Vinous (98)

Bellevue Mondotte is magnificent in 2016. Stunningly rich and concentrated, with tremendous structure, the 2016 has so much to offer. Crème de cassis, raspberry jam, lavender, graphite, game, menthol and a whole rush of inky blue/purplish fruit emerge from this explosive, captivating Saint-Émilion. In 2016 Bellevue Mondotte balances sumptuousness with saline-infused energy and persistence. It is without question one of the truly great wines of the vintage.

Vinous (96)

The 2015 Clos Saint-Denis Grand Cru has an immediately seductive, extremely pure bouquet of bright red fruit, strawberry and cranberry; hints of blueberry surface with aeration. The oak is very well integrated, and with continued aeration in the glass, the raspberry component becomes more expressive. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit encased by grippy, slightly firm tannins. This is a very serious Grand Cru, extraordinarily focused and full of tension; the mouth still tingles 60 seconds after it has exited. A consummate expression of a great Burgundy vintage. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting.

Vinous (95)

The 2014 Extra-Brut Le Cran (50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay) is fabulous. It marries the energy of the vintage with terrific mid-palate presence and overall depth. Dried pear, spice, menthol chamomile and lightly floral honey all meld together in a Chardonnay of real depth and textural resonance. Dosage is 4 grams per liter. Disgorged: July, 2021.

Jeb Dunnuck (93-96)

A rough blend of 78% Merlot and 22% Franc made by the team at Canon (Thomas Duclos also consults here), the 2018 Château Berliquet sports a deeper purple color as well as a complex, layered style in its black raspberry, white flowers, dried earth, spice, and forest floor aromas and flavors. It's medium to full-bodied, has a rounded, expansive texture, beautiful tannins, and brilliant freshness and purity as well as a serious kick of minerality on the finish. Coming from a smaller 10-hectare terroir located on the clay and limestone soils on the upper plateau, it will spend 16 months in 45% new French oak. Tasted twice.

Wine Advocate (97)

The 2015 Colore is a breakthrough wine for Bibi Graetz and his unique approach to winemaking and fruit sourcing. Remember, this renegade Tuscan vintner dedicates much of his intellectual effort to discovering the ancient vines and vineyards he wants to farm. He is like a high level garagiste who does not pretend to limit his fruit selection to vines under his direct ownership. This affords a level of versatility and range that is not common to the many family-owned estates of Italian viticulture that focus their efforts on their own land. Colore is a blend of equal parts Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Colorino from three sites (Lamole, Vincigliata and Siena). The 2013 and 2014 vintages were skipped, and Bibi Graetz has moved forward directly to 2015. I tasted this wine from four bottles: one opened the previous day at lunch, one opened the night before, one opened that morning and one opened just before I poured the sample into may glass. This approach awarded an interesting panoramic view of the wine's evolution, but in truth, it did not change as much as you might think. I mean this in a positive way, because the wine in no way tasted flat or oxidative. Of course, the recently opened bottles showed some nervous and rigid qualities, whereas the bottles that had been open longer were softer, more expressive and more fleshed out. Colore offers dark and determined quality of fruit with layered tones of ripe cherry, dried blackberry, spice and grilled herb. Elegant mineral tones also appear. This is a unique wine with a personality that marries a wild side to a sophisticated one. This is a singular Tuscan red.

James Suckling (98)

The aromas are always so complex with cherries, blackberries, rosemary, sage and spice. Full-bodied, very tight and polished with a dense and powerful palate, which opens and grows, yet remains agile and beautiful. A solid red. Wonderful segue from the 2015. 80 per cent sangiovese with colorino and canaiolo. Try after 2022.

James Suckling (99)

What intense aromas of cherries and raspberries! Then it turns to flowers and orange peel. Roses, too. This is really full and powerful with layers of ripe tannins. It’s super fine-tannined, but shows wonderful length and intensity. A great expression of Lamole in Chianti Classico with ancient vines. Some older than 100 years. Best ever? Superb. Try after 2024 and onwards.

James Suckling (99)

This is so perfumed and seductive, with blackberries, cherries, dried flowers and perfume. It’s full-bodied and tight with very fine tannins. Really structured and long. Superb tannin texture. So fine, yet so powerful. This is an incredible combination of fruit and structure. Old-vine magic. Drink after 2026.

Decanter (98)

Bright and lively on the palate, such beautifully expressed raspberry and red cherry fruit flavours alongside high-shining acidity that is so clean and precise. A supremely joyful expression with hints of caramelised strawberries and fresh mint. So sharp but so well defined with a clarity to the palate that is gorgeous. Really delivers a sophisticated, charming, characterful wine that is balanced, easy to enjoy with plenty of life. A more structured and perhaps harder to understand wine than Testamatta this year, but both have their own lovely personalities. This is so complete and abundant, muscular but controlled and full of complexity and detail - there's weight and density without heaviness. A sensational wine. Ageing 12 months in 500l French oak barrels.

Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (100)

Just love this wine, the lyricism and the generosity of it, and its always vivid depiction of fruits and stones. So juicy, so drawn out, works with the vintage, leans into its low yields, with greengages, raspberry, plum, gentle spices, lemongrass, minerality studded with mandarin peel and sage. Translucent and yet full of flavour, once again it begs you to draw up a chair, gather friends, and enjoy. What a brilliant wine and a brilliant winemaker in Bibi Graetz. From a 58ha estate, Colore comes from the oldest vineyards of Sangiovese that range up to 135 years old.

James Suckling (94)

"This sees some time in wood and that adds a very attractive, savory edge to the typically vibrant Billecart attitude. There’s such intense blood-orange, lemon and fresh, zesty citrus fruit on offer here that really sings. The palate is scintillatingly fresh and has an extra layer of velvet at the edge. Drink or hold."

Decanter (97)

A blend of 65% Pinot Noir consisting of Premier and Grand Crus from the Montagne de Reims and the Vallee de la Marne and 35% Chardonnay from the Cote des Blancs. Significantly, this has nine years ageing on its lees (longer than some Prestige Cuvees), the 2008 was first released onto the global market back in March 2019. With an Extra Brut dosage of 4g/l, this is a highly expressive, confident and convincing interpretation of the vintage. Right now, it is youthfully sharp and focused with fine salinity, depth, acidity and balance, and as such is already extremely approachable. The flavour spectrum encompasses toast, oyster shell, citrus, cream and a flinty, mineral depth. There’s supreme balance and elegance here, combined with a hidden underlying power that will continue to emerge and broaden with time. The finish is dry and long.

James Suckling (93)

Cinnamon and dried nutmeg add to the experience of bread dough and rose petals. Flavorful on the medium-bodied palate and finely poised with bright acidity. Medium-long on the finish. Drink now.

Matthew Jukes (19+)

Created in 1988 as a tribute to Elisabeth Salmon, one of the House’s founders, this is the latest release and it has already benefitted from a remarkable ten years on its lees, because my sample was disgorged in October 2020. Made from 76% Grands Crus and 24% Premiers Crus, 55% Pinot Noir comes from Bouzy, Ambonnay, Verzy, Verzenay, Mareuil-sur-Äy and Äy and 45% Chardonnay comes from Chouilly, Cramant and Mesnil-sur-Oger. 9% red wine was added from Valofroy, a parcel of particularly old vines (60+ years old in 2008) situated high up on the hill above the winery in Mareuil. And 17% of the wine was vinified at low temperature in oak barrels which are, on average, 15 years old. The dosage is 7g/L. For the very first time, Elisabeth is available in magnums. I enjoyed an energetic tasting with Mathieu Roland-Billecart and he explained that this 2008 vintage seems like it has stolen the finest parts of each of the 1996 (tension), 2002 (layers of flavour) and the 2007 (refinement) and rolled them all into one wine! In a way, this is a fabulous analogy, but there is more to this vintage than meets the eye. The freshness and acidity here are both spectacular. These notes underpin the refined flavour with jolts of electricity which gather to form bolts of lightning. This is a young wine and yet the tenderness of the fruit is perfectly counterpointed by the shocking youthfulness on the finish. I cannot believe that 13 years have passed in the blink of an eye and so this means that 2008 Elisabeth might well be one of the slowest to age and longest-lived wines under this label to date. Having said this, the fruit is already magnificent. Mathieu asked me if I was familiar with the great French dessert clafoutis! At once a cherry clafoutis aroma arose from the glass, with faint notes of ginger blossom, saffron and white pepper. This is a crystalline and yet kaleidoscopic wine with fractals of flavour which splinter and shiver on the palate. It is high-tensile at the same time as being fragile and demure. It is everything Elisabeth would have wanted in her namesake wine.

Matthew Jukes (19.5+)

This wine is an absolute joy. It is made from 79% Grands Crus and 21% Premiers Crus, with 60% Pinot Noir coming from the Montagne de Reims and the Vallée de la Marne and 40% Chardonnay coming from the Côte des Blancs. The dosage is 6 g/l and a perfectly-judged 15% was vinified in oak barrels. As always with Billecart NF it spends over ten years relaxing in the cellars in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ before release. In terms of sophistication, elegance and unrivalled precision, this is a wine to buy and treasure. I raved about the 2007 Cuvée Louis earlier this year and this wine is made in a similar vein. This is a sensational vintage for Billecart and NF will outlive Louis given that it has more horsepower under the bonnet. Still a little youthful and closed, there is massive complexity here delivered in the most mesmerising sotto voce voice imaginable. I would love to see this wine in a few years but I think it will be a decade before ’07 NF fully blossoms. I am in complete awe as to how these wines are so fine and so laser-sighted in their youth. NF is a class apart.

