First, I must start this by saying I am sorry for this being two months late. The late tasting of the 2022 wines in Paris pushed all the dates forward. Such is life! It was worth tasting those wines in their correct place. As stated below, I love at KFWE, but it is not a place to taste wines for a blog or a post. It is a place to taste wine and know if I should taste it in the correct setting. It is an excellent filter to help fine-tune the wines to sit down with.

Like last year, I wanted to make this post short and sweet – so the criteria are simple. I could care less about price, color, or where it was made. All that matters is that it is/was available this year sometime to the public at large, that I tasted it in a reliable environment, not just at a tasting, and that it scored a 94 or higher. PLEASE NOTE the improved quality of the top wines this year! This is the best year – that I have posted about – in regards to scoring. All 25 wines are 94 or above. The closest we had before was the 2021 blog year, which had a fair number of 93+ scored wines.

We are returning with the “Wine of the Year,” “Best Wine of the Year,” “Winery of the Year,” “Best White Wine of the Year,” “Best QPR Wine of the Year”, along with the – “Best Mevushal Wine of the Year.” Wine of the Year goes to a wine that distinguished itself in ways that are beyond the normal. It needs to be a wine that is readily available, incredible in style and flavor, and it needs to be reasonable in price. It may be the QPR wine of the year, or sometimes it will be a wine that has distinguished itself for other reasons. The wines of the year are a type of wine that is severely unappreciated, though ones that have had a crazy renaissance over the past two years. The Best Wine of the Year goes to a wine well worthy of the title.

The Mevushal wine of the year is something I dread. I understand the need for a wine that can be enjoyed at restaurants and events. Still, when we start seeing Château Gazin Rocquencourt and Chevalier de Lascombes go Mevushal – we know we have a problem. As I have stated in the past, if this is what needs to happen, then please sell both options as many do with Peraj Petita/Capcanes, Psagot wines, and many others. Still, it is a wine; as such, it needs a best-of-the-year moniker, so we do it again!

This past year, I tasted more wines than I have ever, in the past. Now, to be clear, I tasted thousands of Israeli (and other) wines but did not write notes on them. At this point, I refuse to post notes that demean the Israeli wine situation. I understand that goes against my long-term stance, but the situation there also goes against any logical or even human stance. As such, if the wine is good, I post. Otherwise, I am not adding value. I still think, long-term, Israel needs to change its winemaking style. However, as long as folks buy the wines, they will stay as they are. Enough said.

I spent a fair amount of time tasting all the US, French, Southern Hemisphere, and European wines I could get my hands on, and I feel that is where I added the most value, IMHO. For those who like the Israeli wine style – other writers/bloggers can point you in some direction. Thankfully, the 2022 vintage did pull up the overall quality from Europe, so we have some good options.

There are wines from the 2018 and 2020 Bordeaux vintages that snuck in, along with many from the 2022 vintage. Also, there are wines from around the United States and Europe. There are even a couple from the 2021 Bordeaux vintage. This proves wrong the idea that all of the 2021 vintage was a waste of time.

Now, separately, I love red wines, but white wines – done correctly, are a whole other story! Sadly, in regards to whites, we still had no new wines from Germany, still. Thankfully, we have some fantastic entries from ESSA, Domaine de Chevalier, Marciano Estates, Chateau de Rayne Vigneau, Domaine Raymond Usseglio & Fils, Chateau Gazin Rocquencourt, and Le Nardian. Some of these wines that scored well were ONLY the French versions. The USA versions of Chateau Gazin Rocquencourt are Mevushal and the Domaine Raymond Usseglio & Fils – it is a very different animal than what I tasted/enjoyed in Paris. However, they all scored a 93 or lower, and I do not see the point in putting a white wine in – just to cover that base. Therefore, this year, I am going with the “white” 2021 Tokaj-Hetszolo Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos, Tokaj. I hope to post a roundup soon of the top white wines out there like I did last year.

The wines on the list this year are all available here in the USA, and 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 2024 Kosher Winery of the Year

This award continues to get harder and harder each year. The sad, cold, hard truth is that there are too few great kosher wineries. When I started this award some five years ago, I thought it would only get easier. Sadly, there are a few truths that limit my ability to give out this award.

