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The 2016 Figeac, crafteed with 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, was bottled at the end of July 2018, since Frederic Faye wanted to give the wine more time in barrel to develop more harmony. The stunning 24-carat bouquet rivets you to the spot with brilliant delineation and mineral-rich red fruit that articulates its terroir as well as any Right Bank you will find. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannin, perfect acidity, wonderfully integrated new oak and enormous depth toward the fresh, pencil-box- and cedar-infused finish. This is a classic Figeac, up there with the 1947 and 1949, both recently re-tasted and testifying to a wine that genuinely belongs among the elite Saint-Emilions. Faye believes it is the best Figeac he has ever made.

The 2016 Pavie a blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc. Very deep purple-black in color, it needs a little coaxing to begin, slowly unfurling to reveal a fragrant perfume of violets, chocolate-covered cherries, crushed blueberries and eucalyptus over a core of preserved plums, kirsch, black raspberries and creme de cassis plus hints of licorice and chargrilled meat. Full-bodied and built like a brick house, it has a solid foundation of firm, super ripe, grainy tannins and seamless freshness interknit with the black fruit preserves and minerally layers, finishing very long and very decadent. Superb! 

The blend pays tribute to the Right Bank’s black grape variety, so the Carillon d’Angelus 2017 expresses all the smoothness and opulence of Merlot (90%) with the elegance of Cabernet Franc (10%) that brings finesse to distinguish the wine. With its beautiful dark color, the Carillon d’Angelus 2017 instantly charms with its bewitching aromatic bouquet. The nose discovers ample and pure fresh fruit aromas. The palate starts with a sumptuous attack that reveals the magnitude of the vintage’s personality. The generous concentration extends to a powerful finish that ends in elegance and harmony.

James Suckling: 93-94Pts; Wine Enthusiast: 91-92Pts; Vinous: 92Pts; Decanter: 91Pts; Robert Parker: 90Pts

The 2016 La Chapelle de La Mission Haut-Brion, crafted with 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36.5% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, is just as captivating from bottle as it was from barrel. Fresh, silky and inviting, the Chapelle is all class. Floral notes lead into a core of expressive red cherry and plum fruit. Medium in body, silky and exquisite in its balance, the 2016 has so much to recommend it. I would prefer to give the wine a few years in bottle to allow a broader range of aromas and flavors to develop, but even today, the Chapelle is gorgeous. The 21% Cabernet Franc in the blend adds striking brightness and perfume throughout.

Wine Advocate: 94Pts; James Suckling: 94Pts; Jeb Dunnuck: 94Pts; Wine Enthusiast: 93Pts; Wine Spectator: 93Pts; Vinous: 92Pts

Possibly the wine of the vintage, the 2017 Vieux Chateau Certan is a blend of 81% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon from the highest point on the Pomerol plateau. Deep purple, with a heavenly bouquet of creme de cassis, blueberries, scorched earth, crushed violets, tobacco, and earth, this beauty is full-bodied, has incredible depth of fruit, ripe, present tannins, integrated acidity, and a great finish. This estate has been on fire of late, and this is undoubtedly a worthy follow-on to the otherworldly 2015 and 2016. It has the depth of fruit and texture to offer pleasure even today, yet a solid 7-8 years of cellaring are warranted, and it should be long-lived.

Technical Director Thomas Duroux and his team made one of the most brilliant wines of the 2016 vintage. Palmer is simply exceptional.  Crafted with 47% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot, this is rich and dramatically sweeping in the glass, the 2016 is breathtaking. All the elements simply fall into place in a wine of mesmerizing beauty. The counterpoint of dark, sumptuous fruit and floral notes makes for an utterly compelling Palmer that will take its place among the estate’s finest vintages. Dark cherry, lavender, spice and mocha are some of the many notes that build into a deep, substantial finish that is truly unforgettable. In a worDecanter: magnificent!

The wine has a dark color with purple hues. Gourmand nose on red fruits and hints of spices. The palate is warm and enveloping around silky tannins with a chalky touch. Full-bodied, youthful in appearance, red berries, cassis, and plums interweave cigar, violet, sweet vanilla, clove and nutmeg. The fruit is succulent with vibrancy and intensity, enriched by fine-grained tannin extraction, and lingers with cigar and smoky fragrance, finishing with a rich yet vibrant chewy palate. Match with roasted lamb and beef short ribs over the next 8+ years.

Raymond Chan Wine RevieWine Spectator: 18.5/20Pts – Crafted from organically-grown grapes

No57 of Wine Spectator Top 100 wines of 2020

Chouilly, the House’s own vineyard, complete and subtle, brings a silky texture, a freshness, and an aromatic diversity to the cuvée. Oger brings the tension, the precision, and a beautiful ageing capacity, in perfect harmony with the chalky minerality of Cramant. A signature blend, enriched by a selection of remarkable Premiers Crus.

Recognizable by its both pure and creamy style, Le Blanc de Blancs is a genuine ode to Chardonnay. The emblematic cuvée of the House. Brilliant and contemporary, this prestigious cuvée flourishes in a special bottle, promoting the development of the organoleptic profile during the 6 years of ageing on lees in the cellars.

James Suckling: 95Pts; Falstaff: 94Pts; Jeb Dunnuck: 93Pts; Guia Penin: 93Pts; Wine Spectator: 92Pts

Spier Estate’s flagship wine comes from west and northwest-facing slopes of the Helderberg is the place where all the vines were grown, and all within a 10km radius, and produce only 6,000 bottles yearly. Decomposed granite soils retain water well, allowing for slow ripening and heightened mineral complexity. The area benefits from the cooling effect of the nearby Atlantic.

