Wine Advocate (100)

Marked by sensationally deep notes of crushed stone, cassis and blueberry, the 2019 Ermitage l'Ermite is a tremendous effort and a worthy rival to the wines produced in the past four vintages. Full-bodied, it's rich and restrained, expansive yet structured—just a complete wine from mouthwatering aromas to velvety mouthfeel and long, stony finish. While delicious now, I'd expect it to close up shortly, yet still be going strong two decades from now. Wow!

Connoisseurs will savour every sip of the Chateau de la Tour Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru VV 2019, a masterpiece in Burgundian winemaking. This exceptional offering is born from aged vines, nestled in the heart of Burgundy's revered Clos de Vougeot appellation, a testament to the expertise of its producer, François Labet, who follows time-honoured traditions for a distinct result.

Each bottle captures the true essence of Pinot Noir grapes, harvested from 85- to 105-year old vines which bestow unparalleled depth of flavour. The wine undergoes meticulous oak barrel fermentation, with 50% new oak to intensify complexity, forging a beautiful marriage of intensity and elegance.

Bursting with vibrant cherries, a hint of earthy truffle, and adorned by a silky finish, the Chateau de la Tour Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru VV 2019 delivers a harmonious symphony in every glass, a testament to Burgundy's viticultural heritage awaits you.

Wine Advocate (93+)

The 2015 Morgon Côte du Py is a deep, brooding wine, unfurling in the glass with notes of spicy dark fruits, baking chocolate and rich soil tones. On the palate, it's full-bodied, super concentrated and powerful, with lovely acids, fine-grained tannins and a rich but vibrant finish. While it's atypically imposing and large-scaled, it's a very persuasive rendition of the balmy, dry 2015 vintage, and it looks likely to handsomely repay cellaring.

Wine Advocate (94)

The 2019 Moulin-à-Vent Clos du Grand Carquelin has turned out especially well this year, wafting from the glass with notes of dark berry fruit, cherry preserve, warm spices and rose petals. Medium to full-bodied, supple and enveloping, with melting tannins and an ample core of succulent fruit, it's seamless and sensual, deriving from parcels located near Champ de Cour this year.

Wine Advocate (92)

