Wine Spectator: The oak is a bit flashy now, but there's plenty of substance underneath in this powerful, seductive white. Apple, citronella, hazelnut, smoky spices and mineral aromas and fla...

Wine Spectator: Massive and concentrated, if a bit angular and tightly wound, with chewy, chunky leather, pencil lead, currant and herbal flavors that are framed by rugged tannins. Needs time...

Wine Spectator: Built for aging. Very dark ruby in color, with a garnet rim. Dried flower and berry aromas. Full-bodied and very solid, with masses of fruit and tannins. Still has plenty of t...

Wine Spectator: Super-sweet, super-ripe, but not any better than the regular bottling. Dark color with a brilliant gold hue and very intense aromas of butterscotch, vanilla, honey and apricot...

Wine Spectator: Pretty berry, plum and cherry character with lots of toasted oak in the midpalate. Full-bodied, with silky tannins. Big and structured wine, in a subtle way. Best after 2005. ...

Wine Spectator: This takes a broader approach, with almost stolid tobacco and charcoal structure guarding the core of black currant, roasted fig and blackberry confiture flavors. Long and ver...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: As I reported last year, the black/purple-tinged 2009 Cote Rotie La Landonne is an extraordinary effort. Made in a more open-knit, exuberant, flamboyant style, it possesses ma...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: Bracing aromas of lemon, pineapple and petrolly minerality; reminded me of a top Alsace riesling. Creamy, vibrant and classic, with great purity of flavor, harmonious palate-...

Wine Spectator: Shows high-toned cherry, tobacco leaf, grilled herb and lightly mulled spice notes. Very formed already, with a lingering dusty finish as the herb note peeks out more and more...

Wine Spectator: Rounded and ripe, with dark blackberry and boysenberry flavors melded with ganache, melted black licorice and Black Forest cake. Lush, but with a lovely smoldering charcoal hi...

Wine Spectator: Offers a very solid, plump core of blackberry and crushed cherry notes, with sweet spice filling in on the finish, where a lightly singed wood edge shows through and should in...

Wine Spectator: Very lush, with roasted fig, dark boysenberry preserves and Black Forest cake flavors woven seamlessly together, stitched with bold spice notes and backed by a very racy graph...

Wine Spectator: This is fresh and engaging, with firm but lively singed alder and apple wood notes framing a core of plum, red currant and steeped black cherry fruit. Offers pepper and tobacc...

About this Wine: This wine will require 7-10 years of cellaring, then last for two decades thereafter.

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: Saturated ruby. Brooding, pure aromas of cassis, dark chocolate, tobacco, smoke and licorice. Conveys a powerful impression of solidity, and yet the very primary flavors of da...

Wine Spectator: This is lovely, with a powerful backdrop of graphite and tar, harnessed by flavors of velvety plum, steeped fig and black currant preserves. The long incense- and black tea-fi...

About this Wine: Saint-Pierre has 17 hectares of vineyards and the wine is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. It is aged in oak barrels (50% new) for 18 mont...

Wine Spectator: Beautifully balanced, boasting lovely currant, mineral and black cherry flavors, medium to full body, good complexity and well-integrated tannins. Should improve with age; try...

Wine Spectator: This is a stunner, with gloriously ripe, succulent cassis, blackberry and fig fruit flavors backed by extra notes of plum cake, blueberry confiture and roasted wood spice. On ...

Wine Spectator: Offers subtle and complex aromas, with violet, cedar and blackberry. Full-bodied, with ultrafine tannins and a very long finish. -JS