Winemakers

2022 Saint Estephe Vintage Report and Buying Guide 2022 St. Estephe is a vintage where the yields were down, but the overall quality was up for most vineyards. As you know by now, the vintage in the Left Bank, as well as all over Bordeaux, was shaped in large-part by the combination of heat, drought,

2022 Bordeaux Wine and Vintage Overview 2022 Bordeaux is one of the more interesting vintages in ages. While the vintage is the result of extreme climatic conditions, the wines cannot be called extreme. In fact, they are the opposite end of the spectrum, as the wines express ripe fruits, silky textures, freshness, balance, harmony. Personally,

2020 St. Julien wines are beautiful expressions of their vineyards. It is important to note that consistently, every wine I tasted from the appellation was gorgeous to experience, even at this young stage of their development. Across the board, 2020 Saint Julien wines are deeply colored, concentrated, elegant, and aromatic. Plus, as the wines show

2020 Margaux wines at their best are simply gorgeous. They display a beautiful depth of color, along with soaring aromatics and strong floral characteristics. The top wines are universally silky, elegant, concentrated, rich, and sensuous. Lower in alcohol than 2018 and 2019, and showing good freshness, many of the wines, while not as quite as

2020 Bordeaux is simply, a fabulous vintage. It is the perfect crescendo to an unsurpassed trio of incredible vintages, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Of course, each vintage is unique with its own style and character. Overall, 2020 Bordeaux is the most consistent of the trio, with stunning wines produced in every appellation and at all

2020 Pauillac, with all the high scores in this vintage, it is easy to see this is an exceptional vintage. With the exception of the First Growths, we were able to taste every great 2020 Pauillac. When I am in Bordeaux in April, to taste the 2022 vintage, I will taste and report on Chateau

If you are already a fan of St. Estephe, you are going to love the 2020 Saint Estephe vintage. If you are not yet in love with the appellation 2020 St. Estephe is going to seduce you. There was a time, not that long ago when Saint Estephe was a bit behind the other top

As we wrote previously, because we tasted over 200 St. Emilion wines, our 2020 Saint Emilion is divided into 4 separate articles. This article, Pt 3 covers wines L-N. For the rest of 2020 Saint Emilion, please read: 2020 St. Emilion, PT 1 Wines A-C with Vintage and Harvest Report, Producer Quotes 2020 St. Emilion,

I am a huge fan of sweet, white Bordeaux. Frankly, I wish I drank it more often. And tasting these 2020 Sauternes and 2020 Barsac wines reminded me of how great these wines are. The issue with 2020 sweet white Bordeaux wine is not the quality, it is the quantity, as yields for many estates

This is our final article covering 2020 St. Emilion. With over 200 wines tasted from just the 2020 Saint Emilion appellation, we needed to publish the tasting notes in 4 articles. As we wrote previously, because we tasted over 200 St. Emilion wines, our 2020 Saint Emilion is divided into 4 separate articles. This article,

If you are a fan of Merlot and Cabernet Franc blends from the Right Bank, it is impossible not to be enthralled by what is taking place in the Cotes de Bordeaux today. With terroir that at its best can compete with some of the better vineyards in St. Emilion, 2020 Cotes de Bordeaux has

2020 Pessac Leognan wines are at their best, simply, beautiful. Pessac Leognan is a complicated appellation. Some vintages favor red wines, other years white wines, and every now and then you get lucky, and both the red and white wines turn out great. However, 2020 is a red wine vintage. The top red wines offer

2020 Bel Air Eiffel – Graves de Vayres – Medium-bodied, soft, chewy, and savory, with a salty, chalky accent to the finish, you can drink this on release. On a historical note, the vineyard was until recently owned by a descendant of Gustave Eiffel, who designed the Eiffel tower. The wine blends 60% Cabernet Franc,

With 2020 Bordeaux, Pomerol is in contention as the appellation of the vintage, and that saying something, considering the number of all of the great wines from this year. 2020 Pomerol is not only remarkably consistent, but several producers seem to have elevated their game by producing the best wines in the history of the

2020 Lalande de Pomerol is not a homogenous vintage, as you would expect, with such a diverse array of terroirs and owners. But at their best, 2020 Lalande de Pomerol produced a lot of sublime, fresh, lush, soft, and silky, Merlot and Cabernet Franc blends that, unlike their more prestigious neighbors, will not cost that