First, as much as we have been blessed with great Kosher European wines in the past 6 years, most of those blessings come under the auspices of single-run kosher wines. Chateau Leoville Poyferre, Château Smith Haut Lafitte, you name it, are all based upon kosher runs. What we have in Europe, kosher-winery-wise, is Terra di Seta, Cantina Giuliano, and Elvi Wines (including Clos Mesorah), Domaine Roses Camille, which only became 100% kosher in 2020. Still, for all intent and purpose, Domaine Roses Camille has been producing the vast majority of their wines in kosher since 2011.

The requirements to receive this award are simple, the winery must be kosher, not a kosher-run, the quality must be consistent, and the wines must be readily available. The last requirement is the main reason why Four Gates Winery has yet to win the award, but at this point, it is only a matter of time, as kosher wine availability is becoming less of an issue overall, given the sheer number of cult-like kosher wineries that exist today. Also, I may be forced to start playing with percentages instead of wholly kosher wineries if the people understand what I mean.

This year’s winner starts to break down one of my unspoken laws. Never give awards to one of your best friends, but Josh and Chana Rynderman have forced my hands. No, they have not done so physically or even by voice; it is all in their work. This award is worthy on so many levels. I have written about ESSA Wine before, as well as Kos Yeshuos Winery. Both are worthy of this award, and one could not exist without the other.

It is crazy to think that Kos Yeshuos started “unofficially” in 2015! I was not even scoring wines with numbers back then! Ten years ago, Kos Yeshuos made a lovely Vin Gris from Cabernet Sauvignon, and the game was afoot! From there, he made wine for sale in 2016, the first “official” vintage of Kos Yeshuos, with two reds, a Syrah and a Grenache (I had just turned over to numerical scores and started to dabble with QPR). The 2016 Syrah was excellent last year!

Then came the 2017 wines, a Viognier and a Syrah. Then we flew in for the wedding in Jan 2018 and suffered with some horrible wines for that Shabbat! Joburg in the “winter” (AKA is glorious Summer) was not bad at all. The lack of good wine – that was unacceptable! Thankfully, that is no longer an issue for those who seek good wine!

In 2018, Kos Yeshuos evolved to more playful labels, with a woman’s touch to say it correctly. We had the California Kid and another Viognier. The move to whites was required to make the dual-hemisphere dream a reality. In 2018, ESSA Wine came to life, and the 2018 ESSA Malbec was sold here in the USA!

Then, in 2019, Kos Yeshuos released four white wines, including a Joburg Girl! Then, miraculously, we survived the world’s curse, and its reward was one more year with Josh and Kos Yeshuos, along with more new 2019 ESSA wines! The Orange Sidewinder was nice enough, but the Viognier was indeed on point! ESSA was now in full sprint and producing top-notch wines like the 2019 Cabernet Franc and the 2019 Emunah! I am sure Josh was happy to not be flying back and forth, and the dual-Hemisphere thing had run its course. With the added time, ESSA evolved and added the Altira, and then more red wines followed.

A full and complete writeup on the current state of ESSA Wine is due, and that will come out soon, along with so many others I am behind on. With that said, the sheer quality and release of top-notch white wines at a great price are steeped in the work and effort of a decade! It is crazy to think that I have been tasting wine from my friend and talented winemaker for that long. It makes me stop and be so thankful for the state of kosher wine and the friends I have built because of and around it! Congrats buddy! Well deserved. Congrats to you, Chana, and the twins. From here up, Infinity and beyond!

The 2024 Kosher Wine of the Year

Again, the Wine of the Year goes to a wine that distinguished itself in ways that are beyond the normal. It needs to be a wine that is readily available, incredible in style and flavor, and it needs to be reasonable in price. It may be the QPR wine of the year, or sometimes it will be a wine that has distinguished itself for other reasons. The wines of the year are a type of wine that is severely unappreciated, though ones that have had a crazy renaissance over the past two years. Thankfully, red QPR wines are back, and there is a nice list of them to choose from.

