90-92 Wine Cellar Insider

Tobacco, smoke, forest leaf and blackberries are what you find in the nose and on the palate. This superb baby Lynch Bages is an outstanding Pauillac on its own, due to its core of cassis, blackberries, spice, smoke, cigar box and herbs. The fruit is sweet, ripe, and vibrant. The wine is blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. Drink from 2025-2040.

95-97 Jeb Dunnuck - jebdunnuck.com

The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Secrets De Pignan is all Grenache and comes from an incredible terroir just beside Rayas. Brought up entirely in stainless steel, it offers a deeper ruby/plum color as well as fabulous notes of black raspberries, Morello cherries, sandalwood, Provençal garrigue, and dried flowers. It brings beautiful depth of fruit on the palate, has full-bodied richness, sweet tannins, and a great finish. It's another brilliant 2020 that readers will love to drink any time over the coming 15 years or more.

96 Matt Walls - Decanter

Fine, fresh and herbal with expressive black cherry, liquorice and violets. Full-bodied, gummy and ripe in fruit, but the acidity and plentiful tannin help to keep everything moving and focused. An exceptional, long expression of pure Grenache on sand, it has the fine tannins and elegant structure you'd hope for, alongside great freshness and balance. Its longevity isn't easy to predict, but it's hard to resist drinking now anyway. From a south-facing vineyard planted in 1920 in lieu-dit Pignan, fermented and then matured in stainless steel for 18 months. 6,000 bottles made.

95+ Joe Czerwinski - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

All Grenache from the sandy soils of Pignan (Nord), with élevage in stainless steel, the 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape Secrets de Pignan is a prodigious effort. Boasting bombastic aromas of black cherries, licorice and black olives, this full-bodied wine is concentrated and rich and needs additional time in the bottle, as it's marked by dusty tannins on the lingering finish.

95 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

A very impressive Chateauneuf with stunning damson plum fruit, also delicate notes of savory and smoke. Although this has a huge structure the wine doesn’t feel a jot too big thanks to the excellent concentration. So much savory and earthy depth at the long finish. 100% grenache from century old vines growing on sandy soil. Drinkable now, but best from 2025.

91 Wine Enthusiast

This wine is ripe and juicy. Rich tannins are fully integrated with the attractive acidity and fresh underlying character. Plenty of jammy black fruits partner with the structure. Drink now. — Roger Voss

92 Wine Enthusiast

Dried grass and lime peel aromas give a familiar and welcome sense to the nose of this bottling. The palate is jam-packed with acidity that shoots through the lemon and grapefruit-skin flavors, proving enticingly sharp. — Matt Kettmann

91 Vinous Media - Vinous

"The 2019 Chardonnay La Source is lifted and perfumed with a delicate bouquet of chamomile, white flowers, sweet spice and yellow apples. It's more energetic on the palate, vividly ripe in style with juicy acidity to balance. Hints of gingery spice add contrast toward the close. The 2019 finishes fresh and medium in length, leaving a gentle tension and a slightly grassy note as zests of lime and a floral resonance slowly fade. Of note, the 2019 includes fruit from vines planted in 2015, which explains its more forward character."

97-100 Jeb Dunnuck - jebdunnuck.com

While I think 2019 slightly surpasses 2020 in Côte Rôtie, it might be the inverse in 2020, and the 2020 Ermitage Ex Voto is certainly fuel on the fire. I wouldn't be surprised to see this merit a triple-digit rating, and it has incredible class in its cassis and black raspberry-like fruit as well as notes of saddle leather, savory flowers, smoked tobacco, and ground pepper. This deep, powerful, full-bodied Hermitage has awesome tannins, a silky, layered mouthfeel, and boatloads of tannins. It's going to need upwards of a decade of bottle age, but this is heavenly stuff.

95-97 Nicolas Greinacher - Vinous

Alluring spice-box, ripe black fruits, cured meat and a jolt of espresso introduce the 2020 Ermitage Ex-Voto. Minty undertones and peppery elements complement the complex aromatic profile. Utterly savory, the 2020 hits the palate with stunning energy and balance. Medium- to full-bodied, it could potentially outperform the head-turning 2019 once bottled

97 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

The interplay of toasty oak with stony minerality is every bit as important to this wine as the way the plush tannins balance the gigantic forest berry fruit. Builds to a huge climax at the very structured and driving finish. Aged for 42 months in oak. Drinkable now, but best from 2027.

97 Matt Walls - Decanter

Fresh and dense, displaying great substance and depth. Robust oak work here and it's very tannic; a powerful, driving wine of great size and grandeur. Long and complete, it will swallow its oak in time I suspect. At the start of its 40 months in new oak barriques. Old vines from Les Bessards, Les Greffieux, L'Ermite and Les Murets.

97+ Jeb Dunnuck - jebdunnuck.com

A brilliant, youthful, unevolved wine that will give Ridge's Monte Bello a run for its money, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon reveals a deep ruby/purple hue to go with a wonderful perfume of blackcurrants, blueberries, lead pencil, vanilla bean, exotic flowers, tobacco, and bouquet garni. Needing plenty of air to show at its best, it's medium to full-bodied on the palate and has a concentrated, powerful style, ripe tannins, flawless balance, and a great finish. A blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot and Malbec, aged in used French and American oak, it's going to benefit from 4-6 years of bottle age and, I suspect, have 30-40 years of overall longevity.

97 Antonio Galloni - Vinous

The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon is going to need a number of years to come around. The only question is how many. In 2017, the Mount Eden Cabernet is shockingly opulent. Inky black fruit, bittersweet chocolate, spice, leather and incense are all dialed up in this super-sized Cabernet. Even so, there is plenty of structure lurking beneath. I can't wait to see how this ages.

90 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

Cloudy mid-orange hue. Stones, apricots and a touch of oranges. Nicely tart and chewy on the medium- to full-bodied palate with a tight, zesty finish. A well-made sauvignon blanc that has undergone skin contact. Drink now.