Points! The 2021 Sauvage Vineyard Pinot Noir is supremely pretty. It's elegant and fine and still powerful, thanks to the Bannockburn area; however, the wine itself shows rose petals and spring flowers, graphite and pencil lead, white pepper and tapenade. Svelte and sleek, this is composed and detailed and so, so good. I am (mostly) resisting hyperbole and adverbs here. This is a standout wine from a superstar producer—an asset for the region and indeed the country (and the New World in general). 13.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. - Erin Larkin, robertparker.com

97 Points! A Saint-Estèphe of stature and vertical intensity, the 2021 Calon Ségur dazzles from the very first taste. Spice, menthol, licorice, black cherry, mint and espresso are some of the many notes that build with a bit of coaxing. The 2021 clocks in at a modest 12.9% in alcohol, yet it possesses tremendous density and textural resonance. What a wine! Tasted two times. –Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

97 Points! In the winery's style, this is seriously dense with solid tannins and concentration. It is a powerful wine with a majority of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc that has structure and dense black fruits, The wine is likely to age well. Drink from 2028. - Wine Enthusiast

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

98 Points! The flagship 2022 Château Calon Ségur checks in as 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It's a massive wine from this château that brings a fabulous nose of darker currants, smoked tobacco, chocolaty oak, graphite, and loamy earth. This full-bodied, deep, unctuous Saint-Estèphe has a round, layered mouthfeel, remarkably pure tannins, and flawless overall balance. It's going to take a decade to shed its baby fat, but this is legit sensational juice! Don’t miss it. - Jeb Dunnuck

96-98 Points! The 2022 Calon-Ségur is another superb wine from this historic Saint-Estèphe third growth that began a comprehensive renaissance the better part of a decade ago. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of cassis and blackberries mingled with hints of fresh mint, burning embers, licorice and violets, it's medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with terrific depth at the core, supple tannins and a long, saline finish. The blend consists of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Vincent Millet observed that "when you tasted the Merlot, you were under the impression that you were tasting Cabernet." - William Kelley, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

96 Points! Deep garnet-purple colored, notes of plum preserves, blueberry compote, and crème de cassis erupt from the glass, leading to hints of Chinese five spice, iron ore, fallen leaves, and dried sage with a hint of rose bud tea. The concentrated full-bodied palate is jam-packed with black fruit and exotic spice layers, supported by velvety tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long and opulent. Decadent! - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW

96 Points! Rich and vibrant on the nose, smells concentrated and alcoholic. Crisp and clean on the palate however with bite to the cherry, plum and blackcurrant fruit alongside a hint of sweet strawberry and herbal raspberry on the mid palate that gives some instant energy before the clear concentration and heft of the wine shows through. Not so much in the texture but in the ripe flavours, cool minty and stone edged tannins and clear liquorice and clove spice. Still taught but detailed with elements of generosity. 2% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 3.65pH. A yield of 26hl/ha. Ageing 17 months, 30% new oak. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter.com

97 Points! Stunning depth and minerality with fine spices, dark olives, ashtray and a hint of white pepper, paprika and iron. Powerful but also really fine, complex and classy, with full body and super-fine-grained tannins. Spot-on balance helps highlight depth and layers. Really long and restrained. Very complete. Already appealing but will improve in the next decade. - JamesSuckling.com

90 Points! The value-priced 2022 Pinot Noir Julia's Vineyard comes from a site in the Santa Maria Valley and was brought up in 22% new French oak. Its translucent ruby hue is followed impressive notes of ripe cherry and strawberry fruits supported by pretty spice, flora, and leafy herb-like aromas and flavors. A wine that would hand many a Village Burgundy its ass, it's well worth buying and drinking over the coming 3-5 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

