This wine is a little austere, while showing good aging potential. It has spice, acidity and the weight of fruit as it develops. With its juicy berry flavors still submerged by the firm tannins, it will take its time...

The 2015 L'Amiral is an impressive, savory, refined Cabernet Franc that is almost Bordeaux-like in its classicism. This cuvée is only made in what the producer deems to be an exceptional year, and then aged in barrel for...

As it was recently bottled the nose is a little closed right now, but with a minute in the glass this starts to drum roll, building up flavour and layers of texture. This is going to age beautifully. Just 38hl/ha were...

Grand-Puy Ducasse 2015 is medium to deep garnet in color. It slips slowly and sensuously out of the glass with notes of blackcurrant preserves, warm plums, and mulberries plus hints of baking spices, potpourri and bay...

A wine I was able to taste on multiple occasions, the 2015 Troplong Mondot is a tour de force that readers need to snatch up. This cuvee comes from the cool, clay and limestone soils on the upper plateau (it’s the highest...

The firm tannins in this wine are dense and concentrated, ripe rather than dry. The fruit and juicy acidity give the wine richness and crispness at the same time. It has a great future. Drink from 2025.

A sinuous line of tannins runs through this structured wine. It lifts the dark plum and berry fruits and give shape to the spicy, firm wine. As the estate builds in strength, the style of this perfumed, stylish wine will...

Aromas of forest floor, mushrooms, lavender and violets. Full-bodied, tight and structured with fantastic tannins and focus. Long and layered. Impressively toned. Give it three or four years to come together. Begin...

The same vintage I tasted last year, the 2015 Champagne Millésime Brut pours a bright straw hue and has developed more attractive aromatics since last year. Raised entirely in stainless steel tank for this vintage, with 9...

Ripened to fragrant white-peach flavors in the heat of the 2015 vintage, the biodynamically farmed fruit for Cristal transforms that ripeness into a delicate juiciness, the wine both luscious and youthfully concentrated...

The 2015 La Closerie de Fourtet is silky, perfumed and quite pretty. Sweet red cherry, tobacco, dried cherry and mint grace this second wine of Clos Fourtet.

2015 was an exceptional vintage in this part of the world, making many second wines a shrewd value purchase. Luckily this doesn't disappoint, although I cannot recommend highly enough that you go for the 2010 at this...

Yet another nose with standout freshness, even delicacy, but still quite youthful, mingling black fruit, spices, and spring flowers. A bit massive and still tightly wound on the palate, the wine has impressive tannic...

This is very tight and compacted with a condensed palate of currant and dark-berry character. A salty and mineral undertone to the wine. Full body and firm and linear tannins. Focused and intense. Long and precise on the...

Sweet, warm, graceful, expressive. This small zone’s harmony and rightness is evident in this wine’s aroma: calm, soft, nourishing, teasing and easeful. This is pure, smooth, singing and lyrical: lovely plum and bramble...

Quite floral, this shows a wealth of very ripe plums and black cherries. The tannins are powerful with a thread of spicy cinnamon-infused oak. Rippling with power. Yet ever so refined and beautiful. Try around 2025.

The 2015 Echo de Lynch Bages has a lovely bouquet of vivid, joyful red cherry, crushed strawberry and pressed rose petal aromas. The palate is succulent on the entry, delivering high-toned blue and black fruit. A little...

This family-owned estate has produced a structured and dark wine with great concentration balanced by acidity and pure, creamy fruit. It is a wine with a good future. The aftertaste leaves juicy acidity and firm tannins...

(90-93) This too is sufficiently reduced to mask the nuances of what appears to be ripe fruit. There is excellent verve to the big-bodied and well-concentrated flavors that coat the palate with sap on the firmer and more...

The dried-fruit and wet-earth character are eye-catching with some cedar and sandalwood. Full body, tight tannins and super polish and finesse. Velvety. A great second wine of Château Pavie. Try in 2022.

Impressive depth to the wine from the outset with a gently smoky edge to the ripe blackberries, blueberries and red plums. Some attractive spicy oak here, too. The mid-weight palate has a very composed and linear shape...

Impressive dark plums and mulberries with nicely intertwined spices and violets. Attractive leafiness and sweet, earthy depth. The palate has suave, flowing tannins that carry a plush, plump core of dark-plum and mulberry...

Impressive richness and clarity of red and dark berries. Lightly spiced-pastry aromas, too. The palate has a very crisp, polished and groomed tannin texture, as well as super fresh flavors that carry long. Great wine. Try...

(WE94-96 points) Beautiful dusty tannins permeate this ripe wine. It has a smooth and rich texture, with bright blackberry flavors and a refreshing, vibrant close.