We return to Elvi again this year for this award, even though the “easily accessible” criteria flew out the window! The second I posted the wine and GG doubled down, the wine was gone. Sadly, there was just not enough of it! This statement could be said about the 2023 ESSA Blanc Fume, which was worthy, but the WINNER goes to the other impossible wine to find. The 2022 Elvi Wines Clos Mesorah, Garnatxa. This wine blew us away! Avi and I both tasted it in Spain, you can read the whole post here, and it shocked us. I tasted it again at KFWE NYC, and it tasted epic! The wine was 15% ABV but tasted like it was 13%. The balance, power, and yet finesse were incredible. This wine is too special to just ignore and it deserves its crown. Throw in the excellent price and the quality, and you have the 2024 Wine of the Year! Congratulations!

2022 Elvi Wines Clos Mesorah Garnatxa, Montsant – Score: 95 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely. It pops with intense brightness, followed by a massive attack of ripe but controlled fruit, dense minerality, rich salinity, intense graphite, lovely cloves, cinnamon, warm spices, loam, dirt, earth, lovely raspberry, strawberry, and ripe/bright red berries. WOW! With time, the wine becomes even more complex, showing floral notes, ripe fruit, and lovely sweet spices. Bravo!
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is so elegant, complex, and singular in grape, and there is nowhere to hide in this bottle; it is complex, lithe, rich, and layered but intensely refreshing. This wine is the Pinot Noir of the Rhone and Spain; there is nowhere to hide, and yet the wine is so impressive. This wine is pure black magic; it is ripe, lithe, tart, acidic, elegant, and dirty, all in the same glass, and yet this is a wine that does not exist in Kosher. Sure, there are lovely blends, but a wine this ripe that is also elegant, lithe, and smoky, you want to drink it all!
The mouth is lovely, ripe, layered, elegant, and toasty, with sweet spices, lovely raspberry, and strawberry, nice umami, really fun, expressive, and captivating; it is so unique and special, with umami, and mouth-drawing elegance, WOW! Bravo! The finish is long, dirty, earthy, smoky, and umami-dense, with great graphite and ripe, mouth-draining tannin. Dirt, minerality, graphite, ripe and tart red fruit, and intense acidity linger long. Drink from 2030 until 2036. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 15%)

The 2024 Best Kosher Wine of the Year!

The highest-scoring wine this blog year was the 2018 Domaine Roses Louise. There is not much more to say about this wine, as I have tasted it three times and posted about it twice. The wine has the power, finesse, and elegance to just surpass the 2022 Pontet Canet.

The wine is readily available in the USA (from Liquid Kosher) and in France (from WineSymphony.fr). It is worthy of the crown, and I can only imagine what the 2019 Domaine Roses Camille or Louise will taste like. Congratulations to Domaine Roses Camille as the 2018 Domaine Roses Louise is the Best Kosher Wine of 2024! Bravo!

2018 Domaine Roses Louise, Pomerol – Score: 95+ (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is dense, ripe, and bold but perfectly balanced, with dark chocolate, toasted wood, smoke, roasted herbs, lanolin, red flowers, and garrigue, very intoxicating and elegant.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is a more elegant take on the 2018 Domaine Roses Camille, with screaming acidity, rich fruit focus, intense mouth-draping, and extracted tannin, showing blackberry, raspberry, dark plum, dense, extracted, rich, layered, and impressively elegant, quite a feat.
The finish is long and dark, and the wooly/plush mouthfeel lingers forever, it is a feat of magic indeed, with dark chocolate, leather, green notes, roasted herbs, tar, lanolin, rich minerality, a tour de force!
The wines show power through the perfect balance of fruit, oak, minerality, and acidity, all working together to make a wine far greater than its parts. Drink from 2036 until 2045. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)

The 2024 Best Kosher White Wine(s) of the Year!

This year, as stated above, we had the blessings of an incredible lineup of wines and scores for the 2024 year. All the wines listed in this post scored 94 or higher. Sadly, there was no classic white wine that I tasted in 2024 that hit that score. The only one that I could use is the fantastic 2021 Tokaj-Hetszolo Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos. This wine is so unique, amazing, layered, ripe, and unctuous while also being so well balanced with its crazy acidity that it deserves the crown of Best Kosher White Wine(s) of the Year! Bravo!