100 Points! The 2015 Canon was a benchmark wine that seemed to revitalize this historic estate. I was crossing my fingers that it would not disappoint in bottle and I am glad to say that it delivers the goods. It has a very intense bouquet (just as it showed out of barrel) with laser-like precision offering wild strawberry, raspberry preserve, wet limestone and hints of truffle. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, clean and fresh with pure black and red fruit whose every atom appears infused with minerals. The mouth is tingling long after the wine has exited and your brain is thinking … when is the next sip coming? It is frankly heads and shoulders above almost every Saint Émilion this vintage, to reaffirm, a benchmark for this historic estate that will give pleasure to many over the coming years. Astonishing. - Neal Martin, robertparker.com

100 Points! From the very beginning, the 2015 Canon has made an eloquent case for itself as one of the wines of the vintage. Multiple tastings from bottle only confirm what several early tastings hinted at: the 2015 Canon is simply extraordinary in every way. Sumptuous and exotic, with no hard edges and exceptional balance, the 2015 grabs hold of all the senses and never lets up. A rush of red fruit intermingled with floral notes, spice and smoke notes effortlessly runs up the wine's vertical structure as the 2015 thrills with every twist and turn. The 2015 Canon is a rare wine that is both hedonistic and intellectual - well, maybe it is a bit more hedonistic-leaning. It doesn't matter. Don't miss it. This 2015 is masterpiece from General Manager Nicolas Auderbert and his team at Canon. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

100 Points, James Suckling's #1 Wine of the Year 2018! Seductive. The nose draws you in deep: It’s like staring into a well of pristine dark cherries, dark plums, blackberries and mulberries. All the oak is perfectly subsumed. The palate’s flawless with immense depth and power and it’s so balanced as to appear to float. Immaculate fresh dark-berry and plum flavors. Silky and deep, ribbon-like finish. Perfect. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! Lots of crunchy red cherries and blue plums followed by violets, fresh sage and Christmas spices with baking spice and coconuts. Medium- to full-bodied with superb fine-grained racy tannins and beautifully refreshing acidity that gives an edge to it. Gorgeous finesse and elegance with harmony and precision. Delightful, too. Already drinkable but give this a few more years to come around. Try after 2026 and it should be beautiful for a long time. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! The 2021 Canon opens in the glass with a pure bouquet of raspberries, cherries and plums mingled with pretty top notes of iris, licorice, mint and sweet spices. Medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, it's fleshy and sensual, with a deep and seamless core of fruit framed by ultra-refined tannins, a bright spine of acidity and a long, mineral finish. With an impressively low finished pH of 3.37, it was taken out of barrel a month earlier than usual and saw no fining—as has been the case since 2010. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate

96 Points! Gorgeous fragrance, pretty and pure. Juicy and clean, this has such a lovely energy and focus to it – lifted, bright but not searing, juicy but not too acidic, weighty but still streamlined and direct. I love the fine tannins, still with some tension, and a soft, sality liquorice outline. Feels elegant and finessed, polished and stylish with lift and movement. - Decanter Magazine

90 Points! A tangy and fragrant white that has aromas of orange rind, chamomile, thyme and sliced pear. It’s medium-bodied, fresh and zesty. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! The 2019 Cap de Faugères has tightened up a lot on the nose, showing dense black fruit, tar and graphite scents, quite Left Bank in style. The palate is much more expressive, featuring fleshy red berry fruit mixed with allspice, clove and white pepper. Persistent and quite convincing on the finish. Give it time for those aromatics to get their mojo back – which they will. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

91 Points! The 2019 Cap de Faugeres is terrific, just as it was from bottle. Rich and expansive, the 2019 is so expressive right out of the gate. Succulent red cherry, spice, leather and tobacco all kicked up in this attractive entry-level offering from Silvio Denz. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

100 Points! The perfect 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon checks in as 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot, all of which spent 22 months in 80% new French oak. The idea of this release is to showcase fruit from throughout the valley, and to say that winemaker Chris Carpenter succeeded would be an understatement. It boasts off-the-charts richness and depth as well as notes of cassis, toasted spices, graphite, tobacco, and espresso, with perfectly integrated oak. Inky purple-hued, full-bodied, voluptuously textured, and flawlessly balanced, it can be drunk any time over the coming 25 years or more. - Jeb Dunnuck

