Vinous - Antonio Galloni (97+)

The 2001 Latour is magnificent. A huge, structured wine, the 2001 Latour boasts notable depth to match its vertical, towering structure and pure power. At nearly fifteen years of age, the 2001 remains deep, virile and imposing. With air, the 2001 is a approachable now, but ideally it needs at least a few more years in bottle. This is a superb showing by any measure. Frédéric Engerer adds that 2001 was the last vintage that was lightly filtered prior to bottling.

Wine Advocate (92)

A terrific success from the well-known estate of Bordeaux’s famed oenologists Dany and Michel Rolland, the 2001 Bon Pasteur is a super effort for the vintage. Deep plum/purple to the rim, with a sumptuous nose of barbecue spices, smoke, black cherries, mocha, and spice box, this opulent, medium to full-bodied, rich red reveals amazing extract and intensity for a wine from this vintage. Its structure and size suggests 2-3 years of cellaring is warranted. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2017. Bravo!

Vinous - Neal Martin (98)

The 2001 Le Pin is hands down one of the finest wines that Jacques Thienpont has made. It’s cut from a completely different cloth than the 2000, delivering almost clinically defined black cherries, boysenberry, crushed stone and violet scents with laser-like precision. The medium-bodied palate is taut and fresh, with fine tannins, beguiling pure fruit and stunning focus on the finish. Jacques Thienpont seemed as excited as I was by the showing of this wine at 20 years. It is a stellar Pomerol and simply one of the best vintages of Le Pin ever made.

Vinous (90)

Peach and smoky oak on the reticent nose. Sweet, full and pure, with subtle floral and spice flavors. Offers a good chewy texture and solid underlying structure, but comes across as considerably less minerally than the young 2002.

Vinous - Stephen Tanzer (90-93)

Precise, expressive aromas of lemon, peach, mint and wet stone, with a cool, steely aspect. Dry, intensely flavored, focused and penetrating. Classy and quite long. The best of these premier crus today by a wide margin.

Vinous - Stephen Tanzer (87-89)

Pale, bright yellow. Steely aromas of apple, spices and mint. Fat and peachy in the mouth, with complicating notes of spice and butter. Offers very good fruit and length for village wine.

Wine Enthusiast (97)

A classic in development, a wine that will last for decades. It is certainly powerful, but already the shape is finalized, with its plums and berries settling down with perfumes, acidity, just enough tannins and a warm, welcoming richness. A great argument for the superiority of 2001 over 2000.

Wine Enthusiast (97)

A classic in development, a wine that will last for decades. It is certainly powerful, but already the shape is finalized, with its plums and berries settling down with perfumes, acidity, just enough tannins and a warm, welcoming richness. A great argument for the superiority of 2001 over 2000.

Vinous (94+)

Red-ruby. Forceful aromas of briary dark berries, plum, smoke, coffee and earth, with the subtle vegetal/herbal complexity that is the essence of this grand cru. Tight and bright, but a wine of great intensity and richness, with compelling chewy depths. Less tasteable today than the Combottes but this has more dimension and class. Finishes extremely subtle and long. This will require patience.

Vinous (95+)

Deep, sappy aromas of plum, currant, minerals and smoke, with a compelling earthy complexity. Thick on entry, then youthfully backward and vibrant in the middle palate. A seamless wine that remains light on its feet despite its compelling density and major volume. Finishes with sweet tannins, a note of spicy oak and outstanding persistence.

Burghound (94)

(Outstanding) Assertively complex and spicy black fruit nose introduces seductive, intense, big yet refined flavors that completely coat the mouth and rest so long on the palate that this is frankly almost sensory overload. Tannic, concentrated, deep and weighty yet without a trace of heaviness or lack of balance. As good as the Vignerondes but again, the expression is different - the Boudots is perhaps bigger and more concentrated whereas the Vignerondes is silk and elegance. Either way, it's a very high class problem to choose between them.

Vinous (94+)

Bright ruby-red. Slightly blacker, less exotic nose dominated by dark berries, licorice and minerals. Less lush and more reserved today than the RSV but penetrating, vibrant and gripping. Really folded in on itself and hiding more than it's revealing; less obviously sweet than the RSV. But the long, minerally, very fine finish suggests that this wine will reward a decade or so of bottle aging.

Vinous (94+)

Bright ruby-red. Slightly blacker, less exotic nose dominated by dark berries, licorice and minerals. Less lush and more reserved today than the RSV but penetrating, vibrant and gripping. Really folded in on itself and hiding more than it's revealing; less obviously sweet than the RSV. But the long, minerally, very fine finish suggests that this wine will reward a decade or so of bottle aging.

Vinous (90)

Good deep red. Ripe aromas of black raspberry, smoky oak and earth. Sweet, dense and vinous, with currant and licorice flavors and a solid mineral underpinning. Chewy and rich. Lalou Bize says this began with 13% natural alcohol and was chaptalized less than a degree.

Vinous - Neal Martin (92)

The 2001 Les Forts de Latour is one of many that I had not tasted for a decade. Now at 20 years old, it has a lovely, almost melted bouquet of black fruit laced with tar, cedar and pine, rose petal, occupying that liminal point between primary and secondary stages. The well-balanced palate offers a dash of black pepper on the entry and shows good weight and tension. It’s lively yet classic in style, and fans out wonderfully toward the persistent, saline finish.

