This is a very pretty, with currant, cherry and some mahogany and cigar-box character. It’s medium-to full-bodied with tight, linear tannins that are long and very intense. Polished nicely. Hard not to drink now, but...

A blend of 58% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Champoux Vineyard has already captured my heart with its delightful and lovely aromatics. It offers dusty plum, black cherry skin, blackberry...

Juicy and muscular, with a ball of plum paste, warmed fig compote and black currant reduction flavors that need time to unwind. Ample graphite- and bramble-accented grip underscores the fruit on the finish, while a...

A dark, winey style, with lots of fig, plum and blackberry paste flavors layered together, with sweet tobacco, licorice snap and warm earth accents filling in. Packed but defined, with a graphite spine through the finish...

Coming from higher elevation granite soils and just about all Syrah, the 2018 Côtes Du Roussillon Villages Lesquerde L'Esquerda offers stunning granite character with its cassis and black raspberry fruit intermixed with...

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...

The tiny production 2018 Châteauneuf du Pape Sanctus Sanctorum comes from a single parcel in the famed La Crau lieu-dit and is brought up in demi-muids. Released only in magnum, it’s consistently been one of the most...

A blend of mostly Sangiovese with Cabernet Franc and Merlot in supporting roles, the Castello di Ama 2018 Haiku is a very interesting and somewhat unexpected expression that delivers big richness and lovely concentration...

The 2018 Red Wine Estate might just be the best edition ever of this incredible high-elevation bottling. It's nothing short of a blending masterpiece by Chris Figgins and his winemaking team. This thing is massive monster...

A very concentrated nose with impressively rich blackberry, raspberry and dark-plum aromas. Dark chocolate, violet and cedary oak here, too. Very youthful. The palate has a very rich, intense and plush feel with fresh...

(91-93+ points)A step up, with more depth and density, the 2018 Rasteau Les Argiles Bleues is a blend of 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah that was brought up in foudre. Incredibly pure notes of cassis, black raspberries, new...

A solid and structured red with blackcurrant, herb, tobacco and mussel-shell character. Some moss, too. Full-bodied and chewy, yet the solid tannins are very fine-textured and give a long, chewy finish. Yet, it’s always...

Extremely perfumed and floral with lavender, lilacs and violets to the sweet, ripe berries, such as blackberries and blackcurrants. Some slate and graphite, too. It’s full-bodied, yet ever so balanced and refined, with...

The 2018 Proprietary Red Paradise Hills Vineyard has really shut down since I tasted it last year. Energetic and vibrant, the 2018 sizzles with all of the energy of this cool, late-ripening vintage. Time in the glass...

The 2018 Red Blend H Block is a blend of 56% Cabernet Franc and 44% Merlot, co-fermented. Like all of the wines from Hudson, the H Block possesses striking aromatic complexity to match its mid-weight personality. Dried...

A solid and structured red with blackcurrant, herb, tobacco and mussel-shell character. Some moss, too. Full-bodied and chewy, yet the solid tannins are very fine-textured and give a long, chewy finish. Yet, it’s always...

A solid and structured red with blackcurrant, herb, tobacco and mussel-shell character. Some moss, too. Full-bodied and chewy, yet the solid tannins are very fine-textured and give a long, chewy finish. Yet, it’s always...

A rich and darkly alluring mix of plum sauce, grilled sage and hints of sweet smoke makes the 2018 Red Wine Ciel du Cheval a total pleasure on the nose. This is seamlessly silky, with potent red fruits complimented by a...

(97+ points) The flagship from this great estate is the 2018 Sorella, a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated blend (8% each of Cabernet Franc and Merlot and the 4% Petit Verdot) that spent the same 22 months in 35% new French...

I love the depth and complexity of the nose, which brings you down deeply into the wine, showing blackberry, ink, tar, earth, incense, cloves, and black licorice. Thyme, too. The purity of the fruit, including cassis, is...

A full-bodied red with aromas of blackberry, mulberry, vanilla, brown rice, chocolate and coconut. Firm, fine-grained tannins frame a generous, ripe core of sweet red and black fruit. Rounded, polished and richly...

The Buglioni 2018 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Il Lussurioso pours forth with an inky dark appearance and robust aromas of dried fruit, cured leather, spice, rosemary essence and barbecue ember. The wine's rich...

The 2018 Vino de Finca is a blend of Monastrell with 25% Garnacha from a cooler, more continental vintage. The Monastrell is from 20- to 30-year-old vines, and the 8-year-old Garnacha is from limestone-rich soils. It...

The 2018 Le Petit Clos is a blend of 53% Carménère, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot from Apalta, Colchagua. Dark garnet in hue. The complex nose offers plum jam, hints of smoke, herbs and pepper...

The 2018 I Sodi di San Niccolò is the most elegant Sodi I have ever tasted, and I have tasted them all. Sodi can be quite the bruiser in its youth, as the tannins are often imposing, but the 2018 is impressive because...

The 2018 Balifico, Volpaia's Sangiovese/ Cabernet Sauvignon blend, is fabulous. Rich and inky, the 2018 offers up a compelling mélange of dark berry fruit, dark spice, licorice and espresso. I especially admire the wine's...

You can taste and feel the intensity from the low yields here. At its core you find layers of earth, garrigue and peppery kirsch, black raspberry, cherry and spicy red plums. Richly textured with soft, silky tannins and a...