Matthew Jukes (20+)

08NF was made from 83% Grands Crus and 17% de Premiers Crus: 60% Pinot Noir from the Premiers and Grands Crus of the Montagne de Reims and the Grande Vallée de la Marne (Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Aÿ, Ambonnay, Bouzy, Verzenay et Verzy); 40% Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs (Mesnil, Chouilly, Cramant, Vertus); 17% of the wines were vinified in oak barrels, and it was aged on its lees for 150 months; The dosage is 2.9 g/l, and it was disgorged in January 2022. This super-deep wine dwells low in the glass with weight and depth of delivery that is completely unhurried. Vinous, powerful and with a full spectrum of fruit and patisserie, it is remarkable just how little citrus and herb there is on the front end of this staggeringly impressive wine. It is more layered and exotic than any current release Champagne I can think of, and then when it seems as though the scene is set, everything changes instantly. The palate drops about three gears revealing arresting zestiness and tanginess that completely engulfs the senses. I learned that this cuvée’s release was delayed by nearly two years because the back end was so twitchy, nervy and excitable. As it turns out, the Billecart gurus made the right call here – this is an electrifying wine, and the finish shows that the potential here is incredible. I am lucky enough to have tasted the 1959 and the 1961 Billecart-Salmon vintage wines, among others, and the DNA and detail in this 2008 are near-identical. While the top half of this wine is showy, flamboyant and seductive, the lower half is firm, chiselled, rigid and breath-taking.

James Suckling (98)

Richly complex nose of spiced yellow plums, brioche, toasted lemons, butterscotch, baked apples, strawberries, coffee cream, praline, earthy mushroom and truffle hints. It’s creamy, layered and generous, with soft bubbles. Complex toasty and spicy elements carry through to a long finish. Opulence and sophistication. Single parcel pinot noir, 100% vinified in oak barrels. No malo. 1g/l dosage. Drink now or hold.

James Suckling (99)

Baked raspberries, salted yellow plums, figs, walnuts, orange zest, mahogany and some toasted vanilla on the nose. Medium-to full-bodied with beautifully integrated, very fine bubbles. Dry, with exciting and unique white-pepper and sea-salt notes. Seamless. So harmonious. Salty and spicy clove notes evolving at the end. Amazing precision. Single parcel pinot noir, 100% vinified in oak barrels. No malo. 2g/l dosage. Disgorged November 2020. 6,750 bottles. Drink or hold.

Wine Enthusiast (100)

The Riserva 2012 is a quintessential Biondi Santi Riserva, reflecting not just the house style that made the firm famous, but it clearly shows Franco’s own hallmark of extreme elegance. The 2012 is a classic in the making, boasting enticing scents of rose, underbrush, wild red berry, new leather and underlying notes of crushed mint. It has a chiseled palate, featuring Morello cherry, pomegranate, orange zest, star anise and a hint of tobacco framed in taut, polished tannins. Firm acidity lends youthful tension and keeps it impeccably balanced.

Wine Advocate (98)

The Biondi-Santi 2013 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is a stunning wine from all points of view. Seamless integration and elegant complexity are what stand out, and it's worth dedicating a few extra lines to the aromatic depth that is put so beautifully on display as the wine slowly unfolds. The bouquet starts off with wild cherry, earth, wet ash, crème de cassis and pruny chocolate. With extra time, there are hints of dried tobacco leaf, sandalwood and mossy forest floor. These lead to a fine tail of dried herb, bay leaf and a touch of rusty nail. The Riserva comes in numbered bottles, and I opened number 04277. To the palate, the wine is streamlined and silky with smooth tannins and a well-managed 13.5% alcohol content. The oak presence is reduced to a minimum, offering mild hints of spice and the delicate sandalwood or dried fig aroma I described above. Fresh acidity is the glue that gives the wine buoyancy and staying power. At this young stage, this 2013 vintage could be considered a bit shy or slow to start, but this will play out to great advantage in the long term as the wine continues its bottle evolution.

Decanter (97)

Toasted hazelnuts and pecans on the nose, charry, buttery almonds, green apple so much aromatic complexity. Caramel, bitter lemon, orange, brioche/patisserie elements, like a buttery hot cross bun, some truffle too. Racy, piercing acidity hits the palate straight away along with such tiny, frothy bubbles that fill the mouth. The spine and tension is there, driving the wine forward with a clear vein of citrus acidity - a shot of lemon and lime, while still having the undercurrent of toasted, salty nuts. Nuanced and characterful with a hint of sweetness, sharpness and raciness all giving nuance and interest and building to an impressive whole. Well controlled with balance, construction and a gourmet feel. Made with Premier and Grand Cru grapes: Pinot Noir grapes from Mailly, Cumières, and Chigny-les-Roses, and Chardonnay grapes from Avize, Chouilly, and Vertus. Grapes are aged 12 years on their lees. Dosage 3g/L. Recently disgorged January 2023.

