Vinous (93)

Shimmering violet. High-pitched red and blue fruit, violet and exotic spice scents are complemented by a floral nuance and a building mineral overtone. Juicy and sharply focused on the palate, offering sappy raspberry, boysenberry, allspice and candied rhubarb flavors and a deeper licorice note on the back half. Closes long and precise, showing subtle tannic grip and repeating floral and mineral qualities.

Vinous (94)

Dark magenta. Assertive red and blue fruit and potpourri aromas are complicated by exotic spice, potpourri and smoky mineral accents. Finely detailed, mineral-driven raspberry, boysenberry, Asian spice and candied lavender flavors deepen with aeration while maintaining vivacity. Sappy, seamless and sharply focused on the impressively long, minerally finish, which is framed by polished, well-knit tannins.

Tim Atkin MW (97)

This superb Reserva from the textbook, cooler climate 2016 vintage is one of the best young wines I have ever tasted from Carlos de la Fuente and Peter Sisseck. Marrying Tinto Fino with 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged in 40% new wood, this comes from a parcel with a very high limestone content, which adds freshness on these warm slopes. Scented, graceful and refined, it has cassis and blackberry fruit, graceful tannins, subtle wood and a long, tapering finish. Exceptional winemaking. 2023-32

Wine Advocate (95)

Somehow I didn't taste the 2017 Hacienda Monasterio, but I did taste the 2017 Reserva, which is quite impressive for such a challenging year in Ribera del Duero. They suffered less from the frost on the property, which is quite warm and usually frost-free. The wine has a seductive nose that combines raspberries and cranberries with herbs and flowers. It's ripe at 15% alcohol, but it does not show heat or alcohol. This is 80% to 82% Tinto Fino and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon that matured in barrel for some 20 months. It's medium to full-bodied, juicy, rich and velvety, with fine, chalky tannins. The wine really transcends the challenges of the vintage and delivers more than I expected. 35,000 bottles produced.

The top shelf expression of Hacienda Monasterio, the Reserva Especial is not produced every year and could be the equivalent of a Gran Reserva. It is typically a Temperanillo-dominated blend complemented with Cabernet Sauvignon. Quantities may vary but for the 2015 vintage, only 4,000 bottles were produced. Although sitting in bottle for years now, the estate doesn’t allow anyone to taste the wine until it's actually released, which is usually a few months later in the calendar year than its younger siblings.

Vinous (95)

Deep, shimmering violet. Powerful, spice-tinged red and blue fruit preserve and floral pastille aromas are complemented by suggestions of musky earth and licorice. Alluringly sweet and seamless in the mouth, offering sappy, mineral-driven black raspberry, cherry liqueur, lavender and five-spice powder flavors that expand through the back half. Finishes extremely long and nervy, with harmonious tannins building steadily and adding solid grip to reverberating cherry and floral notes.

James Suckling (95)

Racy wild strawberries and raspberries with white pepper, agave and dried herbs. Fresh, medium-bodied palate with silky, refined tannins spreading evenly across the palate. Juicy and bright finish with lovely, herbal allure. Extremely drinkable now, but will hold, too.

James Suckling (95)

Racy wild strawberries and raspberries with white pepper, agave and dried herbs. Fresh, medium-bodied palate with silky, refined tannins spreading evenly across the palate. Juicy and bright finish with lovely, herbal allure. Extremely drinkable now, but will hold, too.

Vinous (93)

The 2021 Morgon Côte du Py, matured in used barrels, has a more complex bouquet than the Corcelette: a melange of red and black fruit, potpourri/lavender, and a faint hint of curry leaf that emerges with time. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins and a fine backbone considering the growing season. This is very fresh and saline with quite a strict finish. You could attempt this now though I would be intrigued to age this for another two or three years before broaching.

Vinous (93)

Vivid ruby. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes ripe red and blue fruits, potpourri, earth and smoky minerals. Supple, deeply concentrated and alluringly sweet, offering juicy, spice-kissed raspberry, boysenberry and floral pastille flavors that slowly turn livelier with air. Delivers an appealing blend of depth and energy and closes with superb clarity and strong persistence, leaving notes of juicy red berries and candied violet behind.