The 2014 Moulin A Vent Clos de Londres is another micro-cuvée that comes from a parcel just outside the château and for that reason the Parinet family believe that the previous owners paid a lot of attention to it. It was bottled in December 2015. It has an attractive bouquet with raspberry coulis, wild strawberry and bilberry that is well defined and seems to gain intensity in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp, slightly chalky tannin. This seems fresh and tensile, displays a light oyster shell note towards the finish that lingers in the mouth. You have the feeling that this will have more to give with 2-3 years in bottle and it is an exquisite take on Moulin-à-Vent that will give a decade's worth of drinking pleasure. Château de Moulin-à-Vent is one of the historic estates in Beaujolais, one that I had not been to before. So when Edouard Parinet invited me down, I thought I would take this opportunity to discover this revived estate that is beginning to produce some of the best wines in the appellation. Winemaking here dates all the way back to 1763 when Philiberte Pommier began making wines at the property (although records suggest that winemaking stretches back to 1732 when it was known as Château des Thorins). For many decades it produced a single cuvée from its diverse array of terroirs and as a bottle of 1991 showed, some of them can be rather fine. But in 2009 it was sold to Jean-Jacques Parinet, a Parisian with a lifetime passion for wines. He began by splitting up the 37 hectares of vine into separate cuvées, aiming to reflect the heterogeneous terroirs of Moulin-à-Vent. It is a long-term project. Clearly the renovations in the house are ongoing and I must admit that I did worry about getting electrocuted every time I went to the lavatory. It needs a bit of TLC but there is a lot of charm to this château and there is a great deal of investment into both the vineyard and the winery. Anyway, I asked Edouard Parinet some questions and he kindly replied in detail to give further information. I began by asking what inspired his father to purchase Chateau du Moulin-à-Vent? "We were both inspired by a family challenge and I was really into wine, maybe even more than my father! When considering buying a wine estate there are not so many options when you are looking for high potential and a historic appellation with affordable land prices. Moulin-à-Vent ticked all these boxes. Jean-Jacques (and his generation more globally) probably have considered for decades Moulin-à-Vent as a high-end appellation for wine, these wines being marketed pretty high in the 1960s and 1970s. Château du Moulin-à-Vent was the right match for a high potential domain sitting on terroir-rich soils!" I then asked for specific investments made at the property since 2009. Edouard replied: "The first big investment was the vat room in 2009, so that we immediately profit from well-equiped, clean facilities. The combination of stainless steel tanks with temperature control system is key for us in the vinification process. For the last 7 years we have been investing in the vineyard to rediscover perfect vegetal material and for this we have trellised the entire vineyard, complanté vines where they were missing and purchased new machinery. There are many ongoing trials at the domain as part of the investments in terms of trellising, pruning, soils and selection massale. We have also expanded the surface under organic viticulture to around 5 hectares and also 1 hectare under biodynamics. Our futaille [which you might translate as barrel regime] is mature enough so that we only need to use on average 15-25% of new oak. Our barrel cellar is temperature-controlled so that we can guarantee good cellaring conditions, which is important since our wines are distributed on average 3 vintages before current year." Then I inquired about their vineyard practices and vinification. "A basic summary would be: viticulture très raisonnée, soil work, trellising, complantation to preserve our old vines. Every soil is worked and a lot of attention is paid to each of them. Our average yield so far is 25 hl/ha (compared to 16 hl/ha in 2012 to 33 hl/ha in 2011). Our approach is to understand the terroirs and test different viticultures (organic and biodynamic) so that we can judge the one which have the best results. Regarding the winemaking, the extraction lasts between 2 and 3 weeks. Whole bunch is only used on old vines and in hot vintages - it is the only way to get a good stem ripeness. In 2015, there is 30% whole bunch as a volume and everything else was destemmed. Pigeage are mainly done 'à froid' for the first couple of days when the alcohol is not too high and then we do remontage. The vinification temperatures never exceed 28 degrees Celsius. For vinification we have no recipe! Every vintage, every terroir is treated independently. We harvest with a large team of around 70 people, which is another investment! So, harvest period is very short on a very small surface, which guarantees a good timing for picking at the right maturity." Finally, I asked about plans for the future and when will the renovations in the house be finished? "Our plan is to keep on working our vines and better our understanding of our terroirs. The house will progress when we will have the time for it."

Case Contains:

1 x 150cl Léoville Las Cases 1990 - 96 WA
1 x 150cl Léoville Las Cases 2000 - 98 WA, 100 WS, 100 JS
1 x 150cl Léoville Las Cases 2010 - 97+WA, 100 WE, 100 DC

The Wine Independent (100)

The 2016 Cheval Blanc is a blend of 58% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon and has a deep garnet-purple color. It needs a fair bit of swirling to unlock a powerful, profound nose of cassis, black raspberries, and stewed plums, followed by suggestions of Indian spices, fragrant soil, crushed rocks, and menthol, with a touch of violets. Medium-bodied, the palate is bright, energetic and gracefully styled, featuring youthful blackberry layers and loads of mineral and floral sparks, with a fine-grained, beautifully ripe texture, finishing long and earthy. Mind-blowing!

Jeb Dunnuck (100)

The Grand Vin 2020 Château Cheval Blanc checks in as a blend of 65% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon that was raised, as always, in 100% new French oak. As usual with Cheval Blanc, it's primarily about finesse and elegance, as well as complexity, and exhibits a deep purple hue as well as a kaleidoscopic bouquet of sweet red and black fruits, spring flowers, spicy incense, loamy earth, and smoke tobacco. Absolutely flawless on the palate, it's full-bodied, has perfectly integrated oak, ripe, silky tannins, and a gorgeous finish that keeps you coming back to the glass. This powerful, concentrated Cheval Blanc offers pleasure even today (needs lots of air) but warrants 7-8 years of bottle age and will see its 40th birthday in fine form.

James Suckling (95-96)

Very pure character to this wine with crushed fruit and round tannins. It’s really transparent and delicate, yet bold at the same time. Super tannins. Vivid. Very primary and berry-like. May well turn out to be even better than this in bottle.

