Wines

100 Points! The 2020 Château Beauséjour (Duffau-Lagarrosse), made mostly by the team of Nicolas Thienpont (the final blend was put together by Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse), is another tour de force from this incredible terroir, and undeniably one of the wines of the vintage. Based on 81% Merlot and 19% Cabernet Franc brought up in 70% new French oak, it offers a sensationally pure bouquet of black raspberries, blueberries, scorched earth, graphite, and a dense, smoky, floral character that emerges with time in the glass. With a voluptuous, layered mouthfeel, gorgeous mid-palate depth, building tannins, and a liqueur of mineral-like character on the finish, it shows the density, purity, precision, and vibrancy of this vintage perfectly and displays that rare mix of richness, intensity, elegance, and length that are the hallmarks of a truly great wine. This is unquestionably in the ranks of the 2009, 2010, and 2016 and will evolve for 40 years or more. - Jeb Dunnuck

98 Points! Intense but delicate, really an exciting wine to taste where you feel the energy build through the palate. Unmistakable limestone influence with the floral aromatics, a jumble of peony, roses and violets, opening up to brambled raspberry and loganberry fruits, with fennel, oyster shell and slate. Huge ageing potential. Cabernet Sauvignon rather than Cabernet Franc in this blend, just one of the many ways in which it stands out from its peers even on the limestone plateau of St Emilion, its delicacy suggesting it is one of the most Burgundian of Bordeaux wines. This vintage was overseen during the growing season and vinification by the team under Nicolas Thienpont, but given its final blend and ageing by new co-owner Josephine Duffau-Lagarosse, along with Prisca Courtin-Clarins. - Jane Anson

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94 Points! The 2021 Pagani Ranch is a beautiful, expressive wine from one of Sonoma Valley's great sites. Rich, pliant and explosive, the 2021 possesses captivating inner perfume, vivid fruit and exceptional balance. Sweet red cherry, blood orange, mint, spice, mocha and a kiss of new oak all race across the palate. An alluring, captivating wine, the Pagani Ranch is total sensuality...Unfortunately, this is the last Pagani Ranch for Bedrock. - Antonio Galloni, Viunous Media

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93 Points! The 2023 Zinfandel Old Vine was raised in 600-gallon foudre with a small proportion (8%) in new oak, and it’s roughly 90% Zinfandel along with an eclectic field mix. The nose opens to bright peppery spice, fresh cut flowers, and black raspberries, with deeper notes of fresh sanguine earth coming through. The palate is full-bodied yet restrained, with a detailed structure and length with a mountainous feel. It’s a great lens into the range they produce here at Bedrock and a tremendous value. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

92 Points! Sleek and juicy, with fan-friendly cherry, raspberry, toasty spice and briar accents that glide on the zesty finish. - Wine Spectator

From the winery:

We take pride in this being one of the greatest value wines in the world, and in a year like 2023, where quality was excellent across California and crop yields were strong, it shines even brighter. Nearly 50% of the wine is from Sodini Ranch on Limerick Lane in Healdsburg, Bedrock Vineyard in Sonoma Valley, Teldeschi Ranch in Dry Creek, and Evangelho Vineyard in Contra Costa County, with the remainder of the wine comprised of declassified barrels from vineyards we farm like Beeson Ranch, Katushas', Pato, and Mori, along with bits from Dolinsek, Banfield, Sky, and Old Hill Ranch. Deep and vibrant in color, this showcases both the freshness and richness of the 2023 vintage. The average vine age is over 80 years for this wine, and 70% of the fruit is farmed by the winery—something that continues to ensure consistency.  Almost entirely fermented with indigenous yeasts, this is aged in a combination of foudre, puncheons, and barrique with a very small amount of new oak—the goal is always to make a wine brimming with lovely fruit while retaining the natural acid and spice character that makes Zinfandel such a great fit for California.

