95 Wine Spectator

Polished and detailed, with multilayered raspberry and cherry flavors that take on toasty spice, garrigue and savory pepper tones as this builds richness toward supple tannins. Drink now through 2035.

90 Decanter

Blue fruits and cola cubes on the nose. Linear and direct, this is powerful but restrained, with a core of dark, juicy fruits and a mineral undertow giving freshness and a velvety-smooth texture to the tannins. Needs more time to expand and be fully expressive, but this is nice and one I want another glass of. Can be enjoyed today with some time in carafe or hold on for a few more years.

90 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

Aromas of blackberries, sweet tobacco and some crushed stones follow through to a medium body with a pretty core of fruit and well-integrated tannins. Drink after 2024.

89 Neal Martin - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2019 La Vaisinerie has thankfully dispensed with the New World ambitions that I found on the nose before, now displaying more refinement and focus. The palate is medium-bodied and pure, with supple tannins, fine acidity and a sensual finish. I am happy to raise my score.

88 Jeb Dunnuck - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Black cherries, candied violets, spicy oak, and floral notes all emerge from the 2019 Château La Vaisinerie, a medium-bodied, soft, supple, nicely textured, and impeccably balanced Puisseguin. It's already drinking nicely and should have a solid 8-10 years of prime drinking. It showed much better from bottle than barrel.

93 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

"Soft and supple aromas of black currants, dark chocolate, black olives, potpourri and graphite. The palate is smooth and textural, with firmly framed tannins, bright acidity and a long finish. A lovely blend of 81% cabernet sauvignon with small amounts of the other four Bordeaux varieties. Drink or hold." - Ryan Montgomery

94 Antonio Galloni - Vinous

The 2019 Le Boucher, David Arthur's Cabernet Franc-based blend is terrific. A whole range of floral/savory flavors and red berry fruit are really popping today. Dried herbs, mocha, herbs and Franc aromatics open with a bit of coaxing, but the 2019 needs time. The 2019 is beautifully done.

98+ Matthew Luczy - Robert Parkers The Wine Advocate

Retasting the 2023 Syrah The Great Places Otto Reynard Stolpman as a finished wine only solidified my impressions from last year before its bottling, and if anything, I may have been a touch conservative in my range. As I wrote last year, it originates from a west-facing section of stake-trained vines propagated from pre-clonal cuttings of Domaine Auguste Clape's parcel in Reynard, specifically a parcel dating back to 1903. The most floral and perfumed of the series, it opens with a gorgeous nose of lavender and violet aromas grounded by black and blue fruits with dusty, spice-driven flourishes. On the palate, it is seamless, dense and concentrated while exuding a palpable sense of authenticity that feels tailored and guided rather than forced into its robust frame. It finishes with a quick punch of velvety, tannic intensity before recoiling with youthful tension. Even with a relatively short time in the glass, this wine unlocks dynamically, the finish eventually displaying a classy decadence through an upright, unwavering posture. The combination of unbridled power, papal finesse and refined structure is even more harmonious and impactful than I recall, resulting in a profoundly complex and sophisticated expression of Syrah.

98 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

Vivid, rich black fruit dominates this full-bodied, sleek and finely tannic wine. Black pepper, wood smoke, star anise and violet accents kick in as you sip. Great structure, a linear feel and wild, diverse flavors make it something special. Drinkable now, but best from 2029.

96 Vanessa Rason - Decanter Magazine

Stolpman wines are stylistically distinct, offering primarily full-bodied expressions of classic Rhône wines with serious ageing potential. Stolpman Estate Otto Syrah is brimming with ripe fruit and savoury spice. Flavours of blueberry bramble, baked pie crust, and black peppercorn-encrusted filet mignon give this wine a sense of rustic luxury reminiscent of Cornas, blended with the coastal simplicity of Santa Barbara. A hearty tannin backbone carries through the length of the finish and beyond.

