Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Continuum's 2019 Proprietary Red is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot and 6% Merlot, all from the estate vineyard on Pritchard Hill. Aged in two-thirds new French oak, with the balance in second or third-use barrels and a single concrete amphora, it's remarkably dark in hue, a deep, saturated purple in the glass. On the nose, it's floral and herbal yet fruit-driven, with violets, sage and bay leaf adding nuance to black cherries, while the palate is full-bodied, plush and silky.

Having retreated into its shell, the deep garnet colored 2009 Léoville Poyferré gives up slowly revealing notions of cigar boxes, pencil lead, charcoal, rose hip tea and fragrant earth with a core of preserved plums, crème de cassis, espresso and Indian spices. Full, rich, seductive and voluptuously fruited in the mouth, the palate features firm yet beautifully velvety tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long and spicy. (LPB)

Clape’s flagship 2015 Cornas is enormously complex and compelling. Almond skin, cherries, blood and herbal notes all combine on the nose, while on the palate this medium to full-bodied wine is firmly tannic but ripe and balanced, with a rich, velvety and nearly endless finish (JC)

The 2004 Barolo Fossati Case Nere Riserva 10 anni comes from a more balanced vintage (without big heat spikes) that shows a pretty garnet color. The structure is there and the bouquet is ever changing and fluid. There’s a hint of dark fruit followed by spice, cola, dark truffle with tar notes of black granite and pencil shaving. This is second year this wine is produced. The wine is bottled after 24 months in oak and rests in bottle for six to seven years. There’s a lot a fresh fruit left, despite its age. (ML)

The 2009 Proprietary Blend Harlan Estate is just as impressive from bottle as it was from barrel. Cloves, dark plums, cherries, smoke and graphite add richness and resonance to this powerful, incisive wine. Juicy and exuberant, the 2009 has always had a certain raciness that is impossible to resist. Layers of fruit continue to build to the enveloping, sensual finish. Readers will have a hard time keeping their hands off this hugely delicious wine. (AG)

Like the traditional cuvee, the 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes shows a tinge of cool climate-like style and offers nuanced notes of forest floor, garrigue, damp earth, olive and ample dark fruits. While the bouquet is outstanding, the palate is straight up sensational and this beauty has full-bodied richness, a layered, expansive texture, perfectly polished tannin and a great, great finish. I imagine it will keep for another decade, yet there's certainly no need to hold off either. (JD)

The 2018 d'Yquem is all lime cordial, grapefruit oil and mandarin peel to begin. With a little coaxing, the fireworks really begin, letting off a whole array of honeysuckle, candied ginger, dried pineapple, lemon pastilles, chalk dust and sea spray scents, followed by a savory undercurrent of shaved almonds, allspice and baking bread. The palate is an exercise in polish and poise, featuring the most gorgeously creamy texture and bright, sparkling freshness, framing all the densely laden tropical and citrus fruit layers, finishing with a powerful BANG of profound floral and spice perfume.

Monumental stuff in every way, the blockbuster 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve Le Clos du Caillou has put on even more richness and weight than when I tasted it on release ( and it rated 98). Inky colored, it offers up extraordinary aromas and flavors of blackcurrants, black cherry, crushed rocks, spring flowers and melted licorice to go with a full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, dense and layered profile on the palate. It needs to be tasted to be believed. Forget it for another 4-5 years, at which point it will evolve gracefully for another two decades. It’s that good. (JD)