2018
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2018
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Jeb Dunnuck (92-94)
From the team at Calon Ségur, the 2018 Château Capbern is another smoking good Saint-Estèphe. In 2018 it’s a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot that will spend 18 months in 60% new French oak. This ripe, sexy wine (it hit 14.6% natural alcohol) sports a deep purple color as well as blockbuster notes of crème de cassis, jammy blackberries, crushed flowers, and scorched earth. Despite all the fruit and texture, it stays beautifully balanced, has classic Saint-Estèphe earthy minerality, ripe tannins, and a great finish.د.إ535.00 -
James Suckling (97)
Exquisitely fine tannins to the currant, lead-pencil and chocolate character. The palate is full, yet very refined and linear with a long, lingering finish. Such polish and tension. The tannins are intense, yet so fine, giving almost a powdery texture. So Lafite-like. Best Carruades ever? 56% cabernet sauvignon and 38% merlot, the rest cabernet franc. Drink after 2026.د.إ4,815.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (92-94)
A blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Carménère, the 2018 Château De Fonbel is a juicy, medium to full-bodied, elegant Saint-Émilion that has seriously good notes of black cherries, black raspberries, violets, and spice. It shows the ripe, sexy style of the vintage, but its purity of fruit and polished tannins set it apart. This is a beautiful wine and my money is on it being a best to date.د.إ774.00 -
Wine Advocate (88-90)
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James Suckling (94)
A chewy, linear 2018 with very attractive blackberry, chocolate and wet-earth character. Some mushrooms, too. It’s full-bodied, very tight and tannic, yet polished and creamy-textured. Flavorful finish. Very typically Medoc. Needs three years to soften. Try after 2024.د.إ376.00 -
Vinous - Antonio Galloni (96)
The 2018 Millery is magnificent. Rich, layered and sumptuous, Millery dazzles from the very first taste. The warm vintage has given this typically reserved Saint-Émilion an extra kick of richness that works so well here. Inky red fruit, blood orange, mint, spice, cedar and new leather are some of the many aromas and flavors that develop in the glass. Silky, perfectly ripe tannins wrap it all together. This is such a sexy Saint-Émilion.د.إ1,210.00 -
Vinous - Antonio Galloni (91)
The 2018 Le Pape is surprisingly gracious in this vintage. Floral notes lift sweet red berry fruit, cedar, licorice and mocha flavors as this stylish, mid-weight Pessac-Léognan shows off its considerable allure. Even with all of the natural richness of the year, Le Pape remains elegant and nuanced. I would cellar the 2018 for at least a few years to allow the tannins to soften. If enjoyed young, a few hours of aeration will do wonders.د.إ621.00 -
Wine Advocate (94-96)
Made from 100% Merlot, the 2018 Les Gravieres is deep garnet-purple and rocks up with gregarious blueberry pie, chocolate-covered cherries and plum preserves scents with nuances of violets, spice cake and mocha. Big, full and decadently fruited, it has a firm frame of super ripe, grainy tannins and wonderful freshness, finishing very long and layered.د.إ682.00 -
The Wine Cellar Insider (100)
If awards were given out for sensuality, this gem would take the trophy. Incredibly sexy, with its velvet drenched textures, silky tannins and opulent personality, this wine stands out in a crowd. The nose, with its aromatic display of flowers, plums, cherries, espresso, licorice, dark cocoa and oyster shell is compelling. The seamless finish crosses the 60 second mark with its non-stop display of concentrated, perfectly ripe, dark sweet, red fruits, chocolate, licorice and spice. If you can afford it, it is a wine you should have in your cellar and you'll want to age this for at least 15 years before popping a bottle. The wine was made using 54% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5% ABV. This wine is a legend in the making.د.إ11,900.00 -
Decanter (96)
The progression of this property continues to be evident in the glass with a beautiful classicism, full of life and layers comprising dark spice and touches of black pepper against blueberry and cool fruits, pumped up by black chocolate and liquorice. It’s confident and clearly has a fierce quality to the tannins giving a long life ahead of it. The harvest started on September 17, one week later than Mouton because of its cooler terroir, with the blend completed by 3% Petit Verdot and 1% Carmanère.د.إ1,800.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (99)
