Wine Advocate (94)

This wine is a symbolic bridge from the Old World to the New. The Mazzei 2019 Philip is an all-Tuscan expression of Cabernet Sauvignon (with a tiny part Cabernet Franc) that delivers rich texture, ripeness and ripe fruit. The wine is named after Philip Mazzei (1730–1816), who was a contemporary of Thomas Jefferson. The two men reportedly exchanged winemaking tips and vineyard techniques. The 2019 vintage nails that proverbial sweet spot between softness, structure, fruit and spice. This is a plush, fruit-forward and balanced Tuscan red.

Vinous (99)

The 2019 Siepi continues a trend towards greater finesse and nuance in this wine. Crème de cassis, lavender, spice, licorice and plum meld together effortlessly in the glass. Dense and layered, with striking detail, the 2019 is so impressive. The flavors are bright, bold and punchy. An exceptionally beautiful and riveting wine, the 2019 is rich and concentrated, but not at all heavy. What a total knock-out.

Wine Advocate (94)

Aromas of cherries and berries mingle with notions of licorice, spices and sweet soil tones to introduce the 2019 Morgon Côte du Py, a medium to full-bodied, velvety and concentrated wine that's seamless and complete, with lively acids, ripe tannins and a long, sapid finish. Serious and compelling, it's a terrific effort from Mee Godard.

Jancis Robinson (18)

100% Sauvignon Blanc. The only vineyard that exists in DO Zapallar and located just 7 km from the coast. Clayey enriched soils and a dry steppe climate. Hand-harvested bunches are destemmed, cold-soaked for 12–24 hours, the must is settled for 24 h, then inoculated with Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Torulaspora yeasts. Fermentation at low temperature. Aged on its lees for 6–8 months. How much pleasure! A wine with a lot of aroma, with endless layers of aromatic complexity. It has a great mouth-coating texture triggering a herbal memory. The palate is full, rich, pleasant, although with sharp acidity above the rich texture. It is very well delineated, fresh, rich, deep and concentrated. A complete Sauvignon Blanc that will make you salivate. Delicious!

Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (94)

This is an excellent vintage of Montlandrie, with smoked coffee and cocoa bean, a ton of salinity, powerful blue and red fruits, super juicy on the finish. Enticing curled woodsmoke as it comes out of the glass, slate finish with a scrape of minerality. 40% new oak. Harvest September 30 to October 10.

Wine Advocate (97)

Concentrated, silky and lingering, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is elegant and fine with salted licorice, ripe raspberry, dark chocolate and exotic spice. It's a beautiful wine that continues the legacy of Moss Wood Cabernets, albeit with a slightly softer, more lilting voice. Age-worthy in the supreme.

Tim Atkin MW (95)

Chenin Blanc is the marquee variety here, with support from 26% Clairette Blanche, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Semillon Gris, Viura and Verdelho, most of which is sourced from 37 to 70-year-old vines. Lemon, lime and wet stone flavours with some phenolic grip and remarkable palate length.

James Suckling (97)

This has such attractively fleshy red and dark cherry. Sweetly earthy. The oak is spicy and nicely placed among intense ripe and vibrant cherries. There’s plushness to the supple, fleshy palate. Smoothly rendered and juicy with rich dark cherry to close. The acidity is pitch perfect. Mouthwatering, delicious pinot. Drink or hold.

Wine Advocate (93-95)

The 2019 Volnay 1er Cru Les Caillerets is shaping up beautifully, unfurling in the glass with scents of peonies, sweet berry fruit, blood orange, smoke and warm spices. Medium to full-bodied, lively and perfumed, it's velvety and charming, with melting tannins and an ample core of fruit. This is the highest in alcohol of all of Rossignol's 2019s, but it appears to be seamlessly integrated.

