This past year I wanted to drive home the need for QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) wines. So I set out to create what I thought a QPR metric should be! Gone were arbitrary price ranges and such. Instead, I let the market define what the QPR price range should be. I did this by grouping the wines by their type (white, red, rose, sparkling, and dessert) and then further refined the grouping by age-ability within the white and red wines. This gave me the following groups:

• Drink “soon” White Wine (Simple whites)
• Rose Wine (always drink soon)
• Drink “soon” Red Wine (Simple reds)
• Mid-range aging Reds (4 to 11 years)
• High-end Red wines (11 and more years)
• High-end White wines (7 and more years)
• Sparkling Wine (No need here for extra differentiation)
• Dessert Wine

I then made the mistake of trying to create an Orange wine range/group – that was a HUGE mistake. Again, the wines themselves were not the issue, the issue revolved around trying to group such a small sample set into its group. They will go into their respective white wine category, next year.

Throughout the year, I posted many QPR posts, for almost all of the main categories. I will continue down this road until I find a better way to categorize and track wines that are QPR WINNERS. Talk about WINNERS, that secondary QPR score was a 2.1 revision to my QPR scoring, and that is explained in this post. All the wines listed here are QPR WINNERS from my tastings in 2021.

This year, the list came to a total of 25 names, and none had to dip below 91 in the scores, which is a large number and better scores overall than last year, but again, the pool from where they are culled continues to grow, and the diamonds in the rough are getting harder and harder to find.

I have added a few new things this year. The first is QPR for France, the prices for many wines there, are dirt cheap! Maybe, Avi Davidowitz, from kosher wine unfiltered, can create a list like that for Israel, this year, a bunch of wines became available there, and a proper QPR list would be worthwhile!

Shoutout to a GREAT wine that is just sitting around!

I am sorry to get on my soapbox before we get to the top QPR wines of 2021. But I have to ask what is wrong with the 2018 Vitkin Grenache Blanc??? Yes, it is a bit expensive, but it is also one of the best white wine on the market currently, hailing from Israel. It is incredible – funky, acidic, rich, and expressive – please folks – try the bottle and then once you find out how awesome it is, buy some!! As always, I get nothing for promoting/suggesting a wine, NOTHING, I am simply reminding folks – great wines still hail from Israel!

The wines on the list this year are all available here in the USA, in Europe, and a few can be found in Israel, as well. The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:

The 2021 Red QPR kosher WINNER

The 2017 Clos Mesorah is lovely! It is available in the USA and elsewhere. I tasted the 2018 and 2019 as well, and they are lovely, but I will taste them again on the release here in the USA.

2017 Clos Mesorah, Montsant – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
This is a super elegant, floral, and feminine wine, bravo!! The nose on this wine is beautiful, showing floral notes of violet, white flowers, with blueberry, black fruit, smoke, roasted duck, earth, and loads of smoke, dirt, and loam. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is so elegant, layered, concentrated, earthy, fruity, smoky, and richly extracted, with boysenberry, lovely green olives, blackberry, dark cherry, plum, smoke, earth, loam, and lovely sweet cedar, with green notes, sweet tobacco, sweet basil, and lovely acid. The finish is long, green, with draping elegant tannin, showing a bit more acid than even 2019, sweet smoking tobacco, dark chocolate, white pepper, and anise. Bravo!! Drink from 2025 until 2035. (tasted November 2021) (in Montsant, Spain) (ABV = 14.5%)

The 2021 White QPR kosher WINNERS

These two wines were available before but I fear the 2019 Netofa Latour, White is sold out, and the 2020 vintage is not as good as the 2019 vintage. The 2018 Tel Qasser, White is lovely and available.