Including slightly more Cabernet Sauvignon than usual, the 2018 Château Clinet is 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon that was brought up in 75% new French oak. One of the superstars of the vintage, it has incredible elegance and finesse as well as gorgeous richness and depth. Notes of cassis and truffly dark fruits as well as tobacco, damp earth, chocolate, and lead pencil shavings emerge from the glass, and it's full-bodied, with a seamless, multi-dimensional texture, gorgeous tannins, and a great, great finish. It already offers incredible pleasure, but it won't hit maturity for another 5-7 years and should evolve for 30 years or more. This magical wine is in the same league as the 2015 and 2016, and drinking these beauties over the coming decades will be an incredible treat.د.إ1,545.00 -
Wine Spectator (90-93)
Streamlined and fresh in feel, offering a polished beam of cherry and red currant notes laced with subtle tobacco and mineral hints. Sleek finishد.إ546.00 -
Vinous - Antonio Galloni (98)
The 2018 Clos Fourtet is one of the most elegant, refined wines of the vintage. Silky and aromatically expressive, Clos Fourtet is all grace. Blue/purplish fruit, lavender, spice, menthol and sage all lift from the glass. Even with all of the natural richness of the year, Clos Fourtet sizzles with tension and delineation. Then again, that is the magic of the Saint-Émilion plateau. Clos Fourtet is easy to look past in 2018. It is neither exuberant nor exotically ripe. Instead, everything is in reserve. The 2018 is a magical wine, that's all there is to it. Don't miss it.د.إ2,660.00 -
Vinous - Antonio Galloni (89-91)
The 2018 Clos Marsalette is quite bold and racy in this vintage and yet there is a good bit of underlying structure as well. Inky blue/purplish berry fruit, licorice and spice are all given an extra kick of juiciness. I really like the wine's extroverted personality. The blend is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% Merlot.د.إ704.00 -
Made with the same care and expertise as its big brother, Collines de L'If is fine and fresh with notes of autumn fruits, liquorice and spices. It conveys an accessibility, good richness and an attractive balance between fruit and soil with a touch of mint. The finish is long with the red fruit character that embodies Saint-Emilion wines.د.إ704.00 -
Wine Advocate (98+)
The 2018 Cos d'Estournel is a blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, aged in 50% new oak barriques. The alcohol weighs in at just over 14.5%. Sporting a deep purple-black color, it needs a lot of swirling to begin to unlock a powerful nose of crème de cassis, stewed plums, wild blueberries and chocolate-covered cherries, followed by nuances of Sichuan pepper, star anise, tree and clove oil, plus a waft of charcoal. The full-bodied palate is densely packed with taut, muscular black fruits and earthy layers, framed by super firm, ripe, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long and wonderfully earthy. A very impressive behemoth, this is going to need a good seven to 10 years to truly show its stuff and should drink for a good 40 years and beyond.د.إ2,450.00 -
Wine Advocate (98+)
The 2018 Cos d'Estournel is a blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, aged in 50% new oak barriques. The alcohol weighs in at just over 14.5%. Sporting a deep purple-black color, it needs a lot of swirling to begin to unlock a powerful nose of crème de cassis, stewed plums, wild blueberries and chocolate-covered cherries, followed by nuances of Sichuan pepper, star anise, tree and clove oil, plus a waft of charcoal. The full-bodied palate is densely packed with taut, muscular black fruits and earthy layers, framed by super firm, ripe, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long and wonderfully earthy. A very impressive behemoth, this is going to need a good seven to 10 years to truly show its stuff and should drink for a good 40 years and beyond.د.إ2,940.00 -
Classified as a Premier Grand Cru Classé “B” in St-Émilion, there is talk of a potential upgrade to the promised land of Classé “A” just next year – a testament to the extraordinary quality of Château Canon over the past few vintages. A whopping 90% of Canon’s vines are planted on the plateau of St-Émilion, 70% of which is Merlot with the rest Cabernet Franc. A stunningly picturesque vineyard as it happens, workers during the harvest here are treated to gorgeous views of two church spires including the ancient St-Martin-de-Mazerat. This beauty is certainly translated through the vineyard’s terroir into a wine of transcendent polish and lifted elegance.د.إ1,695.00 -
