Subtle smoky notes add allure to the robust and energetic 2008. Youthfully vigorous, it is easy to savour now because the well-integrated, fine tannins give it a silky texture. Hints of both red and black fruits combine with mineral nuances in this bold beauty. Harmonious, lip-smacking acidity amplifies the finish and keeps you coming back for another sip. Drinking window: 2024-2040. Score - 96. (Michael Apstein, decanter.com, May 24, 2024)
Very impressive complexity and width on the nose, showing lots of savoriness with mushrooms, sandalwood, cedar, sweet spices, dried oranges and tobacco. Really even and juicy on the palate with fine and very present tannins. Juicy, creamy finish lasting a minute. Really elegant and layered. It goes on and on. A real Rioja Gran Reserva and I recommend buying a case! The first vintage that La Rioja Alta labelled 'Seleccion Especial'. So appealing now, but this will evolve well in the next 20 years. Score - 98. (Zekun Shuai, jamessuckling.com, Aug. 18, 2023)
A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 13% Cabernet Franc, the 2021 Paul Sauer is beautifully intense and utterly seductive, the aromatics pulling you in with their perfumed notes of incense, violets, black currant, saline oyster shell, black cherry, sweet cherry tobacco and graphite with subtle blueberry notes and a subtle kiss of sweet cedar and vanilla pod spice. The palate shows sprawling breadth and depth with a gentle picante spice together with a noticeably intense salinity and maritime, nori seaweed nuance before more bold flavours of black currant, mulberry, black cherry and blueberry coat the mouth. The fine silky tannins are deceptively taut and crisp with the fresh glassy acids adding to the wine's obvious power, focus and superb intensity. So much wine in the glass, so much to assimilate! The 2021 Paul Sauer represents a true Cape Bordeaux blend masterclass once again from Abrie Beeslaar! Drink from 2025 to 2050+. Score - 99. (gregsherwoodmw.com, March 21, 2024)
The 2021 Bella's Garden Shiraz is from the Barossa Valley and, like last vintage, shows all the earth and might of the Barossa dirt. It has red earth, licorice, iodine, blood, layers of mulberry and blackberry and metal shavings. Interestingly, it is sedate on the palate but very long. This suggests it might need a decant or, at the very least, might benefit from one. It is a lovely wine that is big, buxom, dense and persistent. I really love the finish - it is chewy and full, very satisfying. 14.4% alcohol, sealed under Diam. Drink date: 2023-2033. Score - 95. (Erin Larkin, robertparker.com, Aug. 24, 2023)
The 2013 Grande Reserva (Herdade da Farizoa) is mostly Syrah, with 15% Aragonez and 5% Touriga Nacional, all aged for 20 months in 50% new French barriques. It comes in at 15% alcohol. If the regular 2013 Reserva this issue showed a fair bit of wood, this does as well, but it handles it better. There is a touch of coconut added in but it also adds more power, concentration and focus. The mid-palate does a rather good job of soaking up the wood. There is also an uptick in price here over the regular Reserva but if you can afford the tab it's worth it. The Reserva is lovely and has a good chance of getting better with cellaring. This definitely will improve. It should really be given a year or two in the cellar at least. It will likely show far better around 2020. Drink date: 2018-2030. Score - 92+. (Mark Squires, robertparker.com, Oct. 31, 2017)
Mossiness accompanies pear and lemon notes on this wine's nose along with a lift of dried hayflower. The palate adds ripe roundness and intense, multidimensional creaminess that takes in yeast, smokiness and chalkiness alongside the intense lemon. Drink date: 2022-2040. Cellar Selection. Score - 94. (Anne Krebiehl, MW, Wine Enthusiast, Dec. 31, 2020)
Coming from the more limestone soils of this hallowed appellation, the 2018 Ermitage Les Dionnières reveals a dense purple color to go with beautiful cassis and blackberry fruits interwoven with lots of burning embers, dried herbs, earth, and a touch of chocolate. With full-bodied richness, a round, expansive texture, and building tannins, it's a beautiful, classic, flawlessly balanced Hermitage that will benefit from just short-term cellaring and keep for 20 years or more. Maturity: 2021-2042. Score - 97. (jebdunnuck.com, Nov. 19, 2020)
From the excellent Les Pau sector at the northern end of Clos du Roy. Not the deepest of purples but with a most engaging bouquet. The whole bunches are very prettily in tune here. Flowers on top of the vivid and juicy red fruit. Another level of class here, with complexity at the back of the palate and excellent length. Drink from 2027-2033. Tasted Jan. 2024. Score - 92-93. (Jasper Morris, MW, insideburgundy.com, March 2024)
100% Sauvignon Blanc. A delectable evolution for the senses with lime marmalade, fine herbals and savoury nut characters on the nose and a lush acidity and sumptuously textured palate. Long and impressive. Score - 96. (Decanter World Wine Awards, 2024)
