Wines

100 Points! Produced from 100% old vine, Cabernet Franc, the aromas of smoked roses is what you initially notice before finding tobacco leaf, cherries, black raspberries, mint, menthol, and cigar box scents. The wine offers striking purity, similar to eating the berries off the vine. On the palate, the wine is supple, fresh, elegant, and refined, with silky textures, finesse, and depth. The red fruits continue expanding, taking on additional notes of herbs, tobacco, and cigar wrappers in the long, seamless finish. This is a benchmark wine for Cabernet Franc. 80% of the wine is aged in new, French oak barrels, with the remaining 20% aging in foudres. Only 5 barrels were produced. Each bottle is packaged in its own, numbered box. 14.5% ABV, 3.7 pH. Drink from 2030-2055. - The Wine Cellar Insider

100 Points! The 2020 Angelus is a blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc, with the tiniest splash of Petit Verdot. It has a deep garnet-purple color and needs considerable swirling and patience to release a whole array of red and black fruit scents - kirsch, raspberry coulis, blackberry preserves and mulberries - followed by hints of violets, molten licorice, tar, sassafras, and black truffles. The medium to full-bodied palate is pure energy, featuring a firm backbone of exquisitely ripe, fine-grained tannins and compelling tension to support the very tightly knit layers, finishing very long with a whole firework display of mineral and floral sparks. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

99 Points! Blackberry and plum character with chocolate, too. Oyster shell. Full and very firm with a linear sensibility. Tight and powerful. Very pure fruit. Tension and energy there. Polished tannins. Some coffee bean and chocolate. Give this at least five or six years. 60% merlot and 40% cabernet franc. Try after 2028. - JamesSuckling.com

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

100 Points! A vintage of precision and aromatic purity, this is one of the finest Angélus wines ever made. A blend of 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc, the nose is heady and complex, filled with dark chocolate, cherries, blackcurrants, violets, and rose. On the palate, it’s silky, scintillating, and fresh, with a crystalline clarity and balance that feels almost effortless. Chalky yet creamy tannins add depth, while flashes of heat and liquorice spice on the finish bring structure and length. Juicy, deep, and incredibly moreish, this dances across the palate with finesse and vibrancy. A wine of energy, persistence, and sheer sophistication. 100% new oak (50% Cab Franc in foudre). 3.7 pH. 75 IPT. Organic. - Georgia Hindle, Decanter Magazine

99 Points! This is a powerful Angelus, showing incredible depth and intensity as well as tannins that are totally melted into the wine, giving incredible energy for such a young bottle. It makes me think of the great reds of the 1940s or 1950s but with modern precision. Full-bodied but agile, this has endless length, the blackberries and crushed stones, light herbs and dark chocolate showing throughout. Such balance. Al dente. 60% merlot and 40% cabernet franc. So attractive now but will age forever. - JamesSuckling.com

98+ Points! Moving to the Grand Vin, the 2022 Château Angelus is 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc that spent 21 months in 100% new barrels, with a portion of the Cabernet Franc in foudre. It reveals a pure ruby/purple hue as well as stunning aromatics of black raspberries, cassis, spring flowers, and graphite that show more floral nuances with time in the glass. It's incredibly well-balanced, has fine tannins, and a rare mix of purity, finesse, and richness. It's an absolutely gorgeous Angelus that deserves a decade in the cellar and will cruise for 40+ years. The style here has shifted considerably towards elegance and finesse, sometimes at the expense of texture and richness, yet this classic beauty delivers perfectly balanced richness, depth, and elegance. - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! The 2022 Chateau Angelus is made from 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, it erupts from the glass with intoxicating notes of blackberry pie, blueberry preserves, and red currant jelly, leading to suggestions of potpourri, underbrush, cinnamon stick, and anise. The full-bodied palate has a solid structure of firm, grainy tannins and bags of freshness supporting the red and black fruit layers, finishing long and fragrant. Classic Angelus! - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW

100 Points! The Antinori's 2021 Solaia is another wine that captures all of the potential I sensed when I tasted it some months ago. More than anything else, the 2021 is a fine example of the style Antinori favors these days, an approach that favors finesse more than opulence. Dark plum, mocha, licorice, chocolate, spice, lavender and menthol build effortlessly in the glass. Oak and tannin are impeccably balanced. The 2021 spent 18 months in wood, three months in once-used barrels during the malolactic fermentation and then 15 months in 100% new barrels for the rest of its aging. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

97 Points! All said and done, the Marchesi Antinori 2021 Solaia is a monument to perfect winemaking. This coiffed supermodel does not show a single hair follicle out of place. However, it doesn't quite have the same sex appeal of the Tignanello. In my conversations with Estate Manager Renzo Cotarella during this tasting, it was expressed this way: "Tignanello is unexpected. Solaia is expected." Whereas Tignanello is a wine of vertical lift and energy, Solaia is a wine of lasting power. The wine offers generous depth and layering with soft tannins and some of the spicy pink peppercorn you get from the 9% Cabernet Franc (added to 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Sangiovese). The finish is extremely velvety and soft, but I notice that the flavors seem to become sweeter and riper the longer this wine stays in the glass. This newest release will hit the market in September. - Monica Larner, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

97 Points! This is a beautifully curated Solaia with blackcurrants and raspberries plus lavender and violet undertones. Graphite highlights it all. Just some new wood coming through. It’s full-bodied with fine velvety tannins that run the length of the wine, caressing the palate. Give this three or four years to come around. Best after 2027. - James Suckling

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

100 Points! Hands down one of the wines of the vintage, shows power and depth coupled at every point with lift and grip, stretches out through the palate, slowly but surely delivering a tickle of spiced sage and saffron, with sappy blackcurrant and graphite. 100% new oak, harvest september 5 to 27, organic conversion, 54 years average vines, Vauthier family shows once again how well they judge construction and architecture. First year not officially a Premier Grand Cru Classé A, but they have kept the ranking off the label for a number of years, so no change on that level. - Jane Anson

100 Points! This is a blend of 50% Cabernet Franc and 50% Merlot. It has a deep garnet-purple color and WOW—what a perfume! This 2022 Ausone offers up an incredible array of floral, earth, and black fruit scents—iris, crushed rocks, juicy blackberries, and black raspberries—plus hints of dusty soil and star anise. The palate bursts with energetic black and red berry flavors and loads of earthy/minerally accents, framed by very fine-grained tannins and amazing tension, finishing very long and chalky. Stunning. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW

98 Points! Wow. This is such a big and beautiful Ausone with huge depth that slowly uncoils. Really powerful, mineral and naturally concentrated, with iron, chalk and a rich, almost opulent core of black fruit, but really fresh, with chiseled tapenade and wood spices that only tiptoe on the nose. Superb intensity hidden beneath the palate, with a matrix of chalky tannins that vibrate, shine and extend. Nothing stops it at the finish, which lasts well over a minute. Almost beguilingly drinkable considering the tannin quality, which is so fine and energetic, but I'd give it at least 3-4 years to let the wood spices integrate more and let the wine grow with more complexity. A bigger Ausone with higher alcohol, but fantastic and rather outrageous. 60% cabernet franc and 40% merlot. This will age well for at least two decades. - JamesSuckling.com

98 Points! The 2022 Ausone was picked from 5 to 30 September and matured for 20 months in French oak. These aromatics take a little time to open in the glass. Once they do, they are precise with wilted iris flowers infusing the black fruit and background pencil box and incense hints. The palalte is medium-bodied with silver bead acidity threaded through the blackberry and bilberry fruit. Fresh and focused, this Ausone possesses a structured finish with a pinch of black pepper on the finish. Elegant in style, this Ausone almost creeps up in you and seduces, intellectual and persistent in the mouth. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

