Tasting Notes :
A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2014 Cos d'Estournel has a deep garnet-purple color and is a little closed at this stage, offering slowly emerging scents of fresh blackcurrants, black plums and blackberries plus nuances of pencil shavings, dried lavender, bay leaves and fertile loam with a waft of iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, it has a generous mid-palate of muscular, youthful fruit with a firm frame of grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and savory. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
Composed of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, yields for the grand vin in 2017 were 43 hectoliters per hectare, and it was aged in 60% new oak. It came in at an alcohol of 13% and an IPT of 68. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Cos d'Estournel needs a little coaxing to unfurl, revealing beautiful expressions of preserved plums, boysenberries, blackcurrant pastilles and wild blueberries with hints of Indian spices, menthol, lilacs and mossy tree bark plus a compelling suggestion of iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a solid backbone of firm, grainy tannins and well-knit freshness supporting the tightly wound blue and black fruits layers, finishing long and fragrant. This wine will need a good 5-7 years in bottle before it begins to blossom and should go on for at least another 40 years. I expect this wine to be a blockbuster of a head-turner when I come back and taste it at 10 years of age! (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
The 2014 Croizet Bages has a rather high-toned bouquet with very overt floral, almost lavender-like aromas that for me just detracts from Pauillac typicité. The palate is medium-bodied with light tannin, simple leather-tinged red berry fruit, but it is missing some delineation and grip on the rather monochromatic finish. (Neal Martin)

