Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:  The exceptional 1996 Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon Mountain Blue (90% Shiraz and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon) exhibits a thick-l...

Wine Spectator: This cuts a broad and creamy path, with lush blueberry fig and plum fruit all rolled together, backed by warm cocoa and anise notes. Toasty grip supports the finish but there'...

Wine Spectator: Very lush yet pure, offering terrific mouthfeel to the boysenberry, plum and cassis fruit flavors that are well-focused through the finish, with floral and red licorice hints ...

Wine Spectator: Lush and open, with lots of velvety plum coulis, blackberry paste and dark cherry notes, and ample anise and graphite on the finish. Rich, but sleek too.-J.M.

Wine Spectator: This is a step up, with very plush layers of raspberry and blackber-ry confiture and plum sauce, liberally framed by a strong graphite note. Lots of black tea and toasty spi...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: Pale bright yellow. Classic aromas of powdered stone and mint, plus a light lactic quality. Densely packed and serious, with a dusty quality to the flavors of lime blossom, ...

About this Wine: The Rioja vineyards for Telmo Rodriguez' wines are in the eastern part of the region, in Lanciego. It is here, on the clay and calcerous slopes, that some of the most interest...

Wine Spectator: Delicate as a feather, with lovely strawberry blossom aromas and rich but elegant flavors of raspberry, white chocolate and cinnamon spice that finish with a crisp minerality....

Wine Spectator: An amped-up style, with dark, weighty, frankly toasty layers of blackberry, plum and currant fruit giving way to black licorice on the finish. Offers more raw power than fines...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: Slightly hazy medium red. Musky aromas of raspberry, coffee and smoke. Lush, silky and sweet, with velvety plum and earth flavors spreading out to saturate the palate. Seam...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The 2006 Poesia has a more open nose than the 2005, with a crisp blackberry, raspberry leaf, mulberry and crushed violets-scented bouquet that gathers momentum with aeration. ...

About this Wine: Soil: clay and chalk, with characteristically rounded, huge stones.

Blend: Grenache is the dominant grape, followed by Syrah and Cinsault.

Wine Spectator: Nicely focused, with dark plum, black currant and steeped black cherry fruit melded with charcoal, black tea and mocha. The long finish is plush in feel, but stays restrained....

Wine Spectator: Aromas of mineral, berries and green coffee bean. Full-bodied, with chewy tannins and an impressive fruit finish. A little more in the center palate would make this outstandin...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The 2009 Beso de Dante is a blend of 50% Malbec, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Cabernet Franc aged for 18 months in 70% new French oak before bottling without fining or filt...

Wine Enthusiast: Continuing its impressive series of wines, this red from Malartic-Lagravière has all the structure and density of the vintage, packed with plum and black currant fruits. The...

Wine Spectator: ($60) Offers blackberry and flowers on the nose. Full-bodied, with firm, chewy tannins and a focused, polished finish of ripe, fresh fruit. Tight right now. Needs bottle age t...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: Good full red. Black cherry, minerals, mocha and smoke on the nose. Earthy, sweet and supple, with a lush palate feel to the flavors of raspberry, minerals, iron and rare st...

Wine Spectator: Very ripe, but pure and juicy, with gorgeous raspberry and boysenberry flavors that race alongside licorice, graphite and dark tea notes. The long, silky finish has plenty of ...

Wine Spectator: This has the perfumy lilac and black tea aromas of the vintage, with supple mulled plum fruit and a streak of iron hanging on the finish. Drink now through 2018. -JM