2019 Netofa Latour, White – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose on this wine is pure heaven, incredible, refined oak, with a refined approach to the fruit, straw, earth, pear, white apple, and smoke, with creme brulee, awesome! The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is truly impressive, with layers of acidity, elegance, sweet oak, with oak tannin, but the creme brulee and smoke are beautiful, with green notes, pear, tart guava, and sweet apple brioche, wow! The finish is long, green, tart, with sweet fruit, mineral, slate, and more freshly baked goods. Bravo! Drink from 2023 until 2030. (tasted January 2021)

2018 Netofa Tel Qasser, White – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
The 2018 vintage shows far more of the classic Roussanne reductive aspects than 2017 does today, but it is also far richer, deeper in intensity, and approachable, but I would let this lie. The nose on this wine, like 2017 starts closed, yes, it is open, but please there is so much more here, it is just covered in marzipan, almonds, walnuts, oak, smoke, orange, orange blossom, with rich salinity, big bold and bright fruit hiding, and lovely spice. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is incredible, just WOW, and that is with 10 minutes of air, this wine will improve with a couple of years, but I do see how approachable this wine can feel, and if you want to go ahead, but it will be better in a few years, with layers upon layers of smoke, ripe controlled fruit, with ripe peach, apricot, melon, incredible nutty notes, lovely tannin, green olives, wrapped in an unctuous and oily mouthfeel that feels like being wrapped in a sushi roll of oak, smoke, fruit, and nori – WOW! The finish is so long, I AM VERY HAPPY it was my last wine of the tasting, this is crazy, so incredible, with lingering notes that last forever of almonds, walnuts, nuts, smoke, grip, orange blossom, orange, tannin, acid, rock, hay, and more acid, incredible! BRAVO!! BRAVO to the master! Drink from 2023 until 2027. (tasted March 2021)

Rest of the top QPR Winners (in no particular order)

2019 Chateau LaGrange Grand Cru Classe En 1855, Saint-Julien – Score: 94+ (QPR: GREAT)
WOW, what wine for a 12.5% ABV wine, come on, the next time someone says I need to wait for the phenolics to talk with me, the answer is this wine! This wine is a blend of 80% cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, & 2% Petit Verdot.
The nose on this wine is lovely and perfumed with rich minerality, dense loam, graphite, smoke, roasted animal, clay, black and red fruit, all wrapped in more dirt, tar, and licorice, wow!
The mouth on this medium-plus bodied wine is beautiful, the acid is perfect, balanced and tart, elegant and layered, with lovely raspberry, plum, dark currants, hints of blue fruit, with ripe cassis, scraping mineral, dirt, loam, roasted herbs, menthol, with sweet vanilla, and lovely licorice.
The finish is long, with draping tannin, scraping mineral, and lovely tar, loam, nice leather, and rich garrigue, really lovely! Drink from 2031 until 2042. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)

2012 Chateau Cru Ducasse, Haut Médoc – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a crazy WINNER in France and elsewhere not even close to worth it, which is so sad! The wine has such elegance, grace, power, and focus, that it makes me sad to not have access to such wines. You can just open the bottle, and find the wine accessible, but to me, this wine is still not ready, it needs a bit more time to start to show the tertiary notes I love.
The nose on this wine is stunning, bright, ripe, balanced, black and red fruit, with intense mineral, slate, graphite, loam, and rich clay, lovely!!! The mouth on this full-bodied wine is crazy fun, it reminds me a bit of the 2008 Château Armens, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, all you feel at the start is the intense scraping mineral, followed by bold yet perfectly balanced fruit, rich and layered, dense and smoky, with rich blackberry, tart strawberry, dark plum, rich roasted herbs, all wrapped in dense and mouth-drying rich tannins, and more loam. The finish is super long, rich, and tannic, with green notes, foliage, loam, mineral, pencil-shavings, iron, and rich dark chocolate that is beautiful. Drink until 2027, probably longer. Bravo!!! (tasted June 2021)

2016 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Riserva – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
This is one of the most balanced versions of the Riserva in a very long time. The Riserva is normally undrinkable for a few years, this one is far more accessible than any previous version – WOW! The nose on this wine is incredible, with mushroom, truffle, soy sauce, tar, floral notes of violets, earth, smoke, and rich dark fruit, WOW! The mouth on this full-bodied wine is incredible, tannic, gripping, earthy, smoky, and fruity, with lovely tart cherry, currant, plum, and ripe blackberry, with rich earth, loam, mushroom, intense saline, black olives, with intense acid, and mouth-drying and draping aggressive tannin, wow! The finish is long, black, green, and earthy, with umami, soy sauce again, with incredible floral notes, leather, tobacco, tar, and richness, wow! Bravo!! Drink from 2025 until 2033. (tasted January 2021)