Tasting Notes :
A slight downgrade from my original score, this wine is quite evolved, displaying ripe plum, black currant, and chocolate notes as well as hints of cedar and espresso. Soft, round, and close to full maturity, overall it is a medium-bodied wine to drink now and over the next decade or more. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
The 2009 D'Armailhac has a medium to deep garnet color, and vibrant red and black fruit preserves, incense, earth and dried herbs all spring from the glass with a faint undercurrent of beef drippings. Medium-bodied, firm and chewy in the mouth, it has just enough maturing, savory fruit to fill the palate, with a lively line of freshness and an herbal lift on the finish. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
Deep garnet in color, the 2010 D'Armailhac leaps from the glass with vivacious scents of baked raspberries, blueberry pie and kirsch plus hints of candied violets and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has lovely energy with a lively backbone and well-played chewy tannins supporting the delicate flavors, finishing minerally. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
Fruity, soft, round and easygoing, this medium-bodied blend of 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot and the rest mostly Cabernet Franc with a touch of Petit Verdot is a charming, consumer-friendly red to enjoy over the next 5-8 years. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
Composed of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, the 2015 D'Armailhac displays a medium to deep garnet-purple color and exuberant notions of exotic spices and potpourri over a core of black and red cherry preserves plus wild blueberries and a waft of tar. Medium to full-bodied, the palate reveals mouth-filling, juicy black berry flavors with approachable, grainy tannins and wonderful freshness on the finish. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 D'Armailhac opens with gregarious crème de cassis, blackberry pie and mulberries scents with hints of chocolate box, roses and charcoal with a waft of dried sage. Medium-bodied, the palate has a rock-solid frame of firm, grainy tannins and wonderful freshness, finishing long and earthy. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 D'Armailhac comes bounding out of the glass with bold notions of baked plums, redcurrant jelly and crème de cassis plus wafts of violets, dark chocolate and fragrant earth. Medium-bodied, the palate bursts with energetic red and black fruits, framed by ripe, grainy tannins and oodles of freshness, finishing long and vibrant. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting :
A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot aged in 50% new and 50% one-year-old barrels for 18 months, the deep garnet-purple colored 2015 D'Issan simply sings with a beautiful perfume of wilted flowers, rose hip tea and mincemeat with a core of cherry preserves and blackberry tart plus a hint of underbrush. Medium-bodied, fine, fresh and elegant, it's very soft and silky in the mouth with a long finish. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
There is no other wine in the world like it, and there is no other luxury wine that can possibly justify its price as much as Yquem. The remarkable amount of painstaking labor necessary to produce the nectar known as Yquem is almost impossible to comprehend. This is a fascinating effort. With greater evidence of botrytis than the colossal 1983, but less power and alcohol, the 1986 Yquem tastes reminiscent of the 1975, only more precocious, as well as more concentrated. Several highly respected Bordeaux negociants who are Yquem enthusiasts claim the 1986 Yquem is the greatest wine produced at the property since the legendary 1937. Its enthralling bouquet of pineapples, sauteed hazelnuts, vanillin, and ripe apricots is breathtaking. Compellingly concentrated, the breadth as well as depth of flavor seemingly know no limits. This full-bodied, powerful, yet impeccably balanced Yquem should provide memorable drinking for 40-55 more years. Like the 1983, this is another winemaking tour de force. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2040. Last tasted, 4/91. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
The pale to medium lemon-gold colored 2005 d'Yquem opens with a provocative, mineral and earth-tinged nose of chalk dust, wet pebbles and dried wild mushrooms over a core of warm apricots, green mango, honeyed toast, ginger and pink grapefruit plus wafts of honeycomb, orange blossoms and saffron. The palate confirms the wine is still a little closed and shut down, offering achingly gorgeous glimpses at the tightly wound, intricate layers structured with a racy acid line and wonderfully creamy texture, finishing incredibly long and perfumed. This decadent flavor bomb still needs a good five to seven years in bottle before it is set to go off, but oh what a spectacle it will give then! (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
Pale to medium gold colored, the 2007 d'Yquem delivers powerful scents of tropical fruits—dried mangoes and pineapple paste—accented by acacia honey, toasted almonds and woodsmoke with hints of chalk dust, kettle corn and lime blossom. The palate reveals one of those vintages that shape-shifts into an apparently drier style than it is, largely thanks to its uber-racy backbone of freshness and layered mineral-inspired flavors, finishing with a regal, satin-textured savoriness. Difficult to resist now, this will be one of those Rip Van Winkle vintages that can be predicted to cellar not just for decades but for generations. For number crunchers: 14.2% alcohol, 137 grams per liter residual sugar, and total acidity is 3.7 grams per liter H2SO4. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
Pale to medium lemon-gold color, the 2010 d'Yquem has retreated into its shell at this youthful stage, offering spritely suggestions of lemon curd, lime cordial and green mango with wafts of honeysuckle, spice cake, sea spray and beeswax plus a hint of gingerbread. The palate really comes through with super intense, tightly wound citrus, savory and mineral layers carried by a laser-precise backbone of freshness, finishing with crazy persistence that lingers a full three minutes and then some. This is going to be a very exotic, opulent Yquem! (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
Tasted blind at the Sauternes 2011 horizontal tasting. The Château Yquem 2011 has a complex bouquet, one that is very well defined with hints of petrol infusing the rich honeyed fruit, later melted wax and fresh peach coming through. The palate is well balanced with a strong viscous entry. There is plenty of residual sugar here and I would have preferred a little more acidic bite to offset that rich, decadent finish (this is despite their correct policy of blending non-botrytized berries in order to increase acidity.) Powerful, burly even, I would give this several years in the cellar to allow this Yquem to mellow and enter its stride. (Neal Martin)

Tasting Notes :
The 2013 De Fieuzal has an open, quite sensual bouquet with scents of black cherry, wild strawberry and wet stone, an attractive floral aspect developing with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, succulent in the mouth with good acidity, polished with a smooth, harmonious finish. This is commendable for the vintage, even if it is just missing a little personality. (Neal Martin)

Tasting Notes :
asted blind at the Sauternes 2011 horizontal tasting. The Château Doisy-Daëne 2011 builds upon its outstanding performance from barrel. It has a powerful bouquet with seductive scents of wild honey, yellow flowers and orange blossom that are well defined, perhaps a little more extravagant then Denis Dubourdieu's wines of yore. The palate is mellifluous on the entry with well-judged acidity, sensual and harmonious, poised on the entry and then fanning out gloriously with Clementine and honeyed notes that shimmer. This is an irresistible Barsac. (Neal Martin)

Tasting Notes :
The 2013 Desmirail has a satisfactory nose with blackberry and raspberry confit scents, perhaps missing some vigor, but at least demonstrating Margaux-like character. The palate is medium-bodied with supple red fruit, fine tannin and good acidity, showing more elegance than many of its peers if never entertaining the notion of "complexity." Still, this underrated Margaux punches above my expectations from barrel and is worth a look. (Neal Martin)