94 Falstaff Magazine

Floral, delicate and cheerful, while also serious, with a sharp slate mineral component. On the palate, subtle and firm, mineral and fruity, juicy and supple, weightless and with an elegant acidity, excellent length. A masterpiece.

92 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

The aromas of pie crust, dried pears and lemon curd pull you into this sleek and racy dry riesling. There’s a sturdy structure on the medium-bodied palate that gives this quite a punch and drives the crisp finish. From organically grown grapes with Fair'n Green certification. Drink or hold.

95 Erin Larkin - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2023 Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc comprises 97% Sauvignon Blanc, 2% Semillon and 1% Sauvignon Gris. Aromatically, the wine leads with pressed linen and Golden Delicious apples, white pepper, shaved fennel and a profusion of preserved citrus rind. Texturally, the wine has grip and shape, and while the acidity is brisk in the mouth, it is enveloped with ripe fruit and is tense. The four clones of Sauvignon Blanc (MS, 316, 317 and 905) bring genetic diversity and fruit profile, which elevates the wine into the echelon of the great. This is a 360-degree drinking experience here, driven by phenolic drive, acid and an abundance of fruit. Excellent. Barrel ferment and lees work emphasizes all of the above. The 905 clone plays a role in the texture of the wine here. This is one of the best Cape Crest releases—and from a challenging season too. The wine goes a long way toward proving the theory that great producers prevail no matter the season, and a large part of that is the extensive work conducted in the vineyard. The years of research and development into vine and soil health, cover crops and canopy management has come home to roost in this season. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

98 Stephan Reinhardt - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2023 Bernkasteler Lay Auslese (Gold Capsule) is deep, fresh and savory on the crunchy, lemon-scented and honeyed nose that combines reductive with coolish wet stone and saline notes. Very refined and elegant on the palate, this is a playful, crystalline and weightless yet also rich and sweet but stimulating crystalline Auslese with lush yet finessed fruit and a long, well-balanced and very elegant finish. It's highly salivating and irresistible even at this young stage. 8% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine from AP 14 24 in January 2025.

94 Wine Enthusiast

"A superbly dense, concentrated wine so rich in flavor that it almost has a brooding, dark quality. The hint of medicinal character just gives all this intensity a lift, and goes with flavors of roasted nuts and licorice. The aftertaste has just the right acidity."

98 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

So much violet and lilac aromas to this with blackberry and blueberry character, too. Full-bodied and delivering limestone, chalk and lavender on the palate. Great structure, too. Needs four or five years to soften. Better in 2022.

97 Jane Anson - Inside Bordeaux

This was a vintage where I really began to sit up and take notice of this estate as reguarly producing something extraordinary. Takes a heartbeat to get going, but you are rewarded with sculpted blueberry and raspberry fruits, mocha and liqourice, and a delicate feeling of tiptoing across a slate-strewn palate even at this young stage of six years old. Saline and pummice stone finish, with gunsmoke and black truffle curling out of the glass. Part of the warm vintages series within this vertical. 60% new oak.

97 Jeff Leve - The Wine Cellar Insider

Lush, sexy, plush and polished, the wine has all the glycerine needed to coat the glass and your palate. There is purity in the fruits and silky tannins in the finish that make this just as exciting to feel as it does to taste. One of the best vintage produced here, this should age for at least 20-25 years or longer!

96+ Antonio Galloni - Vinous

The 2015 Pavie-Macquin is surprisingly reticent. In the early going, I thought the 2015 would be easy to approach young, but this tasting has made me re-think that. Hedonistically ripe and explosive, with tremendous fruit purity, the 2015 possesses incredible depth along with the structure to match. Readers will need to be patient.

96 James Molesworth - Wine Spectator

Ripe, pure and expressive, with a beautiful panoply of loganberry, plum and red currant preserve flavors that meld seamlessly with anise and singed apple wood details and a subtle chalky spine. A bright floral accent on the finish lifts this up a register and lets it sail on, holding that note. Best from 2020 through 2040. 4,583 cases made.

96 Lisa Perrotti-Brown - The Wine Independent

Pavie Macquin 2015 is deep garnet in color and needs some coaxing to unveil emerging scents of crushed blackberries, warm plums and black raspberries, leading to hints of rosehip tea, licorice, incense, and espresso, with a waft of fertile loam. Full-bodied, the palate is packed with lively black fruits and loads of earthy/savory accents, supported by fine-grained tannins, finishing long and minerally.

96 International Wine Report

Nicolas Thienpont is at the top of his game and has created another absolute gem in 2015. This blend of 84% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon begins with seductive aromatics of blackberries and dark cherries which are laced with spices and floral nuances all coming together beautifully. On the palate this is full, rich and opulent, with remarkable balance and poise. It continues to impress with layers of dark fruits, which are cut with lovely minerality leading up to the long finish. A stunning wine which will require a bit of bottle age, yet shows incredible promise for an extremely bright future.

91 Tastings.com (Beverage Testing Institute)

Clear. Lightly yeasty aromas of dough, Asian pear, creamy nougat with a silky, fruity-yet-dry medium body and a refreshing melon, kiwi coconut cream, and dusty potato accented finish. A vibrant junmai sake that will excel with spicy Asian dishes and appeal to wine drinkers. (tasted 6-14-13)

85 Stephen Tanzer - Vinous Media

"Pale, bright straw color. Vaguely grapey aroma with hints of herbs and anise. Rather low-toned flavors of squash, banana and sweet butter. On the soft wide, but fairly subtle and easy to drink. A midweight example that's cleanly made but a bit warm."

