Dom Ruinart 2013 is a blanc de blancs of lithe, satin-smooth beauty already upon release, very much built around the reserved, cool energy of the 2013 vintage. This cuvée's new aromatic range, amplified since the 2010 release by toasty, spicy energy brought on by bottle fermentation under cork (sous liège), is very much at play. However, with undertones of roasting coffee, honey and fresh walnut playing with smoky gunflint and nougat richness as the gentle lemon, lime and even tropical fruit eases out with time in the glass. It's narrow rather than austere, gently sea-salt-savoury rather than lip-smackingly mineral or chalky - a Dom Ruinart with a long, long life ahead, but an equally rewarding window already opening up. Chardonnay from Le Mesnil, Avize, Chouilly, Bergères-les-Vertus, Sillery, Verzenay and Taissy, disgorged after nine years on lees. Drinking window: 2024-2040. Score - 97. (Tom Hewson, decanter.com, July 8, 2024)
Stacks of wild herb character and wet stone freshness make this an exciting riesling Kabinett in which the natural grape sweetness is barely perceptible. Only light-bodied, but with excellent concentration and a long, salty and stony finish, this is a remarkable expression of this great Mosel vineyard site. Drink or hold [for another 20-25 years]. Score - 95. (Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com, Aug. 29, 2024)
This is dark fruited with chocolate, crushed walnuts, black licorice and cedar wood. Medium-bodied with firm, chewy tannins. Tight and toned with a polished finish and notes of crushed stones and nut shell at the end. 80% merlot and 20% cabernet franc. Excellent for a second wine. Try after 2025. Score - 92. (jamessuckling.com, Dec. 1, 2022)
Dried berry, red brick and bark character to the nose. Full-bodied with spicy fruit bound in lightly firm tannin and oak, producing a long finish. This feels very young and needs to unwind a bit more to bring out the complexity that lies under the surface. But it's there, so worth waiting for. A sturdy red, built for the long term. Try from 2025. Score - 94. (jamessuckling.com, March 20, 2023)
The 2022 Pago De Valdoneje El Valao is 100% Mencía from Valtuille de Abajo, Bierzo. It aged for up to eight months in barrels. Floral notes of dried violets and roses combine with a touch of pomegranate and well-integrated oak. Juicy and smooth, the 2022 has fine tannins, lively acidity and a long, fruitdriven finish. Drinking window: 2025-2035. Score - 93. (Joaquín Hidalgo, vinous.com, Feb. 25, 2025)
Barossa Valley shiraz doesn't come much better than this. The growing season and vintage conditions were perfect, but few nailed the opportunity as well as winemakers Kym Teusner and Javier Moll. The silky elegance and balance are coupled with purity and freshness in a manner seldom seen. Drink from: 2024. Drink by: 2046. Special Value. Score - 99. (James Halliday, winecompanion.com.au, Feb. 27, 2024)
The 2018 has a complex aroma of herbs, black cherry, cocoa, and a hint of anchovy. It's a structural wine with beautiful acidity which runs through the core of ripe forest berries, allied to tannins which demand time to integrate. The finish is spicy and woody, with a waft of balsamic herbs. From 50-year-old vines at around 400 metres above sea level in Castiglione di Sicilia, this wine is vinified in concrete tanks like all of the estate's reds, before ageing for 24 months in big barrels. Drinking window: 2024-2030. Score - 94. (James Button, decanter.com, June 12, 2024)
There is an usual stony austerity in the 2021 Adrianna Vineyard River, cropped from a cold year when the full clusters fermented in concrete with a slightly shorter maceration and an élevage in a 2,000-liter oak foudre and the rest in stainless steel. It has a moderate 13.4% alcohol with very high acidity (8.2!) and a low pH (3.37), incredible parameters of freshness. The wine was closed and took time to take off in the glass, revealing a very elegant and subtle personality, with the silky texture of the very fine tannins, pristine aromas and flavors and a sense of harmony that was moving. It's powerful but extremely elegant in that rare combination of clout and energy, a wine of light, aerial, with some ethereal qualities, delicate and refined. This combines the cool place and high altitude, the cool year and the stony soils, to deliver a stunning Malbec that goes well beyond the variety. Bravo! Drink date: 2024-2040. Score - 100. (Luis Gutiérrez, robertparker.com, Aug. 31, 2023)
