94 Wine Enthusiast

Woodland berry, pressed rose and spice aromas mingle with earthy notes of forest floor and leather. Medium-bodied, smoothly structured yet racy, the savory palate features Marasca cherry, truffle, vanilla and star anise framed in taut, fine-grained tannins. Bright acidity keeps it balanced while it closes on a hint of salted game. Drink 2026–2046.

100 Luca Gardini - GardiniNotes.com

"Bright and dense ruby red. The nose is clean, with clear aromas of blackberry, and notes of rosemary and eucalyptus. Brackish finish with balsamic touches. The mouthfeel has great tension and depth with fine tannins and a fresh saline finish. Pomegranate and aromatic herbs return, of great drinkability." - 100 Points - Luca Gardini

97 Antonio Galloni - Vinous

The 2018 I Sodi di San Niccolò is the most elegant Sodi I have ever tasted, and I have tasted them all. Sodi can be quite the bruiser in its youth, as the tannins are often imposing, but the 2018 is impressive because there is more than enough fruit to balance things out. Dark cherry, plum, lavender, spice and gravel build in a Sodi endowed with mind-blowing purity and exceptional finesse. Superb!

97 Decanter

A late release, on sale this Christmas, from the mostly recently declared year for Vintage Port. Deep opaque inky black hue; tight knit and unyielding with underlying minty ripeness on the nose; well-defined minty fruit with great purity and intensity on the palate, dark chocolate depth at the core, firm but ripe linear tannins with, long lovely freshness (the hallmark of this vintage) present on the finish.

96 Mark Squires - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2019 Vintage Port is a field blend aged for 18 months in old wood vats. It was bottled May 4, 2021, and has 100 grams of residual sugar. It was in bottle only a bit more than two months when tasted, but it seems quite brilliant, even so. Very concentrated, it adds controlled power and coats the palate. Tasted with some other 2019s, this certainly stood out for both concentration and power. It touches all the bases in terms of expressive fruit and structure, finishing dry and seriously. It seemed balanced enough to drink young, but that would be a mistake. For one thing, it steadily tightened as it aired out. It also increasingly showed gorgeous eucalyptus-laced aromatics. Two days later, it was notably more astringent. Four days later, it was very firm on the finish and better overall. In fact, that was a far better showing than on day one. This is plainly built for the long haul. I would expect nothing less from a fine Noval Vintage Port. It became more focused and precise as well...This is a powerful beauty, well justifying Noval's tendency to declare most every year. (MS)

18 Jancis Robinson's Purple Pages

Lustrous and just mid ruby with orange tinges. This is Vignolo but amplified, boasting the same concentration and minerally depth, but more refined and more restraint at the same time. Stunning, fine tannins, rich yet in perfect harmony with the supple, long and still-embryonic fruit. A stellar wine

97 Lisa Perrotti-Brown - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 La Conseillante sashays out of the glass with the most gorgeous notes of lilacs, Black Forest cake, kirsch and black raspberries plus nuances of cinnamon stick, dark chocolate and licorice. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a firm, finely grained texture with bags of perfumed black fruits and wonderful freshness, finishing very long and very fragrant

97 Lisa Perrotti-Brown - The Wine Independent

The 2017 La Conseillante is a blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, it leaps with notions of black and red cherry preserves, fresh black plums, and mulberries, plus hints of aniseed, Jasmine tea, and fragrant earth. Medium-bodied, elegant, and lively in the mouth, it has intense red berry and floral layers, finishing with a minerally lift.

96 Antonio Galloni - Vinous

The 2017 La Conseillante is a regal wine. Lithe and statuesque in the glass, La Conseillante soars with real vertical intensity. Sweet floral aromatics and silky tannins give the 2017 much of its understated, classy personality. Inky dark blue/purplish fruit, spice, licorice and lavender develop with a bit of time, but it is the wine's balance and extreme sense of harmony that stand out most. Technical Director Marielle Cazaux gave the fruit about 2 days on the skins, with no SO2 at crush. Cazaux added that the malos were quite fast. The blend is 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc. Frost reduced production by around 15%, while drought further reduced yields in the Franc by a further 10%. This is a fabulous showing.

96 Jeff Leve - The Wine Cellar Insider

Sophisticated, sexy and fresh, the wine is lenient and silky. There is a strong violet sensation along with black cherry, boysenberry, truffle and dark chocolate. The wine is classic in style but in a virtuous way. There is depth and volume. On the palate, you'll experience sweet, bright, fresh, dusty, chocolate-covered plums. The harvest took place September 5 to September 9. The wine was made from blending 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc

96 Jane Anson - Decanter

This stands out from the line up - the complexity on the nose is hugely enticing, with chocolate, liquorice bud, slate and sweet crushed blackberry puree with tons of juice and edges of violet. This is a great wine and one of the few that really does rise above the vintage and would go toe-to-toe with its sibling years on either side. It lifts the foot off the pedal more quickly than the 2016 or 2018 for sure, but it's a very accomplished and enjoyable wine. 70% new oak.

99 Jeb Dunnuck - jebdunnuck.com

Even better, the 2019 Ermitage Le Méal is blockbuster stuff and is up with the crème de la crème of the vintage. Coming from the warmest terroir on Hermitage, this beauty boasts a deep purple/plum color to go with incredible aromatics of blue fruits, lavender, chocolate, burning embers, and violets. These all carry to a full-bodied, opulent Hermitage with a round, expansive mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, no hard edges, and one heck of a great finish. It needs plenty of air to show at its best today, and even then, its tannins clamp down on the finish, and that’s despite being covered by a wealth of baby fat. Give this utterly brilliant Hermitage 4-5 years of bottle age and it should pretty much blow you away over the following 20-25 years or so.

97 Decanter

This is very much keeping its aromas to itself for now. On the palate it is smooth, silky, full-bodied and dense. This has great driving power, very intense with slightly warming alcohol on the finish. Fine tannins, the oak is well integrated, not drying or dominating with a long finish. It's ripe, but finishes dry and savoury. A south-facing parcel of Le Méal, all destemmed, fermented in concrete then will be aged for around 18 months, 30-50% new oak.

96 Josh Raynolds - Vinous Media

Saturated purple. Deeply pitched blackberry, cherry, olive paste, vanilla, bacon fat and pungent floral qualities on the intensely perfumed, mineral-accented nose. Sappy and densely packed yet vibrant as well, offering bitter cherry, dark berry liqueur, smoked meat, mocha and candied violet flavors and a hint of salty olive paste. Shows superb detail and mineral thrust on the youthfully tannic finish, which hangs on with strong, floral-driven persistence.x000D There's a lot going on here but, by all means, give it some time. 50% new oak.

95 Antonio Galloni - Vinous

The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Elevation 1147 is one of the most intriguing wines I have tasted at David Arthur in some time. Intensely perfumed and expansive on the palate, the Elevation 1147 captures all the best the vintage had to give. The 2017 is powerful and rich, while retaining the classic sense of structure that is such a David Arthur signature.