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California |
1 |
100 (DC) |
د.إ5,370.00 |
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Decanter (100)It is an absolute stand-out wine that is just seamless, with a purity of dark fruit flavours and spices balanced by threads of distinct minerality, freshness, and tension. Pure blackberry and black cherry fruit notes are tinged with bright capsicum. The depth and intensity of this wine are just as bewildering as the freshness conveyed on the palate. The dusty tannin backbone, a classic quality of the Beckstoffer Dr. Crane vineyard in St. Helena, frames a panoply of savoury spices, crushed herbs, liquorice and black ironstone minerality, delivering a perfect Cabernet Franc in the heady, rich, opulent and mineral-driven style Lithology is known for, but with tremendous energy in the 2021s, which conveys a real elegance to match this wine’s intensity.
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California |
2 |
99 (DC) |
د.إ3,950.00 |
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Decanter (99)Lithology’s Beckstoffer To Kalon Cabernet Franc is a riveting, opulent, flashy red, embodying everything there is to love about a full-flavoured California red wine. Loaded with blue fruit that will surely mellow with age, but for classicists looking forward to a finesse-driven Cabernet Franc, look elsewhere. This is larger-than-life Cabernet Franc, and there’s no denying the delicious factor, fueled by layers of blueberry, plum, and boysenberry fruit tinged with sweet cedar spices. A generous dose of minerality overtakes the mid-palate, and dusty tannins build on the finish, which gains in savoury saline edges. One can see a window into the future of this wine, which is bright and more refined as it will eventually shed some of its youthful exuberance.
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Mendoza |
1 |
97 (WA) |
د.إ1,360.00 |
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Wine Advocate (97)The site-specific 2018 Malbec Appellation Gualtallary comes from specific soils, two plots that they believe transmit the maximum expression of limestone to Malbec, giving a structured wine with fine-grained tannins but a little wild. The vines are on stony and gravelly soils with a high percentage of limestone and sand with around 3% clay at 1,300 meters in altitude. The grapes fermented in small concrete vats with indigenous yeasts at some 25 degrees Celsius for 15 days. It matured in untoasted 3,500-liter French oak foudres for 18 months and no less than 12 months in bottle. This comes from sandy soils and very low yields that give it chalkier tannins and a savage way. This has a slightly rustic touch, vertical and with some lightness. There's always a fresh touch of aromatic herbs (thyme and rockrose), with a textured palate and very tasty and clean flavors in the finish. 20,600 bottles were filled in September 2019.
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California |
4 |
100 (JD) |
د.إ6,465.00 |
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Jeb Dunnuck (100)Another perfect wine from Jim Binns is the 2019 No 8, a blend of 88% Syrah, 9% Mourvèdre, and 3% Viognier. This full-bodied powerhouse of a wine has that rare mix of richness and elegance as well as a stunning array of red, blue, and black fruits along with notes of ground pepper, violets, and spring flowers. The balance is as good as it gets, it has ultra-fine tannins, and again, a mix of power and finesse that's something to behold. It's unquestionably approachable today yet should benefit from a few years of bottle age and keep for 15+.
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California |
1 |
95 (WA) |
د.إ1,595.00 |
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Wine Advocate (95)Medium ruby, the 2018 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley bursts with pure cranberries, black cherries, charcuterie, loamy earth and blood orange aromas. Medium-bodied, it has pleasing graininess and bursts of freshness to support the full, ripe fruits and flavorful finish. This cuvée offers classic Russian River fruit in a very classy frame.
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Mendoza |
1 |
97 (JS) |
د.إ842.00 |
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James Suckling (97)This is one of the most direct and clear Caros in a long time with blue-fruit, violet and sandalwood aromas and flavors. Crushed-stone, too. Full-bodied, yet tight and contracted with a level of shyness to its strength. The length derives from the excellence of the cabernet. One for the cellar. Blend of 74% malbec and 26% cabernet sauvignon. Try after 2023, but exciting to drink all the same.
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Mendoza |
9 |
98 (JA) |
د.إ1,690.00 |
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Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (98)Let the aromatics slowly unfurl out of the glass, really give it time. Crushed raspberries and tobacco, fresh flowers, salty crackers, oyster shell. The weight, the texture, the acidity are all in balance, playing off each other, and this is just a wonderful wine that stops you in your tracks. Located at 1,450m, from a 1.4ha limestone plot, particularly rich in microorganisms (as we learnt through their brilliant recent terroir studies). It’s a place where phenolic ripeness happens slowly, and the complexity builds as a result. A spring frost reduced yields by about 20%, fermented with 50% whole cluster between concrete vats and oak casks. 4800 bottles produced.
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Mendoza |
1 |
99 (JS) |
د.إ687.00 |
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James Suckling (99)This is made from over 100-year-old vineyards and offers blackberries with blue fruit and dark chocolate. Shows bark and black truffle undertones, too. Tight and more focused than in past vintages. The quality of the tannins is more precise and fine. Blackberries and black truffles at the end. Drink or hold.