99 Points! Lovely purple fruits with violets, lead pencil, mint, crushed stones, pine needles, resin, and ceramic. Medium to full body with ultra-fine tannins that show a silky beautiful texture. Blend of Stags Leap, Saint Helena, Yountville, and Atlas Peak plus all the mountain vineyards of Cardinale. A blend of 91% cabernet sauvignon and 9% merlot. - James Suckling.com

98 Points! In my tasting with winemaker Chris Carpenter, we talked at length about differentiating sub-appellations of Napa in the Lokoya wines. Still, with Cardinale, the Oakville-based crown jewel in the Jackson Family portfolio, the idea is the sum must be greater than the parts. This is not an estate wine. It is culled from multiple appellations, typically between three and nine, depending on the vintage. Sources have been Vine Hill Ranch and To Kalon in the past. The 2021 is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon from Stags Leap, Rutherford, and St. Helena, with 9% Merlot from the 24ha Keyes Estate Vineyard on Howell Mountain, aged 22 months in 80% new French oak. Super savoury aromatics of black cherry, cedar, black liquorice, graphite, black tea, tobacco leaf, rose petal and sagebrush. Full-bodied with all those aromatic qualities making appearances on the full-bodied palate, framed by a soaring tannin profile that resolves with beautifully crisp and mouthwatering acidity, which is so impressive given the density of the wine. The acidity is so pure and cleansing it gives the sensation of fresh, crisp mountain water washing away the deeply robust and powerful tannins that frame this powerhouse wine, readying you for another sip. - Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter Magazine

97 Points! The 2016 Santa Croce is the estate’s blend of equal parts Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon that spent close to eight years in cask during a time when proprietor Coralia Pignatelli della Leonessa was ill and some lots sat undisturbed in cellar for extended periods. Dark red fruit, rose petal, spice and menthol build in the glass. Most suprisingly, the 2016 is shockingly fresh for a wine of its age . This is a great, great wine. It’s not Sangiovese, it’s not Cabernet Sauvignon, it’s not a blend. It’s simply Castell’in Villa at its most profound. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

98 Points! Filippo Chia and his team kill it in this vintage. The Castello Romitorio 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Filo di Seta is a beautiful and balanced wine. This estate is making some of the best Brunellos from Montalcino today. In the not too distant past, its vineyards were once considered too cool for ideal fruit ripening, but with climate change, the vines are now in a prime position for balanced phenolics, sugars and acidity. This wine shows a wide and complete bouquet, spanning many aromas, all delivered with direct vertical intensity. This is one of the delightful oxymorons that occurs with fine wine. It shows soft, building intensity, but most importantly, the fruit quality is bright and fresh (with 7,760 bottles made). This is a keeper. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

97 Points! A silky texture announces this cherry-, blackberry- and violet-flavored red, along with notes of graphite, tobacco and wild herbs. Well-structured, with profound yet finely wrought tannins and an extra dimension of finesse that stands out. Boasting superb balance and a seemingly never-ending aftertaste, this is multidimensional and focused. - Wine Spectator

97 Points! This is always minerally and incisive and very different from White Bones. This is more classic chardonnay, with lots of freshly squeezed lemons, wet stone, flint and seashells. Brisk acidity on a medium- to full-bodied palate. Tense and intense, but this is acid-driven with a fine touch of salinity that lingers at the end. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! The 2022 Adrianna Vineyard Chardonnay White Stones is more introverted, understated and explicitly chiseled than its more textural and exotic White Bones companion. On the nose, it opens with transparent yet focused aromas of citrus pith and crushed stones, introducing a sleek, vibrant and laser-focused palate. The finish is similarly angular and incisive, continuously generating additional depth and dimension with time in the glass. While I slightly preferred the White Bones bottling due to its extra gear of complexity and textural depth, this is another clear-cut yardstick by which to measure the progress of Argentine white-wine production. - Matthew Luczy, robertparker.com

