Dense purple coloured with considerable intensity, this rich, high-quality, gorgeously extracted wine could easily pass for a top classified growth. A serious, well-endowed effort, the medium bodied 1995 Clos du Marquis does indeed resemble the grand vin, Leoville Lascases. Robert Parker

`Tasted blind at the Southwold Bordeaux tasting. The 2012 Vieux Château Certan has a potent, smoke, cooked meat, Cabernet Franc-scented bouquet that is beautifully defined—quintessentially Pomerol. You want typicité? Come right here. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, quite gentle as it sashays across the mouth. The acidity is very well judged and leads to an elegant tobacco tinged finish. Alexandre and Guillaume Thienpont have produced one of the finest wines of the Right Bank in 2012, one that is up there with the greats. Tasted January 2016.` 95 Points Neal Martin

`Deep garnet-brick in color, the 2014 Vieux Chateau Certan is a little shy to start, offering up faint notes of candied violets and licorice opening out to a core of preserved plums and Christmas cake plus a waft of sandalwood. The full-bodied palate delivers a refreshing backbone and fine-grained tannins to support the taut, powerful black fruits, finishing long and earthy.` 97 Points Lisa Perotti-Brown

`Gothic wine" was the comment of Alexandre Thienpont on the 2017 vintage of Vieux Chateau Certan. The blend this year is 80% Merlot

The 2022 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru, blended with 25% whole bunches, has quite a perfumed and aromatic bouquet: white flowers and potpourri infusing the black cherry and red plummy fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins. It offers much more composure than the Latricières, with a poised, persistent finish. Excellent.` 93 Points Neal Martin

`The 2021 Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze Grand Cru is matured with 20% whole bunches in 80% new oak. Dark berry fruit

`The 2022 Chambolle-Musigny Aux Beaux Bruns 1er Cru has a superb bouquet of red and black fruit, bay leaf, clove, and an underlying __mineralité that comes through with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit and fine grip. It is complex and a little more savory in style, fanning out wonderfully on the finish. Excellent.` 94-96 Points Neal Martin

`The 2022 Chambolle-Musigny Les Chatelots 1er Cru is quite closed on the nose: light red fruit, a little sous-bois and crushed stone. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins. It’s fresh and saline, though the finish doesn`t kick on with the same gusto as other cuvées. I will be prudent for now, but it may improve in bottle.` 90 Points Neal Martin

`Aromas of Griotte cherries, wild berries, peonies and orange rind mingle with hints of grilled squab, introducing Barthod`s 2018 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Gruenchers, a medium to full-bodied, precise wine that`s layered and youthfully introverted, with an ample chassis of rich, powdery tannin and a lively spine of acidity. Barthod produced three barrels this year.` 92-94 Points William Kelley

`... for my money, these are among the small handful of wines that realize the true potential of the hill of Corton—to say nothing of the domaine`s reference-point wines from Savigny-lès-Beaune and Pernand-Vergelesses.` William Kelley"

`From four parcels comprising 1.5-hectares, the 2021 Corton-Bressandes Grand Cru has a harmonious bouquet with dark plum, licorice and hints of menthol. This blossoms in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins framing the dusky, black fruit laced with white pepper, thyme and bay leaf. Very persistent, this is an excellent Corton-Bressandes. ` 93-95 Points Neal Martin

`The 2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cazetiers 1er Cru is very perfumed on the nose, offering confit-like red berry fruit, blood orange and raspberry jam. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, fine delineation, nice poise and a grippy finish. There’s nice sapidity here, and the constituent parts are all in pace – they just need time to knit together. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2017 tasting. Drinking Date: 2025 - 2045`92 Points Neal Martin

`The 2020 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers is brilliant, unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums, dark chocolate, spices and vanilla pod. Medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, it`s elegantly muscular, with a deep and multidimensional core and a long, expansive finish. It`s worth a special effort to seek out.` 94 Points William Kelley

`The wood treatment is a bit more prominent on the spicy red and dark berry aromas that flash plenty of earth and sauvage nuances. There is a bit more verve to the big-bodied, intense and muscular flavors that exude evident minerality on the balanced, palate coating and impressively long finale. Here too patience will be beneficial.` 93 Points Allen Meadows

`Offering up aromas of dark cherries, berries, spices and loamy soil, the 2020 Monthelie Les Duresses is medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with terrific depth and energy. It`s one of the finest renditions of this cuvee that I can remember tasting chez Lafon.` 88-91 William Kelley

`Like the Nuits Murgers, Méo`s 2018 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Boudots is showing especially well this year, soaring from the glass with a complex bouquet of ripe cherries, raspberries, rose petals and spices, complemented by subtle hints of rich soil as well as carnal nuances. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, supple and elegant, with good concentration, fine tannins and a long, mineral finish. As usual, Méo chose to incorporate some whole clusters in this cuvée. Like many of the wines in the cellar this year, this is unusually well-integrated at this early stage in its élevage.` 92-94 Points William Kelley

`The 2020 Nuits Saint-Georges Les Boudots 1er Cru has a very expressive bouquet with ebullient red and blue fruit combined with violet and crushed stone scents. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannins, nicely poised with quite a strict finish that indicates that this will need some bottle age.` 93-95 Points Neal Martin

`A little extra colour here. Bright, wide, pure red-berried. Clean, nice drive to this – cushioned with very lovely extra-fine grain to the tannin and with relatively little dryness. The finish seeps out through the cracks and lasts long on mouth-watering finish – very long.` Bill Nanson