Greg Sherwood MW (97-99)

This lovely signature Niepoort 2019 vintage Port apparently has higher tannins than the famed 2017, but at this youthful stage, it is hard to comprehend this with its rich, accessible, voluptuous layers of silky, juicy soft black fruits. Benchmark certainly, a notable success – absolutely. The aromatics are so much more important than the palate flavours at this early blending phase (according to Dirk) and this enticing 2019 shows attractive notes of sweet sun ripened black berry fruits, hints of creamy molasses, savoury black stewed winter orchard fruits and a dusty, stony, smoked cigars complexity. Beautifully silky, supple and textured, there is also a fine, stony, grippy mineral tannin mouthfeel that lends a wonderful frame for the juicy blue and black berry fruit finery to be displayed. Fabulously drinkable, deliciously fresh and vibrant, but eminently bold and characterful, this is certainly another very accomplished wine from the House of Niepoort. (Residual Sugar: 88 g/l RS)

The Wine Independent (100)

The Ornellaia 2019 with 62% has the most Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend since the 65% used in the 2001 and 2002 vintages. It is bold and bright on the nose, full of joyful blackberry, cream, and sweet spice. It is very much like the 2016 Ornellaia in terms of finesse and harmony but bigger, bolder, more youthful, and maybe on a larger scale in terms of the brightness of aromas and flavors. On standing the nose becomes much more nuanced and fragrant with blue flowers like iris and violet. There is great concentration on the palate, but it is held together within a very elegant, tight structure. This is a powerful style of Ornellaia but with the 2019 the tannins are more refined than ever and there is a thrilling acidity enlivening the palate! According to Axel Heinz, Director of the Estate, "I think we have learned to tame the tannins.” This 2019 Ornellaia is a beautiful, luxurious, and vivacious wine.

The Wine Independent (99)

The Palmer 2019 is deep garnet-purple in color. It needs considerable shaking to unlock notions of baked plums, boysenberry preserves, and crème de cassis, leading to wafts of rose oil and espresso. The medium to full-bodied palate is jam-packed with rich, seductive black and blue fruit, supported by heart-thumping tension and very fine tannins, finishing with epic length and jaw-dropping fragrance. Stunning!

Jeb Dunnuck (98)

As to the Grand Vin 2019 Château Pape Clement, it reveals a dense purple hue to go with stunning aromatics of crème de cassis, graphite, lead pencils shavings, scorched earth, and tobacco. Beautifully balanced, with flawless tannins, this full-bodied Pessac has that rare mix of elegance and power, a great mid-palate, and again, perfect balance. It's one of the gems of the vintage and has some accessibility today given its purity and balance, yet deserves 4-5 years of bottle age and will cruise for 20-25 years or more in cold cellars. The blend is equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, brought up in two-thirds new French oak.

Matthew Jukes (18+)

Following on from the terrific 2018 vintage, this is another exuberant wine with an inky dark hue and masses of swirling, black fruit notes. This is certainly the most exotically perfumed Thalabert I can remember and this reflects the unique fruit concentration and ripeness found in this vintage. Once you taste this wine you see that it is not all about the luxuriously appointed nose because the palate is packed with spice and tension and the finish is positively electric. In terms of accessibility and also potential, this wine is a conundrum – how can something so young and attractive also seem so compact and age-worthy? This is the key to all of Jaboulet’s 2019s. The exquisite balance between ravishing fruit and refreshing, robust tannins is mesmerising. This is a stupendous Thalabert and I think it is a notch up on the brilliant 2018.

Matthew Jukes (20++)

Like La Maison Bleue, La Chapelle barely moved an inch over the five days that it sat open (and gradually oxidising) on my tasting bench. This is a monumental wine with the finest Syrah nose I have seen since the ethereal and intriguing beauty of the remarkable 2016 vintage and also the monolithic stance of the legendary 1990. However, this is not to say that this vintage can be directly compared to either year. There is a latent power about this wine that is as elusive as it is impressive. This solaire vintage has certainly given La Chapelle a sense of foreboding power and yet there is so much grace here, too. You could be sniffing a handful of granite and gravel, a bouquet of freshly picked herbs, a mortar of freshly ground pepper or a punnet of juicy black fruit and yet there is so much more to discover here. What I find so remarkable about this wine is that it does not show any trace of over-ripeness nor does it have any unwanted oiliness or excessive alcohol. In spite of its richness and depth, this is a pristinely refreshing wine with crunch and crackle of filigree tannin which enlivens every sip. In this regard, it is a far less obvious superstar than the preening 1990 and it is a more erudite and statuesque model than the esoteric 2016. In short, this is one of only a handful of vintages of La Chapelle to which I have awarded a perfect score and who is to say that this will not happen again before too long? The care and attention in this entire portfolio of wines are evident and the hard work and holistic approach are not only paying off in the vineyards but also in the glass, too, and this makes 2019 another phenomenally successful vintage for Jaboulet.