98 Jeb Dunnuck - jebdunnuck.com

One of my favorite cuvées from this estate, the 2021 El Alma De Jonata checks in as 80% Cabernet Franc, 15% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Reminding me of a great vintage of Château Figeac, it has a gorgeous perfume of red and black fruits, spring flowers, lead pencil, and smoked tobacco. With medium to full body, gorgeously polished, integrated tannins, and an incredible finish, it already offers pleasure yet will ideally be hidden in the cellar for 4-5 years. It will have 20-25+ years of overall longevity.

96 Antonio Galloni - Vinous

The 2021 El Alma de Jonata is dense and powerful, but also very young. There is some youthful austerity that needs time to soften, and yet all the elements are so well balanced. Dark red/purplish fruit, blood orange, cedar, mint and spice all race throughout this sumptuous, super-expressive Cabernet Franc-based blend. Franc aromatics are especially prominent on the finish. Give this time.

92-94 Jeb Dunnuck - jebdunnuck.com

Also terrific, with lots of cassis, jammy blackberries, crushed rocks, and pepper notes, the 2018 Côtes Du Roussillon Villages Latour De France Occultum Lapidem is medium to full-bodied, has wonderful purity of fruit, no hard edges, and a great finish.

93 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

A powerful and ripe Meursault with plenty of Mirabelle plums filling out the generous medium- to full-bodied palate. Attractive interplay of creaminess, fine tannins and freshness. Matured in small oak barrels, of which one third were new. Very limited production. Drink or hold.

93 Antonio Galloni - Vinous

The 2020 Pinot Noir Knox Alexander is a barrel selection of Santa Maria sites, mostly from Bien Nacido, that spent two years in 100% new French oak. This is an especially floral, lifted style with a fair amount of stems and plenty of Santa Maria savoriness. It's an eccentric wine, but all the elements are nicely balanced. Orange peel, mint, star anise and bright acids linger on the delicate yet persistent finish.

97-98 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

The polish, texture, complexity and patina are very impressive and fascinating. So spicy and interesting with so much going on. Medium body with wonderfully integrated tannins that are cut and nicely chiselled already. Lemon and violet. 64% cabernet sauvignon, 32% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot.

95-97+ Lisa Perrotti-Brown - The Wine Independent

The 2022 Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge is a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, with a yield of 29 hl/ha and aging in 60% new oak. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs a lot of shaking to wake up notes of blackcurrant jelly, redcurrant preserves, boysenberries, and pencil lead, followed by suggestions of lilacs, Sichuan pepper, and cedar chest. The full-bodied palate is built like a skyscraper, delivering mouth-coating black fruits with red berry sparks supported by rock-solid, firm tannins, finishing very long and with a refreshing mineral lift. pH 3.70.

95-97 Antonio Galloni - Vinous

The 2022 Smith Haut Lafitte is a regal, elegant wine. Succulent inky fruit, licorice, spice, lavender and mocha open in a gracious, sublime Grand Vin. Here, too, the wine’s persistence and energy are notable. The Cabernet is especially evident this year, in both the wine’s flavor profile and overall structural feel. In many vintages, the Grand Vin is more immediate and alluring. The 2022 is quite reticent.

97 Jane Anson - Inside Bordeaux

Inky colour, with vivid vibrant edging, curling and fragrant floral aromatics, plenty of energy from the first kick of peony and mandarin peel. The rich density of the blue and black fruits are set against slate and grippy tannins, giving textural contrast which makes it engaging, together with a saline scrape on the finish. Blueberry, cassis, ink, liquorice root, graphite, pink grapefruit, intensely expressed with a vertical rise through the palate, very much true to estate signature. 29hl/h, 3.65ph, 10% whole bunches fermentation, using a mix of full bunches and stalks that they select after destemming. 33% 1st wine, 4% press used in the blend, harvest September 5 to 30. Fabien Teitgen technical director.

94-95 William Kelley - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2022 Smith Haut Lafitte opens in the glass with attractive aromas of cassis, spices, tobacco, graphite and licorice, followed by a medium to full-bodied palate that is deep and layered, with good depth and powdery structuring tannins that assert themselves on the finish. This blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot will require some patience, given its somewhat extracted style.