Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The 2003 Shiraz Oracle may be even better than the 2002. Treated identically to the 2002, but even more powerful, dense, and long, with slightly higher alcohol, this monster e...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: There is one barrel of the Sine Qua Non cuvee, the 2001 Vin de Paille Inamorata, which spent 42 months in oak, resulting in 350 grams per liter of residual sugar, and a whoppi...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: Bright yellow-gold. Captivating aromas of spicy apple pie, dried apricot, caramelized kumquat, marzipan and sexy botrytis on the very pure, penetrating nose. Extremely fresh...

Wine Spectator: This is like a perfectly cut piece of silk fabric. Every angle is just right, every texture great. Fabulous aromas of tobacco, mineral and cool berry fruit. Full-bodied, with ...

About this Wine: Made from 100% Nebbiolo from the Brunate vineyard. The vines are planted at a density of 1,620 per acre and the grapes are harvested in late September. The wine is aged in...

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...

About this Wine: As I have written many times, all of these wines are produced from rigidly cultivated, bio-dynamically managed vineyards. That has been the rule since Michel Chapoutier fi...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: Good deep ruby-red. Reticent but very pure aromas of blueberry, cassis, violet, mocha and minerals. Sweet, broad and wonderfully deep, with dark berry and mineral flavors co...

About this Wine: This muscular wine has phenomenal density, dry vintage port-like concentration, and magnificent notes of smoke, blackberries, cassis, leather and coffee.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The flagship 2006 Shiraz Hanisch ups the ante considerably. Purple/black in color, it exhibits a brooding bouquet of toasty oak, smoke, leather, espresso, wild blueberry, and ...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The 2006 Brunello di Montalcino is an explosive, structured wine bursting with dark fruit. It is one of the most inward, brooding wines of the vintage. Black cherries, menthol...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The spellbinding 2009 Clos Martinet is a blend of 65% Garnacha (including some Garnacha Peluda), 18% Carinena, 11% Syrah and the rest a mixture of Cabernet and Merlot, althoug...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: I hope one day to have another chance to taste a vertical of Roccamonfina Terra di Lavoro because I have a strong feeling the 2010 will occupy a place among the very finest vi...

About this Wine: Intriguing is perhaps the word that best sums up this full bodied, powerful, dry red wine. It is a rich ruby red in appearance, without being excessively opaque. It displays p...

Wine Front: Full on. Flinty. Minerally. One hundred percent compelling. An outstanding example of what Giaconda does best: rich, penetrating fruit with funky, matchsticky, smouldering fir...

About this Wine: The unique encepagement and the twelve hectares of vines situated on the soils of St Julien endow the wines of Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande with an exception...

Wine Spectator: A tremendous effort, dark, ripe, rich, deeply concentrated, with layers of thick currant, black cherry, wild berry, spice, anise and toasty oak, finishing with a long, complex...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The 2008 Barolo Riserva Vecchie Viti dei Capalot e delle Brunate (magnum) is dark, brooding and super-expressive. Dark red fruit, mocha, leather, licorice and spices meld toge...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The 2009 Casajus NIC is the top wine, sourced from a single 1.5 hectare plot that yielded less than 2,500 kilogram per hectare (NIC, by the way, is the abbreviation of Nicolas...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve, which was made from frighteningly low yields, has a whopping 16.5% alcohol, compared to the 2010's 16.4, yet it is not even noticeable, g...