2019 Chateau Trianon, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
The nose on this wine is even better than the 2018 vintage, tasting them side-by-side, what a lovely wine!! The nose on this wine is crazy fun, rich mineral, smoke, loam, lovely blue and black fruit, rich graphite, iron, and roasted herbs, lovely!!! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is lovely, layered, rich, plush, very elegant, without intense extraction, rich saline, mineral, blackberry, blueberry, saline, lovely roasted herbs, oregano, mint, rosemary, and plushness that is beautiful and elegant, lovely! The finish is lovely, rich, with mouth-draping and drying tannin, plush, scraping and elegant graphite, leather, smoke, dark chocolate, green notes, foliage, and anise galore, lovely!!! Drink from 2026 until 2035. (tasted June 2021)

2016 ElviWines Herenza Rioja, Reserva, Rioja – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
This is what I crave in wine – balance, complexity, elegance, and all bottled for a price that makes it a WINNER! The nose on this wine is beautiful, balanced, complex, lighter than 2014, but still bold, rich, and expressive, soy sauce, umami, rich mushroom, loam, spices, blue and red fruit, and sweet anise, lovely! The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is not as bold as the 2014 and it starts a bit ripe, with time the wine opens to show balance, dark blueberry, plum, candied/spiced raspberry, and rich sweet spices give way to a mouth-draping elegance, sweet tannin, plush mouthfeel, and rich loam, clay, and earth, beautiful. The finish is long, balanced, with leather, sweet tobacco, root beer, sweet baking spices, cloves, cinnamon, sweet cedar, dark chocolate, and rich searing acidity that brings this wine altogether. Bravo!! Another smash! Drink from 2024 until 2032. (tasted November 2021) (in Montsant, Spain) (ABV = 14.5%)

2018 Les Roches de Yon-Figeac, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The nose on this wine is heavenly, with notes of clay, graphite, loam, dirt, smoke, and earthy notes of rich forest floor, mushroom, and red and black fruit, WOW! The mouth on this full-bodied wine is lovely, ripe, layered, dense, and extracted, with rich concentration showing blackberry, cassis, blueberry, lovely dirt, scraping graphite, rich mouth-drying tannin, lovely acidity, with rich roasted herb, rosemary, basil, mint, and menthol, lovely! The finish is super long, green, herbal, with leather, graphite, pencil shavings, iron, mushroom, forest floor, and lovely leather, wow! Drink from 2027 until 2035. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2019 Chateau Le Crock, Saint-Estephe, Bordeaux – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 59% Cabernet Sauvignon and 41% Merlot. This is the return of lovely wine, I liked the 2018 vintage some did not, but this is nice indeed. These are the notes for the non-mevushal version of this wine!
The nose on this wine is perfectly balanced, with lovely fruit, loam, dirt, smoke, bright and ripe plum, black and red fruit, with ripe dried strawberry, Darjeeling tea, and rich mineral.
The mouth on this medium to full-bodied wine is ripe, layered, beautifully controlled, with rich smoke, saline, lovely loam, beautiful graphite, scraping pencil shaving, mouth-draping tannin, blackberry, dark plum, strawberry, elegance, and control, that gives way to richer extraction than the Mevushal, with sweet tobacco, and mineral.
The finish is long, green, loam, dirty, rich, and yet elegant, with roasted meat, smoke, draping elegance, incredible richness without the show, really a wine to hold but one that can be enjoyed now. Drink from 2030 until 2039. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2016 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Assai, Gran Selezione, Chianti Classico – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
This vintage of Assai is its best and this wine is 100% Glorious, rich, elegant, focused, balanced, fruity, but tart, refreshing and concentrated – WOW! BRAVO!!! The nose on this wine is pure heaven, it is soy sauce, funk, forest floor, mushroom, fruity, red and black fruit, tar, smoke, violet, very floral, wild herbs, and rich mineral. The mouth on this medium to full-bodied wine is ripe, concentrated, but well-controlled, with ripe plum, dark strawberry, candied raspberry compote, with menthol, licorice, baking spices, all wrapped in dense sweet oak and elegant draping tannins, just incredible! The finish is long, dense, dark, rich, layered, concentrated, yet perfectly balanced, with screaming acidity, rich espresso coffee, mushrooms, almost truffle, forest floor, mineral, charcoal, graphite, and star anise. WOW!!! Drink from 2026 until 2033. BRAVO!!! (tasted January 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 15%)

