More closed, yet still loaded with potential, the 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape La Reserve offers a tight, reserved bouquet of cassis and blackberry fruits intermixed with ample spice box, mineral, and meaty notes developing... Read More

The 2022 Châteauneuf Du Pape La Réserve (60% Grenache and 40% Mourvèdre) is deeper ruby-hued and boasts a gorgeous nose of ripe black raspberries, smoked garrigue, spring flowers, and graphite. It plays in... Read More

No Renaissance was produced in this vintage. Reminding me of the 2017, the 2022 Cornas reveals gorgeous red and black fruits, violets, bouquet garni, and gamey, iron-like nuances. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has fine... Read More

Subtle and complex with blackberries, violets, lilacs, roses and hints of ink. So floral, yet subtle on the nose. Full-bodied with incredible polish and beauty, the silky tannins running the length of the wine and going on and... Read More

An incredibly impressive wine in 2022 shaping up to be the wine of the vintage not only as it seems to defy the hot and dry conditions in every way but delivers such confidence and charm it makes it hard to resist. Gorgeous aromatic... Read More

Looking at the reds, the 2020 La Chapelle De La Mission Haut-Brion is flat-out stunning and unquestionably a great wine in its own right. Cassis, black raspberries, tobacco, and sandalwood are just some of its nuances, and it's... Read More

With high expectations that this will be classified at the next round in 2022, and the new winery by Sir Norman Foster nearly completed, it's fair to say that this is a good moment for Le Dôme. The high Cabernet Franc... Read More

Tasting note: Perfumed and very pretty aromas of red and dark cherry, violet and crushed anise lead to beautifully textured and attractively vibrant middleweight flavors that also exude a subtle minerality on the youthfully austere... Read More

The 2016 Latour is a vintage that I have tasted a couple of times post-bottling. On one occasion, it warranted a perfect score, but that was then moot since this vintage had not been released. Now that it is due to hit the shelves... Read More

The 2019 Les Forts de Latour appears to have tightened up a little since I last tasted it a few years ago. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of sweet cassis fruit mingled with hints of cedar, iris, orange zest and new oak, it's... Read More

The flagship is the 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape La Réserve and it’s an even split of Grenache and Mourvèdre that was all destemmed and was brought up mostly in demi-muids (there was a small part in larger,... Read More

Tasting note: There is a whiff of spice sitting atop the ripe aromas of black raspberry coulis, violet and earth. The caressing middleweight plus flavors manage to be at once succulent yet powerful before culminating in an equally... Read More

The 2020 Gazin is a wine of total precision and class. Vibrant, with tremendous nuance, the 2020 is so impressive. Dark red cherry, iron, tobacco, white pepper and crushed flowers abound. The 2020 is a standout Gazin.

François de Nicolay succinctly described the 2022 growing season as hot and dry but with no disease pressure to speak of, which always makes things easier to manage. However, fruit maturities spiked at the end and it was... Read More

The 2021 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes is made from vines aged between 80 and 100 years. The 2021 Vieilles Vignes wafts from the glass with expressive aromas of redcurrant, red and black cherry, raspberry, strawberry,... Read More

One of the standouts in the vintage is the 2021 Châteauneuf Du Pape, a ripe, round, medium to full-bodied 2021 offering a beautiful array of black cherry and darker berry fruits, ample Provençal spice, and dried flower... Read More

Like the Lavières, there is a touch of post-bottling reduction but there is excellent freshness and underlying tension on the palate of the rich and wonderfully textured bigger-bodied and tautly muscular flavors that culminate... Read More

Magnificent wine – the best ever under the Chanel regime. Beautifully fragrant with dark fruit, spice and floral notes. Plentiful but fine tannins provide a velvety texture and there’s great persistence on the finish.... Read More

Careful and seductive oaking, this develops and builds in power and finesse over the palate, and is a seriously enjoyable Pomerol, just packed full of appellation typicity. A yield of 35hl/ha, vinified in new oak barrels, and... Read More

An overtly floral-suffused nose speaks of red cherry, raspberry and a hint of herbal tea. The supple, caressing and succulent medium-bodied flavors possess a lovely sense of underlying tension on the lightly stony, focused and... Read More

One of the world’s greatest expressions of Grenache year-in and year-out, the 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes is all varietal that was brought up in larger foudre. This cuvée comes from the Charbonnieres... Read More

The 2021 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits Les Dames Huguette is initially quite bashful on the nose, dark berry fruit intermingling with brown spices and orange blossom, gently unfolding with aeration. The palate is well... Read More

Lastly, the 2020 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is another legendary wine from this château that has been on an incredible run over the past decade. A blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot that was brought up all... Read More

Deep cherry damson red in colour, clear depth. Touches of kicking spice right from the start, I like the surprise of the battle between richness and bitterness. It feels like a heavy blanket of fruit which is burrowing down but... Read More

Rich and concentrated with violet reflections and a wall of tannins. Well structured, it sets its feet deep in the ground and will need time to soften and develop. Good quality with depth. The tannins are far more present than... Read More

A little closed on the nose, and also on the attack. There is a wall of tannin here but backed up by voluptuously ripe fruits that major on damson and fig, overlaid with cinnamon and saffron spices. Lilting acidity through the... Read More

A gorgeous wine; mouthwatering, clear black fruits but with feathery touches of dried sage and chargrilled oak. The embers are still burning and the whole thing is just gearing up to its drinking window. Still fairly closed, this... Read More