`The 2020 Pommard Clos des Epeneaux 1er Cru was a blend of two instead of four cuvées this year due to the depleted production. It has a precocious bouquet with black cherries, raspberry, menthol and blood orange scents that gather momentum in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannins, taut and fresh, lightly spiced with hints of allspice and tangy quince. It displays fine composure towards the finish with impressive length. This is a superb Clos des Epeneaux, though will it surpass the 2019? I’m not sure.` 92-94 Points Neal Martin

`Aromas of red berries, orange rind, raw cocoa, warm spices and forest floor preface the 2020 Volnay 1er Cru Champans, a medium to full-bodied, rich and structured wine that`s firmer and more muscular than the Taillepieds this year. This is one cuvée that is a touch more structured than its 2019 counterpart, and it will require a bit of patience.` 92-94+ William Kelley

`A little extra colour here. Bright, wide, pure red-berried. Clean, nice drive to this – cushioned with very lovely extra-fine grain to the tannin and with relatively little dryness. The finish seeps out through the cracks and lasts long on mouth-watering finish – very long.` Bill Nanson

`The 2017 Volnay Fremiet 1er Cru has an expressive bouquet with veins of blue fruit that strafe the vibrant raspberry and crushed strawberry. Here there is fine mineralité tucked just underneath. The palate is vibrant, almost effervescent on the entry with blood orange infusing the red fruit, great tension and quite pointed tannin, a Fremiet that is bursting with life. Superb.` 92-94 Points Neal Martin

`The 2018 Volnay 1er Cru Fremiet unwinds in the glass with an incipiently complex bouquet mingling raspberries and blood orange with savory bass notes of wood smoke, loamy soil, espresso roast and raw cocoa. On the palate, it`s medium to full-bodied, concentrated and lively, with a deep and tight-knit core, bright acids and a long finish.` 92-94 Points William Kelley

`The 2012 Volnay Village comes from four parcels of vine. It has a crisp bouquet with black rather than red berry fruit that is well-defined, springing from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with nice thick tannins that feel ripe and soft in the mouth. The acidity is well-judged and there is a sense of nonchalance and harmony towards the finish. All you could want from a village cru.` Neal Martin

`Note: from a 2.2 ha parcel at the bottom section of the vineyard; even so, the vineyard is so steep here that it must be worked entirely by hand as tractors would be dangerous to use. A cool and highly restrained nose reluctantly offers up its array of citrus, tidal pool, quinine and oyster shell. The exceptionally rich, even opulent, medium-weight plus flavors also brim with sappy dry extract on the mineral-driven, powerful and remarkably long finish. This is perhaps slightly less elegant than it typically is, but it is seriously good all the same. Buy it.` 95 Points Allen Meadows

`More open and airy – if not the same focus as the previous. Wide, crystalline – more mouth-filling. Here the fluidity of the best, mouthwatering, growing almost juicy – a cascade of flavour energy and mouth-watering moreishness that the Preuses isn’t showing today. Great wine – no overt oak either.` Bill Nanson

`Mid lemon colour with a fresh green lining. Very clear, very pure, delicious white fruit. Frankly, this is gorgeous in its hillside style, rather than butter and hazelnuts. Enough flesh so it is not just about mineral tension, and very long indeed.` 92-94 Points Jasper Morris

`The 2007 Brunello di Montalcino saturates the palate with imposing layers of fruit. Dark red fruit, flowers, licorice and tobacco come to life as this intense Brunello opens up in the glass. The 2007 boasts fabulous richness and a huge, explosive finish. It is one of the most exciting, viscerally thrilling wines of the year, yet maintains plenty of vintage 2007 sexiness and allure. Readers should do whatever they can to taste the 2007. There are two lots of 2007 Brunello. I tasted the Lotto Leccio, which spent 36 months in cask. There is a second lot, Lotto Leccio Uno that spent 48 months in cask, which I did not taste. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2032.` 95 Points Antonio Galloni

7 years in demi-muid, made in an oxidative style, like the Vin Jaune.

From some of the most choice vineyard parcels in Saumur-Champigny, Rene-Noel made one of the most traditional wines of the appellation, with a long elevage in wood for his best parcels Rogelins and Chaintree. They remain great choices for the Cabernet Franc connoiseur and are built to last.

From some of the most choice vineyard parcels in Saumur-Champigny, Rene-Noel made one of the most traditional wines of the appellation, with a long elevage in wood for his best parcels Rogelins and Chaintree. They remain great choices for the Cabernet Franc connoiseur and are built to last.

From some of the most choice vineyard parcels in Saumur-Champigny, Rene-Noel made one of the most traditional wines of the appellation, with a long elevage in wood for his best parcels Rogelins and Chaintree. They remain great choices for the Cabernet Franc connoiseur and are built to last.

From some of the most choice vineyard parcels in Saumur-Champigny, Rene-Noel made one of the most traditional wines of the appellation, with a long elevage in wood for his best parcels Rogelins and Chaintree. They remain great choices for the Cabernet Franc connoiseur and are built to last.

From some of the most choice vineyard parcels in Saumur-Champigny, Rene-Noel made one of the most traditional wines of the appellation, with a long elevage in wood for his best parcels Rogelins and Chaintree. They remain great choices for the Cabernet Franc connoiseur and are built to last.