Wine Advocate (98)

The 2001 Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva is the follow-up of the 1995. There is a sense of harmony and elegance, of nuance and subtleness that wasn't quite the same in the Bosconia, as comparing both wines is inevitable. They started picking the red grapes the 15th of October, and the last grapes were picked the 29th of October with good weather. The grapes ripened properly and thoroughly, and the wine has great balance for a long aging in bottle. This is 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacho and 5% each Graciano and Mazuelo that fermented in their 153-year-old oak vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in used barrels for 10 years. It has 13% alcohol, a pH of 3.4 and 6.4 grams of acidity (tartaric). The nose shows young (tasting it blind, you'd guess a 10-year old wine, not a 20-year-old wine!). It has a nose of sweet spices, underbrush and cigar ash, somewhat balsamic, bramble fruit with perfect ripeness, integrated and young but starting to show some tertiary complexity. The palate is velvety and medium-bodied, with fine-grained, chalky tannins denoting a limestone soil that brings finesse and texture and a sapid, tasty, almost salty finish. This is going to make a beautiful bottle of old Rioja in 30 years' time! 25,000 bottles produced. It was bottled after being fined with egg whites in July 2012.

The Louis Guntrum Niersteiner Oelberg Riesling Spatlese Trocken 2001 is a noteworthy find for the discerning wine enthusiast. Finely crafted by the respected vintners at Louis Guntrum, a family-owned Rhineland estate with a legacy dating back to 1648, this unique Riesling hails from Germany's esteemed Rheinhessen wine region. Harvested in the Nierstein vineyard overlooking the majestic Rhine River, the Oelberg soil imparts distinct mineral characteristics to the vintage.

This sublime 'Spatlese Trocken' exhibits both the late-harvest 'Spatlese' ripeness and the dry ('Trocken') composition, in harmony. The 2001 vintage is stand-out, boasting a bouquet of aged fruit and honey overtones, counterbalanced with zesty acidity - a testament to its meticulous, traditional vinification process. Savour the Louis Guntrum Niersteiner Oelberg Riesling Spatlese Trocken 2001 to enjoy the epitome of nurturing German wine artistry.

Wine Advocate (96)

Luciano Sandrone’s 2001 Barolo Le Vigne is fresh, vibrant and totally impeccable. Flowers, mint, minerals and juicy red berries are some of the many nuances that come to life in the 2001 Le Vigne. The wine gains volume and shape with time in the glass. Seemingly endless layers of fruit flesh out on the mid-palate and finish. Hints of leather, spices, licorice and flowers add further complexity on the close. This is a fabulous showing from Luciano Sandrone. Although Sandrone’s Cannubi Boschis gets most of the attention, the reality is that in many vintages Le Vigne is very much its equal. The ability to blend fruit from several parcels, an approach rarely used today, has plenty of merits. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2021.

Vinous (92)

Palish bright red. Ripe, highly perfumed nose offers red berries, tobacco, minerals, dried flowers and woodsmoke: a classic example of the vineyard. Sweet, deep and rich but light on its feet, with a texture that's at once silky and utterly mouthfilling. Wonderfully perfumed Barbaresco, finishing with impressive breadth, length and class. I could see the 2004 developing in a similar direction.

Indulge in the exquisitely crafted Marchesi di Gresy Barbaresco Gaiun Martinenga 2001, a classic exemplar of fine Italian wine. Sourced from the acclaimed Martinenga vineyard, nestled in the heart of the Barbaresco region, this red displays a masterful, harmonious blend of quality and character.

Produced by Marchesi di Gresy, a revered winery with a storied legacy dating back to the eighteenth century, this Barbaresco boasts an intense garnet hue, underlined by complex aromas of ripe fruit, spice and cocoa. The luxuriously long-lasting finish reinforces its high standing amongst oenophiles.

Artisanal techniques are employed, including traditional fermentation in stainless steel tanks, followed by 30 months in French oak barriques. The meticulous care to detail creates a balanced, full-bodied wine with powerful tannins and bold flavours.

The Marchesi di Gresy Barbaresco Gaiun Martinenga 2001 is far more than a beverage—it's an enveloping sensory experience that reflects Italy's fruitful vineyards and centuries-old viniculture traditions.

Wine Enthusiast (97)

"For me, this vintage is what makes Margaux special," says Margaux winemaker Paul Pontallier. He is right: With its denseness, spice, flavors of black currants layered with dryness and fresh acidity, this is a huge and impressive wine that never forgets that it is Margaux. It is still young, and the dry tannic aftertaste, which lasts for many minutes, shows this.

Vinous - Stephen Tanzer (90-93)

Saturated purple ruby. Aromas of blackberry, bitter chocolate, mocha and espresso, with a minty nuance. Then lush, pliant and deep, with lovely sweetness and density. Finishes with big, palate-coating, ripe tannins and strong fruit. This wine has been a moving target in its three vintages, as the 1999 was 80% cabernet sauvignon, the 2000 70% merlot and this 2001 roughly a 50/50 blend of the two varieties.

Decanter (100)

Dense garnet in colour, this vintage of Masseto is restrained with a lavish elegance on the nose, displaying mint, milk, wild fennel (typical along the roads in Bolgheri), leather and white truffle. It is vibrant and mineral on the big palate, creamy at first then velvety on the mid-palate and super-ripe on the finish, woven with refreshing acidity and cassis meatiness. One of the greatest Masseto ever, and one of the best wines produced in Bolgheri (alongside Ornellaia 1998 and Sassicaia 1985). Simply, perfect!

Vinous - Antonio Galloni (95)

The 2001 Barolo Riserva Vigna Rionda is stunning. It opens with gorgeous aromas of rose petals and sweet ripe cherries that meld seamlessly onto a palate of dark raspberries, cocoa and licorice. It offers superb length and elegant tannins in a style that is incredibly delicate and surprisingly approachable today. This will be a beautiful wine to follow over the following years and decades. 95