Fine Wine > Red > Still > $200+ > 95-99 Pts > Rhone

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"The most prodigious wine I have yet tasted from the Delas portfolio is the brilliant 2009 Hermitage Les Bessards. Its inky/purple color is followed by abundant notes of acacia flowers, blackberries, black currants, new saddle leather, roasted meats and graphite, amazing concentration, a..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"... This is a gorgeous wine, a classic blend of 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise and the balance the other permitted varietals in the appellation. Deep purple, with loads of bouquet garni, beef blood, blackberry, kirsch, smoke and truffle, this wine is full-bodied, rich and..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"... the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes, ratchets up the level of succulence, juiciness, and opulence. It is a fabulous, compelling effort of multiple dimensions. Classic aromas and flavors of licorice, kirsch liqueur, balsam wood, and lavender are found in this enormously full-bodied..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
The 1989 La Chapelle is phenomenal. The opaque black/ruby color and the huge bouquet of coffee, hickory wood, jammy cassis, minerals, and spices are the stuff of legends. In the mouth the wine is massive, with layer upon layer of unctuous, highly extracted, and superripe fruit. The finish offers an..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"The 2006 Hermitage Ex-Voto is slightly denser, revealing gorgeous aromas of black raspberries, black currants, graphite, herbs, and truffles. Elegant yet substantial in size, well-textured, and long, this superb wine should age effortlessly for 25-30 years."

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"The 2007 Hermitage Ex-Voto is a flamboyant, exuberant, showy effort that flirts with perfection. Its nearly overwhelming perfume of spring flowers, balsamic notes, blackberries, cassis, melted licorice and espresso roast is followed by an intense, full-bodied wine with silky tannins, massive..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"The 2007 Cote Rotie La Turque is more masculine, dense and full-bodied, offering up notes of charcoal, truffles, asphalt, blackberries and hints of roasted meats, new oak and earth. Powerful and rich with silky tannins as well as a muscular style, it tastes as if it came from a completely..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"The dense ruby/purple-tinged 2007 Cote Rotie La Mouline will be bottled around the time this report is released. A superb effort made in the style of the 1991 (which is drinking beautifully at age 20), the 2007 displays silky, velvety tannins, a seamless integration of acidity, alcohol and tannin,..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"... The stunningly rich 2010 has close to 16% natural alcohol, and will be bottled after spending 18 months in old wood foudres. Notions of ripe figs, kirsch liqueur, cedar, Christmas fruitcake, smoked meats, charcuterie and beef blood are present in this staggeringly complex, rich, full-throttle,..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"1990 is the Hermitage appellation's greatest vintage since 1978, and maybe since 1961. I have been tasting Chave's Hermitage since the great 1978 vintage, and the black-colored 1990 is unquestionably the most massive and concentrated wine he has yet produced. Perhaps the real difference between it..