The balance, and the refined elegance of this blend, with its long finish, is the result of a growing season that goes down in my books as textbook perfect. A properly wet winter, some spring rain and a dry, mild summer allowed for longer hang-time, followed by quick picking.

Grapes are handpicked, De-stemming and hand-selecting all adds to a great taste, in the end. Every detail is crucial. The components were mostly fermented in small 600L roller fermenters for quite a long time on the skins, giving it time to settle and come into its own. Malolactic fermentation was done in barrel – a period of about 24 months on the lees in barrels. The difference grapes are then tasted, blended and sent back into the barrel for 4 to 5 months, before racking and bottling. This wine will show best at 10 years after harvest, and will complement rich red meat dishes like ribeye, beef roasts and smoky barbeque fillet steaks.

There’s superb balance between sugar and natural acidity. With all the grapes being of Helderberg origin, we were able to achieve consistency in style. Cabernet Sauvignon was everything we wanted it to be – and more – so we gave it dominance in the blend. Adding Cabernet Franc from a younger vintage in the final blend contributes a freshness and element of surprise.

Tim Atkin: 92Pts

The 2016 Chateau Margaux is a blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc, plus 1% of Petit Verdot, representing 28% of the total production. Lucid in color, it has a detailed and precise bouquet with mineral-rich blackberry, raspberry coulis and limestone scents. It feels very perfumed, though not powerful like many Grand Vins in 2016. The palate is a different creature to the aromatics. Here is the intensity of the vintage with shimmering black fruit laced with spice, a killer line of acidity and an irresistible crescendo on the finish. Then, graphite lingering on the aftertaste, a nod to Pauillac perhaps. The aftertaste is so long you could probably write a letter to your friend enthusing about this wine before the aftertaste fades. Doubtless it is destined to be compared to the magnificent 2015 Chateau Margaux and to be truthful, there’s a hair’s breadth between them. In a worDecanter: crystalline. Drink 2026-2070.

Elegant golden colour with shiny reflections. Subtle and delicate, the nose reveals a seductive aromatic bouquet with notes of juicy pears and quince highlighted by a touch of honey which brings tastiness. Full of roundness, both opulent and well balanced, the palate offers superb aromas of juicy fruit which extend into a long finish supported by a delicate bitterness. An elegant wine, of great finesse.

Crafted from organically-grown grapes

The 2012 Sena is half Cabernet Sauvignon, complemented by Carmenere, Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. Bright and focused, with a nose mixing red fruit, it is also bright-colored, with ripe black fruit and balsamic notes in the shape of tobacco and cedar wood, with a medium-bodied palate, very good freshness and acidity, sophisticated, polished and fine-grained tannins. This is still a baby, but the silky texture makes it accessible now, while the complexity should come with more time.

Guided by intuition and backed by family heritage, Eduardo Chadwick and Robert Mondavi handcrafted a wine of distinctive quality and character. Sena is the culmination of their wonderful parternship and a passionate journey. Sena is an authentic Chilean blend made from the finest Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot varieties. The Carmenere variety adds an evident Chilean personality to the wine. Chadwick and Mondavi searched for four long years before finding the ideal Chilean terroir in Valle de Aconcagua. There, they acquired 350 hectares of virgin hillside land, with grapes grown with a biodynamic approach. This is Chile’s finest premium wine.

Crafted from organically-grown grapes

Sena 2015 shines by its perfect balance and seamless structure, marked by its many layers of pure fruit and silky tannins. The wine displays wonderful complexity, along with unique tension, energy and elegance. This is a definite recognition that Chile belongs to the major leagues of wine, and is a righteous reward to the team’s hard work and dedication.

Guided by intuition and backed by family heritage, Eduardo Chadwick and Robert Mondavi handcrafted a wine of distinctive quality and character. Sena is the culmination of their wonderful parternship and a passionate journey. Sena is an authentic Chilean blend made from the finest Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot varieties. The Carmenere variety adds an evident Chilean personality to the wine. Chadwick and Mondavi searched for four long years before finding the ideal Chilean terroir in Valle de Aconcagua. There, they acquired 350 hectares of virgin hillside land, with grapes grown with a biodynamic approach. This is Chile’s finest premium wine.

Crafted from organically-grown grapes

Composed of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, yields for the grand vin in 2017 were 43 hectoliters per hectare, and it was aged in 60% new oak. It came in at an alcohol of 13% and an IPT of 68. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Cos d’Estournel needs a little coaxing to unfurl, revealing beautiful expressions of preserved plums, boysenberries, blackcurrant pastilles and wild blueberries with hints of Indian spices, menthol, lilacs and mossy tree bark plus a compelling suggestion of iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a solid backbone of firm, grainy tannins and well-knit freshness supporting the tightly wound blue and black fruits layers, finishing long and fragrant. This wine will need a good 5-7 years in bottle before it begins to blossom and should go on for at least another 40 years. I expect this wine to be a blockbuster of a head-turner when I come back and taste it at 10 years of age!

Modest but sure of its presence, Clinet lies at one of the highest points upon the renowned plateau at the heart of Pomerol – instantly recognisable by its red shutters and beautiful roses. It is home to one of the oldest vineyards in the appellation, with traces of the vineyard’s existence dating back to 1595. This vineyard is equally famed for offering wine with an incomparable character and quality.

The blend for 2010 is largely dominated by 85% Merlot, with some Cabernet Sauvignon and a small amount of Cabernet Franc also included. Inky/purple-colored, the wine has an exceptionally full-bodied, layered, moderately tannic mouthfeel and impressive power. Loads of melted chocolate/fudge and black fruits galore along with some coffee bean, mocha, as well as some background oak are all present in this big, formidably endowed, masculine style of Pomerol that will take longer to shed its tannin than the 2009. I would give this wine 5-6 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 30+ years.