98+ Points! Lastly, the Grand Vin 2022 Château Ausone is based on equal parts Cabernet Franc and Merlot that spent 20 months in new barrels. Smoky black cherries, mulberries, iron, violets, and spring flower notes are just some of its nuances, and it's deep purple-hued, with full-bodied richness and a surprising level of elegance, purity, and precision. This is one of the more elegant, finesse-driven, yet still incredibly powerful examples of this Château that I can remember. It deserves a decade of cellaring and will evolve for half a century. - Jeb Dunnuck

100 Points! This is extraordinary. There has never been a wine like this here since the famous 1990 or underrated 1989. Violets, flowers, stones and limestone. Oyster-shell undertones. Full-bodied, muscular and so structured. A phenomenal wine that reminds me of the great Bordeaux of the 1950s. - JamesSuckling.com

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

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

100 Points! A curl of woodsmoke and cedar aromatics, peony and crushed roses, fleshy black fruits, rose petals, love the switch between the texture of opulent silk and pumice stone tannic grip, this is exceptionally good. Josephine Duffau Lagrosse's first vintage from beginning to end. A low 3.4ph, reflecting the limestone soils, bottling two months later than usual because of new cellar construction, so 18 months in barrel, 70% new oak, rest in one year old oak. Axel Marchal and Julien Viaud consultants. A potential 100 points during En Primeur, living up to billing. - Jane Anson

98 Points! A heady nose of sun-kissed fruit, tobacco, dried herbs and floral notes. Bright acidity gives energy and excitement, lifting the fruit profile. Tension and persistence come through with liquorice, aniseed and graphite, while ripe strawberries and cherries add charm. Salty, chalky tannins shape the finish. Clean, precise and already enjoyable, yet built for ageing. A flawless wine that has maintained its promise from the en primeur tastings, effortlessly showcasing ripeness and sophistication. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter Magazine

98 Points! What a stunningly complex St.-Emilion from Beausejour, with spot-on aromas of warm bread and roasted spices from the wood. The nose also shows orange rind, hazelnuts, minerals and touches of cocoa powder, hibiscus, mussel shells, graphite and black licorice. Concentrated and compact in flavor, but juicy and effortless. Really fine-grained and focused, with chalky tannins slowly developing and growing on the full-bodied palate before a lengthy finish that lasts for a minute. An incredible wine. Drink from 2028, and this will age well over the next 20 years. - JamesSuckling.com

98 Points!The 2022 Beauséjour is fabulous. I find it better from bottle than it was in barrel. Explosive aromatics from the Franc make a strong first impression. Bright acids drive through a core of dark red fruit, blood orange, spice, new leather and espresso. All the elements meld together seamlessly. What a vivid and gorgeous wine this is. I especially admire the long, saline finish. This is a superb effort from the team led by Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

98+ Points! Violets, ripe black cherries, spring flowers, cassis, and a riveting sense of chalky minerality all shine in the 2022 Château Beauséjour (Duffau-Lagarrosse), another heavenly 2022 that has gorgeous tannins, a seamless, layered, multi-dimensional mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and a great finish. It's not massive or incredibly concentrated, yet it has flawless balance and remarkable length. The pH is 3.45, with an alcohol of 14.5%. It's a more elegant, pure, seamless example of the 2020 vintage and has everything in the right place. Give bottles just 4-6 years if you can and it’s clearly going to have 20-30 years of overall prime drinking, as well as a gradual decline thereafter. - Jeb Dunnuck

100 Points! The perfect 2013 Vecina offers up notes of pen ink, scorched earth, espresso, blackcurrant liqueur and blackberries. It is a fabulously great wine, with supple, well-integrated tannin, decent acidity, and a skyscraper-like mouthfeel, with extraordinary purity and richness. This is an amazing wine to drink over the next 50 years, although I would probably suggest cellaring for five or more at present. - Robert M. Parker, Jr. , robertparker.com