2019 Herzog Pinot Noir, Reserve – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose on this wine starts very with lots of oak and not much else – this wine needs time to come around. Once the wine fully opens, the nose shows impressive control, this reminds me of Burgundy more than of California, this wine comes in at 13.5% ABV and I think that helps it to show better control, with notes of sweet oak, roasted herb, floral notes of violets and rose petals, with lovely red fruit, and iron, The mouth on this medium-bodied wine has just enough acid and lovely tannin to keep this whole thing humming, with nice green notes, garrigue, more floral notes, followed by mouth-draping tannin, with a lovely salinity, impressive fruit-focus of dark Kirsch cherry and raspberry, with smoke, toast, loam, earth, and foliage. The finish is long, green, red, and toasty, with more cherry, intense roasted herb, smoke, coffee, and mineral/charcoal. Bravo! Drink from 2023 until 2031. (tasted March 2021)

2018 Chateau Royaumont, Grand Vin Bordeaux – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 70% Merlot & 30% Cabernet Franc. The nose on this wine is balanced, though a bit ripe, with bright fruit, ripe plum, dark cherry, anise, menthol, tobacco, with green notes from the Cabernet Franc, foliage, smoke, and slightly burnt oak. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is well-balanced, with loads of fruit to start, layered, concentrated, plush, with screaming acid, black raspberry, plum, smoke, oak, rich fruit, nice saline, good dirt, earth, black pepper, with ripe fruit, and loads of mouth draping tannin. The finish is long, ripe, with loads of sweet chewing tobacco, dark chocolate almost milky, with more earth, graphite, and smoke galore. Nice! Drink from 2028 until 2034. (tasted May 2021)

2019 Chateau Haut-Breton Larigaudiere, Margaux – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This nose on this wine is more feminine than masculine, with sweet and ripe fruit notes, heather, rosehip, loads of dirt, earth, mushroom, milk chocolate, well-balanced, with red/blue/black fruit, sweet dill, rich garrigue, and smoke. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is layered, rich, ripe, but so well balanced, with loads of saline, green notes, foliage, blackberry, juicy boysenberry, raspberry, sweet tobacco, nice acidity, dark cherry, roasted herb, lovely sweet cedar, earth, dark currant, and graphite galore. The finish is long, sweet, well-balanced, earthy, and dirty, with mouth-coating and drying tannin, and leather, giving way to tobacco, and mineral galore. Bravo!! Drink from 2027 until 2035. (tasted June 2021)

2019 Château Tour Baladoz, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Carmenere.
The nose on this wine is ripe, blue fruit, with lovely rich oak, sweet milk chocolate, rich dark fruit, green notes, rich minerality, and pencil shavings galore. The mouth on this medium-plus bodied wine is lovely, rich, and layered, with lovely balance, green and black fruit, giving way to sweet oak, with sweet milk chocolate, blackberry, sweet boysenberry, freshly tilled earth, lovely garrigue, mushrooms, green notes, with gripping tannin, and lovely tart/juicy raspberry, with hints of cranberry, and spice. The finish is long, green, sweet, tart, with great menthol, leather, sweet tobacco, giving way to rich concentration, good extraction, and nice elegance. Nice!! Drink from 2025 until 2034. (tasted June 2021)

