A lush plum nose precedes a rich and dense palate with lovely plum, cherry, and toasty oak. It’s clear that the fruit was skillfully vinified, resulting in a very special and classic wine that’s succulent, balanced, long...

This is made from over 100-year-old vineyards and offers blackberries with blue fruit and dark chocolate. Shows bark and black truffle undertones, too. Tight and more focused than in past vintages. The quality of the...

Purple to the rim, the 2005 Faugères is a powerhouse at 14.5% alcohol, with notes of graphite, blueberry and blackberry liqueur, licorice and truffle. Some incense also makes an appearance in this full-bodied...

Ripe, sweet cherry and raspberry fruit are accented by floral, mineral and wild herbs in this alluring red. A backbone of dense, dusty tannins provides support, and the ripe fruit returns on the savory finish. Excellent...

Delivers fabulous aromas of crushed red fruits, with leather, tar, tobacco and mint. Full-bodied, offering supersoft and silky tannins, as well as a beautiful polish. Open and luscious, with amazing richness of fruit and...

A soft, silky wine with lots of plum, chocolate and minerals. Full body, silky and juicy. Round texture. Yummy. Drink or hold. 55% cabernet sauvignon and 45% merlot.

The 2018 Tenuta Degli Dei is dense, juicy and wonderfully inviting. Silky tannins wrap around a core of inky dark fruit, chocolate, spice, lavender and new leather. In the glass, the 2018 is intensely aromatic and...

Aromas of jam and sweet dark fruits. Mint too. Full body, with velvety tannins and plenty of ripe fruit. Long and caressing finish. Second wine of Giscours. Better in 2016.

A fantastic nose to this with currant, sage, rosemary and rose-petal character. Sweet tobacco and spicy chocolate, too. Very complex. The palate shows lovely depth of fruit with blackberries, blackcurrants and fine...

(93+ points) Seemingly refined by the additional elevage since I reviewed a barrel sample last year, the 2019 Crozes Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert remains a big, rich, dark-fruited and almost tarry effort, but this...

(91-93 points)Barrel sample. Rich and smooth, with tannins that are ripe, some spice and also intense acidity. The blackcurrant character is dominant. ROGER VOSS

The 2019 Cheval des Andes had a more reductive vinification and élevage, making the wine a bit shy and in need of time to open up, as one of their objectives was to make it more age-worthy. Another objective is to get to...

Dried herbs and sweet spices on the nose, forest notes with bramble fruits, concentrated and expressive. Such a smooth delivery on the palate, tannins glide across the tongue giving the sweet strawberry, raspberry and...

A generous array of ripe black and blue fruit with pink peppercorns, green olives, dried flowers, toffee and chocolate orange. It’s full-bodied with firm, creamy and velvety tannins. Long and polished. Lovely salted...

94+ Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate needs a little coaxing to reveal slowly emerging scents of wild blueberries, blackcurrant cordial and warm black plums with touches of sandal wood...

This is a powerful wine, made to age for a long time, from this estate which is performing in top gear. Complex tannins and dark fruits both make their presence felt. It has weight, ripeness and a dense structure. A great...

Juicy and dense, with a core of steeped plum and blackberry fruit flavors backed by loam and roasted applewood notes. The finish has a nice kick of fruit and a flash of violet. Drink now through 2032. 6,971 cases made. — JM

Typically a standout even amongst the best of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, this monumental bottling is sourced from 75- to 90-year-old Grenache planted in a diversity of pebbly, sandy and clay soils. Fermented partially in whole...

This is a tight and powerful Orma with solid tannins that beautifully frame the fruit in the wine. Full-bodied and focused with intense structure and fruit character. Perhaps the best Orma ever. Give this four or five...

Wonderful, fragrant blackberry and cherry nose with a delicate touch of oak. Concentrated and elegant with a beautiful balance of finely etched dry tannins and very bright acidity. Long, crisp and minerally finish with a...

This has a very impressive sense of density and power with such immaculate detail and definition, in terms of tannin and fruit. The aromas are in the spicy and floral zone with blue-fruit and leafy nuances. Deceptively...

(92-94 points) Very opulent, generous and rich. It shows all the glories of the vintage, with huge but sufficiently restrained fruit, and exuberant tannins. ROGER VOSS

Intense aromas of wild cherry and strawberry mark this supple red. Hints of flowers and Eastern spices augment the fruit that plays out on the vibrant finish. Best from 2021 through 2035. 411 cases made, 70 cases...

Lastly, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Vin State Lane Vineyard is one of the gems in the vintage. I continue to find a Latour-like quality in this cuvee and the 2014 boasts a deep purple color, killer notes of lead...

I was very pleasantly surprised by the bottled 2017 Vivaltus despite the fact that 2017 was a challenging year and was decimated by terrible frost in April that resulted in losses of up to 60% of the crop. The end of the...