100 Points! Also pure perfection in a glass, the 2015 Vecina comes from an east-facing site located not far from the Harlan Estate. It was previously a terraced vineyard but was replanted when they opted to remove the terraces 7-8 years ago. Totally thrilling notes of crème de cassis, lead pencil, barbecue, white chocolate, and spring flower notes all flow to a full-bodied, powerful wine that has building tannins, no sensation of weight, hints of background oak, and incredible intensity and length. It’s a true “wow” wine that could not be better. Don’t miss it! - Jeb Dunnuck

98+ Points! Bottled in early 2018, the 2015 Vecina is deep garnet-purple in color, with baked blackberries, black cherries and blackcurrant cordial aromas that leap from the glass with nuances of roses, pencil lead, menthol and mocha. The palate is full-bodied, very fine and incredibly seductive with a solid frame supporting the generous layers, finishing long and exotic. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, robertparker.com

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

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

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

ETA: EARLY WINTER OF 2026

100 Points! With 153 grams per liter of residual sugar—placing it among the 10 most concentrated vintages in the château’s history—the 2023 d'Yquem ranks among the finest wines bottled here under Lorenzo Pasquini’s direction. It unfurls from the glass with a complex, vibrant and remarkably pure bouquet of pineapple, guava, mango, confit citrus, beeswax and spices. Full-bodied, dense and concentrated, it combines formidable depth with perfectly judged control, built around a fleshy core of fruit, framed by lively acidity and a crystalline texture and culminating in an endless, refined and ethereal finish. Yquem’s natural power is here masterfully harnessed by the vintage’s freshness and tension, revealing an aesthetic of precision and vibrancy encountered only in the estate’s greatest years—made all the more remarkable by the fact that the château now achieves even higher levels of concentration than a decade ago, without any perceptible increase in sweetness on the palate. - Yohan Castaing, RobertParker.com

100 Points! Power, freshness, depth — after the extremes of 2021 and 2022, this walks the line between the two, exceptional. Mandarin, quince, mirabelle plums, white truffle, fresh fruit and confit fruit, a vibration of slate and steel, opulent but slices closed on the finish. The botrytis came early and quickly in 2023. Francis Mayeur in final vintage as consultant, after many years as inhouse winemaking team, Lorenzo Pasquini director. 154g/l residual sugar, 3.85ph, harvest September 14 to October 11. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

100 Points! Perfect aromas carry through to every milliliter of this wine, showing intense orange peel, honey, butterscotch, saffron, smoke and peat, with hints of coffee and dried apples. Full-bodied but weightless and silky, with an excellent balance of fruit, sweetness and spices. Some peanut brittle, dried oranges and lemons at the end. I can’t get over how wonderful this is now, but it can age forever. 154 g/L residual sugar. Drink or hold. - James Suckling

ETA: EARLY WINTER OF 2026

100 Points! With 153 grams per liter of residual sugar—placing it among the 10 most concentrated vintages in the château’s history—the 2023 d'Yquem ranks among the finest wines bottled here under Lorenzo Pasquini’s direction. It unfurls from the glass with a complex, vibrant and remarkably pure bouquet of pineapple, guava, mango, confit citrus, beeswax and spices. Full-bodied, dense and concentrated, it combines formidable depth with perfectly judged control, built around a fleshy core of fruit, framed by lively acidity and a crystalline texture and culminating in an endless, refined and ethereal finish. Yquem’s natural power is here masterfully harnessed by the vintage’s freshness and tension, revealing an aesthetic of precision and vibrancy encountered only in the estate’s greatest years—made all the more remarkable by the fact that the château now achieves even higher levels of concentration than a decade ago, without any perceptible increase in sweetness on the palate. - Yohan Castaing, RobertParker.com

100 Points! Power, freshness, depth — after the extremes of 2021 and 2022, this walks the line between the two, exceptional. Mandarin, quince, mirabelle plums, white truffle, fresh fruit and confit fruit, a vibration of slate and steel, opulent but slices closed on the finish. The botrytis came early and quickly in 2023. Francis Mayeur in final vintage as consultant, after many years as inhouse winemaking team, Lorenzo Pasquini director. 154g/l residual sugar, 3.85ph, harvest September 14 to October 11. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

