Vinous (98)

The 2018 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigneto Bellavista marries Sangiovese and Malvasia Nera, a combination that works so well. The Bellavista is a powerful, vertical wine endowed with explosive and tremendous energy. Like all the top wines, it needs the better part of a decade to show all it's got. Gravel, smoke, leather, licorice and scorched earth.

Vinous (99)

The 2018 L'Apparita is a total stunner. Ama's 100% Merlot is usually a wine of bombastic intensity, but the 2018 marks a departure from that style, as it is all finesse and nuance. Blackberry jam, spice, menthol and lavender are some of the aromas and flavors that open in an Apparita that dazzles with its precision and nuance. Rain at the end of August pushed out harvest and gave Marco Pallanti the ideal conditions to craft this gorgeous wine.

Decanter (97)

Dried fennel, potpourri, and dried cranberry on the nose. Beneath that, densely packed red and black cherry. A sense of latent power that needs more time to release. Lithe, refreshing tannin, with an apricot blossom finish.

Jancis Robinson (17)

Monforte d'Alba. Mid ruby. This shows plenty of concentration, in fact more than many other Barolos of this vintage. Complex earthy nose with cherry and raspberry fruit and subtle spice. Succulent fruit on the palate that is still a little compact and a layer of polished tannins. Lively, fresh and long. Gritty tannins that cling to the palate on the finish. Could be GV.

Immerse yourself in the exquisite richness of Castello di Solomeo Rosso 2018, a remarkable Red Wine from the heart of Umbria, Italy. This illustrious vintage, crafted by the esteemed vintners of the Castello di Solomeo estate, is the embodiment of years of dedicated viticulture and meticulous winemaking. The 2018 vintage is made from a careful blend of Sangiovese, Sagrantino, and Merlot grapes, aged in oak barrels to instil a harmonious balance of robust fruit flavours, spicy undertones and subtle oak nuances.

Renowned for producing wines of exceptional character, the Castello di Solomeo estate is nestled in the picturesque valleys of the commune of Solomeo, providing perfect terroir for these distinctive grapes. Castello di Solomeo Rosso 2018 shines brightly in the glass, with a complex aroma profile ushering in a palate that juxtaposes freshness with maturity. Pair it with richly flavoured dishes to fully appreciate its opulent profile.

Savor the legacy of Italian winemaking with Castello di Solomeo Rosso 2018, a treasure in any wine lover's collection.

Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (98)

Let the aromatics slowly unfurl out of the glass, really give it time. Crushed raspberries and tobacco, fresh flowers, salty crackers, oyster shell. The weight, the texture, the acidity are all in balance, playing off each other, and this is just a wonderful wine that stops you in your tracks. Located at 1,450m, from a 1.4ha limestone plot, particularly rich in microorganisms (as we learnt through their brilliant recent terroir studies). It's a place where phenolic ripeness happens slowly and the complexity builds as a result. A spring frost reduced yields by about 20%, fermented with 50% whole cluster between concrete vats and oak casks. 4800 bottles produced.

James Suckling (100)

This is really something. There’s purity and focus to the aromas of crushed berries, licorice and black tea, which follow through to an integrated palate of extremely fine, melted tannins that spread to the very ends of the wine. This is all about balance and length. It really is an emotional wine. Great follow-up to the 2017, which was also 100 points. Drinkable now, but better after 2024.

James Suckling (100)

This is really something. There’s purity and focus to the aromas of crushed berries, licorice and black tea, which follow through to an integrated palate of extremely fine, melted tannins that spread to the very ends of the wine. This is all about balance and length. It really is an emotional wine. Great follow-up to the 2017, which was also 100 points. Drinkable now, but better after 2024.

Vinous (94)

Since 2015, this wine has been made using grapes from two vineyards located about a thousand meters above sea level, one in Angélica in Lunlunta, Maipú, and the other in Nicasia in San Carlos, Uco Valley, both harvested in two stages and fermented in open barrels, 20% with whole bunches. Dark purple in the glass. The alluring nose delivers ripe dark fruit with hints of herbs and fine wood that make for a balsamic red with further notes of thyme and violets. Sugary at first with good volume; the gentle tannins allow the wine to flow genially in a classical, nuanced Mendoza Malbec style.

Wine Advocate (98)

The 2018 Malbec Catena Zapata Nicasia Vineyard, from a vineyard planted in Altamira in 1996 from an old massal selection, has contained ripeness, reflecting the less warm vintage (after 2017). The grapes were picked very early but with good ripeness because of the low yields in a very dry year. It fermented in open-top barrels with 100% full clusters and indigenous yeasts and matured in 500-liter oak barrels. It's a balanced and elegant Malbec with some restraint and a very fine thread in the palate, with really fine tannins. It follows the path of the phenomenal 2017, fine and elegant. 12,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2020.

