Jeb Dunnuck (98-100)

The same 60/40 split of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, brought up in new oak, the 2018 Tench Vineyard EE Red Wine is another incredibly pure, complex, yet powerful 2018. Rocking levels of crème de cassis, spring flowers, chocolate, and graphite give way to a full-bodied, pure, and seamless wine that has incredible potential.

Wine Advocate (97-99+)

A barrel sample, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Tench Vineyard is deep garnet-purple colored and skips out of the glass with bright, cheery blackberries, crushed blackcurrants and plum preserves scents with hints of menthol, bay leaves and candied violets. Full-bodied, the palate is bombastic and juicy with plush tannins and lively acid, finishing long.

Vinous (88-91)

(losses to frost were only 30% here, vs. 80% for the Grasses Têtes): Good dark red. Very ripe aromas of black cherry and mocha. At once sweeter and sappier than the Grasses Têtes, offering noteworthy concentration and definition to its juicy dark fruit flavors. Showing much more early personality too. Finishes with serious but pliant tannins.

The Bruno Clair Marsannay Rouge 2016 is a splendid embodiment of fine French winemaking. Expertly crafted in the heart of Burgundy, this charming Pinot Noir captures the essence of its Marsannay terroir with finesse. Its brilliance stems from Bruno Clair's philosophical winemaking approach, one that emphasizes minimal interference and meticulous attention to detail. An advocate of sustainable viticulture, Clair's respect for the soil affords a robust concentration of flavour.

This wine displays vibrant ruby hues, exuding ripe red fruits, including cherries and currants on the nose. On the palate, it impresses with its elegant tannins, the subtle spiciness of clove blending with its fruit-driven core. The wine's natural acidity and balance make it accessible within its youthful stage, whilst indicating a long life ahead.

The Bruno Clair Marsannay Rouge 2016 is a testament to the producer's profound understanding of the vine and a dedication to the authentic expression of its origin.

Burghound (89-90)

"A very subtle hint of wood frames pure and relatively elegant red and blue pinot fruit aromas that introduce delicious mineral-inflected flavors that possess good detail and punch, all wrapped in a mildly austere and persistent finish"

Wine Advocate (89-91)

Notes of cherries, red berries and peonies introduce the 2020 Marsannay Les Longeroies, a medium-bodied, bright and lively wine with a pretty core of fruit and ripe, melting tannins.

James Suckling (99)

This is luxurious red for the vintage with velvety tannins that give it superb depth and richness. Lots of tile, dry earth, clay and chocolate. Full-bodied, but almost weightless in the sensibility of the wine. It goes on for minutes. Lovely dried oranges and savory, fruity and forest-floor character at the end. 80% cabernet sauvignon, 14% cabernet franc, 4% petit verdot and 2% merlot. Unfined and unfiltered. Drink in 2025.

Wine Advocate (91)

From vines planted at elevated densities, the 2020 Marsannay Clos du Roy Blanc exhibits notes of white flowers, citrus zest, crisp orchard fruit and nutmeg. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and racy, with bright acids and a saline, mineral finish, it shows plenty of promise.

Vinous (90-92)

The 2021 Marsannay Clos du Roy has a splendid bouquet, very pure and perfumed, quite floral in style. The palate is fresh on the entry with crunchy red fruit, a bit chalky, crisp black and red fruit with a vibrant, rather mineral finish. This is quite superb.

Vinous (91-93)

The 2019 Marsannay Es Chezots is one of the most impressive on the nose among Laurent Fournier’s cuvées with black cherries, cassis and briary aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannins. There is a discrete marine influence, touches of oyster shell and sea salt on the finish of this splendid and sophisticated Marsannay.

Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (90-92)

Rich deep purple, I do like the nose here. Laurent says it did not show so well earlier and is now only coming in to itself. He is looking at longer ageing. Huge stuffing to this yet entirely balanced. On the cusp of red and black, a little bit spicy and with excellent length. Tasted: November 2021

Vinous (91-93)

The 2021 Marsannay Es Chezots has a lively, vibrant bouquet with pure Dorset plum and bilberry scents, light iris petal aromas. Very detailed. The palate is medium-bodied with finely-chiselled tannins, quite chalky in texture, perhaps a little compact but I feel this has something up its sleeve for later. Fournier's spiciest Marsannay. Great potential.

Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (90-93)

5 stars. Pale to mid lemon yellow. No sign of too much wood here from Schneckenleitner barrels, much crisper with great tension behind and complex citrus fruit notes behind. Long and fine. Excellent. Marries freshness and density. Tasted: November 2021

Wine Advocate (90-92)

The 2015 Bourgogne Chapitre Vieilles Vignes, which now includes a small parcel of younger vines, is one of the best generic red Burgundy wines that you can find. This does not disappoint. It has a beautifully defined bouquet with blackberry and raspberry aromas, real intensity, almost brooding in quality. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, quite rounded redcurrant and cranberry notes on the entry, wonderful acidity and genuine weight and presence on the finish. Never underestimate the quality of this wine.

Vinous (91-93)

The 2019 Marsannay Le Chapitre comprises a blend of 15- and 75-year-old vines. Interestingly, Laurent Fournier remarks that the younger vines performed better due to the superior rootstock. It has a gorgeous bouquet with dark cherries, blackcurrant and light violet aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, very velvety in texture with an almost crystalline finish. Just a wonderful Marsannay from Fournier this year.

Vinous (92-94)

The 2019 Marsannay "Trois Terres" Vieilles Vignes has a dense bouquet with blackberry, Japanese nori and almost briny aromas. It gradually opens with more crushed stone scents coming through. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannins, fleshy to the point where it disguises the structure underneath, leading to a tarry and very sustained finish. Just about as good as Marsannay gets. Superb.

Burghound (90-93)

An agreeably fresh nose freely offers up its array of spicy and perfumed red berries, soft earth and a floral whiff. There is fine mid-palate density to the seductively textured, even succulent, medium weight flavors that exude a subtle minerality on the lightly austere, firm and balanced finale. This is lovely and worth considering

Wine Advocate (98+)

A blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Oakville Estate Proprietary Red Wine was aged for 22 months in French oak barrels, 55% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, it sashays out of the glass with flamboyant scents of candied violets, red roses, black raspberries and fragrant earth over a core of cassis, wild blueberries and Morello cherries with a waft of pencil lead. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is an exercise in poise, featuring beautifully balanced velvety tannins and seamless freshness framing the opulent black and red berry layers, finishing very long and perfumed. 670 cases were made.

Wine Spectator (94)

'#1 in Wine Spectator Top 100 2022' - Packs in generous steeped plum, boysenberry and mulberry flavors backed by a broad swath of roasted alder and bittersweet cocoa. Brimming with dense fruit, and is squarely in the not-shy style. The long finish has a serious loamy tug, too. Best from 2023 through 2035. 10,000 cases made.

Jeb Dunnuck (100)

The 2015 Screaming Eagle is another monumental wine from this address, and it's one of those cases where if you afford it, you should buy it. A blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc, this magical elixir boasts a deep purple color as well as a blockbuster bouquet of blueberries, creme de cassis, violets, incense, and cedarwood. Reminding me of the 2015 Château Margaux with its off the charts class and purity, it’s full-bodied, thrillingly textured, and has a finish that just won't quit. This legendary wine is going to keep for 30-40 years.

Wine Advocate (97+)

Beautiful floral notes intermixed with creme de cassis, licorice and charcoal jump from the glass of this dense purple-colored 2002. Opulent, broad, full-bodied and more mature than I expected given how this wine showed in its youth, this deep, rich Cabernet Sauvignon is exceptional. However, in this vintage it has to take a back seat to a number of other cuvees. The final blend was 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc.

James Suckling (100)

The subtle and nuanced aromas to this are so enticing with perfumed, floral, blackcurrant and blackberry character. Roses, too. Some lavender. Full-bodied yet so refined and polished with the most transparent and polished texture. Firm and seamless. So beautiful now. Give it three or four years to come around, but this already sings.

