Wine List

Rating

97

Release Price

$150 - 200

Drink Date

2003 - 2020

Reviewed by

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Issue Date

30th Apr 1998

Source

116, The Wine Advocate

For L'Ermita, the 1994 is the current vintage in the marketplace; quantities are absurdly small. The color is a saturated inky/purple, and the soaring nose provides thrilling levels of sweet blackberry and cherry liqueur-like fruit. In spite of being full-bodied, massive, and huge, it manages to not taste heavy despite its gargantuan proportions of fruit, glycerin, tannin, and extract. This chewy, glycerin-imbued, phenomenally intense wines possesses all the component parts necessary to become a modern-day legend. Anticipated maturity: 2003-2020.   

A great Angélus and one of the two or three best wines of the vintage made under the talented young Hubert de Bouard, this wine still has a youthful, saturated ruby/purple color and a sweet nose of melted licorice intermixed with crème de cassis, tapenade, cedar, spice box, and vanilla. Very full-bodied, opulent, and rich, it is one of the 1989s that justifies the lofty reputation of the vintage. Extremely thick, this wine can be drunk now or cellared for at least another 10-15 years.

Score: 96 Robert Parker, Bordeaux Book (4), December 2003

The 1989 possesses a huge finish, with more noticeable tannin than in the 1990. Picking a favorite between these two fabulous examples of their respective vintages is - for me - presently impossible. I will probably end up drinking the 1990 before the 1989, but both are 25-30 year wines, with the 1989 possibly reaching full maturity in 5-6 years and the 1990 needing several more years of cellaring. Last tasted, 11/96.

Score: 96 Robert Parker, Bordeaux Book (3), November 1998

Tasted at Farr Vintners’ vertical from ex-chateau magnum. One of the finest vintages made at the estate, the Chateau Angelus 1989 has a very intense, powerful bouquet with blackberry, cedar, cooked meat and a little Christmas cake. Whereas the 1990 gives you everything up front, the 1989 is far more coquettish and takes time to unfold. The palate is very smooth on the entry, beautifully balanced with filigree tannins. There is an edginess to the 1989, much more feminine with a touch of truffle, coca and pepper on the finish. Wonderful, a wine at its peak, although it shows no signs of flagging. Tasted October 2011. Drink 2015-2035.

Score: 97
 

Rating

95

Release Price

NA

Drink Date

2022 - 2045

Reviewed by

Neal Martin

Issue Date

31st Mar 2017

Source

Interim End of March 2017, The Wine Advocate

The 2014 Ausone, a blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot, was matured in barrel for 20 months with 85% new oak. Compared to the Chapelle d'Ausone, this Grand Vin demanded gentle coaxing from the glass. It eventually unfurls to reveal mineral-rich red berry fruit, oregano, orange blossom and later on blackcurrant winegums. It displays superb delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannin. There is an almost sorbet-like freshness conferred upon this Saint Emilion by the growing season, very harmonious and poised with one of the most precise and tensile finishes that you will find this vintage. One of the stars of the vintage, this may merit a higher score with bottle age. This is a great success.

Rating

96+

Release Price

NA

Drink Date

2017 - 2038

Reviewed by

 Monica Larner

Issue Date

26th Jun 2014

Source

213, The Wine Advocate

The 2010 Barolo is a singularly elegant expression that benefits from extremely long maceration time (up to 54 days) and a non-interventionists’ winemaking philosophy. The wine is superb in its elegance and finesse that caresses the palate in the most delicate and ethereal manner imaginable. Small fruit tones are enhanced by ash, crushed mineral, licorice and dried mint. Because of changes in how Barolo can be labeled, the wine no longer carries the names of the four single-vineyards that make up the traditional blend for this wine (Canubbi, San Lorenzo, Rue and Rocche di La Morra). Instead, this historic wine is now labeled straightforward “Barolo.” Drink: 2017-2038.

