Like a stallion out of the gate, this shows an initial explosion of power, in the form of mouthwatering flavors and fine texture, before quickly settling into an elegant gait. The racy acidity is seamlessly knit, buoying...

The second wine of Château Pichon-Longueville is soft, perfumed and delicious. It's a wine with plenty of juicy fruit, though at this stage the wood is too dominant. The finish shows a hint of spice. ROGER VOSS

A blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc, the 2008 Angelus is deep garnet in color, with a touch of brick. It bursts from the glass with ready-to-go notes of prunes, baked black cherries, and mulberries, followed by...

Ruby/violet-colored, with a deep, intense nose of ripe fruits, underbrush, flowers, tapenade, and white truffles, the 2008 Château Ausone hits the palate with a deep, concentrated, yet reserved, incredibly elegant style...

A subtle, refined 2009 with complex aromas and flavors of currant, smoke, mineral and lead pencil. Full body with ultra-refined tannins and a long, long finish. An integrated, beautiful Beychevelle. Hard not to drink now...

The 2008 La Grande Année is another brilliant 2008 that delivers the goods. Straight-up awesome notes of stone fruits, white flowers, honeysuckle, and an incredible, liquid rock-like minerality all emerge from the glass...

Amazing aromas of sweet uncooked pie crust with almonds. Then you smell dried apples, apricots and pineapple. Grilled fruits, too. Full-bodied. So tangy and energetic with sizzling acidity and creamy tannins. Flavorful...

(WE 96-98 points) Impressively balanced, with the fruit rich, intense with a golden glow. The acidity is as important as the freshness, giving a delicious lift to the core of dry, concentrated botrytis. Obviously a great...

Tasted with Baptiste Guinaudeau, the 2008 Lafleur is a wine for which I have a lot of time, and as it approaches a decade old, it is beginning to loosen up a little. There is plenty of fruit on the nose—more than I have...

This stood out immediately among the five first growth wines for its floral hit right off the first nose. The epitome of elegance, as I found at the 10-year point, but it is now also starting to deepen and layer, with...

Obviously, it\'s been far too long since I last tasted this gem. The wine is rich, full, sensuous, floral and sexy. The fruit is fresh, sweet, and pure. The tannins are silky and while it is not fully developed if you...

Obviously, it\'s been far too long since I last tasted this gem. The wine is rich, full, sensuous, floral and sexy. The fruit is fresh, sweet, and pure. The tannins are silky and while it is not fully developed if you...

Starting to develop secondary nuances, with air you find flowers, tobacco, red fruits and cigar box notes. This is a classic style of Cheval Blanc, with concentration, energy and freshness that will require another decade...

Tasting through the individual lots with Berenice Lurton what comes across are the components of a crisp refreshing minerally Climens that may not have as much botrytis as previous vintages but will have a thrilling sense...

Like the 2004, cool blue fruit with floral flourishes. But the 2008 has superior mid-palate concentration, revealing yet another underrated vintage that you should purchase, as it came before the 'sexier' 2009 vintage...

The medium to deep garnet colored 2008 Cos d'Estournel is blended of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Pow! The nose explodes with notes of baked cherries, preserved plums, fried herbs, beef...

A notably ripe, earthy and exceptionally fresh nose of cassis and black cherries precedes equally ripe, rich and impressively scaled flavors that are balanced, pure and tight on the moderately austere and impressively...

Sweet cherry, raspberry, spice and earth aromas and flavors play off the open texture and round profile of this red, with a firm structure buried underneath. Fine length. Best from 2012 through 2022. 750 cases made. — BS

Tasted at a vertical tasting at the château.The 2008 Haut Batailley is service back to normal after the rather lacklustre 2007. It has a well defined, blackberry, minerally nose that has a sense of brightness and...

The 2008 La Mission Haut-Brion has an open, feisty, lively bouquet with blackberry, briary, cedar, black olive and a light seaweed (Japanese nori) aroma. This is wonderful, an intoxicating bouquet. The palate is...

A brilliant effort the 2008 La Mondotte is a candidate for "wine of the vintage." This blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc hit 14% natural alcohol. Yields were 24 hectoliters per hectare. The wine boasts an opaque...

A candidate for the -wine of the vintage- the 2008 should have been purchased before it began to soar in value because of the significance of the number 8 in the Chinese culture (denoting good luck). Representing 40% of...

<strong> # 12 on Wine Enthusiast's Top 100 Cellar Selections of 2011</strong>; A dense beautifully structured wine. It shows intense ripe fruit with balanced acidity. It's the fine tannins that give it such...

<strong> # 12 on Wine Enthusiast's Top 100 Cellar Selections of 2011</strong>; A dense beautifully structured wine. It shows intense ripe fruit with balanced acidity. It's the fine tannins that give it such...

(95+ points) Another underrated vintage for this estate, the 2008 Léoville Las Cases is a vibrant, youthfully primary wine that's aging at a slower pace than the 2009. Unfurling to reveal aromas of dark berries and...

The second wine of Château Pichon-Longueville is soft, perfumed and delicious. It's a wine with plenty of juicy fruit, though at this stage the wood is too dominant. The finish shows a hint of spice. ROGER VOSS

There are some juicy elements of black cherry in this light-weight red, then the tannins take over. With air, pretty fruit came forward and the elegance came to the forefront. Fine length. Be patient. Best from 2015...

A discreet application of wood sets off ripe and overtly spicy aromas of plum, dark currant and cherry. There is both good volume and richness to the supple, round and seductively textured medium-bodied flavors that...