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Mendoza |
1 |
99 (JS) |
د.إ1,720.00 |
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James Suckling (99)This is made from over 100-year-old vineyards and offers blackberries with blue fruit and dark chocolate. Shows bark and black truffle undertones, too. Tight and more focused than in past vintages. The quality of the tannins is more precise and fine. Blackberries and black truffles at the end. Drink or hold.
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Mendoza |
4 |
97 (JA) |
د.إ1,280.00 |
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Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (97)A sit up and take notice wine. Inky colour, smooth tannins, still young and crouched but already combining subtlety and confidence. On the palate, you get a wall of liquorice, crushed cardamom, rosemary, cassis, liqueur, all expertly delivered by winemaker Fernando Buscema. Sensational wine. Tasted twice, same impression each time, of a wine full of life and interest. Bottled unfiltered and unfined.
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Patagonia |
1 |
98 (JS) |
د.إ2,135.00 |
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James Suckling (98)This is probably the finest answer to Puligny or Meursault in Argentina and it will be hard to pass by. Beautiful brioche notes give a fine creaminess with mineral, fine reduction, beeswax and a hint of white sesame to the lemon curd. Extremely textured and tense on the palate with fresh, medium acidity and a long, long finish. This is all about texture and purity. Also intellectual. Drink or hold. From biodynamically grown grapes.
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California |
6 |
94+ (VN) |
د.إ4,025.00 |
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Vinous (94+)The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is dark, ample and totally seductive. Black cherry, mocha, plum, spice, new leather and tobacco all meld together. Pliant and supple, the 2016 is already incredibly delicious. This is an especially mid-weight wine and style. Accordingly, the 2016 Estate will drink well with minimal cellaring. The Estate was bottled just two months before this tasting. I imagine it will put on some weight with further time in bottle. All the elements appear to be in the right place for that to happen.
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Coquimbo |
1 |
97 (TA) |
د.إ1,230.00 |
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Tim Atkin MW (97)Right up there with the best Chardonnays Chile, and South America, has ever produced. This stunning wine comes from five specific blocks within the Quebrada Secain Limarí. Tangy, chiselled and refined, with very stylish oak. It’s the kind of thing that could embarrass a range of Puligny-Montrachet Premiers Crus in a blind tasting. Simply stunning
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Central Valley |
1 |
98 (JS) |
د.إ1,400.00 |
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James Suckling (98)Very perfumed and aromatic with blackcurrant, sweet-tobacco and Spanish-cedar character. Full-bodied with ultra fine tannins that build on the palate and take the fruit and other flavors to an endless finish. More refined than the perfect 2018 and almost as compelling. Drink in 2023 or after.
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California |
1 |
96 (VN (AG)) |
د.إ2,385.00 |
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Vinous - Antonio Galloni (96)The 2021 Chardonnay DuMOL Estate Vineyard is a powerful, phenolic, driving wine. Sage, crushed rocks, lemon peel, mint, white pepper and dried herbs infuse the Estate with tremendous complexity. High-density plantings of Mount Eden clone Chardonnay on this site yield a wine of tremendous distinctiveness and vibrancy.
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California |
1 |
99 (WI) |
د.إ2,345.00 |
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The Wine Independent (99)The 2021 Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard needs quite a bit of coaxing to unlock notes of ripe yellow apples, grapefruit oil, orange peel, and juicy peaches, leading to wafts of wet slate, shaved ginger, and almond croissant. The medium-bodied palate has super-charged intensity, delivering layer upon layer of citrus, stone fruit, and mineral flavors with a silky texture and laser-precise acidity, finishing with incredible length and so many citrus and mineral sparks. This is phenomenal Chardonnay! These Hyde Vineyard vines were planted in 1986. "Hyde were the first to do custom growing and they do it so well," commented DuMOL's winemaker, Andy Smith. "The shoot growth in 2021 was very low and the yields were down from a typical 21 barrels to 17 barrels. But I believe this is the best quality is the best they've ever had from here." I agree. For number crunchers, the pH is 3.38, and ABV is 13.7%.
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Mendoza |
1 |
96 (JS) |
د.إ589.00 |
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James Suckling (96)Cooked apple, lemon curd and light vanilla on the nose, together with stone, mineral and some dried flowers. Medium to full body with a creamy texture and beautiful fruit. Hints of vanilla and pie crust in the aftertaste. Always great quality for the price. Drink or hold.
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Mendoza |
3 |
96 (JS) |
د.إ883.00 |
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James Suckling (96)This has aromas of ripe apricots, buttercream, baked apples and pastries. Medium-to full-bodied with a creamy, round and almost oily texture. Lovely balance of ripe fruit and toasted-pastry notes with bright acidity. Delicious finish. Fantastic value, as always. Drink now or hold.
