Wines

95 Points! Medium-rich in style (92 g/l residual sugar), the grapes for this wine originate from Calheta on the warmer south coast of Madeira. Mid-amber hue with gently smoked, yet rich savoury-spicy aromas – quite seductive and evocative. Lovely Elvas plum and quince marmalade richness with a spicy backdrop, balanced by fresh appley acidity. The long finish is akin to a gently cinnamon-spiced tarte tatin. Shows great complexity for a colheita. Glorious with savoury patés and stands up well to a curry, though equally good with caramelised oranges or a hedonistic slice of fruit cake mid-morning. - Decanter Magazine

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

90 Points! Intense and concentrated, with a broad array of dark chocolate, maple, smoke and baked peach. Enjoy it on a cool autumn night. - Wine Spectator

95 Points! Honey, apple tart and lemon rind. Full-bodied, medium-sweet and very spicy with intense flavors of mace, apple and honey. Long finish. Thick and powerful. - Wine Spectator

97 Points! A smoking good dessert wine, the 2014 Billet Doux offers stunning notes of ripe quince, honeyed peach, toasted bread, and exotic flowers. It brings loads of richness and depth, yet always has a sense of purity and elegance, as well as lightness on the palate. It’s another gorgeous sweet wine from Morlet that will stand up to some of the great Sauternes out there. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! Hailing from a warm vintage that was one of the best in what would otherwise have been a fairly ordinary decade, the 1985 Moulin Touchais Coteaux du Layon is starting to take on a deep golden appearance, commencing to amber. It offers a gorgeous, suave texture and a very complex nose that's a touch oxidative but that adds a layer of additional intrigue: it's all nuts, raisins, walnuts, olives, warm pastry, cinnamon, cooked orange peel. It's round and sweet (95g/L) but not unctuous with richness on the mid-palate while retaining enough acidity to refresh the mouth on the long finish. A wine that is very comfortable in its own skin, providing a very relaxing experience.

Moulin Touchais produces sweet Chenin Blanc in the Coteaux du Layon appellation. The wines are most often late harvested, although in some vintages - such as 1997 - a high level of botrytis builds on the fruit. What makes the winery special is its late-release policy: the wines must spend a minimum of 10 years in the underground cellars beneath the village of Doué la Fontaine before release. - Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous Media, 2021

95 Points! You can taste that these were super-ripe grapes and those golden aromas envelope you on the very focused, medium-bodied palate. Then the mineral acidity cuts through the richness with a samurai sword-like flash that knocks you back in your chair. Very long and super-crisp finish. Excellent potential! - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! Selbach's 2022 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese opens with a coolish and flinty nose with very fine mineral expression and remarkably precise and delicate fruit. Round and generous on the palate, with very fine and saline acidity, this is a creamy-textured, sweet but well-balanced Auslese with a long, aromatic and mineral Domprobst finish. 7.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in November 2023.Selbach's 2022 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese opens with a coolish and flinty nose with very fine mineral expression and remarkably precise and delicate fruit. Round and generous on the palate, with very fine and saline acidity, this is a creamy-textured, sweet but well-balanced Auslese with a long, aromatic and mineral Domprobst finish. 7.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in November 2023. - Stephan Reinhardt, robertparker.com

95 Points! This is a step up, with lushly textured flavors of crushed plum, currant preserves and mulled black cherry driving along nicely, underscored by licorice, black tea and warm earth. Even with the earthy flash, this stays refined and focused, with latent energy on the finish as well. No rush here, either. Drink now through 2040. - Wine Spectator, 2023