2021 Tokaj-Hetszolo Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos, Tokaj – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER (France))
The RS on this is 160 g/liter. Rich!
The nose of this crazy wine is rich, dense, and sweet, with bright fruit, lychee, guava, mango, candied sugar, honeyed peach, orange marmalade, beeswax, Asian five spice, YUM!
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is dense and viscous, layered, and rich, incredible. Still, the acidity is amazing, maybe the most acid I have ever had in a dessert wine, other than the 2014 TDB, with lychee, guava, mango, candied and sugar-coated apples, peach, and orange marmalade, with sweet spices. The sweet citrus with lemon curd, orange, and grapefruit make this wine shine!
The funk of Sauternes is not there but the fruitiness and the acidity are incredible. The finish is long, dense, coating, and yet very approachable, it will age well, but it is so fun right now! Drink until 2050. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 11.5%)

The 2024 Best Kosher Mevushal Wines of the Year!

So, as much as I dislike the need for Mevushal wines, there is still a market. As such, it is time to accept the inevitable and move on. What makes this special is that this year’s winner is the third iteration of 2023 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, Black Label! Man, how time flies by fast! The 2021 was out for less than a few months, and the 2022 vintage flew off the shelves. Now, 2023 is here, and it is the ABSOLUTE BEST Kosher Mevushal Wines of the Year, no DOUBT!
I continue to be impressed by the efforts and work of Covenant Wines! They were the 2023 Winery of the Year and have not taken their foot off the gas pedal! They are legally flooring it and bringing more and more impressive wines to the Kosher Wine market at reasonable prices. The quality of Landsman, along with Red C and the rest of the lineup, is just so remarkable from a California Winery while keeping most of those wines below the 70-dollar line. This wine does not live under that line, but it is also from the Covenant line and the quality shows! Bravo to Jonathan Hajdu, Jeff and Jody Morgan, the rest of the family, and the gang in the cellar! Keep up the great work, guys! We all need you!

2023 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, Black Label, Sonoma County, CA (M) – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
WOW! This is the third Mevushal (Black Label) Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, and it is lovely! I am also getting used to the amalgamated corks, and I am happy.
The nose of this wine is lovely, controlled, ripe, California, creamy, and rich. It shows iron shaving, minerality, rich smoke, tar, anise, black pepper, ripe black and red fruit, lovely pop, and dirt. Bravo. This is the best Mevushal one so far.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is lovely, showing great acidity, nice mouthfeel, creamy and rich, but with good pop, blackberry, plum, cassis, beautiful minerality, graphite, nice smoke, mouth-draping tannin, rich and layered. This is an impressive showing for a Mevushal wine, showing power, plush mouthfeel, finesse, almost elegant (though with all this power it is tough), some sweet oak, but it is not in your face, and nice dirt. Bravo!
The finish is long, dirty, ripe, balanced, with sweet tobacco, milk chocolate, graphite, and lovely tannin/acidity. Bravo!!! Drink until 2034. (tasted January 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.8%)

The 2024 QPR Wine of the Year!

Well, Domaine Roses Camille strikes again! This year, they absolutely crushed it! I had this wine a few times already, and it blew everyone’s mind. The quality and price are just unmatched. The last time we had a QPR WINNER with this high a score – was Elvi Wines! It is simple: Elvi Wines is the QPR MASTER of the world, PERIOD! I could have given this award to the 2022 Elvi Wines Clos Mesorah Garnatxa (like we did with all the Elvi Clos Mesorah in the past!). It is a few lines above this part of the post. However, I cannot make every Best and Top Wine of the Year post all about Elvi Wines!

The Echo continues to impress on its right. It is a wine that has had no real misses since it was first released in 2011. It was meant as a reasonably priced wine for the masses from the Pomerol Mad Scientist Christophe Bardeau. The wine is not trying to be a Domaine Roses Camille – light, it is meant to be a wine on to itself! That is an excellent and hard line to walk, and yet Mr. Bardeau has courageously towed that line and keeps making it better and better. Bravo on the 2024 QPR Wine of the Year and I am hoping to taste the 2019 vintage soon!