Strong reduction masks the fruit at present. On the plus side there is lovely verve and freshness to the rich and full-bodied yet, curiously, even finer flavors that are very tightly wound thanks to the firm core of citrus-tinged acidity shaping the serious, classy and hugely impressively persistent finish. This too is definitely going to require extended cellaring before it reaches its peak. Drink 2028+

Score: 91/94 Allen Meadows, Burghound.com (71), June 2018

Cask sample. Oak more evident here than on the Corton-Charlemagne. More spice and cedar on the nose and palate. Has a definite sour/citrus creamy freshness but seems less subtle than the Corton. Just a touch sour on the aftertaste; big and long. Drink between 2024-2030.

Score: 17.5 Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com, November 2017

The 2019 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru has a more nuanced and mineral-driven bouquet compared to the Bienvenues. It unfurls with green apple and dewy meadow scents, displaying fine definition. The well-balanced palate is quite spicy and vibrant,  delivering a fine bead of acidity and more penetration than the Bienvenues on the finish. There is a captivating spicy aftertaste, too. Give this 4 to 5 years in bottle.

-- Neal Martin (92-94) Neal Martin 2024 - 2045

Full-bodied, rich and concentrated, the 2018 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru is a textural, elegantly muscular wine evocative of pear, toasted almonds, white flowers, peach and vanilla pod. Layered and powerful, it concludes with a long, saline finish. It's more dramatic and broader-shouldered than the suave, seamless Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet this year.

Score: 95 William Kelley, RobertParker.com, January 2021

Tasting note: Notes of honey, petrol, white orchard fruit and various floral scents serve as an elegant introduction to the caressing and wonderfully seductive big-bodied flavors that display both excellent volume and power on the muscular, dense and superbly persistent finale. This is not an especially refined vintage for this wine but should mature into a real beauty if given a chance.
 

Blanc Beaune Clos des Mouches 1er Cru

The 2019 Beaune Clos des Mouches Blanc 1er Cru, which is a selection from six different tries through the vineyard, has an intense nose, slightly Alsace-like in style thanks to a hint of linseed oil intermingling with yellow plum and orange blossom. The palate is well balanced with a tensile opening. Lovely orange pith and nectarine notes here. Not a voluminous wine, but very focused on the finish. Excellent. 

-- Neal Martin (91-93) Neal Martin 2022 - 2036 Not Available Dec 2020

Rating

(92 - 94)+

Release Price

NA

Drink Date

NA

Reviewed by

 William Kelley

Issue Date

14th Jan 2021

Source

January 2021 Week 2, The Wine Advocate

The 2019 Beaune 1er Cru Les Grèves Vigne de l'Enfant Jesus unwinds in the glass with notes of plums, cassis, loamy soil, black truffle, spices and incense. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and layered, it's deep and concentrated, with bright acids, ultra-refined tannins and a long, penetrating finish. This is the latest in a series of superb renditions of this cuvée, and it may be the finest of them all.

Rating 94+

Reviewed by Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Issue Date 28th Dec 2007

Source 174, The Wine Advocate

Again, orange blossoms, hazelnuts, brioche, smoke, and honeysuckle along with some peach notes are present in the full-bodied, beautifully well-delineated, pure, zesty 2005 Chardonnay Ma Belle-Fille. There are only 1,600 cases of this wine, which has superb uplift and vibrancy. This 121-acre estate with 114 producing acres of vineyard all located in Knight’s Valley continues to be at the top of their game and I can’t recommend the wines highly enough. I was surprised when I showed up at Peter Michael to find both Nicolas Morlet, who replaced his brother Luc, and Luc Morlet himself, were at my tasting. It seems that Luc is still doing consulting work with his brother firmly entrenched at the winery. This is still one of the best-run wineries in the world, and one might quibble over the fact that there are so many different cuvees of Chardonnay, but they are all subtly different in style/personality. The Morlets proclaimed to me that essentially there is very little difference in the character of the Chardonnays in 2005 and 2006, except they thought the acid levels were slightly higher in 2005 and the 2006s were riper. In any event, these are sensational Chardonnays, and readers couldn’t go wrong no matter which one they buy. Previously recommended: 2005 Sauvignon Blanc l’Apres Midi (93), 2004 Chardonnay Point Rouge (95+), 2004 Chardonnay Mon Plaisir (94), 2004 Chardonnay Ma Belle-Fille (94), 2004 Chardonnay Cuvee Indigene (97), 2004 Chardonnay La Carriere (95), 2004 Chardonnay Belle Cote (95). Tel. (707) 942-3200; Fax (707) 942-0209