Wine Advocate (100)

Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Screaming Eagle soars out of the glass with vibrant notions of ripe blackberries, black cherries and fresh red and black currants plus wafts of licorice, candied violets, cedar chest and clove oil with a beguiling touch of sea spray. Medium-bodied with jaw-dropping elegance, the palate is finely textured and yet built like a brick house with a super taut backbone and exquisitely knit acidity. The intense black and red fruit flavors are accented by layers of mineral and floral notions, finishing with incredible length and depth. Undeniably stunning. “I loved it!” winemaker Nick Gislason told me when I asked him for his thoughts on the 2018 vintage. “Everything is just really perfumey with a lot of verve and a lot of freshness. It’s a wholesome vintage, if that makes sense? The canopies were big and healthy; there was a lot of life in the vineyard. After 2017, it felt like the bloom that comes afterward.” He went on to say, "We made a little 2017 red. Only four barrels of the Cab! Ten barrels of The Flight. Only from grapes that came in before the fires—mainly Merlot and a couple of blocks of Cabernet." Whereas Screaming Eagle is mainly sourced from Cabernet Sauvignon grown on the western side of the estate, there is one plot of old Merlot (1980s plantings) on the eastern side of the vineyard that continually makes the backbone of this Second Flight/The Flight. This is planted on very gravelly, well-drained soils. Gislason explained, “The Cabernet Sauvignon for The Flight is always about being fresh, light and perfumey, without the firmer tannins that Cabernet can sometimes give. There is a ‘fresh’ end of the property that this tends to come from. There is some other Merlot on the other side of the property that doesn’t have the acidity, perfume or brightness we’re looking for. We don’t use this in The Flight.”

Wine Advocate (98)

The 2017 Sauvignon Blanc is 100% Sauvignon Blanc, coming from a small section of estate vines closer to the Napa river. It is entirely fermented in French oak, but only about 5% is new. The grapes are pressed straight to barrels and kept on their gross lees. The wine is fermented using native yeasts. This vintage, the nose is not at all shy—it comes bounding out of the glass with exuberant scents of ripe peaches, passion fruit and musk perfume plus wafts of honeycomb, elderflower, ripe gooseberries and lemongrass with a waft of Bosc pears. The palate is super intense and yet ethereally weighted, light-bodied and oh-so-fine, elegant and refreshing, featuring a whole array of chalk and sea spray sparks, creating a shimmer to all the many citrus and stone fruit layers, finishing with great length and energy. There is a truly interesting phenolic texture to the palate that reminds me of some Chardonnays, particularly Burgundian examples. Winemaker Nick Gislason commented that the gross lees contain a lot of phenolic content, which is where the wine picks up that textural component. Love it!

Vinous (98)

The 2016 The Flight is gorgeous. Dark, brooding and closed in on itself, the 2016 is going to need a number of years to be at its very best, but it is incredibly beguiling today. Plum, black cherry, lavender, blood orange menthol, and a host of more mineral-driven notes punctuate this super-expressive wine. This is a decidedly tannic and powerful edition of The Flight. I can't wait to see how it ages. Bottled just six weeks before this tasting, the 2016 appears to have a very bright future. Time in the glass brings out some of the softer edges that will almost surely emerge with cellaring. The Flight is built on a core of older Merlot vines from the southeast corner of the estate. It is an absolutely riveting wine from Screaming Eagle.

James Suckling (100)

This is an incredible wine with such depth and energy and ethereal, mind-blowing sensibility. It sent shivers down my spine tasting it. It just shines on the nose, like bright sunlight breaking through a dark sky. Aromas of raspberries, citrus, violets and dark earth. Full-bodied with extremely fine tannins that go vertical and endless, from top to bottom. A monument for merlot-based wines. Drinkable now, but needs six to eight years to come around.

James Suckling (99)

Extremely floral and aromatic with violets and lavender throughout. Black olives, too. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, very fine-grained tannins that run the length of the wine. Goes on for minutes. A greenish undertone comes out at the end with some spearmint, green tea and green olive. About two-thirds merlot. Best after 2028, but already stunning.

Vinous (91-93)

The 2019 Marsannay Les Longeroies comes from the middle of the vineyard on clayey soils. It is quite high-toned on the nose with Morello cherry, crushed strawberry and sea cave aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with very good depth, rather spicy with a liberal sprinkling of cracked black pepper on the vivacious finish. There is good persistency here - this is a superb Marsannay.