2019 Chateau Haut Condissas Prestige, Medoc, Bordeaux – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose on this wine is lovely, showing notes of dense black and red fruit, rich minerality, iron filings, graphite, rock, loam, lovely roasted herb, oregano, and rich spices. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is ripe, layered, extracted, balanced, and wonderful, with ripe blackberry, dark plum, incredible intense graphite, great acidity, layers of concentrated fruit, searing and mouth draping tannin, with sweet oak, lovely green notes, foliage, bramble, and rich saline. The finish is long, dense, layered, dark, balanced, and elegant, with layers of fruit, foliage, bramble, green notes, dark tobacco, graphite, lovely roasted herbs, with hints of sweet spices. WOW! Lovely! So far the best of the 2019 reds, with many more to come! Bravo!!!! Drink from 2028 until 2037. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France and in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)

2018 Chateau Fourcas Dupre, Listrac-Medoc – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 44% each Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with 10% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. The nose on this wine is ripe, scary ripe, but under a blanket of dirt, earth, smoke, more ripe fruit, mushroom, forest floor, and earth, wow! The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is lovely, rich, layered, elegant, but ripe, but the ripeness is balanced well by the acidity, with incredible dirt, along with floral notes, blackberry, currant, plum, and rich salinity, with dark chocolate, smoke, and rich loam, acid galore, and smoke. The finish is long, green, black, and mineral-driven, with loads of scrapping graphite, dirt, and foliage, wow! Bravo!! Drink from 2026 until 2033. (tasted January 2021)

2015 Disznoko Tischler & Halpern Tokaji Aszu, 5 Puttonyos – Score: 92+ (QPR: GREAT – USA, WINNER – EUR)
While I think this wine is nice enough it is not as good as the previous vintages and it hits the point but this is missing a few steps. The nose on this wine is nice showing rich funk, brown sugar, sweet notes, guava, candied peach, apricot, candied ginger, lemon, and lemon zest. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is nice, with good enough acidity, lovely funk, good mouthfeel, plush, rich, concentrated, unctuous, with more citrus, lemon, mineral, and clay, nice and while I like it the wine lacks the punch, but still very nice, with intense pith, zest, funk, and acid lingering long. Very nice – Drink until 2030. (tasted April 2021)

2016 Chateau la Tour du Pin Figeac Grand Cru – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER – Europe)
This is the third time I have tasted this wine and now it is a very different wine than the previous tastings, now it is deeply aromatic, dense, rich, layered, and elegant, wow! The nose on this wine is rich, deep, and elegant, and filled with umami, crazy dense, while also elegant, really fun, black and red fruit, menthol, soy sauce, mushroom galore, forest floor, dirt, earth, rich smoke, and dark chocolate. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is rich, layered, elegant, dense, and concentrated, with rich saline, soy sauce, mushroom, blackberry, raspberry, cassis, iron, graphite, mineral, with crazy mouth-draping elegant tannin, with scraping minerality, smoke, foliage, roasted herb, and dense fruit, wow! The finish is super long, dense, rich, and impressive, with dark chocolate, rich leather, sweet tobacco, sweet oak, smoke, tar, and more mushroom, wow!!! Drink from 2024 until 2030. Bravo!!! (tasted June 2021)

2016 Chateau Haut-Bacalan , Pessac – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, & 10% Petit Verdot. This wine is a real Pessac, but on the label, it writes both Pessac and Pessac-Leognan, because no one knows Pessac by itself. The nose on this wine starts with intense oak, with lovely red and black fruit, rich saline, mint, menthol, smoke, and rich dirt. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is crazy dense, rich, ripe, rich, layered, and concentrated, with rich saline, mineral, smoke, blackberry, plum, dark currant, with loads of oak, that will pass with time, sweet tobacco, sweet dill, and rich loam. The finish is long, green, ripe, and well-balanced, with lovely acidity, more tobacco, sweet oak, mouth-draping tannin, and rich graphite that scrapes and enriches the mouth. Bravo!!! Drink from 2025 until 2033. (tasted June 2021)

