Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2019 Poesia rolls out with ready-to-go notes of fresh blackberries, red currant jelly, and juicy black plums with hints of rose oil, dried lavender, and tar. The medium to...

This flagship Moueix wine is 99% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc, and it suggests wonderful density and purity combined on the nose, with blackcurrant, juniper, garden mint and tobacco. The palate is fresh and elegantly...

A deliciously inviting nose, with dark and perfumed fruits, blackcurrant, blackberry and damson, with smoky crushed chalk, rose petal and toast, as well as a touch of honeyed oak. The palate builds on this start with a...

95+ The 2019 Laroque, composed of 97% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc, is deep garnet-purple in color. It sports cedary overtones to start off, giving way to notes of stewed black plums, blueberry pie, and Chinese five spice...

La Gaffeliere 2018 is deep garnet purple in color. The nose begins with notes of new leather, cedar chest, and smoked meats, giving way to notions of prunes and fruit cake, with a waft of dried sage. The medium to...

This was not tasted during the Connoisseur Week, but is a request from a subscriber, so I am adding in at the same time from opening a bottle that I have at home. It's an exceptional wine, still a little austere at this...

The 2022 Beau-Séjour Bécot has turned out brilliantly in bottle. Wafting from the glass with a complex bouquet of sweet wild berries mingled with rose petals, orange zest, violets, gentian and espresso roast, it's...

A lush wave of boysenberry, blackberry and black cherry reduction notes unfurls slowly over a refined spine of chalk, while sweet tobacco, violet, iris, licorice and apple wood notes fill in liberally. Everything stays in...

The 2019 Larcis Ducasse, a blend of 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc, is deep garnet-purple in color. Notes of redcurrant jelly, blackberry preserves, and black raspberries leap from the glass, followed by hints of...

Among the oldest estates in St Emilion, dating back to the Middle Ages, this is pure restrained limestone, and stands as an excellent reflection of why this type of terroir worked so well in 2018. The ph for example, is...

The grand vin from the Decosters is a blend of 76% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, matured mostly in new French oak barrels, with some use of older oak, foudre s and amphorae. A rather restrained...

The nose offers appealing sour cherry. Direct, rich and intense, with excellent texture and structure. Intense ripeness and refined fruitiness. Fine tannins and nice length. Chewy but balanced. (Drink between 2024-2036)

A nose rich in toasted oak here, as well as very dark fruits, griddled blackcurrant and damson, liquorice and tar, along with elegant and perfumed notes of white flowers, crushed chalk, mint, white peach and white pepper...

There was no Petit Cheval in this vintage, the majority of the crop going into Cheval Blanc, taking 78% of the harvest, while 22% was sold as bulk wine (which was almost all press wine which is never included in the blend...

This has a perfumed, pretty nose of dried violets, cloves, blackberries, chocolate cherries and tobacco leaves. Full-bodied with firm, fine and powdery tannins. Mouth-coating and expansive, with sweet spice to close...

Impressive linearity and salinity. For once, I notice the winemaking, with greater fruit purity such as juicy plum and ripe blackberry. Gone is the drying finish of noticeable oak tannin from earlier vintages. 'In 15...

Deep garnet in color, the 2016 La Gaffeliere has a nose of stewed red plums, black cherries, and kirsch, followed by hints of aniseed, mossy tree bark, and truffles. The medium-bodied palate is elegant and refined...

(JD 94-96 points) The 2023 Château Canon is an ultra-classic wine from this terroir offering textbook limestone-driven, black raspberry, floral, chalky, and spicy aromas and flavors. As always, it's not massive and is...

Quinault L’Enclos 2018 has a deep garnet purple color. It rolls out with flamboyant notes of blackberry pie and chocolate-covered cherries, plus wafts of roses, underbrush, and charcuterie. Medium to full-bodied, the...

(93+ points) The 2020 La Mondotte has another concentrated, ripe and opulent bouquet with lavish kirsch and blueberry scents. It's a bit ferrous in style but gains coherence and complexity in the glass. The palate is...

The grand vin from Mathieu Cuvelier is a blend of 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc, and the élevage was in 40% new oak, 58% second-fill oak barrels and 2% Tava amphorae. I find a nose of sweet...

A very convincing nose of sweet blackcurrants, blackberries and dark chocolate, with an appealing edge of toasty oak. The palate follows with a wealth of dark fruits, dark chocolate, toast and coffee bean, set in a broad...

The 2019 Bellefont-Belcier is composed of 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet-purple in color, it opens with cedar and clove oil scents over a core of plum pudding, blackberry preserves...

Deep garnet in color, the 2016 La Gaffeliere has a nose of stewed red plums, black cherries, and kirsch, followed by hints of aniseed, mossy tree bark, and truffles. The medium-bodied palate is elegant and refined...

Such clarity to this with redcurrants, stems, fresh herbs, blackcurrants, and cherries on the nose. Medium to full body. Very tight, fine tannins. It builds nicely and has excellent length. Class and reality here. Needs...

An interesting nose, distinctive, with toasted redcurrant and red cherry fruits layered with vanilla. A juicy style follows on the palate, the fruit floral and scented, with peony, blackcurrant leaf and rosemary, draped...

I love the purity and freshness in the 2019 Château Clos De Boüard, which offers textbook Merlot notes of black cherries, black raspberries, cedarwood, and dried herbs. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it shows the...

The 2019 Canon la Gaffeliere, a blend of 49% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Franc, and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, is deep garnet-purple in color. Wild blueberries, kirsch, and black raspberry notes waft from the glass with hints of...

96+ The 2019 Pavie Macquin is a blend of 78% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet-purple in color, it skips out with notes of kirsch, wild blueberries, and chocolate-covered cherries, plus...

The 2020 Bélair-Monange has a more backward nose with dense black fruit. There is a very noticeable cedar/Cabernet element here that indicates that it might be Lafleur. The palate is medium-bodied with fine...