Wine Advocate (95)

Jean-Paul Brun's 66-year-old vines in this prime lieux-dit have yielded a superb 2018 Fleurie Grille-Midi, a striking wine that unfurls in the glass with complex aromas of black raspberries, rose petals, smoked meats and violets. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and satiny, with a bottomless core of concentrated fruit, velvety tannins and ripe acids, concluding with a long and sapid finish. This is a brilliant, age-worthy Fleurie worth special effort to track down.

Wine Advocate (95)

Jean-Paul Brun's 66-year-old vines in this prime lieux-dit have yielded a superb 2018 Fleurie Grille-Midi, a striking wine that unfurls in the glass with complex aromas of black raspberries, rose petals, smoked meats and violets. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and satiny, with a bottomless core of concentrated fruit, velvety tannins and ripe acids, concluding with a long and sapid finish. This is a brilliant, age-worthy Fleurie worth special effort to track down.

Wine Advocate (91)

The 2016 Brouilly Cuvee Vieilles Vignes has a perfumed, floral bouquet with delightful wilted violet and blackcurrant scents, very harmonious and cohesive. The palate is well balanced with succulent tannin; there is a fine backbone here with impressive focus toward the finish. There is just a prickle of white pepper right on the finish. Tighter, more backward than the 2015, this should nevertheless age with style.

Wine Advocate (94)

The 2018 Morgon Côte du Py derives from both higher-altitude and lower-lying parcels, and it is a great success this year, offering up a lovely bouquet of dark fruits, cherries, smoked meat and licorice. On the palate, it's full-bodied, ample and layered, with a fleshy and concentrated core, fine girdling tannins and succulent acids, concluding with a long and sapid finish.

Vinous (94)

The 2022 Morgon Côte du Py has an absolutely delightful bouquet. Much more charming than the Corcelette, it shows exquisite delineation with perfumed, mineral-laced red fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-boned tannins, very focused with a touch of Indian spice toward the detailed finish. This has a long life ahead. It’s so refined and elegant.

Experience the epitome of Beauijolais grandeur with the Jules Desjourneys Fleurie Chapelle Bois 2020. Produced in the spellbinding vineyards of Fleurie, in the heart of the French Beaujolais region, this exquisite wine is the brainchild of meticulous viticulturist, Fabien Duperray. Employing organic practices in the lush hillside vineyards, Duperray meticulously nurtures Gamay grapes, compromising nothing in the pursuit of impeccable quality. This exquisite Fleurie is aged in Burgundian barrels adding to its complex structure and enhancing the purity of the Gamay fruit.

The Jules Desjourneys Fleurie Chapelle Bois 2020 titillates with a profound bouquet of crushed black cherries, wild berries and spices, underpinned by subtle earthy undertones. On the palate, it boasts a silky yet generous body with a vibrant acidity and mineral-infused finish that elegantly lingers. This remarkable blend showcases the distinctive charm and meticulous craft that Jules Desjourneys wines are renowned for. Truly a quintessential Beaujolais indulgence.

Discover the elegant sophistication of Jules Desjourneys Moulin-a-Vent Styx 2016. Hailing from Burgundy, France, this cherished red wine exemplifies the fine craft of winemaker Fabien Duperray, known for his meticulous old-world techniques and measures to guarantee quality. Drawing from the vineyard's rich granitic soils, Jules Desjourneys Moulin-a-Vent Styx 2016 displays an exquisite synergy of intense berry flavours and a robust mineral structure.

This wine is a sublime result of 100% hand-harvested Gamay grapes, whole-cluster fermented to elegantly preserve the unique character of each bunch. The aging process involves 20 months in well-seasoned oak barrels which contributes to the layers of complexity, adding notes of spice that meld perfectly with the velvety tannins and rich fruit backdrop. The Jules Desjourneys Moulin-a-Vent Styx 2016 promises a wine of great longevity and evolving depth, perfect for enthusiasts of a truly refined vintage.

Wine Advocate (94)

Deep and complete, the 2018 Morgon opens in the glass with notes of cassis, plums, smoked meats and cracked pepper. Medium to full-bodied, supple and layered, it's seamless and beautifully balanced, with powdery tannins and succulent acids. This is another terrific wine from Julien Sunier.

Wine Advocate (91+)

Offering up aromas of dark chocolate, roasting game bird and small wild berries, the 2016 Côte de Brouilly is medium to full-bodied, bright and fleshy, with a crunchy core of fruit, racy acids and a long, chalky finish. Like the Fleurie Clos Vernay, it will demand and reward time in the cellar.

