The 2015 Branaire Ducru is a gorgeous, totally sexy wine. Rose petal, lavender, mint, sweet red berry and gently spiced notes give the wine much of its gracious, lilting personality. Precise and nuanced to the core, the 2015 Branaire is all class. It's easy to overlook Brainaire in the context of Saint-Julien, where most of the other important wines are much more powerful. Branaire always speaks with a hushed, discreet voice. Readers who appreciate finesse will find much to admire here. The 2015 is a wine of pure and total sensual pleasure. In 2015, the blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, aged for 18 months in French oak, 60% new. Don't miss it. Tasted two times. Drinking window: 2020-2040. Score - 95. (Antonio Galloni, vinous.com, Feb. 26, 2018)
A blend of 65% Merlot with 30% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, this elegant wine is showing the dried cherry, potpourri and smoked meat notes of its maturity. The estate recommends drinking it now through 2032.
A stunningly complex and complete nose of flowers, dark fruits, and minerals. Very perfumed and subtle at the same time. The palate is full, yet tight and powerful with perfect tannins and a long, long finish. The quality of the tannins is phenomenal, please leave this alone for ten years. Pull the cork in 2020. Score - 99. (jamessuckling.com, June 1, 2011)
A great wine, the summation of a great vintage in Bordeaux. The core of richness, the dense, bone-dry tannins, the black currants, red berries and black plum skins are the elements, but it's the way they have been integrated that makes this such an impressive wine. There is great elegance as well, a fabulous counterpoint to such power. Cellar for at least 15 years, but this will keep forever. Score - 100. (Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast, June 2008)
Intricate and complex, with ample dark cherry, berry, and mixed spices. Excellent concentration and depth with an elegant minerality. A wine that will develop through the mid-2040s.
As with the white, the 2015 Château Pape Clément is up at the top of the hierarchy and is a tour de force in Red Bordeaux that should be snatched up by readers. Coming from a 50-hectare parcel of the gravelly soils and harvest between September 25th and October 15th, it's a blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc that saw a long maceration (30-40 days) and 18 months in 80% new French oak. With a deep ruby/plum color and awesome notes of currants, black cherries, truffles, chocolate and graphite, this beauty hits the palate with a massive, full-bodied, opulent, sexy, yet never heavy style. With terrific concentration, perfect balance, and ripe tannin, as well as plenty of oak, give bottles 4-5 years of cellaring and enjoy over the following 2-3 decades. Tasted three times. Maturity: 2023-2053. Score - 97. (jebdunnuck.com, Nov. 30, 2017)
As I wrote last year, the 1995 Montrose is beginning to drink brilliantly, and this most recent example only confirms that. Wafting from the glass with a classic bouquet of red and black currant fruit, rich loamy soil, cigar box and black truffles, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with terrific concentration, ripe tannins and lively acids. The 1995 took its time, but this rather structured, powerful vintage of Montrose is now beginning to soften. Drink date: 2020-2035. Score - 94. (William Kelley, robertparker.com, Dec. 21, 2023)
From a vintage that was rich in tannin and extract and took its time to come around. It is now at a gorgeous moment, full of still-intense ruby red colour but with tawny edges and a brambled undergrowth feel on the attack. The tannins are still in evidence, chewy but supple in texture against soft black truffles and autumnal blackberry and raspberry fruits and a beautiful cooling ash finish. I love this, and it's perfect for drinking today. Proper Pomerol loveliness. Drinking window: 2020-2034. Score - 93. (Jane Anson, decanter.com, July 9, 2020)
Blackberry, mint and black pepper abound here. The palate has serious structure, with an emphasis on liquorice, restrained vanilla, cedar and earth. It's still pretty concentrated and voluptuous. Recorked at the château in 2001. The exact blend was not recorded, so the blend shown reflects the vineyard plantings, with 5% Petit Verdot. Drinking window: 2019-2038. Score - 95. (Jane Anson, decanter.com, Aug. 26, 2022)