2018 Echo de Roses Camille, Pomerol – Score: 94+ (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely, with a classic Echo nose of wax, lanolin, and yellow flowers, some espresso chocolate, sweet oak, garrigue, loam, minerality, and roasted herbs.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine has my attention, with intense acidity, gripping tannins, rich fruit, layers upon layers of concentrated and complex fruit, rich raspberry, plum, dark cherry, and strawberry, all wrapped in elegance, power, intense minerality, verve, and garrigue, wow! The minerality, tannin, acidity, and complex red fruit all work together to build a bombastic wine that is just impressive! It’s so remarkable to be doing with just red fruit.
The finish is long, tannic, bold, big, and rich, with more coffee chocolate, graphite, pencil shavings, iron shavings, lovely salinity, savory, with green olives, and rich smoke. Drink from 2030 until 2040. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)

The rest of the top 25 kosher wines of 2024

2022 Chateau Pontet-Canet Grand Cru Classe en 1855, Pauillac – Score: 95 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is lovely; it is very closed at the start, and it is beautiful, dense, ripe, balanced, clean lines, with rich minerality, smoke, almost perfumed with the minerality and fruit, graphite, gravel, floral notes, and rich loam. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is beautiful, layered, elegant, not overly extracted or concentrated, rich with salinity, minerality, graphite, blackberry, cassis, currants, dark cherry, scraping minerality, mouth-drying but fine tannins, and lovely roasted herbs. This is the most balanced wine we have had so far in 2022. It is beautiful, balanced, refreshing, and focused. The finish is long, dirty, and dense, but it is perfectly balanced, even given the ripeness of the fruit. It is a tour-de-force for the 2022 vintage. The graphite, minerality, mouth-draping tannin, and lovely smoke are nice. Bravo! Drink from 2037 until 2045. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)

2018 Domaine Roses Camille, Pomerol – Score: 95 (QPR: GREAT)
WOW! This is incredible, rich, unctuous, ripe, earthy, smoky, mineral-laden, and just incredible, with intense graphite, loam, smoke, roasted animal, licorice, celery root, rich violet, rosehip, black, and brooding fruit, but so well balanced, elegant, and earthy! WOW!
The mouth of this dense, layered, rich, unctuous, and full-bodied wine is plush, rich, elegant, and spot-on. It has control, rich salinity, rich blackberry, cassis, black plum, and earth, which give way to mouth-draping and elegant tannin, oak, and scraping minerality.
The finish is long, ripe, earthy, loam, mushroom joy, with intense minerality, graphite, menthol, iron, and tobacco. Just wow!!! BRAVO!!! Drink from 2030 until 2042. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2022 Chateau Haut-Marbuzet, Saint-Estephe – Score: 94+ (QPR: WINNER (France))
The nose of this wine starts with a pop, followed by clean lines. It shows dirty, earthy, smoky notes, some bright sweetness, like blueberry, black fruit, and sweet oak, and some floral notes on the back. Nice. This is a very unique approach. With time, the nose changes to just mushroom, black fruit, intense minerality, savory notes, umami, and green olives. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, layered, and extracted, with intense minerality. This may be the most mineral-driven wine I have had so far, with rich mouth-drying tannin, blackberry, plum, raspberry, and floral notes, rich graphite, scraping minerality, and lovely spice. This is a dense, layered, extracted, and intense wine with minerality, smoke, and rich fruit. The finish is long, dense, and rich, with cacao, pencil shavings, and joy! The wine lingers forever, with dense minerality, smoke, dark and blue fruit, mouth-draping tannin, and graphite. Wow! Drink from 2032 until 2040. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)

