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."

93 Antonio Galloni - Vinous

The 2021 Pinot Noir Isabelle is a blend of multiple sites in the Au Bon Climat portfolio, taken from the best lots in the winery. It spent 23 months in 100% new oak, long by California standards. It offers tons of aromatic, floral and spice character, but I find the fruit a bit dried out and marked by sweet oak. Nonetheless, the Isabelle is a pretty distinctive wine.

93 Luis Gutierrez - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2021 Rubus Quercus (Juanvi Quercus in the US) is a blend of approximately 70% Garnacha and 30% Miguel del Arco from 40- to 50-year-old vines at 800 to 960 meters in altitude. 2021 was cooler, healthy but low yielding because of a snowstorm in January and frost in April. It fermented with some 10% full clusters and indigenous yeasts with a long maceration of four weeks and matured in second and third used 500-liter oak barrels for six months. It has a bright ruby color and a perfumed and floral nose and is elegant, very tasty, harmonious and nuanced. It's spicy and fresh, with integrated oak, and it's more soil- than fruit-driven. It's ripe with 14.4% alcohol and good freshness. 6,600 bottles were filled in two lots, in May and December 2022.

99 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

There’s a purity and beauty to this that impresses you the minute you put your nose in the glass. So aromatic. Flowers, graphite, blackcurrants and hints of gunmetal. Medium- to full-bodied with tannins that coat your mouth but give a feeling of fine cashmere. The length and intensity is calm but rather endless. 45% merlot, 40% cabernet sauvignon,10% cabernet franc and 5% petite verdot. From organically grown grapes. Best after 2028.

88-89 Jasper Morris, MW - Inside Burgundy

From good vineyards such as Au Pelson, Bons Batons and more. Dense purple. The bouquet impresses for its concentration of a bright zesty fruit, filling the mouth, through to an energetic finish where the fruit swamps the structure but remains well defined. A long finish beyond the norm for this level of appellation. 70% whole bunch vinification. Drink from 2026-2029. Tasted Nov 2024.

84-86 Neal Martin - Vinous Media

The 2023 Bourgogne Rouge contains around 50% whole bunch. I prefer this to the Côteaux Bourguignon this year—there's more freshness and delineation. The palate is balanced with supple tannins. It has fleshy ripe red fruit tones and a sweet, pastille-like finish. Fine.

92-94 Antonio Galloni - Vinous

The 2022 Petit Lion is rich and sumptuous, but much more than that in terms of its complexity and distinction. Dramatic and sweeping, the 2022 is immediately captivating. Black cherry, gravel, scorched earth, licorice and lavender infuse the 2022 with tons of nuance. In this tasting, the Petit Lion is absolutely compelling. There’s terrific depth and density here, likely because of the high percentage of Merlot. What a gorgeous wine it is.

93 Wine Enthusiast

A ripe, structured wine, layered with tannins while also boasting rich black fruits, this is succulent and ripe. The acidity shows well along with the black pepper aroma. Drink the wine from 2028. — Roger Voss

90+ William Kelley - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2022 Le Petit Lion has turned out nicely, offering up aromas of cassis and plums mingled with hints of mint, violets and cigar wrapper. Medium to full-bodied, layered and textural, it's dense and concentrated, with a bright core of fruit and a penetrating finish.

90 International Wine Report

The 2023 Quartz Sauvignon Blanc is bright and lively, this beings with vivid aromas of lychee, lime zest, herbs, wet stones and white floral notes all bursting from the glass. On the palate this is nicely balanced with a lovely combination of bright acidity, citrus and fresh tropical fruits all leading up to the mouthwatering finish.

99 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

"This is a young wine with terrific depth and layers of fruit. It’s full-bodied with notes of eucalyptus, lavender and sage and hints of matchsticks and oranges. It’s linear and tight at the end, with an energetic finish. Very Saffredi in nature. Better than the 2021. 65% cabernet sauvignon, 25% merlot and 10% petite verdot."

