Tasting Notes :
The 2015 Domaine de Chevalier is composed of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. It went through malolactic and aging on its lees during three months in 35% new, 35% one-year-old and 30% two-year-old barrels, with a total aging of 18 months. Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, it has lovely spiciness on the nose—Chinese five spice and black pepper—with a core of red and black cherries and smoked meats. Medium-bodied, finely crafted and refreshing, it's quite minerally in the mouth and persistent on the finish. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
More classic with noticeable tannins and higher acidity, this medium-bodied, elegant effort offers notes of earthy, loamy soil intermixed with black and red currant fruit. Drink this medium-bodied 2008 over the next 7-8 years. (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 :
The brilliant 2011 Troplong Mondot is one of the superstars of the vintage. The final blend was 89% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc, and the wine tips the scales at 14.5% alcohol. Its opaque blue/purple, nearly black color is followed by aromas of blueberry liqueur interwoven with black raspberries, blackberries, licorice, camphor and forest floor. Among the most complete wines of the vintage, with no hollowness, astringency or herbaceousness, this is a tour de force in a challenging vintage. Some tannins are noticeable, but this 2011 is already approachable and should provide delicious, complex drinking over the next two decades. Bravo!

It was with great sadness and grief that I learned of proprietor Christine Valette’s passing on March 29, 2014 at entirely too young an age. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2017 Canon bursts from the glass with expressive notions of baked black cherries, kirsch, plum preserves and black raspberries plus hints of red roses, Ceylon tea, black olives and fertile loam. Medium-bodied, the palate is wonderfully elegant and refined, with a soft, finely grained texture and seamless freshness, finishing long and mineral laced. The blend is 77% Merlot and 23% Cabernet Franc and it was aged for 18 months in French oak, 50% new.

Tasting Notes :
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Leoville Barton offers up notions of warm red currants, black raspberries and dark chocolate with wafts of cigar box, violets and bay leaves. Elegant, medium-bodied and sporting great freshness, the taut, tightly wound palate of intense red fruits and floral accents is well-framed with firm, grainy tannins, finishing on a lingering mineral note. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
Tasted at the Château Giscours vertical, the 2001 Château Giscours is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot picked between September 28 and October 12. Comparing it directly with the 2000, I discerned a little more precision on the nose, the fruit a little fresher with lifted mulberry, violet and lavender scents. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp acidity, more tensile than the 2000, if not quite the same level of fruit concentration. It is not plump like the previous vintage, though there is fine animation here with a vein of spiciness surfacing towards the finish. This constitutes one of the finest Giscours in recent years, a Margaux with breeding and poise. In retrospect, this was the beginning of a turnaround in fortunes after an inconsistent period throughout the 1990s. Tasted June 2015. (Neal Martin)

Tasting Notes :
The 2014 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc is a beautiful white Pessac-Léognan. It offers a very succinct and focused bouquet of dew-speckled Granny Smiths, then flint and wet limestone, certainly a more stony bouquet than overt fruit. The palate is well balanced with crisp acidity, exquisite balance, the citrus fruit dappled with white pepper and spices, but everything very judicious and nuanced. It offers wonderful persistence in the mouth, basically a class act that comes strongly recommended. (Neal Martin)

Tasting Notes :
The 2017 Clerc Milon is medium to deep garnet-purple colored and offers up a gorgeous nose of potpourri, cinnamon stick, candied violets and kirsch over a core of warm cassis, plum preserves and boysenberries with a waft of garrigue. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers loads of muscular fruit with a firm, fine-grained texture and tons of freshness, finishing long and perfumed. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Rauzan-Ségla drifts effortlessly from the glass with fragrant rose hip tea, candied violets and chocolate box scents over a core of fresh blackcurrants and black cherry compote plus wafts of tobacco and dusty soil. Medium to full-bodied, it delivers a great mid-palate of softly textured black and blue fruits with loads of floral nuances and a refreshing lift on the finish.