Rating 93

Reviewed by Daniel Thomases

Issue Date 26th Apr 2004

Source 152, The Wine Advocate

The 2001 Testamatta, a blend of Sangiovese, Canaiolo, and Colorino, is a very full and firm ruby, and its expansive nose of red currant and plum fruit, underbrush, Mediterranean herbs, and sweet oak, is matched by rich, round flavors of ripe red fruit, vanilla, and seared oak. Already quite approachable, it has the stuffing to last for another decade and a half. 

Domaine Jean-Claude Bachelet
2015
Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet
Grand Cru White barrel
Score: 92-94
Tasted: Jun 11, 2017
Drink: 2023+
Issue: 67
Note: from a tiny .09 ha parcel
Producer note: Brothers Benoit and Jean-Baptiste Bachelet called 2015 an "easy and relatively straight forward vintage that gave us good yields in white but very small volumes in red. Overall, we had about the same volume as we did in 2013 and 2014 but the proportions are not at all the same. This is to say that the pinot came in between 20 and 25 hl/ha and the chardonnay between 40 and 45 hl/ha. We picked from the 2nd to the 8th of September and brought in ripe and beautifully healthy grapes that averaged between 12.8 and 13.5% potential alcohols in white with slightly lower amounts in red. The reds are really quite lovely and we picked early enough to have a good compromise between ripeness levels and freshness. They should age reasonably well yet be satisfying young." I found the quality of the Bachelet 2015 whites to definitely rise above what I found elsewhere in the Côte d'Or. (David Bowler Wine, www.bowlerwine.com, NY, Wine Warehouse, CA, www.winewarehouse.com, Classified Wine & Spirits, LLC, www.classifiedwine.net, TX and Elite Wines Imports, 703.339.8150, VA, all USA; Berry Brothers & Rudd, www.bbr.com, UK; Berry Brothers & Rudd, www.bbr.com/hk, Hong Kong).
Tasting note: Once again the backward nose is largely dominated by reductive notes. Otherwise there is a lovely sense of refinement to the sleek, intense and concentrated medium weight flavors that possess outstanding depth and persistence on the citrus-tinged finale. This too should reward up to a decade of cellaring yet it's not so tightly wound that it could not be approached after only a few years of cellaring.
 

Rating

94+

Release Price

NA

Drink Date

2019 - 2037

Reviewed by

 William Kelley

Issue Date

30th Apr 2019

Source

Issue 242 End of April 2019, The Wine Advocate

From a bottle disgorged in March 2017, Bollinger's 2007 La Grande Année is showing brilliantly, offering up a superb bouquet of lemon oil, confit citrus, almond paste, iodine, walnut oil and freshly baked bread. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, broad-shouldered and powerful in this frequently rather slender vintage, with excellent concentration, a deep and tightly wound core and a precise, chalky finish.

