Cru Recommended Portfolio
Cru Recommended Portfolio
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The Wine Independent (100)
The 2018 Ausone is deep garnet purple in color. There is oak to begin, giving way to a great core of baked black plums, chocolate-covered cherries, licorice, and incense, plus Indian spices and violets. Full-bodied, it is rich, concentrated, and decadent in the mouth, with a fantastic backbone of freshness and velvety tannins, finishing very long and layered.In Bond€3,740.00 -
The Wine Independent (100)
Le Pin 2018 has a deep garnet purple color. It opens with notions of cedar, blackcurrants, and plum preserves, giving way to sandalwood, anise, and dried roses, plus a hint of cinnamon stick. The medium to full-bodied palate is very perfumed and elegant, with layer upon layer of black fruits and exotic spices plus ultra-plush tannins and seamless acidity, finishing very long and fragrant. WOW.In Bond€12,430.00 -
The Wine Independent (100)
The 2019 Cheval Blanc is a blend of 58% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Franc, and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon. 41 out of 53 blocks have had a part to play this year, representing 10 different soil types. The Grand Vin in 2019 represents 82% of production. Deep purple-black in color, it needs a lot of swirling to shake loose fragrant scents of Indian spice, potpourri, star anise, and cardamom, over a core of preserved plums, boysenberries, and charcoal with touches of wood smoke and cracked black pepper. Full-bodied, rich and immediately impactful in the mouth, the layered nuances slowly expand, beautifully framed by ripe, rounded tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with cascading savory and earth flavors and lots of lingering mineral notes.In Bond€3,055.00 -
The Wine Independent (100)
Deep garnet in color, the 2016 Cos d'Estournel is quite closed to start, requiring a lot of coaxing to bring out profound notions of creme de cassis, wild blueberries, black cherry compote, and rose oil, leading to suggestions of Indian spices, crushed rocks, and dried lavender. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is both opulent and energetic, revealing loads of perfumed black fruit layers and a plush, polished texture, finishing with epic length and depth.In Bond€1,010.00 -
The Wine Independent (100)
Composed of 56% Merlot, 37.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 6.5% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Haut-Brion is deep garnet in color. The nose beings with simple licorice notes before slowly unfurling to deliver growing scents of creme de cassis, plum preserves, dark chocolate, and lilacs, followed by suggestions of crushed rocks, tar, black truffles and cardamom. The full-bodied palate is a tightly coiled spring, taut with black fruit preserves and earthy layers and framed by very firm, grainy tannins, delivering a burst of freshness to carry the long, long, long finish. This will need a good 7-10 more years to fully blossom, and it will be well worth the wait.In Bond€2,890.00 -
Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (100)
Perfectly captures the Lafite mix of delivering concentration wrapped up with delicacy and slow-build construction, with the tannins showing a scraping, chalky minerality at first and then widening out through the mid palate to reveal a creamier edge. Cut herbs, liquorice, fennel, cassis, bilberry, loganberry, cigar box, incense. More closed than the 2009, as you would expect, but this is right up there with the greatest wines of the vintage, and one that you will be able to pick out of a cellar in 30 years time without the slightest worry. Brilliant. 100% new oak for ageing, from their own DBR Lafite cooperage. And once again, having this wine among the rest of the lineup during a comparative tasting is so instructive in terms of understanding the extra depths that you get from Lafite.In Bond€4,142.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (100)
On another level and one of the greatest young Bordeaux I’ve ever tasted, the 2016 Lafite-Rothschild is composed of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Merlot raised in new oak. It takes the classic elegance and class of Lafite and turns the dial up to 11, offering a massive, heavenly array of blackcurrants, cedar pencil, graphite, tobacco, and incense aromas and flavors that soar from the glass. Deep, full-bodied, and flawlessly constructed, with perfectly integrated fruit, acidity, and tannins, this is legendary stuff all the way. It will be drinkable in 7-8 years and keep for 50-75 years or more. Along with Mouton, it’s the wine of the vintage from the Médoc. Hats off to director Eric Kohler.In Bond€3,700.00 -
The Wine Independent (100)
The 2018 Lafite Rothschild is deep garnet-purple in color. It needs a little swirling to unlock notes of baked plums, boysenberry preserves, and crème de cassis, with touches of menthol, Indian spices and smoked meats. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers mouth-filling, spicy black fruits with velvety tannins and a long, energetic finish.In Bond€3,525.00 -
Wine Advocate (100)
