Weine

JEB DUNNUCK: "Lastly, the 2016 Syrah IX Estate reminds me of the otherworldly 2010 and is as profound as Syrah gets. Tasting like Guigal’s Côte Rôtie La Mouline (maybe on steroids) with its huge notes of bacon fat, spring flowers, blue fruits, barbecued meats, and incense, it’s full-bodied and massive yet also thrillingly pure, seamless, elegant, and weightless. It’s certainly approachable today yet is going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and keep for two decades."

JAMES SUCKLING: "Crushed stone, berry and lead pencil. Flintlock and iodine, too. Full-bodied, very tight and focused with incredible depth and intensity. Sculpted and intense. Incredible. Silky and tight tannins. Great finish. Reminds me of the 1978 La Chapelle. This needs three or four years to come together."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "Four acres are now in production at this singular, historic hillside vineyard next to the former cottage of Josephine Tychson, lovingly restored by Ann Colgin. The vineyard truly offers a unique expression of Napa Valley, with beautiful fruit layers, great elegance and the most profound fragrance being signatures of the vintages I have tasted. Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Tychson Hill Vineyard jumps out of the glass with all the vibrancy of this vintage, singing notes of cassis, crushed red cherries and mulberries with touches of chocolate, espresso, baking spices, cloves and black soil plus wafts of lavender and dried roses. Medium to full-bodied, it has wonderful elegance and finesse in the mouth, offering many mineral, black fruit and savory layers, finishing long and perfumed."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The “home” vineyard of Ann Colgin and Joe Wender, Tychson Hill has emerged as one of St. Helena/Napa’s most singular, evocative vineyards. Only about six acres in total, sloped and with a northern aspect, the major section of the vineyard was planted in 1997 to heritage clones of Cabernet Sauvignon with a smaller section planted in 2014." (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The berries at Tychson Hill vineyard were very small in 2017. “This wine totally required baby steps with the extraction,” said winemaker Allison Tauziet. Very deep purple-black in color, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Tychson Hill Vineyard leaps from the glass with vibrant black cherries, warm blackberries and blackcurrant scents with hints of violets, dark chocolate, lavender and camphor plus a fragrant waft of rose hip tea. Medium to full-bodied, the structure is taut, restraining all the tightly packed, energetic black fruit layers, with a wonderfully fine-grained texture and bags of freshness, finishing long and mineral laced. Still very tightly wound, this one needs time, but it should handsomely reward patience."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "This is the first vintage with fruit from Josephine’s Hill included. This 2.38-acre north-facing hillside vineyard seems to have this incredible ability to retain all its flavor nuances with extended hang-time. By comparison, the rest of the Tychson Hill vineyard is planted to a gentler slope. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Tychson Hill Vineyard has gorgeous floral notions of lilacs, lavender and roses with sandalwood and cinnamon stick sparks over a core of cassis, blackberry pie, kirsch and redcurrant jelly plus a waft of cigar boxes. The full-bodied palate is rich, concentrated, expressive and velvety, offering seamless freshness to lift and entice the mid-palate, finishing very, very long with some savory notions starting to unfurl. It is one of those wines that is so unique, expressive and perfect in every way that it sets your heart racing with every sip." (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

JAMES SUCKLING: "Huge depth and uncoiled complexity, with aromas of tropical fruit, spiced mangoes, beeswax, burnt feathers and meringue. Minerally and incisive, yet this is also full and broad, with an ample full body and a beautiful thread of acidity that attacks and radiates. Long, lightly phenolic and saline, but super precise and mouthwatering. A great chenin that’s quite thrilling. Already delicious, but will hold very well."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "Still showing a bit of youthful tautness, Colgin's 2018 Syrah IX Estate reveals a bit more herbal nuances in its makeup than the other vintages tasted on this occasion, bringing even more complexity into the mix. Sage and bay leaf notes accent blueberry fruit in this full-bodied wine that's elegantly framed by fine-grained tannins while showing fantastic length, energy and balance, finishing with echoing notes of espresso and crushed stone."

DECANTER: "The nose broadens out with a more obvious sense of fruit followed by some herbal and mineral impressions. A roundness and depth to the fruits comes through that crystalline purity on the palate, with a note of minerality adding complexity at the end. Vintage conditions are reflected in a sense of tension."

JAMES SUCKLING: "Smelling this takes my breath away. Cloves, floras, metal shavings, blackberries and smoked meat. Mandarin zest, too. Full body with a perfect balance of ultra-fine tannins and great complexity. Goes on for minutes. Sets a new standard of syrah for California. Don't wait to drink this."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "Opaque purple-black in color, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Tychson Hill Vineyard jumps from the glass with bold, gregarious scents of blueberry compote, black cherry preserves and warm cassis plus nuances of roses, star anise and candied violets with gentle wafts of dark chocolate and cinnamon. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is super intense with a whole fireworks display of floral sparks going off among the red and black fruits, framed by exquisitely ripe, finely pixilated tannins, finishing long and mineral laced. This edifying beauty takes Napa Valley elegance and grace to a whole new level." (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

