Wines

98 Points! Incredibly perfumed with violets and white flowers, followed by raspberry, cherry and strawberry flavors. Sliced lemon rind notes with mineral and fine wet sand undertones. Medium-bodied with fine tannins that run the length of the wine and give a beautiful, rather endless finish. Planted in 1945. Only 2 hectares. Best Lunita ever. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

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95 Points! Blood orange zest, cherries, hibiscus and violets on the nose. Medium-bodied with firm, fine, crunchy tannins. Savory finish that’s salty at the end. No sulfur. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

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94+ Points! From a site on the other (southern) side of the appellation, the 2020 Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Pinot Noir saw quite a bit more stems and was fermented with 40% stems and brought up in 20% new oak. It has a wonderful nose of ripe red and black currants as well as subtle woodsmoke, dried herbs, and forest floor. This carries to a pure, medium-bodied, balanced Pinot Noir with ripe tannins, nicely integrated acidity, and a great finish. It opens up nicely with time in the glass and will no doubt benefit from another year or two of bottle age. These latest releases from Gavin Chanin are pretty much straight-up brilliant across the board. - Jeb Dunnuck

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91-93 Points! The 2023 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills is herbal and lifted on the nose, leading to a dark-fruited, silky palate that combines svelte richness with delicious freshness. As always, this is shaping up to be an overperforming overview of the Sta. Rita Hills from a uniquely pretty vintage.

Gavin Chanin entered the wine world through an eight-year stint at Au Bon Climat, quickly becoming protégé of the late Jim Clendenen. Chanin founded his namesake label in 2007, an era that allowed him to secure contracts for old-vine plantings from some of the region's most historic vineyards while newly established sites were more in vogue. Much of the straightforward practicality learned from Clendenen is employed in the cellar: the Chardonnays are whole-cluster pressed, barrel fermented and aged on lees for 14 months, then racked and returned to barrel for another four months before bottling. Heavy-toast François Frères barrels are the norm—favoring the Bertranges forest for Chardonnay and Vosges for Pinot Noir—and range from 10% to 50% new. Pinot Noir generally includes 30% to 50% whole clusters, with slightly higher percentages of new wood. Across the spectrum, the wines continually balance supple generosity with focus and refinement, delivered through a deceptively slender frame despite their richly flavored nature. - Matthew Luczy, robertparker.com

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95 Points! This is a cooler-climate Syrah done with the light touch of a Pinot Noir master. The nose is extremely peppery, reminiscent of a tour through a Tellicherry peppercorn factory, yet with tart cranberry, rust and soil elements as well. The palate is immensely grippy with more white pepper as well as charcoal and brisk red-fruit flavors. It will also cellar very well. - Wine Enthusiast

94 Points! The 2018 Syrah Schock Family Vineyard is Gavin Chanin's first Syrah, and it is fabulous. Deep and rich, but not at all heavy, the 2018 has so much to offer. Readers will have to be patient, as the 2018 is an embryonic wine at this stage. What comes across is the wine's exceptional balance and harmony. Time will be needed for Syrah aromatics to emerge. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

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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

96 Points! The second wine of this brilliant château, the 2022 Chapelle D'Ausone checks in as 65% Cabernet Franc, 35% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon that was raised 20 months in barrels. Classic Cabernet Franc notes of black raspberries, currants, spring flowers, candied violets, and sappy mint herbs all shine here, and it's medium to full-bodied on the palate, with a pure, layered, seamless mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and a great finish. While it's not the best vintage for the second wines, you wouldn't know it by tasting this. - Jeb Dunnuck

96 Points! This is a blend of 60% Cabernet Franc, 35% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, it leaps with expressive scents of red currant preserves, fresh blackberries, and violets, plus nuances of cedar chest and cinnamon stick. The medium to full-bodied palate is coated with rich black and red berry layers, supported by velvety tannins and bags of freshness, finishing long and spicy. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW

93 Points! The Chapelle d'Ausone is a powerful but also embryonic wine. Here, too, the wine's balance is impeccable. Super-ripe red cherry fruit, blood orange, spice, menthol and rose petal all meld together. Chapelle is a powerhouse second wine, if that term can even be used. The blend is 60% Cabernet Franc, 35% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

