95 Wine Enthusiast

This layered, nuanced, spicy wine offers enticing aromas, intricate flavors and a balanced, appetizing mouthfeel. Red and black cherries, cranberries, black tea and cinnamon are just a few of the flavor descriptors. Vivid acidity meets warm fruit ripeness for great balance.

90 Rebecca Gibb MW - Vinous Media

Wild fermentation, a little bit of barrel-aging on lees and a 10% addition of Sémillon in the blend make the 2023 Sauvignon Blanc far from your stereotypical Marlborough style. This wine plays on its clarity, texture and freshness. It's aromatically subtle, with green notes meeting nectarine and blackcurrant. While the region's natural freshness abounds, the wine retains a round shape and natural curve before being sewn up by a thread of acidity. There are layers of interest here that will keep you coming back.

93 Robert Parker - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2013 Metisse Jumping Goat Vineyard (78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Petit Verdot and 7% Merlot) from this vineyard in St. Helena was coiled and tightly knit, but showing loads of upside and potential. An opaque ruby/purple color and notes of strained blackcurrants, camphor and licorice were all present in this full-bodied wine, which also has a subtle dose of toasty oak (about 70% new French barrels are used). This wine needs another 2-3 years of cellaring and should keep well for two decades or more.

96 Antonio Galloni - Vinous

I have tasted the 2015 Cristal three times so far - once as part of an extensive vertical I will be reporting on shortly, and then later in my office. Those tastings paint a portrait of a complex Champagne that is still finding its center. Tasted at the maison, the 2015 is rich, dense and explosive, with tremendous textural intensity and also a good bit of energy to back it up. Citrus confit, spice, ginger, chalk and dried flowers abound in a Champagne endowed with tremendous aromatic presence in a style that offers notable richness, but lighter than vintages such as 2012. There is a bit of the savoriness that is such a signature of the year, but it is nicely integrated in the wine’s fabric. Two later tastings in my office strongly suggest the 2015 has already started to shut down a bit, which is a shame, as it may be hard to read for some time to come. Dosage is 7 grams per liter. Disgorged: November 2022.

92 Eric Guido - Vinous Media

The 2022 Sauvignon Blanc Cymbal bursts from the glass with an intense mix of crushed grapefruit, sage and freshly-cut grass. This is luxuriously soft and round, with ripe mineral-tinged nectarines and sweet spices wonderfully balanced by a core of saline minerality. It finishes dramatically long and spicy, with a sour melon tinge that leaves the mouth watering for more. The 2022 Cymbal is one of the most refined Washington State Sauvignon Blancs I have come across.

98-99 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

This is incredibly classic in style with so much currant, lead pencil, crushed stone and sweet tobacco. It’s full-bodied with minerally, stoney and powerful tannins. It goes on and one. Real Las Cases here. Solid as a rock. Progresses to violet, graphite and licorice at the end.

99 Lisa Perrotti-Brown - The Wine Independent

Made from 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, and 8% Merlot, the 2020 Leoville Las Cases is deep garnet-purple in color. After a swirl or two, it erupts from the glass with explosive scents of blackcurrant cordial, stewed blackberries, juicy blackberries, and violets, leading to suggestions of licorice, cinnamon toast, and fertile loam with a touch of truffles. The medium-bodied palate is tightly wound with loads of nuanced black fruit, earthy, and floral layers, supported by very fine-grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and multi-layered.

98+ Antonio Galloni - Vinous

The 2020 Léoville Las Cases has developed into a powerhouse. Then again, that is Las Cases. En primeur, I thought the 2020 was a bit shy, but its true personality has to emerge. Blackberry jam, gravel, spice, menthol, licorice, espresso and plum all saturate the palate. Vivid and explosive, the 2020 is dizzyingly rich, with plenty of Las Cases tannins that will require patience. I am not sure when the 2020 will be ready to drink, but it won't be anytime soon. Las Cases is one of the wines of the vintage in 2020, that much is pretty clear.

98 Jeb Dunnuck - jebdunnuck.com

Another 2020 that's going to demand patience, the 2020 Château Léoville Las Cases is a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated blend that includes 11% Cabernet Franc and 8% Merlot that was raised in 80% new French oak. It's a regal, medium to full-bodied, concentrated, flawlessly balanced 2020 with a pure core of cassis and darker currant fruits, a layered, seamless mouthfeel that carries substantial tannins, perfectly integrated oak, and subtle floral, mineral, and leafy herb nuances. Playing in the concentrated yet focused and structured style of the vintage, it's going to need a decade to hit the early phases of its prime drinking window and will have 50-75 years of longevity.

96-98 Lisa Perrotti-Brown - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2020 Léoville Las Cases is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 8% Merlot, aging in 80% new French oak barriques, weighing in with an alcohol of 13.68%, a pH of 3.8 and an IPT (tannins index) of 79. The Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested from the 21st to the 27th of September, the Merlot from the 12th to the 15th of September and the Cabernet Franc on the 18th and 19th of September. With an opaque purple-black color, it slowly unfurls to reveal beguiling notes of fresh blackcurrants, Morello cherries, candied violets and dark chocolate, giving way to an undercurrent of crushed rocks, unsmoked cigars, clove oil and fragrant earth. The medium-bodied palate is a powerhouse of energy, delivering tightly wound red and black fruits, mineral and floral layers, supported by fantastic tension and incredibly ripe, silt-like tannins. The finish has jaw-dropping fragrance and depth.

97 Wine Enthusiast

The wine's richness comes both from the dark tannins and the pure, classic black currant flavors. Acidity, yes, but surrounded by dense fruits and tannins that give the wine considerable structure and the potential to age for many years. An impressive wine.

90 Wine Spectator

Precise and tightly focused, this red serves up snappy guava and cranberry flavors accented by rose petal and dusky spices, finishing with snappy tannins. Drink now through 2030. 2,500 cases made.

94 Joaquín Hidalgo - Vinous Media

The 2020 Pago de Carraovejas is a blend of 92% Tempranillo, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Merlot from Querada del Botija in Peñafiel, Ribera del Duero. Aged for 12 months in French (80%) and American (20%) oak barrels, it's garnet-red with a purple sheen. The aromas begin with enticing notes of strawberry, blackcurrant, sour cherry, spice and finely tuned oaky layers. On the palate, it's dry and juicy, with finely-grained tannins and a chalky texture invigorated by well-balanced acidity. Compared with previous house vintages, this is a precise new style for Ribera del Duero.

96 Anne Krebiehl MW - Vinous Media

For some strange reason, the 2022 Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos Saint Urbain Grand Cru had the highest acidity of all the wines harvested in 2022 - even a touch more than the Riesling Roche Calcaire. This is one of the mysteries of nature. Only a vestige of pear appears on the nose. The palate is absolutely focused. Tasted blind, this would be hard to recognize as a Pinot Gris. This is unreal with its chiseled, scalpel-like acid streak, wonderful and glorious. The pear of Pinot Gris returns on the finish. The 2022 is bracing, gorgeous, unusual and magical. There's far more Rangen than Pinot Gris. (Bone-Dry)

92 Decanter

Ripe stone fruit aromas, spanning peach, pineapple and yellow apple. It’s tangy and tactile on first attack, then the creaminess takes over giving a rounded feel. The lemon acidity then sweeps in and washes away the creamy ripeness, leaving a limey, lemony lick. It's warm and sunny in aroma, so the palate surprises with its freshness and salinity.