There are plenty of projects afoot at Bollinger, as chef des caves Gilles Descotes explained to me during my early April visit—my first in some years to this important Aÿ-based domaine. One of the most important changes is that Bollinger has entirely abandoned the use of herbicides for four years now, an initiative that began with the impulse to rehabilitate their famed red wine monopole, La Côte aux Enfants, and which was gradually rolled out across all their holdings. Their facilities have expanded too, to make space for more barrels to insure a sufficiently abundant supply of wood-fermented base wine from the Special Cuvée in years when Grande Année is also produced. And the still red Coteaux Champennois from La Côte aux Enfants is returning to the range, from 2015 vinified separately from the red wines destined to rosé production, with some whole clusters added to the cuves. Descotes also has been working to better manage Bollinger's gently oxidative style, and while fermentation and maturation in old wood still lends Bollinger its strong and distinctive style, oxygen inputs at other stages in the winemaking process are more carefully controlled, resulting in more consistency and structural tension—a trend exemplified by the brilliant 2008 Grande Année (97+), which I reviewed last month. There's so much more to say about this house, but much of that can wait for an in-depth article in a future issue. For the time being, it's sufficient to note that all these recent releases come warmly recommended.

Tasting note: A notably ripe red and blue berry fruit nose is nuanced by chalk, minerals and abundant spice notes that continue onto the toasty, rich, full and massively powerful flavors that are suave and superbly concentrated, all wrapped in a very Bonnes Mares style finish as this is chewy but not rustic. An impressive wine where the finish doesn't seem to ever end.

The 2012 Bonnes Mares presents an intriguing push and pull between some of the more delicate notes that appear initially and its underlying, restrained power. This is another wine where so much is implied rather than overt. As always, the Mugnier Bonnes Mares is above all else a wine of restraint, although in this vintage, there is plenty of depth as well.

-- Antonio Galloni 93 Antonio Galloni 2022 - 2042 $455.00 Apr 2015

Domaine Comte de Vogüé
2015
Bonnes Mares
Grand Cru Red 750 ml
Score: 95
Tasted: Jan 15, 2018
Drink: 2035+

Tasting note: An extract of black cherry nose is interwoven with notes of earth, violet, spice and plum liqueur scents. The very dense and serious yet vibrant and relatively refined big-bodied flavors brim with dry extract that serves to mostly buffer the powerful and very firm tannic spine on the once again naturally sweet, sappy and massively long finish. As is often the case with the de Vogüé Bonnes Mares, this is a 'buy and forget you own it' wine.
 

Tasting note: Deep ruby. Once again there is an exuberant freshness to the nose of plum, violet, peony, spice and earth aromas where a top note of kirsch is present. There is outstanding density and power to the big-bodied and overtly muscular flavors that deliver fine complexity on the caressing, sappy and harmonious finish. This too is lovely and should drink well a bit earlier than it normally does if that's your preference.
 

What a fabulous wine the 1990 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru! Youthful in colour, it has beguiling complexity on the nose, secondary aromas percolating through the carapace of red fruit: truffle, smoke and a touch of peppermint. The palate is quite dense and voluminous, as you would expect given the growing season, yet there is sensational precision and poise. The final third delivers incredible tension and mineralité, hints of iodine and spice lending more complexity and the aftertaste continues on and on and on. I wonder if this is à point? Then again, there is so much substance that you can easily envisage this offering another two decades of drinking pleasure. Stunning. Tasted at the Roumier verticals in Hong Kong and London with consistent notes.

-- Neal Martin 98 Neal Martin 2018 - 2040  Sep 2018

Burghound 

Tasting note: An exceptionally pretty and, similar to the Malconsorts, somewhat sweet nose combines notes of lavender, rose petal, violet, red currant and a whiff of orange pekoe tea. There is good if not special mid-palate density to the overtly intense flavors that terminate in a dusty, austere and reasonably powerful finish where the tannins are a bit spiky. My sense is though that with a few years of age they will round off and render the finish more harmonious.

Burghound Tasting note: An agreeably fresh nose combines primarily pear and apple notes with soft floral and citrus nuances. There is lovely detail to the attractively textured flavors that culminate in a dry, saline and chiseled finish. This is a quality Bourgogne plus it has the stuffing to age too.