Classified as a Premier Grand Cru Classé “B” in St-Émilion, there is talk of a potential upgrade to the promised land of Classé “A” just next year – a testament to the extraordinary quality of Château Canon over the past few vintages. A whopping 90% of Canon’s vines are planted on the plateau of St-Émilion, 70% of which is Merlot with the rest Cabernet Franc. A stunningly picturesque vineyard as it happens, workers during the harvest here are treated to gorgeous views of two church spires including the ancient St-Martin-de-Mazerat. This beauty is certainly translated through the vineyard’s terroir into a wine of transcendent polish and lifted elegance.د.إ859.00 -
James Suckling (92-93)
There’s real clarity of fruit in this young wine with blackcurrant and blackberry flavors, medium body, polished tannins and a persistent finish.د.إ539.00 -
Decanter (94)
This is clearly one of the most concentrated d’Armailhacs that has been produced in recent decades owing to the extremely small and concentrated berries, especially Cabernet Sauvignon, harvested at the end of the growing season. It’s also one of the best, with clear personality and power, and although still the least complex of the three Pauillacs in the Mouton stable, it should offer the best value giving a ton of rich fruit and cigar box frisson. 5% Petit Verdot makes up the blend. 3.7pH. Tasted several times – always with the same impression.د.إ1,085.00 -
Wine Advocate (98)
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. It is wonderfully sweet, yes, but that—paradoxically for a "sweet wine"—is almost beside the point.د.إ3,590.00 -
Wine Advocate (98)
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. It is wonderfully sweet, yes, but that—paradoxically for a "sweet wine"—is almost beside the point.د.إ7,460.00 -
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James Suckling (99)
The intensity and perfumes on the nose are extremely impressive, offering pure blackberries and violets, as well as bark, wild-mushroom and raw-tile notes. It’s full-bodied with creamy tannins that envelop the wine and a gorgeous, subtly complex center palate with all the flavors found on the nose. Endless finish. Love the finesse and length to this. Greatest ever. 65% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot and 5% petit verdot. Try after 2026.د.إ1,230.00 -
James Suckling (97-98)
This is dense and very structured with phenolic tension and depth. Full-bodied, lightly phenolic with sliced apples, cooked pears and lemons. Lively and intense. Solid as a rock. This is one to watch.د.إ3,925.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (100)
Looking at the 2018 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, I was stopped in my tracks at this beauty and continue to think 2018 is an incredible vintage for Bordeaux. Checking in as 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot that was raised in new barrels, it has an essence of cassis character as well notes of tobacco leaf, dark chocolate, crushed stone, and cedar pencil. Cut from the same cloth as the 2009, although with slightly more polished tannins, it's full-bodied and massively concentrated and structured, yet flawlessly balanced, with incredible purity and no hard edges.د.إ3,575.00 -
James Suckling (96)
Sweet berries and cherries on the nose with sweet tobacco, lead pencil and blackcurrants. It’s full-bodied and very rich with layers of fruit and creamy tannins intertwined. Extremely long and creamy. Great Duhart. Try after 2026.د.إ1,555.00 -
James Suckling (96-97)
This is a crazy wine. Everything was done by hand, without electricity, because it was made in seven-hectoliter amphora. The grapes were hand-sorted. It’s full-bodied with tannins that are integrated so well into the wine, which gives it tension and freshness. Blackberries. Lavender. 10 hectoliters. Best Dufort ever?د.إ981.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (96-99)
From a miniscule one-hectare parcel right across from Clinet, on the upper plateau of Pomerol, the 2018 Enclos Tourmaline is a blockbuster in the making, and I suspect it’s going to give the 2016 a run for its money. Checking in as a 100% Merlot raised in new oak, which hit 14.7% natural alcohol, this inky color blockbuster boasts a massive bouquet of black fruits, smoke herbs, chocolate, and damp earth. It shows a more floral edge with time in the glass and it’s full-bodied, concentrated, and plush on the palate, with sweet tannins. It’s certainly one of the sexiest wines in this terrific vintage. Hats off to vineyard manager and winemaker Jérôme Aguirre as well as consultant Michel Rolland for another brilliant wine in the making. Tasted twice.د.إ1,425.00
