Wine List

The 2016 La Mission Haut-Brion was stunning from barrel, and now in bottle. It has a sublime bouquet of blackberries, briar and hints of dark chocolate and rose petals that gain intensity with aeration while maintaining ethereal delineation. It never steps on the accelerator too hard. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin. There is still a veneer of new oak that will need to be assimilated over the coming years. This is a deep La Mission that caresses the mouth. Touches of graphite lingering on a finish that fans out gloriously. Is the 2016 up there with the 1955 or 1989? Nearly. Drink 2026-2066

Score: 99 Neal Martin, vinous.com (Jan 2019), January 2019

The 2016 La Mission Haut Brion is a blend of 57.5% Merlot and 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon picked between 19 September and 14 October, one of the longest ever. "We had to be patient and wait for each plot," Jean-Philippe Delmas told me. "It took longer than usual." As is customary, I allowed my sample, and likewise all the wines poured at this tasting, around 40-45 minutes to open since they always transform in the glass. It has a clean and precise, quite understated bouquet with fine mineralité, cold stone aromas infusing the black fruit. This has incredible precision, perhaps even more pixelated than the "gaff over the road" Haut-Brion. The palate is medium-bodied with supple and lithe tannin. I appreciate the line of acidity here, the smoothness and harmony that takes your breath away. Every atom is infused with life-affirming freshness. It is a wine bridled with incredible focus and delineation. I thought that the 2015 La Mission Haut-Brion flirted with perfection. The 2016 has that extra edge, a "je ne sais quoi" that leaves you reaching for the thesaurus looking for superlatives. Drink 2026-2070.

Score: 98/100 Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (230), April 2017

The 2016 La Mission Haut-Brion is a blend of 57.5% Merlot and 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet-purple in color, it is just a little muted to begin, soon unfurling to reveal slowly growing scents of crushed blackcurrants, black cherries, dark chocolate and candied violets with nuances of crushed rocks, tobacco leaf, forest floor and fragrant earth plus a hint of bergamot. Medium-bodied and exquisitely elegant, the palate offers perfectly ripe, fine-grained tannins and tons of freshness with layer upon layer of perfumed fruit and a very long, ferrous-laced finish. Drink 2022 - 2054.

Score: 98+ Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (Interim), November 2018

The 2016 Ausone was mightily impressive from barrel. Bottled in July 2018, it has a very intense bouquet of black cherries, cassis, cedar and light pencil box aromas emanating from the 50% Cabernet Franc. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, filigreed tannin that belies the density and structure of this Ausone. There is something agile about Alain and Pauline Vauthier's wine this year. Yet the wine also reveals considerable depth and concentration, gently but insistently gripping the palate with a touch of white pepper and Earl Grey toward the persistent finish. There is not a hair out of place on this Ausone ­­– one of the finest produced in recent years. Drink 2026-2070

Score: 99 Neal Martin, vinous.com (Jan 2019), January 2019

The 2016 Ausone is a blend of 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Franc picked 10-14 October and 14-19 October, respectively, at 40 hectoliters per hectare. It is matured in 80% new oak with a light toasting, a move that Alain and Pauline Vauthier have made in recent years just to lessen the impact of the oak. There is a palpable...stateliness about the Ausone this year. It is extraordinarily pure and articulates its terroir as well as any vintage that I can remember over the last 20-odd years. It is not as flamboyant as other Saint Emilions, more correct and precise. The palate is very elegant and precise. I adore the exquisite balance of this Ausone, the precision and fineness of the tannin, the effortlessness that it conveys. This is classy and sophisticated, satin-like in texture with a long and sensual finish. Not an Ausone that is going to blaze across the sky, this is a cerebral, intellectual Ausone that will entrance for many years to come.
Drink Date 2022 - 2070

Score: 98/100 Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (230), April 2017

The 2016 Ausone is a blend of 50% Cabernet Franc and 50% Merlot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it's quite closed at first glance, slowly unfurling to reveal the most incredible perfume of violets, chocolate-covered cherries, warm black plums, Black Forest cake and roasted nuts with suggestions of charcuterie, wood smoke and cedar chest. The medium to full-bodied palate offers a quiet intensity of flavors that grow in the mouth to unveil layer after layer of black and red berries intertwined with beautiful savory notions framed by firm yet velvety tannins, finishing with epic length and amazing energy. It practically tingles on the palate! 2022 - 2066

Score: 99 Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (Interim No), November 2018

Very exotic and fascinating with dark-berry, floral and violet aromas that follow though to a full body that is tight and polished with ultra-fine and driven tannins. They really are amazing. A wine with such strength and finesse at the same time. Confident and real Ausone. A blend of 50 per cent merlot and 50 per cent cabernet franc. Better after 2025.

