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 will need some time to round into form. Best from 2017 through 2025. 40 cases imported. — JM

From a small, steep lieu-dit of mica schist, vinified in 100 percent new oak for 20 months, this is powerfully oaked, yet has all the components to back it up. There’s the fruit, red and firm, and the spice, lifting the wine with its black pepper kick. There’s the smoke of oak but also of roasting meat—a brown-sugar softness as well as a granite-hard minerality. Don’t even think of touching it for another decade.

Deep violet color. Deeply pitched black and blue fruit aromas are enlivened by peppery spices and fresh flowers. Dense and palate-coating, offering concentrated cassis and blueberry flavors that stretch out and gain vivacity with air. Dusty tannins give grip to a penetrating, long finish that features suave floral pastille and berry liqueur qualities. I had the chance to revisit the 2011 Grandes Places and, as was the case last year, it's showing a surprisingly open-knit character, with sappy dark fruit and floral qualities and no rough edges. While it has the depth to suggest that up to a decade of patience would be rewarded, there's plenty going on to grab one's attention now as well. -- Josh Raynolds