Fine Wine > Big Bottles > France > 95-99 Pts > Red

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"Proprietor Eric Prissette has fashioned a sensational 2005 with the assistance of consultant Stephane Derenoncourt. It boasts a deep purple color as well as a perfume of charcoal, smoked herbs, crushed rocks, blackberries, ripe cherries, and espresso beans. This full-bodied, formidably endowed..

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 2006 Pichon Lalande ... represents a return to the velvety-textured, rich, sexy style most readers would associate with Pichon Lalande. This blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon and 36% Merlot (no Petit Verdot was included in the final blend) exhibits a dense purple color as well as abundant aromas..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
RP: "Inky/black-colored with a classic Pauillac perfume of licorice, black currant liqueur, graphite, cedar, and spice box, it is full-bodied, with magnificent concentration, formidable tannins, and an Arnold Schwartzenegger-like structure (when he was 25 years younger). This backward, formidably..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"St.-Emilion's smallest vineyard produces so little wine (600 or so cases) that it is virtually impossible to find. This beautiful site (somewhat ghoulishly situated adjacent to St-Emilion's cemetery) produces what I have often called the 'Lafleur of St.-Emilion.' Classic notes of crushed rocks,..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"This estate’s finest effort - ever, the 2005 Malescot St.-Exupery should be sought out by readers looking for intensity combined with superb richness, fascinating elegance, and a surreal concoction of blue and red fruits, a silky texture, and a delicate yet powerful wine that builds..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"The 2010 Clos des Lambrays is striking. Dark cherries, plums, wild berries, spices and licorice are woven together beautifully in this highly expressive, singular wine. A cool vein of minerality is a common thread as the wine continues to take shape in the glass. There is a beguiling, mysterious..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"A beautiful effort, the 2009 Pichon Lalande, a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, possesses copious mocha, lead pencil, unsmoked, high class tobacco, black currant, forest floor and herbaceous characteristics. It is a deep purple-hued, charming, surprisingly open-knit..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
RP: "Pavie's 2005 exhibits a thick-looking purple color to the rim as well as an exquisite perfume of blueberry and blackberry liqueur, unsmoked cigar tobacco, crushed rocks, damp earth, and hints of truffles and incense. The vineyard's limestone soils have provided massive concentration, a..