Wines

94 Points! The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Signature includes 5% Malbec. It presents notes of ash and bell pepper, complemented by fine wood nuances. The intense palate reveals hints of mint and cassis. This well crafted wine offers medium richness and reactive tannins, finishing juicy and long with expressive fruit. - Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous Media

93 Points! Blackcurrants, blue fruit, crushed stone, black olives and fresh herbs. Medium-bodied with creamy fine tannins and a bright and vivid finish. Polished. Really delicious now but will improve. Real cab with balance. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! The latest release of Taittinger's NV Brut Folies de la Marquetterie is showing superbly, bursting from the glass with aromas of fresh bread, crisp stone fruit, buttered toast, citrus oil and mirabelle plums. Full-bodied, vinous and fleshy, with an enveloping core of fruit, racy acids and a pillowy pinpoint mousse, it's a gourmand, concentrated wine with the substance to evolve with grace in the cellar. - William Kelley, robertparker.com

96 Points! A fabulous wine, and one of the two greatest Talbots of the last 50 years, this wine still has a very murky garnet/plum/purple color and a spectacular nose of sweet creme de cassis intermixed with freshly ground pepper, melted road tar, herbes de Provence, and beef blood. It is followed by an enormously concentrated wine of full body, layers of concentration and sweet tannin. The wine seems to be just hitting its plateau of maturity, where it should last for at least 10-15 more years. A prodigious Talbot. Anticipated maturity: Now-2020. Last tasted, 6/02. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

95 Points & Wine Spectator #4 Wine of the Year 2022! Well-built and rather refined for the vintage, with a deep well of red and black currant paste and plum reduction flavors supported by a deeply inlaid iron note, all of which run the length of the wine. Offers subtle savory, tobacco and singed cedar notes that add range, with a savory echo that leaves a mouthwatering feel in the end. Built to cellar. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Best from 2025 through 2040. - Wine Spectator

95 Points! Ripe redcurrants and plums with violet and other flowers on the nose. Full-bodied with firm, polished tannins that are ripe yet firm. Pure fruit here. Pretty center-palate. Chewy finish. Give this at least five or six years to come around. Best after 2026. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com Learn More

98 Points! Tight and reserved, showcasing the depth of 55-year-old chardonnay vines from Eyrie Vineyard, one of the oldest existing plantings in Willamette, dating back to 1968. A mineral-driven, umami-rich profile with wet leaves, subtle quince, sesame seeds and hints of tangerines. Structured and compact, with a phenolic tension and a savory, earthy, clay-like character. There’s a lot going on in this wine. It is pure, full and very long. Needs time to fully unfold. Whole-cluster pressed. Better from 2027. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! Very dynamic and complex, with nervy acidity and a sleek, textured profile. Steely and mineral-driven in a Chablis-like style, this offers crushed lemons, white peaches and cracked stones, with fresh acidity and a refined, linear structure. The finish is long, focused and full of energy. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

From 100+ year-old Grenache vines in Bas de La Crau...

97 Points! The 2022 Châteauneuf Du Pape Cuvee Speciale is on another level, with a blockbuster perfume of ripe black cherries, melted licorice, jus de viande, lavender, and roasted garrigue. A rich, opulent style of Châteauneuf du Pape, it brings full-bodied richness while staying graceful, weightless, and flawlessly balanced, with ripe tannins and incredible length. This tour de force 2022 should be snatched up by savvy readers and enjoyed over the coming 15 years or so. - Jeb Dunnuck

Sourced from 45+ year-old vines in Paton, Lys de Volan, la Bonnette, Rochecourbe, Les Rivoires, Merlant

95 Points! Slightly deeper hued (barely) than the classic Condrieu, the 2023 Condrieu Vieilles Vignes is another tour de force from this producer. Stone fruits, toasted nuts, orange liqueur, and crushed stone all give this a slightly more mineral-laced, masculine style. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it's concentrated, has a pure, layered mouthfeel, a terrific sense of freshness, and outstanding length, with a touch of salinity on the finish. It's geared for the dinner table and should drink nicely through 2033. Both of these latest Condrieu from Tardieu-Laurent are brilliant wines. - Jeb Dunnuck

Sourced from 60+ year-old vines in Landonne, Lancement and Chavaroche

95+ Points! Like the Hermitage, the 2022 Côte Rôtie Vieilles Vignes is ripe and unevolved, yet it brings another level of mid-palate density and overall concentration. Awesome red and blue fruits, spring flowers, pepper, and violet notes all define this beauty, and it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a layered, seamless mouthfeel, and ripe tannins. It's a big Côte Rôtie that has balance as well as finesse, although the cellar will be your friend on this one, and it has ample baby fat to shed. Give bottles 4-5 years if you can, and enjoy over the following two decades. Drink 2027-2047. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! Another ripe, sexy, exuberant Gigondas, the 2022 Gigondas Vieilles Vignes reveals a vibrant ruby/purple hue as well as youthful aromatics of black raspberries, sandalwood, ground pepper, and herbes de Provence-like nuances. This sunny, medium to full-bodied 2022 has sweet tannins, a supple, elegant mouthfeel, and a great finish. It's a beautiful wine in the vintage that I suspect will drink nicely over the coming decade. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! The 2018 Gevrey-Chambertin Bel Air 1er Cru is overtly floral on the nose with raspberry, cranberry and light loamy aromas, more oyster shell scents emerging with time. The palate is well balanced, very terroir-driven with great tension and vibrant red cherry and strawberry fruit bursting forth on the finish. Superb. - Neal Martin, Vinous

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

95 Points! A gentle and elegant wine with aromas of spices, milk chocolate, vanilla, milk, mint, graphite and dark fruit. Silky and velvety on the palate, with ripe tannins, crisp acidity, a full body, clove flavors and amazing complexity. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The 2023 Le Serre Nuove dell'Ornellaia is a delight. Crushed flowers, ripe red cherry fruit, spice, cedar and sweet pipe tobacco are all nicely laced together. This mid-weight Serre Nuove is notable for its forward fruit, mid-weight structure and overall appeal. Floral top notes extend the effortless, silky finish. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

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

95 Points! This lively red is round in profile, exhibiting red fruit flavors of cherry, raspberry and pomegranate. Iron and licorice notes chime in as this gives way to dense, lightly chewy tannins on the finish. Cabernet Franc. Best from 2026 through 2040. - 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