French Red Blend

The 1989 is inkier/purple in color than the 1990, with an extraordinarily sweet, rich personality offering up notes of smoke, melted licorice, black cherries, Asian spices, and cassis. Full-bodied and concentrated, it is one of... Read More

Aged for around 18 months in barrel, 60% new and 40% second fill, the 2018 Beychevelle needs a fair bit of swirling to release classic notes of cassis, plum preserves and ripe blackberries, with emerging suggestions of unsmoked... Read More

Sweet cherry and violets on the nose. Lovely smooth texture with fruit that has great precision and mouth watering acidity - strawberry, red cherries and redcurrants. It's fresh and fruity with a texture that just gently grips... Read More

Made from a blend of 60-year-old vines of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault, this is a graceful expression of what cooler microclimates in Gigondas can deliver. The wine is enjoyable in its youth, with notes of blackberries,... Read More

I found this to be one of the more backward wines of the 2000 vintage and gave it a window of maturity of 2015-2040 when I reviewed it in 2003. In my two recent tastings of it, I changed that window to 2018-2050, which probably... Read More

In all fairness, the last bottle in the vertical tasting I had of Petrus came from a pristinely stored magnum that I owned, so perhaps a regular bottle of this wine might be fading a bit. Nevertheless, this has always been the... Read More

Tasted at Bordeaux Index's annual 10-Year On tasting in London. The 2006 Petrus now seems to be evolving more slowly than the 2006 Le Pin: the fruit darker with raspberry coulis, mulberry, hints of marmalade and crushed rose... Read More

Composed of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2017 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has a medium to deep garnet-purple color and is a little closed to begin, soon revealing floral... Read More

The 2018 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot with a pH of 3.85, an IPT (total polyphenol index) of 87 and 14% alcohol. The grand vin represents... Read More

Varietal Composition: 90% Grenache, 10% Syrah

Tasting Notes

Appearance: A very deep ruby
Nose: Ripe blackberry, garrigue, licorice and spice
Palate: Intense and concentrated, blackberry, morello cherry and spice; silky tannins... Read More

Varietal Composition: 65% Syrah, 30% Grenache Noir, 5% Viognier

Tasting Notes

The 2006 Héloïse has a deep ruby/purple color to the rim. Rich, concentrated, and focused with plenty of black fruit, smoke, and black pepper.... Read More

Varietal Composition: 60% Syrah, 36% Grenache, 4% Viognier

Tasting Notes

Appearance: Deep ruby-red
Nose: Concentrated and rich, with notes of mocha, vanilla, toasted almonds and truffle
Palate: Rich and concentrated; full-bodied... Read More