100 Points! Perfect aromas carry through to every milliliter of this wine, showing intense orange peel, honey, butterscotch, saffron, smoke and peat, with hints of coffee and dried apples. Full-bodied but weightless and silky, with an excellent balance of fruit, sweetness and spices. Some peanut brittle, dried oranges and lemons at the end. I can’t get over how wonderful this is now, but it can age forever. 154 g/L residual sugar. Drink or hold. - James Suckling

100 Points, Wine Spectator's #1 Wine of the Year 1993! This is one of my favorite wines ever. Full-bodied, with layers of silky fruit and masses of currant, mineral and berry character. Amazing. It's a wine with perfect structure, perfect strength. It's 1961 Latour in modern clothes. It's hard not to drink it now. '89/'90 Bordeaux non-blind horizontal. - Wine Spectator, 2005

100 Points! The aromas of flowers such as roses, violets and lilacs jump from the glass then turn to dark berries such as blueberries and blackberries. It's full-bodied, with velvety tannins and dense and intense with a chocolate, berry and currant character. This is juicy and rich with wood still showing a bit, but it's all coming together wonderfully. Muscular yet toned. Another perfect wine like the 2010. Try in 2022. - James Suckling

100 Points! One of the perfect wines of the vintage, Frederic Engerer challenged me when I tasted the 2010 Latour at the estate, asking, “If you rate the 2009 one hundred, then how can this not be higher?” Well, the scoring system stops at 100, (and has for 34 years,) and will continue for as long as I continue to write about wine. Nevertheless, this blend of 90.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9.5% Merlot, and .5% Petit Verdot hit 14.4% natural alcohol and represents a tiny 36% of their entire production. The pH is about 3.6, which is normal compared to the 3.8 pH of the 2009, that wine being slightly lower in alcohol, hence the combination that makes it more flamboyant and accessible. The 2010 is a liquid skyscraper in the mouth, building layers upon layers of extravagant, if not over-the-top richness with its hints of subtle charcoal, truffle, blackberry, cassis, espresso and notes of toast and graphite. Full-bodied, with wonderfully sweet tannin, it is a mind-boggling, prodigious achievement that should hit its prime in about 15 years, and last for 50 to 100. - Robert M. Parker, Jr.

100 Points! The 2010 Latour can be summed up in two words: "The King." It convincingly asserts its superiority over other 2010s, including First Growths, in terms of its aromatic complexity, precision, balance, intensity, complexity and persistence. Simply a faultless Latour that ranks amoung its greatest achievements. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

ETA: Early Winter 2026

Jeb Dunnuck, 100 Points Deep purple in color, offering a powerful and complex array of pure Pauillac cassis-like fruit, lead pencil, graphite, chalky minerality, truffle, and espresso. Medium to full-bodied, with ripe, sweet tannins, classic Latour regalness, concentration, structure, and class, with just a hint of its normal youthful austerity. This flawless, balanced, structured, insanely good Latour will be drinkable in just 7 to 8 years but evolve for 40 to 50 years in cold cellars.

Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent, 100 Points Deep garnet-purple in color, coming barreling out of the glass with powerful notes of blackcurrant jelly, blackberry pie, and plum preserves, followed by suggestions of pencil shavings, cast-iron pan, and charcoal. The medium to full-bodied palate is exquisitely constructed with a myriad of very fine layers, supported by ripe, grainy tannins and beautiful tension, finishing epically long and mineral-laced. Still very tightly wound and will require at least 5 to 7 more years in cellar, then should age gracefully for 50-years+. Drink 2027-2077.