Wine Advocate (98+)

The outstanding 2018 White Stones Chardonnay epitomizes the expression of the grape in the cooler-climate and high-altitude location of the Adrianna vineyard in Gualtallary. There is rectitude, austerity and elegance, a subtle wine with great clout and intensity that comes through as chiseled, focused, symmetric and pure, more in the style of Roulot than Coche-Dury, with superb integration of all the elements and fine minerality. This is more about the place and vintage than the grape, which feels like a good way to transmit the chalky soils of the selected plots. Simply superb, possibly the finest vintage for this bottling so far. 6,600 bottles were filled in May 2019.

Vinous (97)

The 2018 Tempranillo Impulsivo En Chamberlin Vineyard may be the best Tempranillo botting I have tasted from Cayuse Vineyards. The wine broods in the glass. Aromatically, you’re greeted by a brilliant core of dark fruits with tobacco leaf, black tea and tar tones. The palate is soft and generous with a sensuous mouthfeel. Even with 50% new large-format French oak, this doesn’t get close to being overly oaked. Silky and elegant to savor now, it has a really long life ahead of it. This is in a league all its own for North American Tempranillo.

Vinous (92)

The NV (2018) Blanc de Noirs Val Vilaine is bright, fresh and wonderfully nuanced. Orchard fruit, citrus and floral notes give the Val Vilaine so much energy. Cédric Bouchard coaxes so much nuance from these 40 year-old vines. The Val Vilaine is always the youngest wine in the range - the current release is the 2018, which spent just 15 months on its lees - but it will give readers who aren't familiar with these wines a very good idea of the house style. Zero dosage. Disgorged: April 2020.

Wine Advocate (94+)

The 2018 El Rapolao was produced with the grapes from the adjacent plot to the one from Castro Ventosa. It has maybe 5% white grapes and a faint reductive character—a flinty or gun powder note, turning into sesame seeds á la Coche-Dury with time—that the vineyard can have, with a lot less alcohol (13%) and is lighter and more ethereal and elegant. This is floral, clean and fresh, fulfilling the fresher and more elegant style of the 2018s. It follows the style of 2016, perhaps with a touch more depth and complexity, and it is more elegant, with more refined tannins and a chalky sensation. 984 bottles were filled in December 2019.

Wine Advocate (95)

The 2018 Sufreiral is one of the very few reds from limestone soils from Bierzo. This year, it comes from a higher-altitude plot (he now works with five separate plots in the paraje, but the rest go to the Parajes bottling) and in a vineyard with some white grapes. It fermented with full clusters and a longer maceration, resulting in a wine with less color and more tension. If Bierzo is somewhere between the Northern Rhône and Burgundy, this one gravitates more toward Burgundy. It's floral and textured, with a fine thread, very fine tannins and the sapidity of the limestone, very tasty. It's a more ethereal version of 2017. It matured in a well-seasoned, neutral 600-liter oak vat for one year. Only 721 bottles were filled in December 2019.

Jeb Dunnuck (97)

I’d put the 2018 Châteauneuf du Barbe Rac up against anything in this vintage. Coming from 100% Grenache brought up all in concrete, it reveals a deeper purple/ruby color as well as awesome notes of red and blue fruits, ground pepper, iodine, spring flowers, and a touch of gamey meat. Possessing more depth and concentration than most, it’s full-bodied, has a stacked mid-palate, silky tannins, and a big, big finish. I already like it today, but I suspect it will be even better with 1-3 years of bottle age, and it should keep for 15 years or more.

Jeb Dunnuck (97-99)

The 2018 Côte Rôtie La Mordorée comes from the La Côte Brune and the Côte Blonde lieux-dits and is brought up in demi-muids, roughly 35% being new. Black raspberries, currants, cured meats, new leather, and Asian spice notes all define the bouquet. Full-bodied, powerful, and opulent on the palate, it has lots of tannins, loads of fruit, and a great finish.

Wine Advocate (98-100)

As usual, Chapoutier's 2018 Ermitage l'Ermite is a standout among standouts. Crushed stone, blueberries, even a touch of herb feature on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is cool and crunchy but also ripe and generous. It's rich and long, with a firm, granitic structure that should enable two-plus decades of aging. This has it all.

Wine Advocate (97-99)

Is le Méal the most complex and complete lieu-dit on Hermitage, when considering both red and white wines? The 2018 Ermitage le Méal Blanc certainly makes a case for the white, offering honeyed, complex notes of mixed citrus, pineapple, pear and melon, structural notes of crushed stone, ample weight and richness on the palate and a long, vibrant finish. Just terrific.