Jeb Dunnuck (99)

Including slightly more Cabernet Sauvignon than usual, the 2018 Château Clinet is 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon that was brought up in 75% new French oak. One of the superstars of the vintage, it has incredible elegance and finesse as well as gorgeous richness and depth. Notes of cassis and truffly dark fruits as well as tobacco, damp earth, chocolate, and lead pencil shavings emerge from the glass, and it's full-bodied, with a seamless, multi-dimensional texture, gorgeous tannins, and a great, great finish. It already offers incredible pleasure, but it won't hit maturity for another 5-7 years and should evolve for 30 years or more. This magical wine is in the same league as the 2015 and 2016, and drinking these beauties over the coming decades will be an incredible treat.

Vinous - Neal Martin (98)

The 2019 Clinet has maintained the stunning delineation that I discerned from the barrel sample. Pure black cherries, hints of cassis and wilted violet scents unfold in the glass with effortless ease, and the oak (75% new, 25% used for 18 months) is neatly integrated. The poised palate is medium-bodied, taut and fresh, with fine-grained tannins and disarming mineralité, particularly toward the finish, which delivers tremendous length and saliva-inducing salinity on the aftertaste. There is a pleasing strictness to this Clinet that is apposite to the flamboyant and decadent wines of the Nineties. This Clinet is one of Ronan Laborde's great achievements.

Wine Advocate (98+)

Tasted at the pre-dinner vertical to mark Sylvain Pitiot's retirement from the domaine, the 2010 Clos de Tart Grand Cru would have been made by angels if not Sylvain Pitiot (angels that had graduated from University of Dijon with a degree in oenology). The nose is so ineffably pure that it is guaranteed to bring a tear to the eye. In a strange way it reminds me of a top Armand Rousseau with its awe-inspiring transparency. The palate is ethereal - divine balance, a gentle grip, a saline edge and poise on the finish that takes your breath away. Iron fist in a velvet glove, etc. This is surely legend in the making.

Wine Advocate (95-97)

The 2014 Clos de Tart Grand Cru will contain 40% whole bunch fruit in the final. It was picked from September 17 until September 22. This blend that I tasted included the young vines at the bottom of the vineyard that may or may not be deselected to make a Forge de Tart (the decision will be made next year). It is also the first vintage that does not include old vines at the northwest corner that were pulled up in spring 2014, due to be replanted in four years' time. It has a very well defined bouquet with cranberry and wild strawberry fruit, fine mineral tones and is quite harmonious with hints of wet limestone. The palate is medium-bodied and I feel this has tightened up since I tasted it in September 2015. The fruit also seems a little darker. Blackberry and wild cherry, with a hint of cola and certainly more tangible mineralité on the finish, as you can feel the mouth tingling long after it has bid adieu.

Vinous (96-98)

The 2017 Clos de Tart Grand Cru was matured in around 80% new oak, the barrels toasted chauff blonde. Jacques Desvauges mentioned that the wine needed oxygen ingress during maturation that only new oak can give. I tasted the component parts (as usual) as well as the blend. This has a very detailed, delineated bouquet offering mainly black fruit mixed with sous-bois, tobacco, clove and bay leaf, the typicité of the appellation showing through nicely. It feels very succinct and yet so fresh. The palate is beautifully balanced on the entry with a killer line of acidity. Pure black cherry fruit is joined by bilberry, hints of black olive and a marine/oyster shell tincture that comes through quite strongly toward the persistent, saline finish, which fans out with confidence. This is a brilliant follow-up to the benchmark 2016 by Jacques Desvauges and his team.

Vinous (98)

The 2018 Clos de Tart Grand Cru was wonderful from barrel but now it seems to have gone up another level. It has an exquisite bouquet with wonderful mineralité infusing the brambly red fruit. Wonderful focus and quite profound complexity. You could nose this forever. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiselled tannins married with a killer line of natural acidity. Everything is perfectly proportioned in this wine, very persistent with layers of dark berry fruit laced with white pepper and tea leaf on the finish. Immense. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2018 red tasting.