Score: 98 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (223), February 2019

This is one of the most subtle and ethereal Ausones I have encountered in a while. It’s a full-bodied wine, yet one that’s very refined in texture, all the way to the extremely long finish. Shows real dignity and character. A throwback to the great years of the 1950s.

Score: 97/98 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, March 2017

A regal, soaring wine, the 2016 Ausone is one of the wines of the vintage. Cabernet Franc aromatics meld into a core of beautifully layered, exquisite fruit. The flavors are bright, lifted and wonderfully focused throughout. Sweet red berry, blood orange, jasmine and sweet spice notes build into a super-expressive, silky finish supported by bright acids and vibrant salinity. Stunningly beautiful and precise, Ausone is shaping up to be a jewel of a wine.

Score: 96/99 Antonio Galloni, vinous.com, April 2017

Score: 98 Robert Parker, Bordeaux Book (4), December 2003 The favorite sweet wine of millionaires, Chateau d'Yquem has, not unexpectedly, turned in a brilliant effort with their newly released 1989. It is a large-scaled, massively rich, unctuously-textured wine that should evolve effortlessly for a half century or more. It does not reveal the compelling finesse and complexity of the 1988 or 1986, but it is a far heavier, richer wine than either of those vintages. It is reminiscent of the 1976, with additional fat and glycerin. The wine is extremely alcoholic and rich, with a huge nose of smoky, honey-covered coconuts and overripe pineapples and apricots. As with most young vintages of Yquem, the wine's structure is barely noticeable. These wines are so highly extracted and rich yet approachable young, it is difficult to believe they will last for 50 or more years. The 1989 is the richest Yquem made in the eighties, and it has an edge in complexity over the powerhouse 1983. It remains to be seen whether this wine will develop the extraordinary aromatic complexity possessed by the promising 1988 and 1986 Yquems. Last tasted 11/97 Score: 97

Rating

90

Release Price

NA

Drink Date

1997 - 2012

Reviewed by

 Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Issue Date

1st Jan 1998

Source

Bordeaux Book, 3rd Edition, The Wine Advocate

Laville's 1996 is one of the lighter-styled efforts from this estate in the nineties. Nevertheless, it has managed to cram gorgeous levels of complexity and elegance into a citrusy, melony, richly fruity format. While it does not possess the weight and body of such blockbuster vintages as 1994, it is impressive. There is good acidity, and the wine comes across as clean, crisp, and stylish in an understated, restrained manner. This wine should drink well for 12-15+ years. Last tasted 11/97

A prodigious offering, the 2001 Climens’ light medium bold color with a greenish hue is followed by ethereal aromas of tropical fruits (primarily pineapple), honeysuckle, and flowers. It is a medium-bodied wine of monumental richness, extraordinary precision/delineation, great purity, and moderate sweetness. The finish seemingly lasts forever. This monumental effort is the stuff of legends. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2040+.

Score: 100 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (153), June 2004

Score: 96/99 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (146), April 2003

The Climens 2001 has always possessed a deliriously complex and intense bouquet that is beautifully defined: dried quince and marmalade, honeycomb and antique furniture. There is an inchoate, resinous element that will surely surface over the next decade or so. This is a bouquet that demands attention and in this blind tasting, sticks out from the crowd, a sui generis. Since I last tasted it, the palate has opened up and is beginning to pump on all cylinders. It is wonderfully balanced with fabulous intensity and a long, citrus-tinged finish that is utterly beguiling. As Kate Bush once sang: "Wow". Drink 2014-2040

Score: 99 Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (215), October 2014

Proprietor Berenice Lurton continues to turn out one of the utterly profound wines from the Barsac Sauternes region. The 2006 is not up there with their perfect 2001, but it is a beautiful wine and stands out as one of the top wines of 2006. Medium gold, with a slightly more advanced color than I am used to seeing in a young Climens, the wine displays waxy honeyed pineapple and delicate marmalade and citrus notes with a restrained use of new oak. The wine cuts a full-bodied swath across the palate with terrific acidity, freshness, and moderate sweetness. This is a beauty, but perhaps on a much faster evolutionary track than some of their greatest vintages.

