2005 Chateau Clos St Martin St. Emilion

With a gorgeous nose of super-concentrated black cherry/kirsch liqueur, this wine offers notes of licorice, crushed rock and flowers followed by a full-bodied, powerful, rich finish with a boatload of tannin. This is a long-distance runner and a sensation...

2005 Chateau Pontet Canet Pauillac

Tasted at the Pontet-Canet vertical in London, the 2005 Ch?teau Pontet-Canet has long been one of the stars of the vintage and this might well be the best of over a dozen showings of this wine. However, do not expect ostentation on the nose. This is 2005 ...

2005 Chateau Le Dome - St. Emilion

From the famous flagship estate of Jonathan Malthus, this wine normally has about 75% or more Cabernet Franc in the blend and the rest Merlot. With the great aromatic expression of the vintage, the 2005 Le Dôme offers up a smashing fireworks-like display ...

2008 Chateau Providence - Pomerol

2009 Chateau Gazin Pomerol

A big, powerful, masculine Pomerol with a style not dissimilar from Le Gay, the dense purple-colored 2009 Gazin exhibits black currant, black cherry liqueur, coffee, roasted herb, an exotic Asian spice component, vanillin, creme caramel and toasty oak in ...

2009 Chateau Pavie Macquin - St. Emilion

(14.5% alcohol; 3.39 pH): Bright ruby-red. Enticing nose offers fragrant floral and red berry aromas lifted by aromatic wood and mineral notes. Bright, fresh and juicy, with concentrated red berry, tobacco and delicately herbal flavors showing notewort...

2009 Chateau St. Pierre - St. Julien

The all-time greatest wine I have ever tasted from Saint-Pierre, this estate, the smallest of the grand cru classes of St.-Julien, has an opaque purple color and a spectacular nose of subtle charcoal, creme de cassis, blackberry, and incense. Full-bodied,...

2009 Chateau Chapelle La Mission Haut Brion Pessac

The second wine, the 2009 La Chapelle de la Mission, is essentially an equal part blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with slightly more Cabernet Franc that came in at 14.2% natural alcohol. It reveals an extraordinary meaty nose displaying hints of vo...

2009 Chateau Le Dome - St. Emilion

One of the most distinctive wines made in Bordeaux, Le Dome has one of the highest percentages of Cabernet Franc of any claret I can think of. Composed of 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot, it exhibits a certain delicacy and elegance (due to the Cabernet ...

2009 Chateau Malartic Lagraviere - Pessac

The 2009 Malartic Lagravière is medium to deep garnet colored and reveals alluring scents of warm cassis, redcurrant jelly, spice cake, forest floor and potpourri with hints of unsmoked cigar. Medium-bodied, it has a firm, fine-grained texture and plenty ...

2009 Chateau Branon - Pessac

This hugely concentrated, intense, dense, full-bodied powerhouse possesses silky tannins, plenty of glycerin, an over the top, extravagantly rich mouthfeel, and a finish that lasts nearly 60 seconds. A potential legend in the making, this wine should drin...

2009 Chateau Domaine de Chevalier - Pessac

In late 2011, I had the last bottle in my cellar of the 1970 Domaine de Chevalier. Much to my surprise, it was still holding on to life and remained gorgeously complex in that ethereal Graves style. The 2009, one of the finest Domaine de Chevaliers yet pr...

2009 Chateau Montrose - St. Estephe

Jean Bernard Delmas' goal was to find perfect equilibrium between freshness and concentration, given its incredible opulence and the voluptuous character this vintage offered. That's what this wine has in abundance. With an astounding dense purple color, ...

2009 Chateau D'Issan - Margaux

A strong effort from proprietor Emmanuel Cruse, d’Issan’s 2009 was fashioned from minuscule yields of 18 hectoliters per hectare, and its 13.7% natural alcohol set a record at this estate. Composed of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot, it exhibits a c...

2010 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte - Pessac Ex-Chateau release

Deep garnet colored, the 2010 Smith Haut Lafitte delivers notes of baked plums, boysenberries and dried mulberries with an undercurrent of cigar box, new leather and bouquet garni. Full-bodied, the palate has firm, grainy tannins and bold freshness suppor...

2010 Chateau Haut Bailly - Pessac

Every bit as good yet in a dramatically different style, the 2010 Château Haut-Bailly has a more chiseled, focused, inward style to go with the essence of Haut-Bailly-like aromatics of sweet red and black fruit, smoked tobacco, graphite, and crushed stone...

2010 Chateau Giscours - Margaux

Tasted at the Château Giscours vertical, the 2010 Château Giscours is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon and 29% Merlot picked between September 27 and October 14. I contrasted this directly against the superb 2009, but I still maintain that this has the u...

2010 Chateau Pichon Baron - Pauillac

Administrator Christian Seeley thinks the 2010 is the greatest Pichon Longueville Baron he has ever made, equaling some of the estate's colossal wines from vintages such as 1989 and 1990. It was certainly showing well when I stopped by the chateau in Janu...