2019 Chateau Castelbruck, Margaux – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
The wine is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon & 45% Merlot. The nose on this wine is nice, balanced, with good fruit, a bit ripe, but also bright, with deep black and blue fruit, oak, sweet dill, rich mineral, tar, and sweet tobacco. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is ripe, but it is well balanced with lovely and bracing acidity, searing but elegant mouth-draping tannin, blackberry, ripe boysenberry, sweet oak, ripe plum, and lovely scraping mineral, graphite, saline, and smoke. The finish is long, black, dirty, smoky, sweet tobacco, leather, rich loam, earth, and green notes in the far back. Bravo!! Drink from 2026 until 2034. (tasted June 2021)

2019 Château de Marmorières Les Amandiers, La Clape, Languedoc – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
Well, tasting this with other red Languedoc wines, this is the clear WINNER, sadly, the price in the USA will be much too high to garner a WINNER score, but in Europe, this wine is a CLEAR WINNER! It just feels like an elegant, grown-up Languedoc, very nice!
The nose on this wine is lovely, ethereal, yet rich, dirty, and fruity, impeccable balance, rich loam, dirt, smoke, tar, asphalt, red and blue fruit, with nice balancing roasted herbs, garrigue, and more mineral, lovely! The mouth on this medium-plus wine is rich, layered, smoky, and quite fun, loaded with screaming acid, lovely and elegant mouth draping and drying tannin, scraping mineral, blueberry, raspberry, smoked cassis, balanced so well with roasted herbs, rich dry spices, cloves, mineral, graphite, tar, hay, with crazy good acidity, wow!! The finish is forever, so long, green, red, blue, black, with roasted herbs, leather, smoking tobacco, and rich spices, cinnamon, cloves, tarragon, wow!!! Bravo!!! Drink until 2024. (tasted June 2021)

2015 Château du Courneau, Margaux – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
This is a lovely wine with good weight, mouthfeel, elegance, power, and balance. The nose on this wine is bright and ripe, with beautiful iron, graphite, mineral, hints of lavender, black and red fruit, with nice toast, sweet oak, and a nice forest floor. The mouth on this medium-plus bodied wine is dense, rich, layered, and nicely extracted, and it takes time to open, when it does the fruit is there and it is balanced well by rich acidity, lovely graphite, sweet blackberry, plum, tart raspberry, currants, and dry roasted herbs that bring this all together nicely, with the intense mouth draping and drying tannin, nice!!! The finish is long, green, black, and mineral, with nice herbs, foliage, black fruit, smoke, more tannin, leather, spice, and clean lines, really nice!!! Bravo! Drink by 2026. (tasted June 2021)

2019 Chateau Le Crock, Saint-Estephe, Bordeaux (M) – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 59% Cabernet Sauvignon and 41% Merlot. While I liked the 2018 vintage some did not, but this is a nice wine either way.
The nose on this wine is perfectly balanced, with lovely fruit, loam, dirt, smoke, bright and ripe plum, black and red fruit, with ripe dried strawberry, Tisane tea, and rich mineral. The mouth on this medium to full-bodied wine is ripe, layered, beautifully controlled, with rich smoke, saline, lovely loam, beautiful graphite, pencil shaving, sweet oak, mouth-draping tannin, blackberry, dark plum, strawberry, elegance, and control, that gives way to some extraction, with sweet tobacco, and mineral. The finish is long, green, loam, dirty, rich, and yet elegant, with roasted meat, smoke, draping elegance, incredible richness without the show, really a wine to hold but one that can be enjoyed now. Drink from 2027 until 2036. If you must have it now decant for 2 hours. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2018 Chateau Saint Corbian, Saint-Estephe – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
The wine is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon & 50% Merlot. The nose on this wine is smoky, dirty, and earthy, with dark raspberry, blackberry, dark currants, black tea, and green notes.
The mouth on this medium-plus-bodied wine is lovely, tart, balanced, earthy, smoky, with great acidity, followed by green notes, asparagus, blue notes at the end, with smoke, and loam.
The finish is long, green, earthy, dirty, white pepper, cloves, herb, mint, menthol, and lovely leather and graphite. Nice!! Drink from 2026 until 2033. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)