One of the greatest wines produced in Bordeaux this year is the 2019 Lafite Rothschild, an impeccably balanced classic of immense charm and grace. Wafting from the glass with arresting aromas of cassis, blackberries and cherries mingled with violets, cigar box and warm spices, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and seamless, its velvety attack segueing into a layered, concentrated mid-palate framed by exquisitely powdery tannins and ripe acids, and concluding with a long, perfumed finish. This rivals the 2010 and 2016 as the greatest Lafite of the decade, and of those three vintages, it's clearly the most sensual and demonstrative out of the gates. The blend contains fully 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and attained a modest 13.4% alcohol.In Bond€3,205.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (100)
If tasting the 2019 Château Lafleur doesn't just blow you away, I'm not sure what will. A perfect wine, if such a thing exists, it offers such a complex, singular profile in its black raspberries, kirsch liqueur, licorice, exotic flowers, white truffles, and sandalwood. On the palate, it has serious structure, yet the tannins build with time in the glass, and the mid-palate density and balance are so flawlessly integrated, you have to actually hunt for the structure. Pure, sensationally rich, and at the same time elegant, with awesome depth of fruit, this is what wine dreams are made of. It might be the finest young wine to ever pass my lips. It needs a solid decade of bottle age, 15 years would be even better (it will still blow your mind any time over the coming decade), and it will evolve gracefully over the following 30-40 years.In Bond€4,475.00 -
Vinous - Neal Martin (100)
The 2010 Latour can be summed up in two words: “The king.” It convincingly asserts its superiority over other 2010s, including First Growths, in terms of its aromatic complexity, precision, balance, intensity, complexity and persistence. Simply a faultless Latour that ranks among its greatest achievements. Tasted from an ex-château bottle at the BI Wines & Spirits 10-Year On tasting.In Bond€3,085.00 -
Decanter (97)
This will be by far the biggest release since Latour brought in the new system, as the 2012 has not been on the market before. It's a good one to start with as this is a vintage where the drinking window is starting to come into view. This is pure liquorice, graphite and profoundly dark fruits, gourmet brushed damson and crushed stones, with a silky, appealingly open texture. The tannins are as bracing as you hope for from this estate, not giving an inch yet, but there is air between them and the structure is starting to loosen up. Harvest from September 24 to October 16, under rainy conditions after a super hot summer and early September that ensured the grapes stayed in good condition, but turned the concentration from impenetrable to an altogether more approachable style.In Bond€2,540.00 -
The Wine Independent (100)
A blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, and 11% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Leoville Las Cases is deep purple-black in color. It bursts forth with flamboyant notes of crushed blackcurrants, juicy blackberries, and candied violets, giving way to slowly emerging nuances of charcoal, iron ore, wet pebbles, mossy tree bark, and black truffles. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is a powerhouse of black fruit and mineral layers, supported by super-firm, super-ripe tannins and fantastic tension, finishing epically long and achingly beautiful. So Good! You could actually drink this now, crime that it would be, but it is just so delicious even in its youth. It should go on for half a century or more.In Bond€1,515.00 -
The Wine Cellar Insider (100)
Deep, shiny, dark ruby in color, this rocks as soon as the wine is out of the gate, or should I say out of the bottle and into your glass. Cherry blossoms and lilacs make it seem as though you are in a flower shop. On the palate, the wine is rich, full bodied and concentrated, yet the wine is light on its feet. There is a purity in the fruit that is off the hook. There is a sensuous, textural quality that makes it so you cannot help but take another sip, to make sure the experience is real, and because it is so good! The wine is a testament to Paul Pontallier, as this is in some ways, a culmination of his life's work.In Bond€5,410.00 -
The Wine Independent (100)
A blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2016 Mouton Rothschild has a pH of 3.62 and a very deep purple black color. It is very closed to begin, requiring a lot of swirling to unleash a powerful wall of crème de cassis, juicy black plums, and scents of boysenberries, followed by nuances of star anise, incense, violets, crushed rocks, and camphor, plus emerging iron ore and rose oil hints. The medium to full-bodied palate is densely packed with layer upon layer of black fruit preserves and perfumed floral and exotic spice accents, framed by beautifully ripe, plush tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with an epically long fruit and mineral firework display. Gorgeous!In Bond€3,265.00 -
The Wine Independent (100)
The 2018 Petrus has a deep garnet purple color. It skips out of the glass with lifted scents of Morello cherries, redcurrant jelly, and fresh mulberries, plus suggestions of black olives, truffles, and underbrush. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is very firm and taut with ripe, grainy tannins and muscular fruit, finishing long and earthy. Typically for this vineyard, it will require patience!In Bond€14,085.00