2022 Château Olivier Grand Cru Classe, Pessac-Léognan – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER (France))
The nose of this wine is big and bold and bruising with loam, earth, milk chocolate, elegant, with nice pop, roasted herb, gravel, tar, iron shavings, bramble, green notes, and lovely minerality.
The mouth of this full-bodied is closed to start, once open, this wine is a beast. The mouth shows deep extraction, lovely acidity, lovely minerality, saline, and savory, the pop and minerality pull you in as the wine is refreshing rather than clawing.
The mouth works so well because of the dark and red fruit; it is balanced in every way, showing the minerality, blackberry, tart raspberry, and cherry notes that are wrapped in mouth-draping and elegant tannin.
The finish is long, tannic, and acidic, backed by dense minerality, graphite, gravel, and rich loam. Bravo! Drink from 2033 until 2040. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)

2022 Chateau Fayat, Pomerol – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
This is the third time I have had this wine, and it is already evolving. The nose of this wine is black and dense and lovely. Ripe but controlled, it shows green notes, roasted herb, minerality, and great pop, with tar, umami, and almost soy sauce—lovely! The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is lovely, dense, layered, extracted, elegant, and lovely. It has blackberry, plum, cranberry, raspberry, rich dirt, loam, screaming acidity, dense mouth-coating tannin, rich smoke, and a mouthfeel with great tension and attack.  The finish is long, dense, and ripe but perfectly controlled, with saline, graphite, green olives, savory, and lovely smoke. Bravo! Drink from 2030 until 2038. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2023 Jean-Philippe Marchand Gevrey-Chambertin, Gevrey-Chambertin – Score: 94 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is lovely, ripe, not candied, on target, with good oak, smoke, a lovely perfume of raspberry and cherry, coffee, nice waxy notes, loads of oak, rose and white flower, mushroom, and wet loam. Lovely! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is lovely, layered, complex, and concentrated with rich saline; the acidity is off the charts. Smoke, floral notes of rosehip, and mouth-draping tannin wrap the cherry, raspberry, pomegranate, and rhubarb—lovely! The complexity and expressiveness of the mouth are impressive, balanced, and without overtaking. The acidity is impressive. The finish is long, dirty, earthy, smoky, and ripe but well-controlled. It has a plush mouthfeel that is precise and pointed, backed by more flowers, fruit, acidity, tannin, and lovely graphite/rock. Bravo! Drink from 2028 until 2037. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2018 Clos Mesorah Sublim, Montsant – Score: 94 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is a bit shocking. At this time, it is an elevated wine that shows more oak application than the 2016 Sublime. Still, the nose of this wine shows intense oak impact, with sweet vanilla, sweet oak, cloves, cinnamon, sage, sweet dill, milk chocolate, intense black and red fruit, and loam and rich dirt. After a day, the wine shows what it will be in many years. The wine is ripe, but the fat of oak and sweet spices integrate and show beautifully.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is dense, layered, rich, and extracted—and wow! It has intense milk chocolate, blackberry, dark cherry, dark plum, some raspberry, intense sweet spices, lovely cinnamon, nice elegant sweet oak, and layer upon layer of ripe fruit, minerality, smoke, toast, dense oak influence, and incredible tannin attack.
The finish is long, tart, dense, and ripe, with great acidity, rich vanilla, milk chocolate, leather, cloves, and sweet sage/cinnamon. This is a baby; it is deeply elegant, it is balanced, and what people will taste at the start is the intense oak, but really, this needs time to calm down and come together. The truth of this wine is that it is a more oaked 2018 right now, but it has the potential to be better. However, time will tell. Drink from 2030 until 2040. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 16%)

2021 Elvi Wines El26, Priorat – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 60% Grenache & 40% Carignan The nose of this wine shows far more balanced than the 2020 vintage, with beautiful mushroom, funk, rich minerality, loam, rock, slate, and limestone; this wine is pure minerality, with massive pop, tart, and rich, and the nose pulls you in and never lets you leave. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is crazy, ripe, layered, tart, juicy, smoky, earthy, rocky, and rich in minerality; the pop, expression, and tension at the front are crazy, with blackberry, plum, boysenberry, dark cherry, smoke, roasted animal, mushroom, and loads of earth. Wow! The finish is long, ripe, dirty, smoky, and herbal, with cola, vanilla, strawberry, and graphite! Drink until 2034. WOW! (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 15.5%)