100 Jeb Dunnuck - jebdunnuck.com

The 2022 Côte Rôtie Côte Blonde is a stunning, flawless effort offering a complex array of red, blue, and black fruits intermixed with graphite, crushed stone, and wildflowers. Full-bodied, silky, and multidimensional on the palate, it has incredible depth, perfectly ripe tannins, and remarkable purity of fruit. This profound, age-worthy wine deserves 7-10 years of bottle age and will have 30+ years of prime drinking. The floral, perfumed, exotic, and incredibly seductive character here is reminiscent of Guigal's Côte Rôtie La Mouline. Don't miss this wine. Drink 2032-2062.

92 Wine Spectator

"Fresh and lively, with a leesy hint of bread dough mixing with candied berry, quince paste, lemon zest, wax and fleur de sel. Fine-grained, with a lip-smacking, juicy finish. Disgorged April 2011. Drink now through 2018. –AN (Tasted 11/11)"

91 Wine Spectator

A slight honeyed note to the candied lemon peel and yellow plum flavors imparts a richness to this white, which is a lush style for sure, with chamomile and straw notes chiming in. A tug of bitter tannins brings form and balance to the long finish, graced by a salted almond note. Drink now through 2030. 1,999 cases imported.

92 Wine Spectator

"A minerally style, with hints of smoke and gravel underscoring the crunchy pear, fresh tarragon, grapefruit zest and lentil notes. This is chiseled, with good drive and length, including a zesty feel on the white pepper–laced finish. Drink now through 2034. 24,160 cases made, 1,200 cases imported. -AN"

90 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

"A smoky sauvignon blanc full of intense asparagus. Tingling on the palate with zesty acidity and a brief finish. A bit too New Zealand in style. Drink now."

93 Antonio Galloni - Vinous

The 2020 Chianti Classico is a gorgeous wine from Castell'in Villa. Soft contours are the first sign of a rare young Chianti Classico from this estate that will drink well with minimal cellaring. Dark wild cherry, cedar and pipe tobacco open first. The 2020 offers gorgeous dark Sangiovese fruit along with all of the structure that is so typical of the wines here. Plum, graphite, leather, incense and dried herbs shape the striking finish. What an absolute delight!

97-100 William Kelley - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2022 La Conseillante is a remarkable wine that has the potential to emerge as one of the wines of the vintage. A blend of 87% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Franc, it unfurls in the glass with deep aromas of black raspberries and mulberries mingled with notions of rose petals, violets, orange zest and mint. Medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, it's velvety and enveloping, with a textural attack that segues into a multidimensional mid-palate that's framed by sweet, powdery tannins, concluding with a long, saline finish. Checking in at a very healthy pH of 3.65 and 14% alcohol, it is a beautifully supple, suave wine that retains all this estate's signature elegance but in a slightly deeper-pitched and broader-shouldered format than the profound 2020. Congratulations to winemaker Marielle Cazaux, consulting enologist Thomas Duclos, the Nicolas family led by Jean-Valmy, and all the team at La Conseillante who have firmly established this estate at the very top of Pomerol's qualitative hierarchy in recent vintages.

98-100 Lisa Perrotti-Brown - The Wine Independent

A blend of 87% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Franc, the 2022 La Conseillante has a pH of 3.65 and is aging in 70% new oak. The yield was 33 hl/ha. It starts off with an opaque purple color, then POW! It explodes from the glass with a spectacular nose of rose oil, star anise, garrigue, and candied violets, giving way to a powerful core of blueberry preserves, juicy black plums, and Morello cherries, plus a waft of Sichuan pepper. The medium to full-bodied palate is bright, vibrant, and impactful, delivering layer upon layer of intense flavors with a super-plush texture and fantastic tension, finishing epically long and wonderfully perfumed. A masterpiece—brava, Marielle!

97-99 Neal Martin - Vinous Media

The 2022 La Conseillante was picked at 33hL/ha between 5 and 20 September and raised in 70% new oak plus 30% in amphorae. There is 13.9% alcohol. This is quite discrete on the nose, just like L'Évangile, only really opening after several minutes. Blackberry, blueberry, hints of iris flower, perhaps more floral than L'Évangile and Cheval Blanc. The palate is medium-bodied with velvety tannins plus a fine bead of acidity. Fresh and focused, this is maybe less concentrated on the mid-palate than expected but that maintains an unerring sense of equilibrium. Tensile and very smooth with an underlying sense of strict like its aforementioned neighbors. A rough decant prizes this Pomerol open and reveals its inner core of mineralité. Anyone spending less than 15 minutes tasting this Pomerol is likely to have totally missed it. Saline both on the finish and aftertaste, Marielle Cazaux has crafted one of the most intellectual La Conseillante wines in recent years.

98+ Jeb Dunnuck - jebdunnuck.com

The 2022 Château La Conseillante is pure brilliance and is up with the crème de la crème from this estate. Gorgeous blue fruits, sweet cassis, violets, spice, incense, truffle, and blood orange all define the aromatics, and it's a sensationally pure, full-bodied, voluptuous, and perfectly balanced Conseillante that has integrated tannins, a deep, layered mid-palate, and incredible length. A blend of 87% Merlot and 13% Cabernet Franc, aged in 70% new French oak, the 2022 hit 14% alcohol with a pH of 3.65. It's just about impossible to resist even today, but it's going to take 8-10 years to hit its prime drinking plateau and should see its 30th birthday in fine form.

97 JANE ANSON - DECANTER

Deep inky colour, crushed rose petal and peony, such a beautiful wine, with waves of blueberry and cassis fruit, along with liqourice root, lemongrass, slate and saffran, and one of the clear standout successes of Pomerol. 95% 1st wine this year, with just 5% for Duo de La Conseillante. Slow progress through the palate, this has vintage character but leans into it. 70% new oak, 3.65ph. Harvest 5 to 20.