 

 

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98 Points! Always one of the top Crozes-Hermitage out there (although the case could be made that it's more Hermitage than Crozes), the 2018 Crozes-Ermitage Les Varonniers has a liqueur of rocks-like character as well as gorgeous blue fruits, violets, earth, and bouquet garni aromas and flavors. I'd unquestionably guess Hermitage in a blind lineup. This full-bodied beauty has a seamless texture, ample tannins, and a great finish. It's pure class and the finest Crozes Hermitage out there in 2018. It's a stunning value that readers should snatch up! - Jeb Dunnuck Learn More

95 Points! It's full-bodied, fairly concentrated, and generous. There’s wonderful freshness, a particularly strong mineral expression. Finishes on a touch of toasty oak. A great vintage of Les Granits. A very granitic expression from an east-facing plot in lieu-dit St-Joseph, near Mauves.- Decanter Magazine

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$289.98 at checkout, 99 Points! A blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill is another wonderfully evocative triumph from this family-owned Pitchard Hill pioneer. Deep garnet-purple colored, it storms out of the glass with profound scents of crème de cassis, blackberry preserves, licorice and mulberries, plus hints of unsmoked cigars, wild sage and tar. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers fantastic intensity and great poise, offering fine-grained, ripe tannins and bold freshness, finishing long and mineral laced. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, robertparker.com

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93 Points! A killer wine and great value, the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Signature reveals tons of cassis and darker, almost blue fruits intermixed with sappy spring flowers, crushed stone, and lead pencil nuances. Based on 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot, 7% Malbec, and 2% Merlot, it's balanced and medium to full-bodied, with beautiful tannins. - Jeb Dunnuck

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95 Points! Really fine bubbles. Extremely intense, showing dried apples, peaches and light apricots with brioche and pie crust. Medium-bodied with a creamy texture and a long, long finish. Very subtle. A blend of pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier. 10% of the 2020 base wine fermented and aged in barrel. Dosage 8 g/L. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! Hints of brioche and lemon meringue pie enrich the flavors of cassis and apricot fruit, pickled ginger, smoke and roasted hazelnut in this classy Champagne, backed by vibrant acidity. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Disgorged 2024. Drink now through 2030. - Wine Spectator

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93 Points! A solid, focused, juicy and poised wine, showing red berries, sweet spices and dried-flower aromas. Medium-bodied with finely grained tannins. Lovely crushed-strawberry character to the silky texture. Bright and fruit-forward, this has a seductive, succulent finish and a lift of peppercorns. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! Bottled three months ago and showing beautifully, the 2023 Côtes Du Rhône Coudoulet De Beaucastel is based on 30% each of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvèdre with 10% Cinsault and brought up all in foudre. It offers darker berries, pepper, sappy flowers, and some obvious stony, earth-like minerality in a medium-bodied, nicely concentrated, layered style. It's balanced with terrific purity, ripe tannins, and outstanding length, offering incredible pleasure today, yet it will keep for 10-12 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

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93+ Points! The 2019 Château Bouscassé, a blend of 70% Tannat, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon picked at the same time and co-fermented, possesses a perfumed, fresh bouquet of dark wild berries, spices, flowers and mulberries. Medium to full-bodied, polished and fleshy, it’s layered and enveloping with a charming, seamless profile for a Madiran that segues into powdery tannins and a long, mineral finish. It demands some patience. - Yohan Castaing, robertparker.com

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99 Points!  The 2016 Chateau D’Yquem is pure magic and dessert wines don’t get much better. Offering a pale gold color as well as a blockbuster bouquet of honeyed tangerines, tart apricots, liquid rocks, white flowers, and honeysuckle, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, an opulent texture, vibrant acidity, and again, an incredible sense of minerality, despite having no shortage of sweetness or richness. The 2016 is a classic blend of 75% Sémillon and 25% Sauvignon that hit 14.2% alcohol with 135 grams of residual sugar. It’s already complex and approachable yet will keep for 3-4 decades. - Jeb Dunnuck