Matthew Jukes (19++)

I fell for this wine in a microsecond – the very moment the first molecule of perfume exploded on my receptors. This is a step-change vintage for La Maison Bleue because I have not seen this degree of single-mindedness and overriding intention before in this wine. 2019 La Maison Bleue seems as if it has realised that it does not need to sit behind La Chapelle in Caroline Frey’s portfolio. It signals, loud and clear, that it ought to be seated alongside its more renowned stablemate and be accorded the opportunity to address the masses as an equal, not a subordinate. This is a bold move from this honed, sleek wine. In 2019, with just that little bit more power and ambition under its belt, it has broken free and it looks absolutely sensational. The fruit is regal and layered and the tannins are precision-cut and perfectly positioned making it every inch a superstar. By the end of day five of my tasting these amazing wines, La Maison Bleue seemed as if it were saying, let’s keep going! While this is a ‘finished barrel sample’, this wine wanted to be tested to its limits and I cannot fault its enthusiasm and excellence. You simply must track it down!

Matthew Jukes (19+)

There is extraordinary equilibrium in this sensational wine. It is so finely balanced it is baffling, and the depth and richness is offset with the most dramatic acid and strident minerality I have seen in a wine of this style. There are profound meadow-flower and stone fruit flavour here which enchant the senses but they are marshalled brilliantly by the citrus pith and green apple skin raspiness on the finish. This is the most exciting Chevalier I have ever tasted and it rivals the very best whites from this region and others besides.

James Suckling (98-99)

Really classy red, offering blueberries, minerals, salt, limestone and light fresh herbs. It’s full-bodied, but so refined. Fine layers of fruit and tannins. It’s like millefeuille. The 2018 is more exuberant, but I love the elegance and structure here. Subtle and complex. 78% merlot, 20% cabernet franc and 2% cabernet sauvignon.

James Suckling (96)

Fresh tobacco, currant and earth, opening up to forest flowers. It’s rich in tannins, but very soft and beautiful. Layered, with lots of fine fruit and a velvety texture. Blackberry and chocolate in the finish too. 27% of the crop and a blend of 76% cabernet sauvignon and 19% merlot, the rest petit verdot and cabernet franc. Delicious already, but give it at least six years of bottle age. Better after 2027.

Vinous (97)

The 2019 Syrah Sonoma Hillsides is once again the star of this range from Pax Mahle. Rich and exotic, with notable depth, the Hillsides is quite a bit brighter than the other Syrahs in the portfolio. Red cherry, plum, pomegranate, mocha, spice, leather and tobacco abound. The whole clusters are present, but nearly buried by the sheer intensity of the fruit. As always, the Hillsides is a blend taken from several sites, done with 100% whole clusters and aged in concrete. Every time I taste the Hillsides, I think the same thing: why doesn't Pax Mahle treat all his Syrahs this way?

Wine Advocate (98)

The 2020 RWT Shiraz Bin 798 is a powerhouse of bloody fruit and firm tannin. It veritably explodes from the blocks, showing plum skin, raspberry leaf, blackberry, mulberry, lashings of salted licorice and rendered lamb fat. I am coming to love (in a big and serious way) the Barossa Shiraz' bottlings from 2020—the year was significantly down in yields, warm and dry, and responsible for wines of muscle, density and gravitas. So, too, for this wine. Excellent.

Wine Advocate (94)

The 2019 Inseparable comes from the original vineyard planted by the monks in the Monasterio del Cristo Orante in Gualtallary Monasterio at 1,450 meters above sea level. The destemmed grapes fermented in concrete with indigenous yeasts and matured in concrete for one year, different from the first vintage that matured in oak. 2019 was a cold and wet year when they picked in early April in a year with a small ripening, the last vineyard they harvest. The nose has flowers and dark fruit and notes of graphite and earth, and the palate has a strong chalky sensation. It's ripe at 14.5% alcohol and juicy, with good freshness and acidity (pH 3.5 after malolactic and 6.2 grams of tartaric acid). It's a serious and somewhat austere red. 7,700 bottles were filled in March 2020. It was a good yielding year.