98 Monica Larner - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

"This is one of only a handful of wines made on the Tuscan Coast that has managed to interpret the vintage in such an excellent manner. The Fattoria le Pupille 2022 Saffredi (a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot) deftly plays upon the elegance and fruity brightness of the growing season, while also harnessing its freshness and its slightly more streamlined appeal. The wine is nuanced and layered with fine details that recall wild berry, spice, blue flower and blood orange. To my mind, the 2022 stands apart from almost every other past vintage of Saffredi. This is a new direction for the wine that we can all happily embrace."

98 Decanter

"Menthol-infused dark berry aromas open the door to an intense and juicy mouthful of precisely wrought red and black berries and cherries. Wonderful lip-smacking sapidity and finely integrated tannins complete the package. The 2022 Saffredi is the result of the estate's hard work and it has paid dividends. Elisabetta Geppetti's son, Ettore – in just his third vintage overseeing the winemaking without the experienced hand of ex-consultant Luca d'Attoma – has beautifully interpreted the vintage. He tells me that, unusually, it took the team three harvests at different times to obtain the freshness evident in the wine. It's a stunner. Wow!"

95 Tim Atkin, MW

Made in the style of generations past, this is skin-contact Alvarinho with a distinctive character. Slightly deeper in colour than the other whites in the range, it shows more obvious oak influence and a gently oxidative, grainy profile. Quince, marmalade and beeswax are supported by a wonderfully textured palate, vibrant acidity and a lingering saline, savoury finish. A delicious and highly individual wine that marries tradition with modern precision. Drink 2026 - 2031

94 Luis Gutierrez - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2023 Curtimenta is a skin-contact Alvarinho. There was an evolution of the wines from 2001 to 2009, when he reduced the time in contact with the skins (of the destemmed grapes) to find the balance, which, in this case, was 25 hours at slightly higher temperatures. The fermentation started spontaneously, and the juice finished fermenting with the full lees in 400-liter barrels, where the wine matured. It's a little more phenolic, more aromatic, round and with very fine tannin and has a dry and chalky finish. 4,500 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2024.

92 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

This is wonderfully fragrant, with attractive notes of olive, mulberry and peppercorn. It’s juicy, medium- to full-bodied and very bright, with fine-grained tannins and a lively finish. 74% syrah, 11% grenache, 8% cabernet sauvignon, 6% cinsault and 1% viognier. Delicious already. Drink now.

91 Monica Larner - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

With an ample 1.2 million bottles made, the Boekenhoutskloof 2023 Swartland The Chocolate Block is one of South Africa's most popular restaurant and retail wines. The blend is 74% Syrah, 11% Grenache, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cinsault and 1% co-fermented Viognier. Eighty percent of the grapes are farmed by the in-house team. No new oak is used except for the Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest sees neutral barrel. Proprietor Marc Kent says the wine is on its way to officially becoming organic. People underestimate the influence of the Cinsault, he says. It takes away from the roughness of the other grapes, and along with Grenache, creates a more perfumed style of wine. The Chocolate Block is its own brand, representing a fruit-forward, accessible and food-friendly red wine with medium-plus texture and pleasant softness.

91 Neal Martin - Vinous Media

The 2023 The Chocolate Block, arguably the Cape's most successful brand in terms of both quantity and quality, is a mixture of 70% estate fruit (mainly from Porseleinberg) and 30% from partnership vineyards on reddish soils that have supplied fruit for 15 to 20 years. It matured for 12 to 14 months in 95% used barriques. Fruit picked after the rains was not included in the blend. The 2023 has a fresh nose with redcurrant and pomegranate fruit, earthy notes and a touch of tea leaf. The palate is medium-bodied with crunchy red fruit and fine acidity, fresh and vibrant with brown spices and black pepper toward the finish. According to the label, production totaled 4,043 barrels in this vintage—it is some achievement to produce a label of such scale at this level of quality. The Cape couldn't ask for a better ambassador.