Vinous - Antonio Galloni (95)

The 2017 Beychevelle is a luscious, extroverted beauty. An exotic mélange of super-ripe dark cherry, red plum, pomegranate, espresso, licorice and blood orange build as this potent, unctuous Saint-Julien opens up in the glass. The tannins need time to soften but should not be much of an issue in another few years' time. I very much like the push and pull of ripeness and energy in the 2017. In a word: memorable. Tasted two times.

Jeb Dunnuck (95-97)

Based on 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot, the Grand Vin 2020 Château Beychevelle is a stunner that does everything right, offering a monster bouquet of black and blue fruits as well as candied violets, incense, flowers, and toasty oak. A ripe, full-bodied, incredibly sexy wine in every sense, it has a great mid-palate, ripe, velvety tannins, no hard edges, and a great finish. It's one of the more up-front, exotic wines in the vintage and should be accessible with just short-term cellaring.

Jeb Dunnuck (97+)

The 2022 Château Beychevelle comes from 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot that spent 18 months in barrel. Its deep ruby/purple hue is followed by an absolutely stunning nose of crème de cassis and plum fruit intermixed with leafy herbs, spring flowers, and crushed stone-like minerality. This full-bodied Beychevelle has a pure, elegant mouthfeel, finely polished tannins, no hard edges, and a great, great finish. This is brilliant stuff that already offers pleasure today yet will cruise over the following two to three decades. It's the finest Beychevelle I've tasted.

Vinous - Antonio Galloni (96+)

The 2023 Beychevelle is a dark, brooding wine. Blackberry, gravel, dried herbs, chocolate, menthol and incense stain the palate. Time in the glass brings out the wine's freshness and energy, along with a surprising amount of tension. In many recent vintages, Beychevelle has been quite racy and opulent. The 2023, on the other hand, displays elements of youthful classicism that will require a few years to mellow. I expect it will age gracefully for decades.

Wine Advocate (92)

Compared to the 2016 vintage, this edition from 2015 offers more volume and fruit weight, and it leans into oxidized flavors. The Bibi Graetz 2015 Colore is reaching the top of its drinking window, showing dried fruit, plum and a hint of something savory that reminds me of juniper or cured bresaola. The wine is quite accessible in terms of mouthfeel, and it ends with a touch of tannic dustiness. This wine is not evolving as I would have hoped.

James Suckling (99)

What intense aromas of cherries and raspberries! Then it turns to flowers and orange peel. Roses, too. This is really full and powerful with layers of ripe tannins. It’s super fine-tannined, but shows wonderful length and intensity. A great expression of Lamole in Chianti Classico with ancient vines. Some older than 100 years. Best ever? Superb. Try after 2024 and onwards.

Decanter (98)

Bright and lively on the palate, such beautifully expressed raspberry and red cherry fruit flavours alongside high-shining acidity that is so clean and precise. A supremely joyful expression with hints of caramelised strawberries and fresh mint. So sharp but so well defined with a clarity to the palate that is gorgeous. Really delivers a sophisticated, charming, characterful wine that is balanced, easy to enjoy with plenty of life. A more structured and perhaps harder to understand wine than Testamatta this year, but both have their own lovely personalities. This is so complete and abundant, muscular but controlled and full of complexity and detail - there's weight and density without heaviness. A sensational wine. Ageing 12 months in 500l French oak barrels.

James Suckling (97)

Very aromatic and exciting with citrus rind, plums, cedar and rose petals. Full body, fine and silky tannins and a long and beautiful finish. Love the persistence and intensity. Salty undertone at the end. Needs two to three years to open.

James Suckling (99)

A stunning wine. This is the best Testamatta ever made. Fascinating aromas of red fruits, tea, bark and wet soil as well as fresh leather. Full body, silky tannins and a juicy finish. I love the tension and texture of this great red. So gorgeous to taste now but better in 2021.

James Suckling (98)

A very beautiful and thoughtful Testamatta with aromas of earth, terra cotta, black tea, and lavender. Full-bodied, very layered and extremely polished with superb, soft tannins. Racy and very long. Muscular and formed but very, very balanced. Gorgeous richness and depth. Shows balance and wonder. Try in 2020.

Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (100)

I loved this when first tasting it in bottle, and it is totally living up to my expectations. The clarity of flavour and the sense of energy ensures it just springs out of the glass, ready to please and without the slightest hint of a dip through the mid palate. Sangiovese signature comes across in raspberry, red cherry, rose petals, tobacco, freshly cured leather, great persistency through the palate, showing balance and finesse. The tannins are fine and silky but not afraid to ask for engagement and time from those of us lucky enough to be tasting it. Fermented with natural yeasts, aged in oak casks and neutral barrels for 20 months.

James Suckling (97)

Very attractive combination of dried fruit and spices with black cherries and plums. Aromas of flowers and sandalwood, too. Full-bodied and very refined, yet intense, with plush, velvety tannins that are wonderfully integrated and intertwined with the fruit. Ripe center palate. Tight at the end, suggesting the need for some serious bottle age. Very structured. Try after 2025.

Decanter (97)

Wild roses and wild strawberries, the nose has a lovely fragrance and expression. Lifted and bright, this has such a beautiful delicacy to it, a creamy, chalkiness comes from the fine tannins with bright, succulent strawberry and raspberry leaf elements. You feel the savoury side too, the sweet vanilla spice and dried herb aspect which counter the fruit and the high acidity. I adore the finesse here, the sharp fruit giving the energy and the chalky texture giving the layers. Feels well controlled, powerful yet delivered with poise. It doesn't have so much overt weight, it's definitely more ethereal in terms of density, but the nuance of flavour is thrillingly captivating and this has a long lifted finish. A contemplative wine that keeps you wanting more and more. Made in new winery facilities in Fiesole. Grapes were picked from the best six vineyards; Vincigliata, Olmo, Londa, Lamole, Montefili and Siena with each divided into parcels and harvested up to eight times to get the perfect ripening points. Natural and indigenous fermentation in open top barriques (225l) for smaller parcels and 50hl cask or stainless steel tanks for larger plots. After 7-10 days of maceration, the parcels are moved into old barriques and 50hl casks for 20 months.

1 x Bibi Graetz Colore 2018

1 x Bibi Graetz Colores Bianco 2019

1 x Bibi Graetz Colores Verde

Vinous - Neal Martin (92)

The 2016 Bibian has a tightly-wound bouquet that demands more coaxing than its peers, eventually revealing pure blackberries, raspberry, cedar and light mint aromas. The oak here is nicely integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, very pure and polished with some classy new oak assiduously blended. This is a classy offering and one of the best Cru Bourgeois that I have tasted this vintage. Tasted at the Cru Bourgeois tasting in London.

Decanter (97)

A blend of 65% Pinot Noir consisting of Premier and Grand Crus from the Montagne de Reims and the Vallee de la Marne and 35% Chardonnay from the Cote des Blancs. Significantly, this has nine years ageing on its lees (longer than some Prestige Cuvees), the 2008 was first released onto the global market back in March 2019. With an Extra Brut dosage of 4g/l, this is a highly expressive, confident and convincing interpretation of the vintage. Right now, it is youthfully sharp and focused with fine salinity, depth, acidity and balance, and as such is already extremely approachable. The flavour spectrum encompasses toast, oyster shell, citrus, cream and a flinty, mineral depth. There’s supreme balance and elegance here, combined with a hidden underlying power that will continue to emerge and broaden with time. The finish is dry and long.

Halliday Wine Companion (96)

Comprises 40/33/27% pinot noir/chardonnay/pinot meunier, 73% grands and premiers crus. The low dosage of 2g/l and the warm vintage allow the fruit-based flavours free rein - white peach, Granny Smith apple and nectarine. The finish and aftertaste remain fresh and long. A house in grand form.