99 Points! A very classic Yquem. Breathtakingly wide spectrum of floral honey, exotic fruit (passion fruit, mango and pineapple), caramel and marzipan aromas. But none of this is a jot too much. In fact, the wine is extremely precise and finely nuanced. Wonderful freshness and textural complexity, in spite of the considerable concentration and extravagance. Very suave and sensual finish that goes on and on. - James Suckling

98 Points! Containing 135 grams per liter of residual sugar, the pale lemon-gold colored 2016 d'Yquem leaps from the glass with honeyed apricots, pineapple, green mango, crushed rocks, candied ginger, coriander seed and citrus peel with hints of orange blossom. The palate is very tightly wound, vibrant and refreshing with layer upon layer of minerals and spices, finishing with epic poise and persistence. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

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98 Points! Tasting the 2019, I noticed that it has a slightly paler hue compared to recent vintages (though I never read too much into the colour of young Sauternes.) For certain, it has a highly-aromatic bouquet that is beguiling in purity, enticing aromas of honeysuckle and saffron, soon joined by camomile, white flowers and orange blossom. It has wonderful delineation and gains intensity with aeration. The palate is supremely well-balanced with fine bead of acidity. Very harmonious and armed with just the right amount of viscosity, this Yquem is surprisingly understated at first but gains presence, offering irresistible flavours of layers of honey, lemongrass, lemon thyme and orange pith. Yquem is so tempting in its youth, but I feel that this vintage will repay those with the nous to cellar for at least a decade. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

97 Points! The 2019 vintage of Château d'Yquem has the highest proportion (45%) of Sauvignon Blanc in any modern Yquem. The Sauvignon Blanc adds to the freshness, acting as a great balance to the succulent, sweet and voluptuous palate. Intense peach and apricot, combined with lemon and orange zest, make this highly appealing to drink right away - an ideal vintage with which to start Yquem’s ‘lighthouse’ project. However, it would be a shame not to give this 10+ years maturation to see how it develops. Very well, I suspect. - Decanter Magazine

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95 Points! The 2022 Châteauneuf Du Pape is some serious Provençal goodness, with just about overflowing aromas and flavors of sweet raspberries, blackberries, peppery garrigue, and Provençal spices. It has the sunny, expressive, complex style of the vintage, medium to full-bodied richness, ripe tannins, and a great finish. As with most 2022s, it has plenty of upfront charm yet solid underlying tannins as well. It reminds me slightly of the 2009 and will have two decades of longevity. - Jeb Dunnuck

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95 Points! The 2021 Zerzilles is its usual powerful self, lying in wait like a lioness to pounce on her prey for her hungry lion cubs. It has a sudden spurt of power and energy striking through the palate. While light in body, it has innate power, masses of concentration and an electric charge of crackling acidity. This is a pup of a wine that's going to need time. - Rebecca Gibb, Vinous Media

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94 Points! The 2019 Château d'Aussières is blended from 52% Syrah with 20% carbonically macerated Carignan, 19% Mourvèdre and 9% Grenache. It’s another dark red wine with harmonious, complex aromas which combine blackcurrant fruit (typical, says the Aussières consultant Matthieu Dubernet, of Fontfroide Syrah) with wildflower and hillside pine forest scents. The palate is surprisingly light and elegant with a sense of proportion and harmony; there’s no shortage of fruit density, though. It’s a more approachable wine at this stage than the 2018. - Decanter Magazine

93 Points! Blackcurrants, slate, crushed stone and berries with hints of chocolate. Medium-bodied, bright and racy. Vivid at the end. A blend of syrah, carignan, mourvedre and grenache. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Plenty of graceful black and red fruits, this is an impressively balanced wine from a warm vintage. Turmeric and smoked cumin kick things off, emphasing tight tannins that will soften over the next few years, before everything opens through the mid palate to show a burst of baked raspberry, incense and rosemary spices, orange peel, plenty of juice. First time for the 167ha Domaine d'Aussières on the Place (or rather not in exclusivity with DBR Lafite). Director Jean de Roquefeuille (ex Rieussec), working alongside the group winemaker Olivier Tregoat. - Jane Anson, inside Bordeaux 

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