Wine Advocate (100)

I fell in love with the 2019 La Craie as soon as I put my nose in the glass, and the wine stood out like a sore thumb in a flight with the rest of the wines from Per Se. The nose is subtle, elegant, harmonious snf ethereal despite the 14.5% alcohol, This comes from the south-facing slope, the cooler exposition in the southern hemisphere and is the co-fermentation of the field blend of Malbec and Cabernet Franc; depending on the vintage, it can contain some 20% of Cabernet Franc, but they don't even know for sure because the different vintages yield differently depending on the grape. It's perfumed and floral, with the freshness of a forest, notes of graphite and an ethereal quality, not only on the nose but also on the palate, where it's only medium-bodied and has ultra-fine, elegant, fine-grained tannins. It fermented and matured in barrel for 16 months. 1,440 bottles were filled in November 2020.

Wine Advocate (98)

The 2019 Iubileus comes from Malbec from a plot planted in 2013 on limestone-rich soils with some 40 centimeters of soil, worked organically since it was planted but not certified. It fermented in used rolling barrels with indigenous yeasts, with a maceration of 30 days and matured in used barriques for 16 months. It has moderate ripeness, 14% alcohol and good freshness and acidity, coming through as balanced, harmonious and juicy, with some earthiness, fine, chalky tannins and a long, persistent finish. 1,380 bottles were filled in November 2020.

Jeb Dunnuck (93-95)

The Grenache-dominated (90% Grenache and 10% Cinsault) 2019 Ventoux Silica is a beautiful wine that just screams cool-climate Grenache with its more ruby, almost translucent color as well as perfumed red fruits, spicy, floral, and gamey aromatics, more medium-bodied richness, and flawless overall balance. Reminding me of a grand cru Burgundy with its seamless texture as well as outstanding length, it’s going to benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and drink brilliantly over the following decade.

James Suckling (96-97)

The complexity and depth is fantastic in this beautifully crafted, refined red. Such poise, finesse and length. Yet dense and very compacted. Love the texture precision. Goes on and on. Best ever?

Wine Advocate (94+)

The youngest of the reds I tasted, the 2019 Pícaro del Águila Tinto is their most approachable red and is still serious, vibrant and aromatic with great length and still has good aging potential. They use the grapes from the warmest vineyards they have in the village of La Aguilera, form the northern part closer to La Horra, mostly Tempranillo but with some 5% of other varieties (red and white) interplanted in the old vineyards, fermented together with full clusters and indigenous yeasts and matured in French oak barrels for 15 months. Like the 2019 Clarete, this is young and tender and has more tension than I expected for a warmer year. It has less oak than previous years (only 10% or 15% new barrels), and the wine feels better balanced and is floral and aromatic. It's medium-bodied with a very fine texture, a pretty wine that drinks very well and doesn't reflect a warm year at all, as it has incredible freshness. A great Pícaro. They produced 69,852 bottles and 850 magnums, a notable increase in volume... while they increase the quality! It was bottled in February 2021.

Wine Enthusiast (100)

As always, it is the Cabernet Sauvignon that sings. It brings an impressive structure to the wine, rich tannins and powerful black fruits. The wine is set for aging. It shows all the power and the open quality of the vintage. Drink from 2027.

The Wine Cellar Insider (100)

Absolutely compelling from the initial swirl, sniff and sip. It takes no time to recognize this as being an incredible, future legendary Bordeaux! The perfume is mesmerizing with its display of flowers, spices, tobacco leaf, cassis, plum and blackberries. But it is the texture, with its layers of silky, perfectly, ripe, sweet fruits that steals the show. Rich, full-bodied and concentrated, the decadent finish, with all its multiple layers sticks with you for at least sixty seconds!

James Suckling (99)

The aromas to this are really amazing, with a potpourri of spices and dried flowers, as well as redcurrants, sweet plums and even some peaches. Full-bodied with layers of ripe fruit and ultra-fine tannins that spread across the palate in an encompassing yet always elegant and pure way. It’s succulent and unadulterated. Like crushed, perfectly ripened grapes. The length is rather endless. The tannins build. Fabulous young red. 35% in amphora and the rest in 50% new oak and 15% one-year oak. 65% cabernet sauvignon and 30% merlot, the rest cabernet franc and petit verdot. From biodynamically grown grapes. Try after 2028, but an absolute joy to taste now.