Matthew Jukes (19+)

Created in 1988 as a tribute to Elisabeth Salmon, one of the House’s founders, this is the latest release and it has already benefitted from a remarkable ten years on its lees, because my sample was disgorged in October 2020. Made from 76% Grands Crus and 24% Premiers Crus, 55% Pinot Noir comes from Bouzy, Ambonnay, Verzy, Verzenay, Mareuil-sur-Äy and Äy and 45% Chardonnay comes from Chouilly, Cramant and Mesnil-sur-Oger. 9% red wine was added from Valofroy, a parcel of particularly old vines (60+ years old in 2008) situated high up on the hill above the winery in Mareuil. And 17% of the wine was vinified at low temperature in oak barrels which are, on average, 15 years old. The dosage is 7g/L. For the very first time, Elisabeth is available in magnums. I enjoyed an energetic tasting with Mathieu Roland-Billecart and he explained that this 2008 vintage seems like it has stolen the finest parts of each of the 1996 (tension), 2002 (layers of flavour) and the 2007 (refinement) and rolled them all into one wine! In a way, this is a fabulous analogy, but there is more to this vintage than meets the eye. The freshness and acidity here are both spectacular. These notes underpin the refined flavour with jolts of electricity which gather to form bolts of lightning. This is a young wine and yet the tenderness of the fruit is perfectly counterpointed by the shocking youthfulness on the finish. I cannot believe that 13 years have passed in the blink of an eye and so this means that 2008 Elisabeth might well be one of the slowest to age and longest-lived wines under this label to date. Having said this, the fruit is already magnificent. Mathieu asked me if I was familiar with the great French dessert clafoutis! At once a cherry clafoutis aroma arose from the glass, with faint notes of ginger blossom, saffron and white pepper. This is a crystalline and yet kaleidoscopic wine with fractals of flavour which splinter and shiver on the palate. It is high-tensile at the same time as being fragile and demure. It is everything Elisabeth would have wanted in her namesake wine.

Matthew Jukes (20++)

Made from 100% Chardonnay and coming from Chouilly (40%), Cramant (33%), Mesnil-sur-Oger (22%) and Avize (7%), with one-third fermented and aged in old oak barrels and a dosage of 7 g/L, this is becoming a relatively familiar recipe for this elite House and yet there is nothing familiar about the flavour of this epic new release. Billecart-Salmon’s elite Blanc de Blancs is named after Louis, the brother of Elisabeth Salmon, who co-founded this illustrious Champagne house over two centuries ago with her husband, Nicolas François Billecart. This is the third release of Louis, and it is, again, completely different in shape and size to the beautiful 2006 (19/20) and crystalline 2007 (19.5/20). The oak was enhanced from 5% in the 2006 vintage to 50% in the 2007 and now it has been knocked back a touch, and this certainly serves to enhance the splendour of the sensational 2008 vintage fruit. I didn’t note that Avize fruit was used in the 2007, but I think it was in the 2006. Either way, I am confident that this tinkering around the edges has heightened the attack of this incredible wine. The delivery here is something to behold. It is clear from the nose that this wine is made with a horologist’s precision, and while everything starts quietly, there is an uncommon determination here that keeps on coming, leaving you panting with pleasure. On the palate, 2008 Louis perfectly balances extreme tension and white-knuckle drama with the most enchanting and serene jasmine, white tea, and linden blossom notes. It seems mesmerisingly composed from one side of the glass and hellbent on rearranging your taste buds via a national grid-sized electric shock from the other. I am not suggesting that this wine is too young to approach now because, at fourteen years of age, you can drink it, just be aware that this might be one of the wines with the most potential I have ever tasted from this incredible estate. As always with Billecart, the bubbles are minuscule, and the colour is as pale as can be, so there are no particular visual clues as to the greatness in the glass, but once the perfume takes hold and it pulls you to the glass, you are entirely within its control. I venture that Blanc de Blancs fans will go gaga when they taste this wine. It further improves on the magnificence of the two preceding vintages, and whether or not this is to do with the oak regime or the exact percentage of fruit drawn from each of the Grands Crus villages, I don’t know. However, I am certain that 2008 is a jaw-droppingly serious vintage and eclipses both 2006 and 2007 in terms of sheer class. Therefore, even at this early age, I am convinced that this is the birth of another perfect wine from Billecart-Salmon, and it is certainly the finest value 20/20 from this magnificent House, too.