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94 Points! The 2024 Zinfandel Katusha's Vineyard emerges from vines in Lodi planted in 1915. Dark and explosive, the 2024 offers up a heady mix of blackberry, sage, scorched earth, tobacco, incense and licorice. This burly, potent Zinfandel has so much sheer character. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

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

95-96 Points! Very good poise, tension and depth, with a light peppery, mineral and citrusy touch to the fruit. Good fruit here, with medium to full body and elastic, chalky tannins. There is something quite pure and transparent in the middle. So elegant, al-dente and long. An excellent wine from this difficult vintage. 70% merlot, 10% cabernet franc and 10% cabernet sauvignon. Picking between September 26 to October 8. - Zekun Shuai, James Suckling

92-94+ Points! A blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2024 Château Bellefont-Belcier is deep purple-hued and opaque, showing remarkable purity in its black and blue fruits, graphite, crushed stone, and violet notes. Medium-bodied and concentrated on the palate, it has a pure, layered mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and integrated acidity. This château continues to never put a foot wrong, and their 2024 will absolutely be worth your time and money. - Jeb Dunnuck

 

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95 Points! The 2019 Bellevue Mondotte, picked at 18hL/ha on a single day (October 5) has a tightly wound bouquet of blackberry, briary, blueberry and light violet petal scents, but less of the marine aromas that I picked out from the barrel sample. However, there are some lovely orange pith scents that percolate through with continued aeration, and these are accentuated after a couple of hours. The palate is medium-bodied with gentle grip, good acidity and fine backbone. This is quite a sturdy Saint-Émilion with impressive density toward the finish. It needs just a little more charm and personality, though they may develop with time. Very fine, but patience required. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

98 Points! More seamless and elegant than the more powerful, structured Pavie Decesse (these all emerge from the Perse team), the Merlot-dominated 2019 Bellevue Mondotte just about jumps out of the glass with its ripe, spicy red, blue, and black fruits as well as spring flowers, graphite, chalky mineral, and violet-like aromas and flavors. Almost Pomerol-like with its seamless, polished tannins and gorgeous mouthfeel, it's flawlessly balanced, has a deep, layered mid-palate, and a great, great finish. This stunning Saint-Emilion will benefit from just 4-6 years of bottle age and cruise for 30+ years in cold cellars. - Jeb Dunnuck

 

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Very typical of Nuits-St-Georges, with a dark plummy fruit, notes of earth and mineral, and an almost savoury edge to it - slightly rustic, yet still very refined. The grapes from this 0.4ha parcel were fermented as 60% whole-cluster, which imparts a slight edge of herbs or menthol to the wine, but this amplifies in a good way the slightly sauvage character. Delicious. 94 Charles Curtis MW, Decanter Magazine

"Background hints of wood and menthol are present on the super-spicy aromas of black cherry, raspberry and a plenitude of floral wisps. The sleek, intense and very rich medium weight plus flavors possess a caressing mouthfeel that possess notably better punch on the youthfully austere, balanced and impressively persistent finale. This is sufficiently compact that it's going to need at least a few years of keeping first." 92-94 Points, Allen Meadows, Burghound Learn More

94 Points! The 2023 Pinot Noir Cumberland Reserve opens with aromas of raspberry liqueur, mocha, floral perfume, and savory notes of fresh sage. Medium-bodied, it offers ripe, detailed tannins, balanced acidity, and a long finish. While this vintage hints at opulence, the wine remains beautifully balanced and refreshing. It’s a stunning introduction to the vintage and a benchmark for the region as an appellation wine. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

94 Points! Bright and seductive, this pinot offers fresh cherries, crushed wild berries, violets, wet rocks and subtle spices on the nose. Racy and mouthwatering, with spicy and minerally tension, it has a medium body, a dusty texture to its tannins and a lingering and racy finish. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The 2023 Pinot Noir Cumberland Reserve is incredibly fresh, with a bouquet of dusty dried flowers, lavender pastille, nuances of cedary spice and wild blueberries. Ripe wild berry fruits and crisp mineral tones glide across the palate over a layer of pure silk. The finish is long and tense, yet remains remarkably fresh as violet tones resonate over a bed of silken tannins. The Cumberland Reserve represents amazing value. Already enjoyable, it will also excel in the cellar. - Eric Guido, Vinous

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93 Points! This is the second year for Berliquet under the Canon team, and it is proving to be an excellent addition to the stable of wines - with a more powerful, cocoa bean, espresso and blackberry fruit character than its sibling (and neighbour, as Canon is within walking distance of Berliquet), but still with the mouthwatering, gunsmoke, salted caramel and saffron hit of a limestone-dominant terroir. 45hl/ha yield, 45% new oak for ageing. Thomas Duclos consultant. - Jane Anson

94 Points! The 2019 Berliquet is showing beautifully, wafting from the glass with aromas of cherries, wild berries, sweet spices, violets and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, seamless and elegant, with terrific depth at the core, lively acids and ripe, powdery tannins, it concludes with a long, mineral finish. It's produced from a 9.5-hectare vineyard that encompasses three soil types: Saint-Émilion's limestone plateau (like its sibling, Château Canon); the slope, characterized by deep clay; and then sandy, colluvial soils at the foot of the slope. Right now it's planted with 70% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc, but the percentage of the latter is increasing as replanting progresses. - William Kelley, robertparker.com