97 Points! A mixture of black and blue fruit, very perfumed and elegant. Cherries, plums and blueberries with a peppery undertone. Crushed violets, too. Bone-dry on the palate with abundant, silky tannins and a juicy, lengthy finish. Drinkable now, but better from 2026. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! The 2021 Malbec Nicasia Vineyard originates from a small plot nestled within Paraje Altamira, Uco Valley. It was aged up to 16 months in concrete vats and foudres and boasts a deep purple color. The complex nose unveils layers of crushed plums, blueberries, herbs, curry, lavender and graphite. Initially dry and plush, the palate transitions into a taut, chalky, overwhelming, and juicy texture, as if embodying structure and suppleness. This unique and flavorful Malbec offers a high-pitched intensity of flavor that lingers, showcasing a prolonged focus on the fruit. - Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous Media

98 Points! Cassis, tobacco, wet stones, iron and baking spices to the nose, showing class, restraint and complexity. Medium- to full-bodied on the palate with super fine tannins. Dry, super elegant and silky with a lengthy, polished finish. Really Bordeaux-like. Juicy and long. 54% cabernet sauvignon from Gualtallary, 25% cabernet franc from Altamira and 21% malbec from both areas. The highest portion of cabernet franc this year helped retain its nervy freshness! This is classy and beautiful. Harvested on March 12th and 13th. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! Wonderfully aromatic and nuanced on the nose, so alive and open. Energetic and lively on the palate, this has so much spark and brightness to it. Really compelling from the first sip, the tannins ample and cushioning the slick black fruit and accompanying savoury spices. Feels lean and taught, but with so much flair. Really a lovely expression, so generous and well defined. Youthful as you'd expect right now but when this softens it will be a beauty. Just gorgeous, with a minty fresh finish. - Decanter Magazine

97 Points! The organic Cavallotto 2019 Barolo Riserva Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe shows thick texture and density with dark fruits, plum and blackberry layered with extra depth. This wine makes a big impact on the palate and wraps lavishly over the senses. This is one of the most opulent and full-bodied editions I have yet tasted. The fruit is sourced from a 2.38-hectare site with 60-year-old vines with southwest exposures at 310 and 340 meters in elevation. The wine sees 60 months of careful maturation in 20-hectoliter and 100-hectoliter Slavonian botti. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

100 Points! The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino is every bit as thrilling as it was on the many occasions I tasted it from barrel. Black cherry, hard candy, plum, rose petal, menthol and lavender saturate the palate in a sumptuous, racy Brunello endowed with magnificent depth and pedigree. An utterly stunning, sensual wine, the 2010 constantly changes in the glass as it conquers all the senses with an exotic kaleidoscope of aromas, flavors and textures. I remember tasting the 2010 from cask a few years ago when Diego Molinari was too unwell to go down to the cellar. Nora Molinari tasked me with essentially serving myself as we went from vintage to vintage and cask to cask. For days after, I was mortified that I might not have closed some of the spigots tightly enough. Fortunately, that was not the case. In all of my years tasting the wines of Montalcino, I have only come across two wines with this level of textural unctuosity and sweetness; Gianfranco Soldera's 1983 Brunello and 1990 Riserva. Cerbaiona's 2010 Brunello di Montalcino will leave readers weak at the knees. It is every bit that profound. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

97 Points, James Suckling's #1 Argentine Wine of the Year! So linear and driven, with so much tension and intensity. Aromas of sliced apples, lemons and stones. Medium-bodied with flavors of apples, seashells, lemons and crushed stones. It goes on and on. Matured in 30% amphorae and 70% oak. Fantastic. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

90-92 Points! Audoin's 2022 Marsannay La Charme aux Prêtres Blanc reveals attractive aromas of green apple, pear, white flowers, citrus zest and freshly baked bread. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and racy, with good cut and tension, it's one of the domaine's livelier whites. - William Kelley, robertparker.com

97 Points! A beautifully proportioned Marsannay with Grand Cru-type concentration and fineness of tannins. Very dark core, then a very long, polished finish. - JamesSuckling.com

90 Points! Classic nose for this sauvignon blanc, with plenty of guavas, grapefruit, papayas and fresh herbs. Medium-bodied with fresh acidity. It is succulent, crisp and refreshing with a mouthwatering finish. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com