The Champagne Guide (99)

"(disgorged in 2012; 60% Montagne de Reims pinot noir, 40% Côte des Blancs chardonnay; 18% barrel-fermented in old oak casks; partial malolactic fermentation; 4g/L dosage)... Even at 13 years of age it upholds brilliant primary definition of icy lemon citrus, with only subtle graceful evolution of nougat and butter, promising decades of potential yet. As always, the greatness of Billecart is proclaimed not by impact or power, but by slowly rising complexity and profound chalk mineral presence. Its cascade of minerality is very fine, to the point of silkiness, yet simultaneously poised and confident. Delightful poise and intricate craftsmanship proclaim one of the great Billecarts of the modern era, a champagne with many characters and subplots to reveal, to be enjoyed slowly in the presence of the most intimate company--and ideally not for at least another decade.

James Suckling (99)

Baked raspberries, salted yellow plums, figs, walnuts, orange zest, mahogany and some toasted vanilla on the nose. Medium-to full-bodied with beautifully integrated, very fine bubbles. Dry, with exciting and unique white-pepper and sea-salt notes. Seamless. So harmonious. Salty and spicy clove notes evolving at the end. Amazing precision. Single parcel pinot noir, 100% vinified in oak barrels. No malo. 2g/l dosage. Disgorged November 2020. 6,750 bottles. Drink or hold.

Wine Advocate (93)

The 2009 Brunello di Montalcino Annata is a beautiful wine laced with ethereal balsam tones, licorice, cola, dark fruit and forest floor. The acidity is evident but well-integrated within the thick textural richness of the wine. It closes slowly and quietly with a surprising flurry of delicate floral notes that pop up at the end. This well-built wine will hold for many years. Drink: 2017-2030.

Wine Advocate (96)

A delicately sweet note of fresh summer cherry is a precursor to budding complexity and a very articulate bouquet that opens quickly in the glass. Immediately pleasing fruit is a characteristic of the 2017 growing season that had above average temperatures and drought throughout the summer. The resistant 2017 Brunello di Montalcino takes on these challenges without missing a beat. The wine's celebrated acidity and its small berry nuances remain intact. The tannins are silky and the wine's flavors fade slowly even after you have taken your last sip.

Wine Enthusiast (100)

The Riserva 2012 is a quintessential Biondi Santi Riserva, reflecting not just the house style that made the firm famous, but it clearly shows Franco’s own hallmark of extreme elegance. The 2012 is a classic in the making, boasting enticing scents of rose, underbrush, wild red berry, new leather and underlying notes of crushed mint. It has a chiseled palate, featuring Morello cherry, pomegranate, orange zest, star anise and a hint of tobacco framed in taut, polished tannins. Firm acidity lends youthful tension and keeps it impeccably balanced.

James Suckling (95)

A bright and vivid white with sliced lemon, grapefruit and mineral character. Medium to full body. Crisp acidity and a minerally finish. Lots of energy this year despite the hot and dry growing season. 67% sauvignon blanc, 22% semillon and 11% muscadelle. Drinking beautifully already.

Jeb Dunnuck (95)

An old vine selection based on 100% Graciano, the 2016 Rio Mazos was completely destemmed and brought up in 50% new oak. This inky colored effort has a rich, smoky bouquet of blackberries, spicy oak, cedary spice, and violets. With beautiful fruit, plenty of classy integrated oak, full body, a terrific texture, and ripe tannins, it's a beautiful, layered, singular Rioja that’s loaded with character. Drink it any time over the coming decade (and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it keep longer).

Platter's South African Wine Guide (97)

(Cabernet Sauvignon of the Year) Power & precision combine in stellar 2019. Ripe black cherry fruit with lifted perfume notes (dab of cab franc, as Franschhoek sibling), fine integrated tannins & fresh, lithe appeal. 75% new French oak adds to muscular richness completing a very fine wine. 5 parcels in Helderberg, Polkadraai & Faure.

Tim Atkin MW (97)

The wine that launched the modern Syrah revolution in South Africa, even if it's sourced from two sites in the Swartland these days, rather than Somerset West. Almost indecently perfumed and alluring, this is a very immediate wine that will also reward cellaring. Sweet spices, red berry fruit, fine, savoury tannins and just a hint of oak with energetic acidity. 2023-31