DECANTER: "Subtle minerality on the nose, and like Le Clos this is showing roasted meat characters segueing into animal, but fainter than Le Clos. The palate has an even greater sense of purity and clarity of Cabernet Franc expression, with some hints of tobacco coming out in the glass followed by a sense of chocolate to the texture. There’s a greater sense of fine tannins in the background, partly due to oak (one-year-old barriques as opposed to old barriques used for Le Clos). It's less approachable than Le Clos and will need longer to express itself."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "There was no frost in the vineyard in 2017, due to its situation high upon the limestone plateau. Composed of 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, which was harvested from September 25 to October 3, the 2017 Pavie is very deep garnet-purple in color and rolls slowly and sensuously out of the glass with growing scents of Black Forest cake, black plum preserves, blueberry compote and fruitcake plus suggestions of melted chocolate, licorice, crushed rocks and Indian spices with a waft of violets. Full-bodied, the palate packs a powerful punch, laden with electric layers of energetic black and blue fruits. All this decadent fruit is supported by fantastic freshness and very, very ripe, velvety tannins, finishing with epic length. Location, location, location was everything in 2017. Pavie has one of the most enviable locations in all of Bordeaux and boy-oh-boy does it show in this spectacular wine."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 2018 Petrus has retained its opaque purple-black color after bottling, foreshadowing the seemingly frozen-in-time glacial pace at which this wine is proceeding. It opens very reluctantly, requiring considerable air with vigorous swirling and doggedly demands a few hours before it offers glimpses at this slumbering giant of a wine. As it eventually unfurls, it slowly morphs into a powerful, fantastically pure nose of preserved plums, blackberry preserves and blueberry compote, followed by nuances of molten licorice, dark chocolate, black truffles, iron ore and, still later, floral notions of lilacs and rose oil come through. The full-bodied palate is taut, muscular and oh-so-tightly wound at this stage, revealing peeks at many, many layers of perfectly ripe black and blue fruits, exotic spices and earthy notions for which words simply fail. The texture is at once rock solid and fantastically plush, with impeccably knit freshness, finishing so long you really can't taste or think of anything else for the rest of the day. Here is a heart-stopping titan that puts paid to all those naysayers who contest that perfection in wine cannot exist. It will require a good 8-10 years to hit its stride, then it is very likely to outlive us all, but you will want to make certain you drink this one before you go."

DECANTER: "The premier cru ‘Forge de Tart’ is a big step up from the village Morey. More serious fruit intensity on the nose and better density on the palate complement the lively fresh tannins and lingering finish. The 2021 vintage has fruit from the blocks ‘Jeanniard’ and ‘Plantation 2005’ that go into the grand vin in most years. 25% of the grapes are fermented as whole clusters, and 45 – 50% of the casks are new."

DECANTER: "The 'second wine' of the Clos de Tart demonstrates exceptional quality in 2022, with notes of ripe cassis and blackberry fruit accented by notes of earth and smoke. The texture is concentrated and rich, with powerful tannins and a long finish. The wine is made with younger vines of the Clos from the blocks called Jeanniard and Plantation 2005, along with some older vines coming from clonal selections, although these are now being top-grafted over to massale selection. A quarter of the grapes were fermented as whole clusters, and the wine is ageing in cask (45% new)."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "This is the first release of this new 100% Cabernet Franc wine from Chateau Angélus. Deep garnet in color, the 2016 Hommage à Elisabeth Bouchet hits the ground running with an intense, profound nose of blackberry preserves, boysenberries and redcurrant jelly, plus suggestions of beef drippings, black olives, damp soil and unsmoked cigars with wafts of pencil lead and truffles. The full-bodied palate bursts with vibrant, shimmery black and red fruits, inlaid with mineral accents and supported by firm, exquisitely ripe and finely grained tannins. Electric sparks of bright acidity course through the densely packed core, delivering incredible energy and freshness to the finish, leaving you wanting more. That this estate has managed to craft such a complete, jaw-dropping beauty entirely from Cabernet Franc is a triumph and, I hope, not the last of its kind. A masterpiece!"

„Domaine Fabien Coche ... ist eine der am meisten unterschätzten Quellen für hochwertige weiße Burgunder an der Côte de Beaune…“ schreibt William Kelley, einer der weltweit anerkanntesten Burgunder Spezialisten in Parkers Wineadvocate, das können wir nur unterstreichen. Die heutige Domaine Fabien Coche wurde 1940 unter dem Namen Coche-Bizouard gegründet und verfügt mit seinen 12 Hektar über absolu

DECANTER: "This clean, lemony wine is svelte and well-defined, with grapefruit, nectarine, and white flowers aromas. The texture is lively and fresh, but there is enough depth here to give the wine momentum and heft. The grapes are from Charmes Dessous; they are pressed as whole clusters and will age in cask for 18 months before bottling. The result belies the 'heavy' image of Charmes Dessous to the delight of wine lovers. This will be ready in two or three years, and can be aged for at least a decade."

„Domaine Fabien Coche ... ist eine der am meisten unterschätzten Quellen für hochwertige weiße Burgunder an der Côte de Beaune…“ schreibt William Kelley, einer der weltweit anerkanntesten Burgunder Spezialisten in Parkers Wineadvocate, das können wir nur unterstreichen. Die heutige Domaine Fabien Coche wurde 1940 unter dem Namen Coche-Bizouard gegründet und verfügt mit seinen 12 Hektar über absolu