Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Disgorged in January 2021 with two grams per liter dosage, the 2015 Extra-Brut Premier Cru Clos de l'Abbaye has turned out brilliantly. Wafting from the glass with aromas of citrus oil, warm bread and honeycomb that are still a little reserved after its recent disgorgement, this is a full-bodied, layered and concentrated Champagne that's vinous and textural, displaying notable depth and mid-palate amplitude that's framed by lively acids and an enlivening pinpoint mousse, concluding with a long resonant finish.

Wine Advocate-2012 Chateau Fonplegade Grand Cru Classe, St. Emilion, Bordeaux, France - ""Now farmed organically, this wine exhibits an inky purple color, a gorgeous nose of blackberry and cassis fruit, sweet cherries, licorice and spice. It is full-bodied, ripe, opulent, pure and a great success in this vintage.""

The 2019 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets opens in the glass with aromas of nutmeg, fresh bread, crisp orchard fruit and fresh mint. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and incisive, with a concentrated core of fruit, racy acids and chalky structuring dry extract, it marries power and tension to persuasive effect.

The 2019 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Grand Montagne is very promising, wafting from the glass with notes of pear, white flowers, nutmeg, orange oil, green apple and struck match. Medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, it's textural and seamless, with tangy acids and a long, saline finish.

Aromas of white flowers, pear, crisp green apple, beeswax and fresh bread preface Pillot's 2019 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jean, a medium-bodied, tangy and incisive wine with a ripe core of fruit and a lively spine of acidity. This nicely balanced wine is once again likely to number among the domaine's more immediate premiers crus.

Aromas of white flowers, pear, crisp green apple, beeswax and fresh bread preface Pillot's 2019 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jean, a medium-bodied, tangy and incisive wine with a ripe core of fruit and a lively spine of acidity. This nicely balanced wine is once again likely to number among the domaine's more immediate premiers crus.

Derived from the same parcel that produced Lafon's communal Volnay, part of which is entitled to this grander appellation, the 2019 Volnay 1er Cru Les Lurets offers up aromas of sweet berry fruit, plums, raw cocoa and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, deep and nicely structured, with fine concentration and lively acids, it has turned out very well. William Kelley

There was no malolactic fermentation and no Muscadelle this year—both unusual for Aile d’Argent. Composed of 55% Sauvignon Blanc and 45% Sémillon (harvested August 30 to September 5), the 2018 Aile d'Argent has 13% alcohol and is a little reticent to begin, offering fragrant notions of lemongrass, freshly chopped ginger and lemon tart with a core of fresh pineapples, white peaches and aniseed. The palate is rich, sultry and exotic with loads of spices and tropical fruit and an electric backbone of acid, finishing very long. (LPB)

The 2018 Petrus has retained its opaque purple-black color after bottling, foreshadowing the seemingly frozen-in-time glacial pace at which this wine is proceeding. It opens very reluctantly, requiring considerable air with vigorous swirling and doggedly demands a few hours before it offers glimpses at this slumbering giant of a wine.

The 2020 Vieux Château Certan is a blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, picked on the 14th to the 24th of September for the Merlot, then on the 28th and 29th of September for the Cabernet Franc. The pH is 3.77 and the alcohol is 14.5%. Deep purple-black colored, it needs considerable coaxing, swirling and a lot of patience before it finally lets rip an intoxicating perfume of ripe, juicy black plums, Morello cherries, candied violets, black truffles and crushed rocks, giving way to hints of black tea, molten licorice and Sichuan pepper, plus a waft of dusty red soil.