Pauillac

R.P. 93 pts.

Offering broad, expansive, supple and silky tannin as well as loads of Asian plum sauce, blackcurrants, and sweet cherries, this wine is seductive, medium to full-bodied, and luscious.

R.P. 93 pts.

This rich, impressive, full-bodied wine represents the finest Pontet-Canet produced since the 1961. This full-bodied, purely made wine is crammed with black currant fruit, as well as forbiddingly tannic and backward.

R.P. 93 pts.

A sensational effort for the vintage, this textured, opulent, superb Lynch Bages is already strutting its stuff and should easily last for 20 years. Medium to full-bodied with an opaque dense purple color, notes of flowers and cassis, a layered texture that builds incrementally in the mouth and tremendous purity and depth.

R.P. 95 pts.

The 2000 Château Grand Puy Lacoste is an exceptional wine from Xavier Borie. It has a brilliant nose of blackberry, crushed stone, graphite and cedar.he palate is smooth and silky, cloaking the tannic frame of this GPL so that you barely notice it.

R.P. 94 pts.

Dense ruby/purple in color with a glorious nose of melted licorice, lavender, barbecue smoke, black currants, and graphite, the wine is tannic, classically structured with an opaque ruby/purple color, beautiful definition, and a 1996-ish personality.

R.P. 96 pts.

The medium to deep garnet colored 2009 Lynch Bages is boldly scented of crème de cassis, blackberry pie and baked plums with chocolate box, incense and underbrush suggestions plus a waft of bay leaves. Medium to full-bodied, taut and well sustained in the mouth, it has a firm, grainy texture and a lively backbone lifting the black fruit core to a nice long finish.

Exhibiting a dark ruby color with purple nuances, it is open-knit, with plentiful quantities of roasted herbs, smoky oak, vanillin, and creamy black currant fruit. A lush texture, low acidity, and an accessible, velvety-textured style will have many admirers.

R.P. 91 pts.

A blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, the 2008 exhibits graphite, sandalwood, black and red currant, chocolate and damp earth characteristics in its elegant, medium to full-bodied, fresh, lively personality. It is a delicious, luscious, already evolved wine.