The blend this year is 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot, harvested between September 20th and October 15th at an average yield of 45 hectoliters per hectare. It was aged for 18 months in French oak, 60% new. The alcohol is 13.5%, and the pH is 3.6. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
Only 43% of the production made it into the final blend of this remarkable 2002. Produced from a low 17 hectoliters per hectare, it includes 66.7% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5% Merlot, 13.9% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot. It has the highest alcohol ever achieved in a Leoville Las Cases (13.5%) as well as a lofty pH of 3.85. Nevertheless, the impression is one of a structured wine with considerable density, a ruby/purple color, layers of flavor, and a classic overall personality. The wine exhibits pure black currant, licorice-infused fruit, huge body, a viscous mid-palate, and a long, heady finish. I suspect this wine won’t be nearly as charming as the 2003 in its youth, but it hasn’t yet closed down, and I am amazed at just how rich, intense, and full-bodied it tastes even after bottling. This is certainly one of the half dozen or so candidates for wine of the vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2030+. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
The Cabernet Franc was fantastic this year, so it was all used in the grand vin. The final blend is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Carménère. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Clerc Milon leaps from the glass with beautiful scents of chocolate-covered cherries, plum preserves and crushed blackcurrants with suggestions of lilacs, cardamom, underbrush and unsmoked cigars. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a firm frame of finely grained tannins and seamless freshness lifting the perfumed fruit to a nice long finish. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
Tasted at the Château Giscours vertical, the 2000 Château Giscours is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc picked between September 25 and October 7. The bouquet is clearly in a different league to the previous two vintages: red plum, mulberry and cedar aromas that generously waft from the glass. There is something a little more exotic about these aromatics, with hints of stewed apricots in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin and cedar-infused black fruit with hints of black truffle towards the finish. Perhaps I was a little over-enthusiastic when I last tasted this millennial Margaux, and it seems to lose energy observing it over a ten-minute period, hence my docking a couple of points. Tasted June 2015. (Neal Martin)

Tasting Notes :
A blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot and 1% Carmenere, the medium garnet-purple colored 2015 Clerc Milon opens with expressive crushed blackberries, red and black plums and cigar boxes notions with suggestions of dried herbs, earth and violets plus a waft of dark chocolate. Medium-bodied, fine, fresh and elegant, it has a lovely core of very pure red and black fruits, supported by finely textured tannins and finishing on a lingering perfumed note. This is a very pretty, superbly poised Pauillac! (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
Deep garnet colored, the 2011 Rauzan-Ségla displays a series of earthy notes to begin—truffles, moss-covered bark, fungi and tilled soil—over a core of redcurrant jelly, blackberry pie and mincemeat with hints of sandalwood, new leather and fallen leaves. Medium-bodied with a firm line of chewy, slightly rustic tannins, it has a great core of earth-laced black fruits with provocative freshness and a long mineral-tinged finish.

The blend this year is 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot, harvested between September 8th and 28th, at an average yield of 28 hectoliters per hectare. It was aged for 18 months in French oak, 70% new. The alcohol is 13.5%, and the pH is 3.33. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
An absolutely spectacular effort, the 2009 is one of the all-time great La Gaffelieres produced. One would have to go back to the 2005, 1947 or 1961 to find this level of quality from this ancient, historic vineyard planted adjacent to the walls of St.-Emilion, on the Cote Pavie. Dating back to the 1400s, this estate has been owned for over three centuries by the Malet-Roquefort family. Composed of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc (in the past it was two-thirds Merlot and the rest split between Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc), the 2009 reveals compelling elegance, tremendous intensity and opulence and more viscosity than one normally sees. Lots of kirsch, licorice, incense, truffle, asphalt, blackberry and cassis notes dominate the aromatics and flavors of this full-bodied, viscous, fabulously pure, flamboyant St.-Emilion. Drinking it now may be considered infanticide by some consumers, but it is already attractive, and should last for 3-4 decades. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
The 2014 Clos Fourtet has developed a very perfumed bouquet with pure black cherry, raspberry and mineral aromas that seem very precise and relatively sophisticated compared to its Saint Emilion peers. The palate is medium-bodied with supple red cherry and cranberry fruit, the tannins both fine but firm. This is a supremely well-focused Clos Fourtet, perhaps one that shows more restraint than previous vintages, yet there is genuine focus and intensity towards the almost piercing finish with vivid black, mineral-soaked fruit. This is a superb Clos Fourtet that transcends the promise from barrel. (Neal Martin)

Tasting Notes :
The 2012 Calon Ségur, has an opaque ruby/purple color, very sweet black raspberry, black cherry and currant fruit, underlying forest floor notes, wonderfully sweet tannin, surprising up-front opulence and beautiful purity, texture and length. This is an outstanding effort and a strong wine in 2012. Drink it over the next 20 years, as the acidity is quite low and the wine already approachable. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
The 2014 Calon Ségur has a much more reticent bouquet than either the 2014 Montrose or Cos d'Estournel. There is blackberry here, a hint of cassis and violets, fine purity but bolshie and withdrawn at the moment. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannin, more red fruit than the Montrose with a smooth, quite silky Merlot-like, graphite finish. Tasted on two occasions in Bordeaux, the second bottle exuded more panache and joie-de-vivre, coming across a little more spicy with a longer aftertaste. (Neal Martin)

Tasting Notes :
The Alter Ego de Palmer 2014 is a blend of 52% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Petit Verdot. It has an opulent, glossy bouquet with layers of small dark cherries and plenty of glycerin. The palate is more reserved than the bouquet suggests: saturated tannins, a little chewiness on the entry but suppler towards the finish. It feels very linear in keeping with the style of the vintage, the finish a little sweet than its peers with a dab of licorice on the aftertaste. (Neal Martin)