Wine Front: Shallow grey loam planted 1999. Got a bit of lift and also a floral edge, marzipan, dark fruit and dark chocolate. Chewy dry tannin, ferrous, rough and rugged - though a littl...

Wine Spectator: Focused, tight, harmonious and complex, offering a straight shot of cherry, tobacco, mineral and spice flavors that keep singing through the long, vivid finish. Best from 2014...

Wine Enthusiast: Man O’ War’s 2008 Dreadnought put the winery on the map, and, although not quite as dramatic, the 2009 is a worthy successor. Aromas are lifted, peppery and cherry-filled, whi...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The 2009 Syrah caresses the palate with generous blueberries, blackberries and French oak. There isn't much varietal character or nuance here, instead the wine impresses for i...

About this Wine: The name 'Reiver' is taken from the border raiders of the Anglo-Scot borders. Throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the border country was ravaged by lawless Reiver...

About this Wine: Produced from 26-year old vines and aged in French oak (80% new)

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...

Wine Spectator: Rich and nicely toasty, with lots of baker's chocolate and espresso notes, but also ample flesh, joined by succulent layers of blackberry, plum and fig fruit as well. The long...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: Opaque ruby. A pungent, exotically perfumed bouquet displays blackcurrant, anise and smoky Indian spices, along with a sexy floral overtone. Sappy, penetrating dark berry flav...

Wine Spectator: This really stands apart from the crowd, with searingly intense minerality cutting through a massive core of pastis, plum sauce and fig paste. Gorgeous violet and spice notes ...

Wine Spectator: A bright, racy style, with a bay leaf frame to the violet, white pepper and damson plum core. An iron note adds tangy, mouthwatering length to the finish, which stays focused....

Wine Spectator: Firm, rich and layered, with a smoky, peppery scent to vivid dried berry and cedar, fresh earth and melted licorice flavors. Tightens on the finish. Best from 2012 through 202...

Wine Spectator: Crisp in texture, with peppery flavors and crunchy tannins around a core of dark berry and licorice flavors. Finishes with intensity. Best after 2015. -H.S.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The 2008 Cortona Syrah Il Bosco comes across as quite focused and primary in this vintage, with layers of black fruit lurking beneath a wall of imposing tannin. The 2008 is a ...

Wine Enthusiast: A consistent performer, Yalumba's Hand Picked Shiraz-Viognier seems slightly bigger and chunkier in 2008 than in the past, with bold fruit-blueberries and blackberries-accente...

Wine Spectator: Dark and dense, with a juicy feel to the very ripe cherry, plum and exotic spice flavors. A flash of roasted red pepper adds interest to the finish. Drink now through 2016. -H...

Wine Spectator: This has great presence, offering a focused mouthful of ebullient flavors, ranging from blackberry and cherry to tar, wet pavement and licorice notes, all of it sailing over r...