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Mendoza |
3 |
97 (WA) |
د.إ2,450.00 |
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Wine Advocate (97)The more austere 2017 Gran Enemigo Chacayes Single Vineyard was produced with Cabernet Franc and 15% Malbec from a low-yielding and early harvest of plants at 1,100 meters in altitude. The fermentations for the Enemigo wines are always with indigenous yeasts and with some whole clusters, and in 2017, it was 100% (for all the single-vineyard wines) and aged in old oak foudres to avoid excessive aromas of oak or toast. The palate reveals some austerity too, but it has pungent flavors and piercing acidity and a very tasty, almost salty finish. This is also truly impressive, outstanding for a year like 2017 and among the best Chacayes ever. 6,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2018.
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Mendoza |
1 |
98 (WA) |
د.إ1,450.00 |
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Wine Advocate (98)The 2017 Gran Enemigo Gualtallary Single Vineyard didn't show any heat or excess ripeness from a warm and dry year. On the contrary, it's austere and has citrus acidity, with great freshness and minerality. The palate is super austere with vibrant acidity—by far the highest among the Gran Enemigo bottlings—and very fine, chalky tannins. This is remarkable, serious, balanced and fresh with a very, very long and salty finish. This fermented in barrels with 100% full clusters and indigenous yeasts and matured in centenary oak foudres for 15 months. 3,000 bottles were filled in July 2018.
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Mendoza |
6 |
98 (WA) |
د.إ1,450.00 |
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Wine Advocate (98)One of the finest and more regular wines from Argentina, the 2018 Gran Enemigo Gualtallary Single Vineyard is austere and shows restraint, with great freshness and gobsmacking balance and complexity, but in the context of the 2019 and 2020 vintages that I also tasted next to it, it comes thorough as slightly less refined but still with 13.5% alcohol and with very good parameters of acidity and freshness. It has a medium-bodied palate and a rare combination of power and elegance, with very fine, chalky tannins. It's very long and has a salty and tasty finish. It matured in centenary oak foudres for 15 months. 9,000 bottles were filled in July 2019.
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Mendoza |
2 |
100 (JS) |
د.إ981.00 |
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James Suckling (100)A complex, restrained and deliciously austere cabernet franc with damp earth, oyster shells, blueberries, thyme, rosemary and mushrooms. Super serious and chalky on the palate with lots of dissolved, minerally-textured tannins. Very long and uncompromising! An incredible cabernet franc from Gualtallary by Alejandro Vigil. Extremely pure, mineral and seductive. A fabulous cabernet franc that grows on the palate with remarkable tension and texture. I’d want to drink a bottle now even it can hold extremely well.
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Mendoza |
5 |
100 (JS) |
د.إ2,455.00 |
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James Suckling (100)A complex, restrained and deliciously austere cabernet franc with damp earth, oyster shells, blueberries, thyme, rosemary and mushrooms. Super serious and chalky on the palate with lots of dissolved, minerally-textured tannins. Very long and uncompromising! An incredible cabernet franc from Gualtallary by Alejandro Vigil. Extremely pure, mineral and seductive. A fabulous cabernet franc that grows on the palate with remarkable tension and texture. I’d want to drink a bottle now even it can hold extremely well.
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Mendoza |
3 |
100 (JS) |
د.إ1,770.00 |
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James Suckling (100)A complex, restrained and deliciously austere cabernet franc with damp earth, oyster shells, blueberries, thyme, rosemary and mushrooms. Super serious and chalky on the palate with lots of dissolved, minerally-textured tannins. Very long and uncompromising! An incredible cabernet franc from Gualtallary by Alejandro Vigil. Extremely pure, mineral and seductive. A fabulous cabernet franc that grows on the palate with remarkable tension and texture. I’d want to drink a bottle now even it can hold extremely well.
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Central Valley |
1 |
96 (TA) |
د.إ712.00 |
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Tim Atkin MW (96)Given the price of some Chilean icons these days, Coyam remains one of the best value reds in the country, right up there with the country's top red blends. Based on Syrah and Carmenère with the remaining 19% made up of Cabernet Sauvignon, Garnacha, Malbec, Carignan, Tempranillo and Mourvèdre, this is wonderfully detailed and complex. Racy and mineral, with scented oak, mint, wild herb and sweet spice undertones and a core of inky damson and black cherry fruit. 2022-30
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Aconcagua |
39 |
97 (JS) |
د.إ1,375.00 |
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James Suckling (97)Real depth for a chardonnay, with lots of limey, smoky green fruit, chalky, flinty citrus, stones and oyster shells. Pure, full-bodied and mouthwatering, with laser beams of acidity cutting through the taut, textured palate. Bright, long and pure with a delicious, austere edge. Drink or hold.
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Aconcagua |
1 |
96 (VN) |
د.إ1,010.00 |
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Vinous (96)The 2023 Pinot Noir Las Pizarras comes from Quillota, about 12 kilometers from the cold Pacific waters of the Humboldt Current. The 2023 underwent cold maceration before fermenting with 2% whole clusters, followed by 12 months of aging in 400-liter barrels (55% new). Purple in hue, it offers aromas of blood orange peel, pomegranate, a hint of iodine, and rosehip, with delicate reduction adding complexity. The palate is lined with fine, slightly compact tannins and high acidity, lingering with a soft, powdery texture. This is a beautiful coastal wine, finely calibrated between freshness and texture.
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