Wine Advocate (97-99)

Is le Méal the most complex and complete lieu-dit on Hermitage, when considering both red and white wines? The 2018 Ermitage le Méal Blanc certainly makes a case for the white, offering honeyed, complex notes of mixed citrus, pineapple, pear and melon, structural notes of crushed stone, ample weight and richness on the palate and a long, vibrant finish. Just terrific.

Vinous (97)

Saturated violet color. A highly complex bouquet evokes ripe red and dark berries, potpourri, exotic spices and olive. Stains the palate with sweet black raspberry and cherry liqueur flavors that take on licorice, allspice and smoky mineral accents on the back half. Rich yet impressively lively in style, showing sharp precision on the wonderfully persistent, youthfully tannic and floral-driven finish.

Jeb Dunnuck (97)

I've loved every vintage of this cuvée and the 2018 Saint Joseph Le Clos is undoubtedly with the best of them. Incredibly complex notes of black raspberries, flowers, lavender, bouquet garni, and a terrific sense of elegance all emerge from the glass, and this full-bodied beauty has a silky, elegant texture, great tannins, and one seriously lengthy finish. It shows more spice and meaty nuances with time in the glass and this is more Hermitage than your classic Saint Joseph. Enjoy bottles any time over the coming 20 years.

Jeb Dunnuck (97)

A more reductive, meaty, backward effort than normal, the 2018 Saint Joseph Les Granits is all Syrah that comes from unquestionably one of the top terroirs in Saint-Joseph. It was vinified in concrete tanks and aged in a mix of barrels and demi-muids, 20% being new. It blossoms with air and reveals an almost Hermitage-like class and minerality, with killer crème de cassis and black raspberry fruits supported by loads of smoked game, saddle leather, crushed stone, barbecue smoke, garrigue, and violet-like aromas and flavors. Just incredible on the palate as well, with medium to full-bodied richness, awesome tannins, and a liquid rock-like minerality, this tour de force from Saint-Joseph ranks with the finest vintage of this cuvée ever made and matches the 2015, although it shows a very different style. It should be snatched up by readers. It will need 3-5 years of bottle age and will drink brilliantly over the following 20 years or more.

Jeb Dunnuck (97)

A killer wine as always, the 2018 Saint Joseph Les Granits Blanc reveals a medium gold color as well as powerful notes of white currants, toasted spices, brioche, quince, and crushed rock. With beautiful richness, medium to full body, no hard edges and a great finish, it's consistently one of the great whites in the appellation.

Wine Advocate (98+)

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill is composed of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot. It was aged in 100% new French oak for 22 months. The alcohol weighed in at 14.5%. Deep garnet-purple in color, it charges out of the gate with bold expressions of warm cassis, wild blueberries and black raspberries, plus hints of chocolate box, menthol, tapenade, smoked meats and pencil lead. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is bursting with vibrant black fruits, framed by fantastically ripe, fine-grained tannins and lovely freshness, finishing long and mineral laced.

As an expert connoisseur, I can confidently present the Chartogne-Taillet Les Couarres Extra Brut 2018, a superb representation of Alexandre Chartogne's labour of love. This enticing wine, from the esteemed Champagne region of France, has set a new benchmark in quality. Chartogne-Taillet, an artisan domain steeped in history, cultivates the Les Couarres vineyard with meticulous care, yielding this exquisitely crafted Extra Brut.

This 2018 vintage embodies the sensation of perfect ripeness intertwined with the unmistakable terroir of Merfy. The unique, limestone-enriched soil influences the wine's distinctive minerality, while the blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay lends remarkable freshness. Throughout its creation process, the Chartogne-Taillet Les Couarres Extra Brut 2018 undergoes traditional vinification in oak barrels, enhancing its complexity and longevity.

Full-bodied, with a crisp, elegant finish, this wine lends itself to a myriad of culinary pairings. Savour the Chartogne-Taillet Les Couarres Extra Brut 2018; a toast to the finest form of viticulture.

Vinous (93)

The 2018 Meursault Charmes-Dessus 1er Cru has a clean and precise bouquet. Understated at first, it opens with crushed rock, white flowers and touches of citrus fruit. It appears to build in intensity. The palate is quite oaky on the entry, although that should be subsumed with time. Good substance, slightly reductive, yet judiciously spiced with ample depth on the satisfying finish. Great potential. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2018 white tasting.

Vinous (94)

The 2018 Meursault Les Perrières 1er Cru is very harmonious on the nose. Yellow flowers, Japanese yuzu, quince and orange zest open with aeration whilst maintaining superb focus. The palate is very well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, taut and fresh with a welcome bitter lemon note that upholds tension and salinity on the finish. I like where this Perrières is going - one to watch. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2018 white tasting.