Reviews

February 2025 94 Points Wine Spectator

A big-shouldered red, with power in reserve. Juicy plum, ripe blackberry and toasted apple wood notes are bound up with fairly muscular tannins. Smoky and sultry, with singed anise, cinnamon and garrigue adding beautiful complexity. Iron minerality holds the finish. Give this time to unwind. Best from 2026 through 2032.

February 2025 95 Points Wine Spectator

Dark, brooding and sultry, with textural intrigue behind flavors of smoked cherry, black currant and mocha enrobed in toasty oak. There's a flash of mesquite on the slightly chewy palate, solidly grounded by bolts of iron. Salty and complex, with incense and dried violet notes echoing on the substantial finish, which will unwind with a few years in the bottle. Best from 2026 through 2035.

February 2025 94 Points The Wine Advocate

Notes of licorice, cedar and smoke preface the 2022 Cote Rotie La Landonne, a slightly austere, introverted Côte-Rôtie that is medium to full-bodied, dense and concentrated, with a linear texture framed by a fresh, fleshy mid-palate and bright acids. It concludes with a firm, oaky, spicy finish. The underlying character of the soil is present but restrained, leaning toward a gently woody style that somewhat mutes its natural expression. Crafted by Jacques Grange and his team, this wine has the potential to age gracefully. It would benefit from additional time in the cellar to fully express itself.

February 2025 95 Points Decanter

This coastal vineyard near La Londe-les-Maures has long been highly regarded for its white wines, with Semillon taking a starring role and the schist soils and maritime climate reputedly lending a saline minerality to the wines. 70% Semillon, 30% Rolle, aged for four to six months using wooden foudres with regular batonnage to help impart fat and length to the palate and stabilise the acidity and colour. The final blend is determined in December following the vintage, then clarification using bentonite clay and bottling is carried out from the February. Elizabeth Gabay MW: Fresh lemons. Creamy, salty, intense and mouthwatering. Lifted by some pretty blue florals and waxy white blossom. Natasha Hughes MW: Smoky, spicy, toasty oak. Fleshy mid-palate, almost syrupy in texture. A hint of struck match. Generous, ripe stone fruit, orange blossom. Long. Good balance. Joanna Simon: Zesty lemon curd and dried flowers. Lanolin, bitter lemon and green olive tapenade on the palate. Bitter herbs and lemon. Characterful and unusual.

February 2025 95 Points The Wine Advocate

Their flagship wine comes from one of the finest vintages in recent times. The 2021 Marqués de Murrieta was previously called the Reserva and still qualifies as such, but it's not included in the name now. It was produced with 86% Tempranillo, 8% Graciano, 4% Mazuelo and 2% Garnacha Tinta from their 300 hectares of vines in their Ygay estate on limestone and clay soils with alluvial influence. The grapes were picked between the 27th of September and the 15th of October, and each plot and variety was vinified separately in stainless steel, matured in American oak barrels for 26 months, then blended and kept in concrete for a few months until bottling, which was a longer élevage this year. It's very spicy, peppery, with a combination of berry fruit and some incipient tertiary aromas, hints of forest floor and truffle. It's very Rioja, with clout, elegance and freshness and the elegant tannins that are the signature of 2021. It comes in at 14.3% alcohol with a pH of 3.6, denoting ripeness and balance. It's delicious, fresh and available. Bravo! This will be released in May 2025.

Page 18 of 20

Filter