(98+ points) The 2018 Caves des Lions is powerful and velvety, a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon and 36% Cabernet Franc made with free-run juice and aged 28 months in 100% new French oak. It needs plenty of air before unfolding to singular aromas of fresh tobacco leaves and mushroom powder, potpourri and bitter chocolate, shifting from savory fruit to stony mineral notes in the glass over time. The cashmere-textured palate offers youthful Morello cherries and spices, kaleidoscopic and persistent, its flavors lingering long after the last sip is gone. - Erin Brooks

Gorgeous black fruits, chocolate, tobacco, iron, and spicy oak define the 2018 Caves Des Lions, a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Cabernet Franc brought up all in new French oak. Concentrated, full-bodied, flawlessly balanced, and elegant, it has a focused, straight, elegant texture, plenty of structure, and a great finish. It's going to benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age, if not more, and keep for two decades.

Extremely perfumed and bright with blackberry and blueberry character. Some dried tobacco, too. Full-bodied, tight and focused with savory flavor. Soft, fine tannins. Seaweed and soya to the dark-fruit flavors. Ripe fruit in the center palate. Drinkable now, but better in three or four years with bottle age. 60% cabernet sauvignon and 40% cabernet franc.