Almost opaque in color, the wine kicks off with smoky blackberries, wet earth, underbrush, licorice, black cherry, and currants. Full-bodied, rich, and intense, the wine is incredibly concentrated. Think of placing a...

Composed of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Carmenere, the 2016 Brane-Cantenac is deep garnet-purple colored. It is a little broody, with notes of tar and rubber giving way to a core of creme...

Aromas of wild herbs, walnuts, sweet tobacco and a gentle earthy note. Medium- to full-bodied with delineated dark fruit and integrated tannins. Elegant and precise, offering wonderful depth. Approachable now, but its...

A very floral and gently leafy edge with lighter red fruit, leading to a very smoothly fleshy, red-fruited palate that’s sleek, even and elegant. Drink or hold.

A full, ripe wine, this is rich in white fruits, but balanced by bright acidity. Produced in a vineyard close to Buxy, it has a taut edge, plenty of honey and lemon flavors, and a touch of toast. It's developing well, and...

An array of yellow orchard fruit with tropical and citrus fruit, leading to an attractive palate that has a fleshy middle section and a composed, long and concentrated finish. Fresh and linear. Equal parts sauvignon...

(12.5% alcohol; from a steep southwest-facing slope with slightly richer soil than the Mâcon Milly-Lamartine Montagne de Cra; the vines here were planted from the late 1970s through the early '80s): Bright, full...

This may not be the most concentrated wine from the appellation, but it’s a very appealing introduction to modern-style St.-Emilion. Plenty of mixed berries and a hint of vanilla on the medium-full body. Then the chalky...

Concentrated but restrained with old school charm and an abundance of muscular tannins, it's easy to feel the heart of this wine, packed with liqourice, slate, black chocolate, cassis, brambled hedgerow, aniseed and...

The 2016 du Tertre has a medium to deep garnet color. It rolls out with expressive scents of black raspberries, warm cassis, and redcurrant jelly, plus hints of tobacco leaf and dried Provencal herbs. Light to...

The 2016 Troplong Mondot has a deep garnet color. It bursts from the glass with bold notions of plum preserves, blueberry pie, and Black Forest cake, leading to wafts of camphor, violets, and crushed rocks, with a touch...

The 2016 B 16 is a small bottling from Bollinger that takes the place of the Grand Année, as conditions did not allow Bollinger to bottle their flagship cuveé. Brisk floral top notes give this mid-weight, expressive...

The 2016 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru has a simple, red cherry and strawberry scented nose, almost as if there was a bit of carbonic maceration - Beaujolais-like. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannin on the entry...

(90-92 points) (no frost): Bright ruby-red. Sweet but lightly medicinal aromas of red and black cherry; seemed to close up in the glass. Supple and concentrated but quite primary, even a bit reduced, and distinctly less...

Florality and black fruits on the nose, really very aromatic and expressive. Generous and giving, this is definitely more plush and supple than the 2015, wide open and expansive, totally charming from the off, still with...

A single vineyard in the city of Chinon is the source for this wine. Wholly owned by this producer, the vineyard has produced an intensely perfumed wine, showing the potential of the vineyard and of ripe Cabernet Franc...

Classic Cabernet-based Médoc with dark fruit, blackcurrant and graphite. Juicy, fresh with tannic drive.

Retasting the 2016 Château Latour next to both the 2010 and 2022 had me feeling like a kid in a candy store. Needing lots of air to show at its best, its dense purple hue is followed by quintessential Latour notes of...

Showing consistently and from a bottle purchased locally and drunk over multiple days, the 2016 Château Margaux is a magical wine that tastes like the essence of Margaux. Red and black currants, blueberries, spring...

91+ Tasted from bottle, Rousseau's 2016 Gevrey-Chambertin Village opens in the glass with a youthfully reserved bouquet of wild berry fruit, plums, peonies and orange rind mingled with suggestions of forest floor and...

There is enough reduction present to warrant giving the wine a thorough aeration. The richer and more powerful medium-bodied flavors possess good verve along with better depth and persistence on the relatively robust if...

Crushed-mineral tones and heady garrigue mingle into rich, throbbing black-cherry and plum flavors in this wine. It's a brawny, big-bodied red with a densely packed fruit profile and fine but fiery tannins. Hold till...

The Clos Sorbé is very nice this year, opening in the glass with a deep bouquet of plum, wild berries, raw cocoa and rich spice. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, rich and earthy, with good mid-palate amplitude and a...

Crisp black fruit and dried lavender are restrained on the nose but gain richness and ripeness on the palate of this buoyant red. It's laden with plum and cherry flavors yet silky in mouthfeel, freshened by a crush of...