(95-97 points) Not yet bottled, the 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes is all very old vine Grenache from the sandy soils of the Cristia lieu-dit. Brought up in demi-muids and a mix of new and used barrels, it gives...

The wonderful red-cherry fruit with hints of redcurrant and blackcurrant pulls you into this very expressive wine. For all the ripeness, the really striking thing about this is the great vitality, the way it leaps and...

A lighter-framed vintage that will be ready to drink before the classic 10 year window. You see hints of this immediately in the plum colour, with shadings of a lighter raspberry around the rim even at four years old. The...

(93+ points) Seemingly refined by the additional elevage since I reviewed a barrel sample last year, the 2019 Crozes Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert remains a big, rich, dark-fruited and almost tarry effort, but this...

Blackcurrant, pine cone, walnut, crushed gravel and dried flowers on the nose. It’s medium-bodied with firm, fine-grained tannins and fresh acidity. Sleek and refined. Try from 2023.

Enticing inky depths to the colour, slate tannins that are fully in control, adding precision and power to the cassis fruits. As it opens, the austerity recedes and sweet blackberry and loganberry fruit appear, along with...

Dark and winey, with a grippy, brambly frame and a solid core of raspberry, black currant and boysenberry fruit. The backdrop reveals lots of anise, bay and black tea notes. Still backward, with an ironclad finish, this...

The Drouhins' village Morey is sourced from the Très Girard lieu-dit. Fermented for the first time with 100% whole bunches in in 2017, this has laudable finesse and perfume, with barely noticeable one-third new wood...

The tannins are linear and direct in this otherwise fruity wine. Along with dark tannins, it is also rich with warm red fruits. The acidity still shows strongly and suggests that the wine needs time. Drink from 2020...

Vibrant ripe purple. There is gentle graceful fruit on the nose then an easy going opulent fruit up front which builds beautifully behind. This is a plump and less savoury style of Gevrey-Chambertin.

(91-93 points) Here too there is a mentholated top note on the more deeply pitched aromas of plum, black raspberry and subtle tea and floral wisps. As is always the case, there is more size, weight and power to the...

Highly Recommended. A smoky red, infused with notes of autumn woods and herbs, featuring a core of strawberry and wild cherry flavors. Silky in texture and balanced, ending with a long, tightly wound and minerally finish...

Yves Canarelli grew this wine at his estate in Tarabucetta, at the southern tip of Corsica, where ocean breezes blow across the granite hillsides, thickening grape skins and helping to keep disease at bay in his...

A great success in any vintage, but a marvel in a difficult year, this superb wine offers a deep, dark, red hue. The perfume, with its blend of flowers, licorice, garrigue, spices, cherries and plums is gorgeous. Richly...

(92+ points) The 2020 Gevrey-Chambertin Champs-Chenys Vieilles Vignes is the most serious of Roty's lieu-dit bottlings, unwinding in the glass with aromas of sweet cherries, blackberries, spices, licorice and rose petal...