95 Robert Parker
Performing better from bottle than it did from cask (and comparable to their wines 2005, 2000, 1990 and 1982), this is a great classic from Xavier Borie’s estate situated on the back roads west of the town of Pauillac. Its dense ruby/purple color is followed by hints of spring flowers, crushed rocks, black currants, cedar and earth/underbrush. Precise and elegant as well as backward and foreboding, it should put on weight in the bottle and evolve for two decades. Very concentrated as well as velvety-textured, it is a beauty of finesse, balance, purity and nobility. It will benefit from 5-7 more years of bottle age.
18 Rene Gabriel
80 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 18 % Merlot, 2 % Cabernet Franc. 44hl/ha. Sattes Purpur-Granat, dicht in der Mitte, lila Schimmer aussen. Elegantes Bouquet, Zedernhauch und blaue Beeren, mittlerer Druck, schwarze Pflaumen und ein gewisser, floraler Touch darin zeigend. Eleganter Gaumen, schöne Souplesse, delikat balanciert mit rundlichen, geschmeidigen Tanninen, Heidelbeeren und Lakritze im Finale. Ein sehr delikater, feiner Wein, der aber heuer eine gewaltige Konkurrenz in Pauillac hat. warten (2017 - 2038)
93 Wine Spectator
This is a step up, with ample black currant confiture and roasted fig notes allied to a racy graphite and iron spine. Very sleek through the finish, despite its heft, with a long finish filled with cassis bush and tobacco. Best from 2013 through 2025. 15,000 cases made. –JM