Vibrant deep colour, this has masses of spice box and minerals on the nose. Of course, the 86 was famous for its power and tannic structure and this is still muscular and foursquare, but the tannins are beginning to yield and soften. Very fresh acidity and classic sweet cassis fruit with notes of minerals, underbrush and tobacco. Very pure and long. Impressively, the wine had been decanted two hours previously and was still evolving in the glass more than an hour later. Tasted at Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2015. Drinking window: 2015-2030. Score - 95. (John Stimpfig, decanter.com, Nov. 24, 2015)
96-98 Barrel Sample Dark chocolate and mocha flavors, very dark and intense, this is a big, concentrated wine, flavored with bitter cherries and structured. Certainly a great Cheval Blanc. Score - 97. (Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast, June 1, 2007)
The 2015 Vray Croix de Gay is just as alluring from bottle as it was from barrel. Inky, powerful and explosive, the 2015 exudes richness in all of its dimensions. Blueberry jam, crème de cassis, licorice, menthol, spice and lavender form an exotic mélange of aromas and flavors, but it is the wine's balance and sense of proportion that are most impressive. Even with all of its intensity, the 2015 remains gracious and light on its feet for such a rich wine. This sumptuous, inviting Pomerol is a star in the making. Don't miss it. Drinking window: 2023-2045. Score - 95. (Antonio Galloni, vinous.com, Feb. 26, 2018)
The smoky oak, full body and chunky tannins make a bold statement; indeed, the wine has plenty of flesh and packs a big tannic punch on the finish. Best Talbot in years. Drink in 2023. Score - 94. (jamessuckling.com, Feb. 13, 2017)
This 17-hectare estate has been rejuvenated by owner Jean-Louis Triaud and is certainly producing some of the top wines from the appellation today. I tasted the deep, inky-colored 2015 Château Saint-Pierre twice and it's reminiscent of the 2010, only with more elegance. In 2015 the wine is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc and it spent 14 months in 50% new and 50% once used barrels. Chocolate covered dark fruits, damp earth, tobacco leaf, and lead pencil shaving-like notes emerge from this huge, concentrated beauty that has building tannin and a huge mid-palate. It's an incredible wine that builds with time in the glass, has no hard edges and is going to 3-4 decades of life. Bravo! Maturity: 2018-2058. Score - 97. (jebdunnuck.com, Nov. 30, 2017)
A stunning wine for this vintage although it's still a bit shy on the nose (more spice than fruit showing than now). There's wet earth, too, but on the palate it's bursting with ripe yet subtle flavors. Very long and complex finish that goes on and on. Score - 98. (jamessuckling.com, Jan. 18, 2017)
What a lovely nose! The blackberry, smoke and earthy notes are beautifully interwoven - then there's an equally impressive harmony of full, plush tannins and some real concentration. Needs until 2020 to give its best, but it's got many years ahead of it beyond that. Score - 94. (jamessuckling.com, Feb. 1, 2018)
The 2015 Malartic Lagravière is just as fabulous from bottle as it was from barrel. Rich, voluptuous and dramatic, it captures all of the natural intensity of the year. Black cherry, plum, mocha, chocolate, licorice and French oak build into a crescendo of stunning aromas, flavors and textures. This is in an especially dark, sumptuous style, but it all works beautifully. The 2015 was positively thrilling each of the three times I tasted it. Drinking window: 2023-2035. Score - 96+. (Antonio Galloni, vinous.com, Feb. 26, 2018)
A wine with great beauty and finesse. Such elegance and ethereal quality for this estate. Full body, with ultra-fine tannins and a juicy delicious finish. Long and beautiful. This is the best Lynch in a long, long time. I love the precision here. Try in 2018. Score - 98. (jamessuckling.com, Nov. 14, 2013)
In the running for the greatest vintage ever from this château, the 2009 Château Lynch-Bages is pure Pauillac magic, offering a powerful bouquet of blackcurrants, freshly sharpened pencils, smoked tobacco, and gravelly earth. It's full-bodied, has a concentrated, structured mouthfeel, building yet beautifully integrated tannins, and a great, great finish. It's just now at the early stages of its prime drinking window and has another 30 years of prime drinking ahead of it. I wish I'd bought more on release. Maturity: 2024-2054. Score - 98. (jebdunnuck.com, Aug. 22, 2024)
Sometimes seen as the junior of the two properties owned by the Barton family in Saint-Julien, this is an impressive estate in its own right, especially in this superripe, smoothly rich wine. Tannins are well wrapped in the generous structure and fruits. Drink from 2025. Cellar Selection. Score - 95. (Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast, Feb. 1, 2018)