Georgina Hindle, Decanter, 100 Points Dark blackcurrants with smoky tobacco, liquorice and slate. Cool straight away, fresh but so perfectly mouthfilling. Blue fruit, black cherry, fleshy like fruit skin texture. This is how a great Pauillac can taste: serious, deep, classic Cabernet markers, lots of minerality in the flint and stony aspects, strong tannins and a powerful, muscular structure with minty sides. An amazing Pauillac. This will last forever.

100 Points! The 2000 Chateau Margaux is deep garnet in color, with a touch of brick. It leaps from the glass with evocative scents of plum preserves, blackberry pie, and redcurrant jelly, leading to wafts of dried lavender, powdered cinnamon, and tobacco leaf, with a hint of crushed rocks. The medium-bodied palate is filled with black fruits and savory accents, with a velvety texture and seamless freshness, leading to a perfectly balanced, lingering perfume of a finish. Graceful, flawless perfection. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent, 2024

100 Points! The 2000 Margaux kicked off a string of great wines. The aromas are spellbinding, with notes of raspberry and strawberry. The palate is incredibly silky yet structured. Impeccable balance.- JamesSuckling.com

100 Points! Violet and iris aromatics curling out of the glass, starting to reach their full expression at 20 years old. Beautifully finessed and elegant, with hints of black truffle, cloves and rich blackberry fruits, this is a vintage that showcases the best of Margaux. It took its time to reach this point but it has been worth the wait, and the wine just gets better and better over a few hours in the glass. Highlights the success of the partnership between owner Corinne Mentzelopoulos and director Paul Pontantallier, with this château delivering some of the most memorable wines of the turn of the century years in Bordeaux. - Jane Anson, Decanter, July 2020

100 Points! Tasted from magnum, the 2000 Château Margaux is a prodigious, flawless wine that shows the elegance and seductive hallmark of the estate paired with incredible density, depth, and richness. Its still-ruby/purple color is followed by sensational notes of crème de cassis, spring flowers, lead pencil, and sandalwood that develop beautifully with time in the glass. Medium to full-bodied, opulent, and seamless, with a multi-dimensional, layered texture, it has a massive mid-palate, sweet tannins, and a finish that won’t quit. It’s drinking brilliantly today, and there’s certainly no need to delay gratification, but it’s going to continue evolving for another 3-4 decades. Bordeaux (or red wine, for that matter) doesn’t get any better. - Jeb Dunnuck, March 2019

100 Points! This is a haunting young wine that shows you a subtle and hidden strength on the nose with rose petals, currants, currant leaves, stones and plums. Wonderful ripeness yet brightness, too. Takes your breath away with the intensity and structure. Full-bodied, powerful and muscular, yet there's an agile undertone to the whole thing. Compact and condensed. A new legend for Margaux. - JamesSuckling.com

100 Points! The grand vin is the 2015 Château Margaux and it’s as good a wine as I’ve ever tasted. Coming from just over one-third of the total production and a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and the balance Petit Verdot, brought up in 100% new French oak, its deep ruby/purple-tinged color is followed by a thrilling bouquet of crème de cassis, toasted spice, hints of toasty oak, and cedar wood. Incredibly elegant and finesse-driven, yet packed with fruit, depth, richness, and structure, it has as much class as you can fit inside a glass. While the vintage provides plenty of upfront charm, this is a wine to cellar for at least a decade, and enjoy over the following 40+ years. - Jeb Dunnuck

100 Points! Château Margaux's grand vin accounts for 35% of production in this vintage. It stood out as a potential wine of the vintage during en primeur and it is more than living up to its promise. The concentration is stunning, with a fruit structure that is darker, tighter and more insistent than Pavillon. It's so fresh, there is an opulence here, a dense silkiness to the tannins that is fleshed out across the palate, building to a big finish with menthol freshness. This is classically-styled Margaux with aromatic acrobatics and tannins so fine that the stitching is seamless and perfectly pulled together. Even though extremely ripe, there is freshness too - the acidity measures 3.6pH. The 100% new oak is barely perceptible even now, fresh out of the cask. One to savour over the long term. - Decanter Magazine