While no surprise here, this wine, which will be bottled in 2009, is certainly this estate’s greatest effort since their 2001. It completely outclasses everything from the appellation, but even when you’re number one, that’s often hard to do. This light gold wine offers up a sensational smorgasbord of aromas including huge honeyed pineapple and other caramelized tropical fruit flavors, massive richness, and a viscous, unctuous texture with the oak beautifully integrated. The wine has enough acidity to buttress its full-bodied mouthfeel, but this is not by any means the sweetest or most alcoholic of the d’Yquems I have tasted. In fact, in the range of d’Yquems, this is a powerful wine, but it is one built more on finesse and elegance, a la the 1988. Nevertheless, this wine will prove to have 50+ years of longevity. The finish, the mid-palate, the sensation of looking at a skyscraper of Semillon with a small dosage of Sauvignon, is impressive. Like all of the sweet wines of Barsac and Sauternes, one can drink this young, but the nuances and complexities really don’t emerge for at least a decade, especially in the case of a wine such as this. Bravo!

Score: 96 - 98

Robert Parker, robertparker.com 01 March 2009

Delivering 12.0% ABV and 200gms residual sugar, Denis Dubourdieu’s luxury Barsac, the 2007 L’Extravagant de Doisy-Daene, does not hold back, born with a lucid golden hue with big fat tears (of joy). The bouquet is very intense but very tight at first, demanding time to unfurl in the glass at its own pleasure: white peach, apricot, orange-blossom and a touch of marmalade with breathtaking definition. The palate is full-bodied with a viscous entry, so pure and caressing with mellifluous honey, apricot and citrus lemon, wonderful delineation on the finish, the thread of acidity interwoven through that powerful finish with the length of an ocean liner. Brilliant. Drink 2015-2050.

93-96 RPRobert Parker, Wine Advocate # 176 93 WSRich, powerful, perfumed aromas of lemon pie, cooked apple and melon lead to a full body, with a fabulous density that persists. Gorgeous, with lovely richness and balance. Best after 2011. James Suckling,Wine Spectator 2010

NEAL MARTIN: 98-100

THE WINE ADVOCATE: 98-98

There are probably around seven casks of the 2009 L’Extravagant de Doisy-Daene, although that may decrease a little after racking. An equal blend of Semillon and Sauvignon, it delivers a record 220gms residual sugar and yet still exudes astounding minerality and precision, with touches of clear honey, frangipane and cold wet stones. The palate is full-bodied with a mellifluous texture, perfect acidity to slice through that rich botrytized fruit, stunning balance, citrus peel, apricot, Clementine, lemon curd and a hint of ginger. With awesome length, leaving that tingling sensation akin to Szechuan pepper, this wine truly lives up to its name. Wine Advocate.April, 2010

THE WINE ADVOCATE: 94-96

JEANNIE CHO LEE MW: 94-96

JANCIS ROBINSON: 18

DECANTER:

Berenice Lurton and her team managed to pick the crop just hours before rains fell on October 23. Tasting through every one of their lots in 2010, there was a theme of tautness, racy acidity and spice. Focusing upon two batches representing about 14% of the harvest, there was patently exquisite balance and a sense of concentrated but efficient power, counterbalanced by immense purity and effervescence. Their problem will be knowing exactly which lots to deselect! Neal Martin, Wine Advocate May 2011

A stunning wine with hints of pineapple, caramelized citrus, mandarin oranges, smoky figs and hazelnuts, this is a full-bodied, rich, superb white Graves from the Cathiard family. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2035. Score: 95

The 2011 seems to be a close cousin of the 2001 and possibly 1988. Light gold, restrained but very pure, noble and intense bouquet of honeysuckle, caramelized apricot, white peach with a subtle hint of toasty oak. It builds slowly but beautifully to a full-bodied wine and long finish. This vintage is about restraint and perfect balance despite the 144 grams of residual sugar. Some vintages are more exuberant or flamboyant-2011 is racy and compelling. Of course these wines can be drunk young, but expect the 2011 to age for 50 -75+ years in a good cellar. Robert Parker, 15/9/13

Score: 97