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95 Points! Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2020 Berliquet, a blend of 69% Merlot and 31% Cabernet Franc, needs a fair bit of coaxing to bring out notes of blueberry preserves, black cherry compote, and blackberry pie, followed by hints of chocolate mint and lavender. The generous, full-bodied palate is jam-packed with ripe, seductive black and blue fruit preserves flavors, framed by velvety tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long with a spicy kick. This estate, recently acquired by Chanel, is already starting to show its true potential, and what a beauty! - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

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93 Points! The 2022 Pinot Noir Estate is bursting with strawberry, raspberry and orange peel aromas, and with time it reveals touches of cinnamon, bitters and wildflowers. The light-bodied palate is finely astringent and refreshing with complex, bitters-laced flavors and a long, spicy finish. - Erin Brooks, robertparker.com

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97+ Points! The 2022 Château Beychevelle comes from 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot that spent 18 months in barrel. Its deep ruby/purple hue is followed by an absolutely stunning nose of crème de cassis and plum fruit intermixed with leafy herbs, spring flowers, and crushed stone-like minerality. This full-bodied Beychevelle has a pure, elegant mouthfeel, finely polished tannins, no hard edges, and a great, great finish. This is brilliant stuff that already offers pleasure today yet will cruise over the following two to three decades. It's the finest Beychevelle I've tasted. - Jeb Dunnuck

96 Points! The 2022 Beychevelle is so impressive. A wine of precision and stature, the 2022 has so much to offer. Inky dark fruit, licorice, mocha and lavender build in a sumptuous, creamy Saint-Julien. All of that intensity mounts through the mid-palate, reaching a stunning crescendo on the explosive, resonant finish. Even with all of its obvious intensity, the 2022 retains a gorgeous sense of freshness and vibrancy. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

95 Points! Intense blackberries and blackcurrants with spice and lead-pencil aromas. Medium-bodied, it has creamy and polished tannins and a long and flavorful finish. The cabernet sauvignon is singing here. 54% cabernet sauvignon, 42% merlot and 4% petit verdot. Give it three to five years of bottle age. - JamesSuckling.com

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93 Points! Lean and linear with mineral-driven aromatics of wet slate and petrichor followed on by a note of roasted corn husk. There is a smoky flint note to the palate followed by cut green apple, savoury herbs, a streak of wet slate, and a kiss of seaspray to finish. - Decanter Magazine

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92 Points!  Aromas of rose, peony, red berries and guava preface the NV Brut Rosé, a medium to full-bodied, elegant and vinous Champagne rosé that concludes with a long, ethereal finish enhanced by menthol notes. A blend of 45% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 20% Pinot Meunier, it's based on the 2014 vintage with 46% vins de réserve from nine different vintages and the addition of 6% as a red wine, vinified and matured in stainless steel. Dosage: 4.7 grams per liter. - Yohan Castaing, robertparker.com

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93 Points! From a steep, south-facing hillside near Trout Gulch Vineyard in Aptos, the 2022 Pinot Noir Lilo Vineyard is a beautiful example of an undersung vineyard source. It was fermented with 20% whole clusters and aged in three- to four-year-old barrels for 14 months. Lush yet composed aromas of dark fruit, conifers and allspice lead to a seamless and refined palate. The finish perfectly balances ripe fruit, succulent acidity and subtle, drying tannins, making this an impressively well-made Pinot Noir, much less at this price point. - Matthew Luczy, robertparker.com

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90 Points! The 2020 Saar Riesling Kabinett Ayler Kupp opens with clear and quite intense, elegant fruit intertwined with crushed slate aromas; it's less reductive or stinky on the nose than the Mosel Kabinett siblings from the Himmelreich and Würzgarten. Supple and round, with vibrantly fresh acidity but also palatable residual sugar, this is a charming and pleasing but less exciting or mind-blowing Kabinett with an aromatic and piquant finish. 8% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted from AP 138 21 in November 2021. - Stephan Reinhardt, robertparker.com

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94 Points! A very distinctive Adeliede Hills chardonnay with a fascinating interplay of leesy and mature candied-citrus aromas. Impressive structure, concentration and excellent textural complexity on the palate. Nice lemon-zest freshness at the finish, although the acidity is moderate. Minimal sulphites added. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

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