Fans of Fronsac are going to love this vintage! 2020 Fronsac is simply fabulous. The wines are already showing beautifully with luscious, supple textures and layers of rich, chocolate-covered plums and cherries. All of the following 2020 Fronsac wines were tasted in non-blind conditions earlier this year. 2020 Barrabaque Hugo – Canon-Fronsac – Spice, flowers,

Located inland, the two smallest appellations in the Medoc, Moulis, and Listrac, are not always easy to ripen, as both appellations have a cooler terroir with less access to water than many of their neighboring vineyards in the Haut Medoc appellation. But with 2020 Bordeaux, there are 2020 Listrac and 2020 Moulis wines that are

2020 Haut Medoc wines are perfect for readers who prefer value wines that don’t require big names seeking a true, Left Bank tasting experience. While not every wine is a winner, there are so many good wines here, it is hard to pick a favorite. One of the few benefits of Covid was a change

If you are not familiar with Bordeaux Superieur, you are missing out. Especially with 2020 Bordeaux Superieur wines. They offer some of the best, Merlot and Cabernet Franc blends for the money in the entire region, And that is saying something! At their best, as you can see in the Tasting Notes, these Right Bank

2020 Bordeaux is going to be seen as one of the great vintages of all time. After tasting over 900 wines in barrel and in bottle, there is no doubt about that. But honestly, this is for the red wines. While there are some very good, delicious, 2020 White Bordeaux wines, it was not an

Last but, clearly, not least, this is the fourth and final article wine buying guide and vintage report for 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape. Because we tasted so many 2020 Chateauneuf wines, (Almost 250 wines) we separated our report into four articles; Part 1, A-C, Part 2, D-I, Part 3, J-M, and finally Pt 4 N-Z.

Continuing with our report on the best wines from the 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape vintage, this is Part 3. This vintage report and wine buying guide contains close to 250 wines. With so many great wines, as you can see, we have divided our article into 4 separate articles; Part 1, A-C, Part 2, D-I,

As you can tell, the 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape Report and Buying guide has too many great wines for just one article.In total, we tasted close to 250 wines. With so many great wines, this report has been divided into 4 separate articles, Part 1, A-C, Part 2, D-I, Part 3, J-M, and finally Pt

If you are a fan of supple-textured, elegant, fresh, sweet, and spicy red berry-filled wines from the Southern Rhone Valley, 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape wines are for you. 2020, the crescendo in a trio of outstanding years in the Chateauneuf appellation provides wines with slightly lower alcohol levels and slightly less concentration than you find

Chateau Quintus wants a seat at the table. In order to prove to several of the world’s leading wine critics, wine merchants, and negociants, Chateau Quintus held a blind tasting at Oswald’s Club in London at the end of May 2022. The event was hosted by the owner, Prince Robert of Luxembourg, Jean-Philippe Delmas, the

2021 Cotes de Bordeaux wines did not have it easy. The growing season seemed like one challenge after another starting with below-freezing temperatures that struck the Cotes de Bordeaux appellation on April 7 and April. Depending on the vineyard, crop losses were dramatic with some vineyards losing more than 50% of their harvest. The wet,

2021 Bordeaux Superieur wines represent some of the best values in the entire Bordeaux appellation. Though, it is important to be selective, as Bordeaux Superieur is a massive appellation and in difficult vintages like 2021, not all wines are equal. All of the following 2021 Bordeaux Superieur wines were tasted in Bordeaux in April in

The 2021 Saint Emilion Satellite Appellation wines from Lussac, Montagne, Puisseguin, and St. Georges can offer fabulous drinking for prices much less than what you might pay from its more prestigious neighbor, St. Emilion. While 2021 is a difficult vintage here, there are several wines worth tasting. However, they are going to be difficult to

The two first points about 2021 Sauternes is that the wines are great! Point number two, there is very little wine as the vineyards were slammed, suffering extensive crop losses by the one-two punch of devastating frost storms and powerful bouts of hail storms. What little wine was able to be produced, and by little,

2021 Dry white Bordeaux wines are superb. In fact, this is the best vintage for white Bordeaux wine in years. The wines offer everything fans of Bordeaux Blanc could ever want in a wine. They exude purity, freshness, lift, and vibrancy. The fruits are aromatic, sweet, ripe, and sizzling with the racy acidities that are