According to winemaker Alejandro Vigil, the name Mundus Bacillus comes from the bacterial world that exists in that small, 1.4-hectare piece of the Adrianna Vineyard, in Gualtallary, about 1,400 meters above sea level and toward the north of the Uco Valley. The symbiosis of that molecular world with the roots and the strong presence of calcium carbonate make this malbec seem to cross the variety's borders and offer a wine that's much more austere wine than its partners in this line (Adrianna Fortuna and River), with tannins that are much chalkier and more severe. The malbec aromas appear in the form of sour cherries, but it also has a good share of mineral, saline aromas that lend it an interesting complexity. The cool 2021 season has only exacerbated the tense and energetic character of this wine, one of the best in a vintage that has been excellent in Mendoza. Add to that that this is the first time since this wine originated in 2013 that it wasn't aged in barrels or oak, but rather in concrete tanks. Score - 100. (Patricio Tapia, guiadescorchados.cl, 2024)
This is always aromatic, exotic and idiosyncratic, with its enchanting aromas of green fruit, green curry, citrus, ash, green passion fruit and spearmint. Almost full-bodied on the palate with lots of mineral tension. Bright acidity quickly takes over, followed by a long, bone-dry finish that goes on and on. So pure, unique and thought-provoking. Drink or hold. Score - 100. (Zekun Shuai, jamessuckling.com, Feb. 19, 2024)
Here a more reticent and cooler nose is both gamier and spicier. The super-sleek medium-bodied flavors possess a gorgeous mouthfeel together with solid power on the more refined and ever-so-slightly longer and notably firmer finish. This is impeccably well-balanced but in contrast to the Bressandes, extended patience will absolutely be necessary, indeed I would suggest not touching a bottle before 10 years of age. Drink: 2037+. Score - 92-95. (Allen Meadows, burghound.com, April 10, 2024)
Bright yet subdued, still youthful nose. Red fruits sous bois and bakery spice nuances, lively palate, fresh and edgy with elegant concentration and sweet persistence. Score - 95. (International Wine Challenge, 2024)
This dense wine with its rich tannins and dark, layered fruits is just opening up. The result is a very fine wine with a core of dryness and black fruit flavors. The wine is now ready to drink. Score - 93. (Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast, May 1, 2023)
100% Albariño. A showcase of granitic terroir: serious, taut and engaging with a harmony of tangerine riches and a wonderful crisp acidity evoking its origins beautifully. Stunning. Score - 95. (Decanter World Wine Awards, 2024)
For co-owner Alessandro Veglio, 2020 is 'a 2018 with more flesh'. Gattera's limestone soils provide good structure. A quite stern nose of cherry kernel, rhubarb, fresh violet and blood orange is followed by a savoury and filigree palate, with a texture to the tannins of rare elegance. Full and broad on the finish, with hints of cherry kernel. Drinking window: 2024-2040. Score - 97. (Aldo Fiordelli, decanter.com, May 21, 2024)
Aromas of terra-cotta, dried earth, stone, and black berries. Medium to full body. Chewy yet fine tannins. It goes on for minutes. The fruit keeps going yet always in check. One for the cellar. A new benchmark for nero d'avola. Single vineyard magic. Best after 2026. [Will cellar into mid-2030s.] Score - 97. (jamessuckling.com, July 9, 2023)
The 2021 Haiku is another powerhouse wine in this range from Castello di Ama. Rich, sumptuous and layered, the 2021 is beautifully persistent. Dark red/purplish fruit, pomegranate and rose petal open first, framed by clean mineral notes that lend palpable vibrancy. The long, sustained finish is a thing of beauty. Like all these wines, it needs considerable time. Drinking window: 2026-2041. Score - 95. (Antonio Galloni, vinous.com, July 11, 2024)
The 2022 Villamagna wafts up with an earth-borne bouquet, mixing flowery underbrush, wet stones and wilted violets with lavender-laced black cherries. It opens with a balanced inner sweetness, washing across the palate with silken textures and vividly ripe wild berry fruits accelerated by juicy acidity. The 2022 finishes with staining length and a classic tannin profile, leaving blue and purpletoned inner florals and allspice notes. Drinking window: 2024-2030. Score - 93+. (Eric Guido, vinous.com, Sept. 26, 2024)
The 2022 Crozes-Hermitage Vieilles Vignes is another ripe, opulent release from Tardieu-Laurent that does everything right. Ripe blackberries, strawberries, black pepper, game, and some smoky, meaty notes all emerge on the nose, and this beauty hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a pure, layered mouthfeel, velvety tannins, and no hard edges. It's a gorgeous Northern Rhône Syrah that brings the fruit and texture. It's going to evolve for 10-15 years if well stored. Maturity: 2024-2039. Score - 93. (jebdunnuck.com, Oct. 29, 2024)
Still a barrel sample, the 2023 Les Chasseignes shows a creamy, lactic note that you won't have seen before, as there was a little malo here in 2023 for the first time. There's a cooler, greener nature, with green herbs joining ripe apple flesh and pear. It remains fresh with a fine, chalky texture but lacks a little of the usual persistence on the finish. Drinking window: 2025-2031. Score - 90-92. (Rebecca Gibb, MW, vinous.com, Aug. 6, 2024)