Vinous (91+)

From granite and quartz soils, the 2020 Fleurie La Clos Vernay has a perfumed rose petal scented bouquet with ample red cherry and crushed strawberry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannins, quite tensile and steely, broody on the finish. Give this 3-4 years in bottle.

Vinous (90)

The 2020 Fleurie La Joie du Palais comes from a steeper vineyard and is de-stemmed by hand (30% whole bunch). It has an incense scented bouquet, hints of lavender and violet petals. The palate is medium-bodied with gentle grip, quite fleshy in the mouth, more red fruit laced with crushed stone on the finish. Very fine, perhaps a couple of years in bottle required.

James Suckling (97)

What a sensational perfume this Morgon has! So rich and sensual, yet so refined and complete on the enveloping yet delicate palate. Mind-blowing concentration at the breathtakingly long finish that builds to a gigantic climax. Drink or hold.

Wine Advocate (94+)

The 2020 Morgon Côte du Py Javernières is brilliant, unwinding in the glass with aromas of wild berries, spices, rose petals, loamy soil and licorice. Medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with impressive reserves of ripe tannin and sapid fruit, it's seamless and lively, concluding with a long, resonant finish. As ever, this is built to age, and it will reward patience, even if its youthful charms are considerable.

Wine Advocate (96)

The 2020 Paixar is the one wine from the portfolio that is completely different from the others and comes from high-altitude vineyards in the zone of Dragonte on slate soils. In 2020 and 2021 they used the whole field blend—reds and around 5% white grapes, which might have given it an extra spark of acidity. It matured in 5,000-liter oak vat and 500-liter oak barrels. It has a perfumed nose, elegant and floral, with good ripeness but without excess. It's finely textured with a chalky thread and great balance. It finishes long and dry. This is truly superb and should evolve nicely in bottle. It's now Vino de Paraje 'A Serra' in Dragonte, a parish of Corullón. 8,000 bottles were filled in November 2021.

Jancis Robinson (18)

Pale smudgy garnet colour (and beautifully simple label). This wine is so pure and gorgeous! But gosh how the price has risen since I bought a case only a few vintages ago. It's a great advertisement for minimal intervention and purity. Direct fruit and not a trace of oak. Long and reverberant. Already drinkable but there is no hurry whatsoever.

Vinous (95)

Inky ruby. A deeply perfumed bouquet evokes ripe red and dark berries, Moroccan spices and floral pastilles, along with suggestions of cola, licorice and smoky minerals. Shows a suave blend of depth and energy to the sharply focused black raspberry, cherry vanilla, star anise and candied violet flavors, which deepen and become sweeter with aeration. Well-knit tannins add grip to a penetrating finish that leaves behind notes of dark berry preserves and spicecake.

Decanter World Wine Awards 2023 (97)

Our Best in Show journey across Northern Spain continues with a 2020 Bierzo, grown just across the provincial border from Galicia into Castilla y Léon. It’s another zone of steep slopes and old vines – the variety in this case being Mencia (known as Jaen in Portugal’s Dão region). This wine is deep black-red in colour and vivacious and urgent in aroma: wild plums mingled with the woodland scents of leaf, copse and forest floor. The palate is fruit-packed and vibrant, vigorous with an energy derived both from ripe acidity and fresh though smooth tannins; look out, too, for a stony, bitter-edged finish perhaps derived from the region’s slate soils. Wonderful drinking now in the flush of youth, but fruit of this quality will hold well for a few years yet.

Hailing from the revered vineyards of Basque Country, the Oxer Kuusu 2021 promises an exquisite voyage of the senses. This small-batch, artisanal wine is a brainchild of Oxer Bastegieta, a masterful producer dedicated to organic and biodynamic methods.

The Oxer Kuusu 2021 illustrates an enchanting mélange of intricate notes hinting at ripe berries, slate minerals, and soft undertones of vanilla. Astoundingly, this sensory palate is achieved entirely from hand-harvested, indigenous grape varieties, subjected to meticulous, traditional winemaking processes.

The wine is carefully matured in French oak barrels, fostering an opulent, yet balanced bouquet. Such exacting attention to detail lends Oxer Kuusu 2021 its distinct character, well-regarded among fine wine enthusiasts.

A bottle of Oxer Kuusu 2021 is not simply a wine; it's a testament to the grandeur of Basque viticulture and a true embodiment of its historic terroir. It is, undoubtedly, the beacon of artisanal winemaking.