Fine Wine > Still > France > 95-99 Pts > Red

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"A candidate for wine of the vintage, the 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape (a tank-aged blend of 90% Grenache and the rest Mourvedre, Syrah and Cinsault from 80+ year old vines) is a naked expression of Chateauneuf du Pape that is pure fruit and complexity. Its dense purple color is followed by aromas of..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"The 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Origines (1,500 cases produced) is a blend of 50% Grenache, a whopping 30% Mourvedre and 20% Syrah with the latter two components spending time in new oak barrels. All of the fruit comes from vines that are nearly 70 years of age. A great wine with an opaque..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
An enormously appealing style of wine with a dark plum/purple color to the rim, its sweet kiss of subtle oak intermixed with Asian spice, plum sauce, black cherries and black currants pushes some of the oak to the background. Plump, opulent, low in acidity and very sexy, this wine can be drunk over..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
The soft, sexy 2009 exhibits a dense plum/purple color along with a big, sweet bouquet of raspberries, black cherries, black currants, smoke and forest floor. Opulent and round with an attractive viscosity as well as outstanding purity, depth and length, it should drink well for two decades. While..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"More backward and concentrated, the 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape exhibits a dark ruby/purple color as well as dense, black raspberry, black currant, garrigue, licorice and lavender characteristics. Full-bodied with undeniable elegance, minerality and precision, it needs 2-3 years of cellaring and..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
Extremely sexy, soft, supple and opulent, with notes of cedar, herbs, incense and black currant fruit, this is a full-bodied, generously endowed but silky Talbot to drink now and over the next 20+ years. By any standard of measurement, this is irresistible.

Cellar/Tasting Notes
A big, powerful Margaux that should age for 20+ years, this inky purple-colored wine exhibits notes of spring flowers intermixed with blackberries, raspberries and cassis. Some lead pencil shavings and toasty oak are also present in this powerful yet at the same time very pure, textured,..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"Haut couture becomes a wine! This dense purple wine has the tell-tale notes of flowers and pencil shavings, and its broad aromatics are intense and totally captivating. Powerful, rich, and full,... opulent, this is a dazzling Branaire to drink between 2017-2035."

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"The 2010 Hermitage is clearly the biggest, richest and most ageworthy wine of this trio. It boasts a dense purple color along with notes of creme de cassis, smoked herbs, licorice and graphite. Full-bodied with outstanding depth, purity, power and overall equilibrium as well as beautifully pure..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"Noticeable reduction renders the nose difficult to evaluate. By contrast there is excellent concentration to the powerful and broad-shouldered medium weight plus flavors that are shaped by very firm and ever-so-mildly rustic tannins on the intensely earthy finish. While this will not win any..