The 2022er Goldgrube Riesling, as it is referred to on the consumer label, is a bone-dry wine made from fruit harvested on up to 120-year-old un-grafted vines and was left for 1 year on its gross lees. It has a beautifully and finely reductive and very herbal nose of minty thyme, rosemary, white pepper, spearmint, flintstone, and other wild herbs, before showing fine scents of white flowers and lime tree. The wine starts off on a slightly round and creamy side, yet an acidic backbone clearly comes through and leads to a straight and quite spicy long finish. This defies the richer side of the 2022 vintage and proves superbly refined and playful. The aftertaste is all about smoke and white flowers and proves bone-dry in taste. Drink date: 2026-2042. Score - 94. (Jean Fisch & David Rayer, moselfinewines.com, July 2024)
This solidly built, substantial, deeply-coloured wine boasts prominent blackberry and currant fruit aromas with hints of earth and smoke. The texture is tannic and firm, with impressive concentration and length. The grapes come from a 0.40-hectare parcel of 60-year-old vines in Mazoyères down-slope from Latricières. Half the grapes are fermented as whole clusters, and the wine will age in cask (one-third new) for eighteen months. This wine should open in three to five years and drink well for another 20 beyond that. Drinking window: 2035-2065. Score - 96. (Charles Curtis, MW, decanter.com, Nov. 1, 2023)
Matured in oak barrels for 17 months, this sleek, structured Cabernet Sauvignon is crafted with fruit harvested from the estate-owned Clark Farm Vineyard in the Four Mile Creek sub-appellation of Niagara-on-the-Lake. Expect it to impress through 2029.
The Bouvier team manages the vines and then buys the grapes. An even mid crimson to purple. Ripely floral, with elegant complexities. Fine boned with plenty of fruit, white pepper behind, lifted and complex with medium plus length. Drink from 2032-2042. Tasted Jan. 2024. Score - 94-95. (Jasper Morris, MW, insideburgundy.com, March 2024)
An organic wine - quite a challenge in 2021. Perhaps not the deepest or weightiest Fourchaume but this is made up for [by] a light, precise palate which is very refined and elegant. Salty, fresh notes to finish. Drinking window: 2023-2027. Score - 91. (Andy Howard, MW, decanter.com, Oct. 16, 2022)
This shows aromas of crushed lemons and peaches with notes of chamomile and honeysuckle. Some dusty mineral character. Medium-bodied with zesty, bitter citrus and saltine undertones. Lightly phenolic in the end. Vital. Drink now. Score - 91. (jamessuckling.com, Jan. 24, 2024)
The red Garnacha 2018 Venus de La Figuera comes from a vineyard on limestone-rich soils at 600 meters in altitude in the village of La Figuera. The wine shows superb elegance and balance, and the 15% alcohol does not show. The vineyard is in a plateau, and the grapes ripen a lot despite the altitude. This vintage was still aged in foudre, and the wine has power and is structured. They used some 30% full clusters in the fermentation, and the élevage was extended to two years. The profile of the wine will change from 2019 and especially from 2019 to 2020. This vineyard manages to keep very good acidity, so the alcohol is well disguised. Drink date: 2022-2030. Score - 95. (Luis Gutiérrez, robertparker.com, Sept. 30, 2022)
40% Garnacha, 30% Tempranillo, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. Resplendent in its maturity and radiant in its baked red fruit, cinnamon and toasted oak fragrance. Silky smooth and mellow with a tremendously aromatic finale. Score - 95. (Decanter World Wine Awards, 2024)
There is great purity and freshness in the 2021s, and the eponymous 2021 Dominio de Atauta is no exception. Produced with a selection from their best vineyards in the Atauta Valley, it is complex and has depth, good ripeness, 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.63 and 5.05 grams of acidity. They have 25 different terroirs, and this blend comes with complexity, power and elegance, reflecting the conditions of the place and the vintage, with added freshness. It fermented in 5,000-liter oak vats with indigenous yeasts and matured for 13months in French oak barrels, 15% of them new, followed by another four months in oak vats to achieve a better stabilization of the wine. 2021 delivered a good crop, and they produced 58,494 bottles and 1,260 magnums. This is among the finest vintages for the cuvée. Drink date: 2024-2032. Score - 94. (Luis Gutiérrez, robertparker.com, June 13, 2024)
Named after the founder of the Fiuza winery, this limited-production wine is impressive. Big, ripe tannins and rich black fruits have a polish from the wood aging. The blend that includes dense Alicante Bouschet and structured Cabernet Sauvignon, is sure to age further. Drink from 2023. Score - 94. (Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast, July 1, 2022)
Inky violet-red to the eye, this wine has a nose of cassis, butterscotch and fennel. It is smooth on the palate, with plush tannins and flavors of blackberry, black cherry, chocolate-covered caramel, orange zest and a hint of smoke. Bright fruit and touches of spice show on the lengthy finish. Editors' Choice. Score - 93. (Mike DeSimone, Wine Enthusiast, July 1, 2023)