Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - 100 points: "A blend of 50% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, the medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Haut-Brion is reticent to begin, languidly revealing crushed black cherries, ripe black plums and wild blueberries with sparks of cinnamon stick, cloves, nutmeg, espresso, unsmoked cigars, tapenade, crushed rocks and lavender. The full-bodied palate possesses wonderfully complementary contrasts of bold black and blue fruit richness and delicately nuanced cherry fruit, baking spices and floral accents, strutting ripe, finely pixelated tannins and seamless acidity that is placed firmly in the background, finishing very long and with plenty of attitude. This impeccably poised, exquisitely perfumed 2015 Haut-Brion possesses the most alluring yet seemingly effortless beauty. While it bears only a passing resemblance in its opulent personality to the now legendary 1989, like that vintage the 2015 cannot fail to hedonically satiate and intellectually edify all lovers of great Bordeaux who drink it. What’s more, it also has the blue-blooded tenaciousness to remain this jaw-droppingly impressive, throughout its many guises over time, and for a very, very long time."
Jaeger-Defaix Rully Premier Cru Rabource 2020 is ripe and fresh with a taste of white peachRully is one of the more northern villages of the Côte Chalonnaise, south of the Côte de Beaune, and produces both white and red wines. Rabourcé is one of the better-known premier cru vineyards, and is located to the west of the village, on an east facing slope. The resultant wine combines ripeness of fruit with excellent brightness, finesse and purity of expression.
Champagne Pommery Brut Grand Cru Royal Millesime 2008 has is crystalline, of a discreet gold with green reflections. The nose presents the patina of the Pommery vintages: elegance, minerality, freshness. First of all intense floral notes reach us: the peony floats around the hawthorn. Maturity is expressed by fruity notes of pear and fresh apricot. The great Pinot Noir present themselves with notes of crushed fresh strawberries. On the palate, the tasting is floating, with a great uprightness. A mineral structure fills the palate from the attack to the finish like a spine. Notes of acacia honey and Mirabelle underline the central element of the tasting. The finish is punctuated by a nice sweetness, marked by flavours of blood orange.
This Champagne comes from an exceptional year and an old vine over 75 years old, called "Les Terres de Noël". The fruits of this plot are the subject of very special attention. The Chardonnay is pressed and vinified separately to give after several years of aging in the bottle a refined and racy champagne, with an inimitable style and a personality rarely equaled. To be reserved as an aperitif to appreciate all its complexity. Limited edition.
Amiral de Beychevelle 2020 is impetuous and very expressive. Notes of violet emerge in a predominantly floral bouquet. The tannins are powerful and silky. Lovely fresh palate, with a combination of red fruit and spices.Another fine wine in the recent series of excellent vintages of Amiral de Beychevelle.
Montagny is the most southern of the Côte Chalonnaise villages and lies at the border of the Mâconnais. Domaine Faiveley Montagny 2020 has clear pale yellow colors with a fresh nose combining floral and mineral notes. The palate is concentrated, well-balanced and taut with a pleasant freshness and good aromatic persistency on the finish.