Richard Juhlin (95)

It was time for the good James to enjoy one of the most magnificent champagnes for the release of the 25th Bond film. The decision to use Pinot Noir for this 2011 vintage, exclusively from the home village of Aÿ with its mighty fruit is nothing short of brilliant. Perhaps wait about ten years until the wine has reached its peak and completely integrated its enormous fruit with the barrel notes, but the wine is already magnificent with its deep ripe aroma of Gravenstein apples, backed by fresh wooden notes. House typical and powerful.

Falstaff (98)

An immediate nuttiness of grilled hazelnut along with freshly cut red apple peel, an edge of white pepper and melted candlewax mark the nose – very unusual. With air, this slowly verges onto baked skin of plum. That nuttiness is also apparent on the palate with a real phenolic and textural element, there is much density, almost a chewiness. Very fine acidity runs through this wine, expressing the customary Bollinger creaminess, underlined by finest foam, revealing a lovely hint of pithy bitterness, more pepper and nuances of ripeness expressed by baking spice. A most gastronomic Champagne and only at the beginning of a long trajectory.

Vinous (98)

The 2014 La Grande Année is stunning. In fact, it is one of the best recent editions I can remember tasting. What comes through most is the wine’s sizzling energy and tension, qualities that aren’t often associated with Bollinger, where the Champagnes tend to show more breadth and volume. In 2014, readers will find a Grande Année built on linear intensity and drive. The 2014 is a blend taken from 19 villages, 61% Pinot Noir and 39% Chardonnay instead of the more typical 70/30 mix. For the second time in two decades (the first was 2007), Verzenay takes the lead in the Pinots over Aÿ, more or less an inverse from the norm. Verzenay, a north-facing village in the Montagne de Reims that saw less rain than Aÿ and most of the Vallée de la Marne, yields Pinots of energy more than volume. That, married with Chardonnays mostly from the Côtes des Blancs (predominantly Chouilly, Vertus, Oiry and Cramant), results in a truly magical Grande Année that will delight Champagne fans for several decades. I can’t recommend the 2014 highly enough. It’s a total knock-out. Disgorged: April, 2021. Dosage: 8 grams per liter.

Decanter (97)

An enticingly rewarding nose of apricot, flint and toast leads to a palate that's just as good and even more developed, with honey, brioche marzipan and bruised apple notes. It has super tension and drive. Compelling, delicious and distinctive.

Decanter (93)

The nose is remarkably fine and complex, expressing scents of orchard fruit, white peach, apricot, and lemon with a touch of verbena. On the palate, the immediate impression is of a certain unctuosity providing great charm, and even the structure has round contours, but it seems to tighten on the chalky, airborne finish. The salinity that marked the previous two iterations of this PN series seems less present, with this one having more notes of pastry and hazelnuts as well as some zesty citrus, but airing adds an iodine-like tang. This is a Champagne that should pair well with fresh fish and shellfish dishes. 100% Pinot Noir. Dosage: 4 g/L. Disgorgement: January 2022.

Richard Juhlin (95)

The presentation is brilliant and is reminiscent of the house's legendary blanc de noirs Bollinger ’Vieilles Vignes Françaises’….. A Verzenay blanc de noirs with sprinkles of Aÿ, Bouzy and Tauxières, where 50% of the wine comes from 2015 with reserve wines on magnum dating from 2009. Verzenay and Aÿ are, as you know, the dominant villages in Bollinger's vintage wines. Verzenay is often the chalky and mineral-rich backbone of Bollinger's vintage build-up. The wine is vibrantly fresh, mineral-driven and extremely pure. There is a clarity and sharpness that is outstanding, where gunpowder notes and aroma of grilled meat develop as the glass warms up slightly. I love this wine as it is a perfect creation from one of the most important villages in the whole of Champagne dominated by the aforementioned minerality, but also with notes of violet and red grapefruit so typical of Verzenay of the highest class. On aeration the scent develops more and more notes of pears, figs and freshly baked baguette and the taste develops towards peach and apricot jam. Personally, though, I will wait as long as I can before opening my own bottles to get the increasing depth of caramel and grilled hazelnut flavour that only time in the cellar can provide.

Wine Enthusiast (98)

The wine's name stands for recently disgorged and this vintage Champagne was taken off its lees in 2018. That gave many years for it to develop its depth of flavor, richness and beautifully memorable toasty flavors. Drink through 2028.

Wine Enthusiast (98)

The wine's name stands for recently disgorged and this vintage Champagne was taken off its lees in 2018. That gave many years for it to develop its depth of flavor, richness and beautifully memorable toasty flavors. Drink through 2028.