2021 Chateau Marquis d’Alesme Becker, Margaux – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER (France))
This wine is a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, and 8% Petit Verdot.
The nose of this wine is nice, showing ripe fruit, and no notes of 2021, It is, the best 2021 Bordeaux we have had so far, with smashed plums, and hints of blackberry, it is crazy to use that word with a 2021 wine. It’s impressive with its fruit and minerality.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is layered, extracted, rich, and also fully open, with smoke, blackberry, dark plum, hints of green notes, rich extraction, complexity, intense and layered minerality, with loam, smoke, and earth, really fun.
The finish is long, herbal, smoky, dirty, and fun! Drink from 2026 until 2034. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2021 Chateau La Gaffeliere, Saint-Emilion, 1er Grand Cru Classe – Score: 94 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is a blend of 80% Merlot & 20% Cabernet Franc. They added more Franc in this vintage than in previous vintages. Interesting side note, they pulled out of the classification of Saint-Emilion in 2022, so the label will be different next year, though the front already has no mention of classe.
The nose of this wine has zero green notes, with intense minerality, lovely red fruit, nice red and yellow flower blossom, rosehip, and rich smoke, Nice. This wine is rich and dense but the profile is still clean.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is lovely, is 100% red fruit, with waxy notes, and rich meaty notes as well, much more approachable than others, with rich minerality, intense acidity, mouth-draping tannin, lovely dense raspberry, plum, cherry, and loam galore. This wine will coat the mouth with red fruit minerality and intense tannin, but one you will find approachable, with floral notes of red and yellow flowers. The things that stick out are the acidity, saline, ripe red fruit, and the minerality, wow!
The finish is long, dirty, smoky, rich, and layered with minerality, tannin, sweet tobacco, dark chocolate, and scraping graphite, wow!! Bravo! Drink from 2026 until 2034. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%)

2022 Marciano Estates Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, CA – Score: 94 (QPR: GOOD)
This wine is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. The nose of this wine is ripe, candied, and really nice still, with ripe black and red fruit, great minerality, salinity, loam, graphite, ripe green olives, and roasted herbs. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is incredible, dense, layered, richly elegant, plush, and concentrated, with impressive mouthfeel, graphite, minerality, great pop, control, attack but impressive fruit control and focus, showing blackberry, cassis, raspberry, plum, but the main thing to me is the control and precision, just truly plush, acidic, balanced, and impressive. Bravo! The finish is beautiful, incredible, layered, and dense, with mouth-draping tannin, smoke, roasted herb, and precision. The finish is long, dense, balanced, and precise, with crazy saline, minerality, graphite, tar, rich attack, and bravo. Drink from 2030 until 2035. (tasted November 2024) (in Napa Valley, CA) (ABV = 14.9%)

2021 Marciano Estates Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, CA – Score: 94 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine is incredible, purer than the Gratia, rich, expressive, but far more elegant, showing ripe, milk chocolate, milky, with blackberry, plum, raspberry, tar, smoke, and rich sweet spices. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, layered, and extracted, with great acidity, lovely tension, sweet tannin, blackberry, plum, sweet oak, sweet vanilla, raspberry, strawberry, juicy strawberry/raspberry, sweet spices, nutmeg, sweet earth, plum, and sweet loam. The finish is long, dirty, earthy, ripe, and elegant, with juicy and ripe strawberries, sweet oak, vanilla, and sweet tobacco. Drink from 2027 until 2033. (tasted February 2024) (in Napa Valley, CA) (ABV = 14.8%)

2022 Tench Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville, Napa Valley, CA – Score: 94 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the famed vineyard of Tench Estate. The nose of this wine is lovely. It is ripe but not candied, showing a lovely pop, great brightness, fruit focus, control, and elegance. It is also ripe and very much like Napa.
The nose shows black, blue, and purple/red fruit, nice minerality, rock, roasted herb, rich tar, soy sauce, umami, loam, rich dirt, and some oak, though that is well integrated.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine shows great plush mouthfeel, lovely acidity, intense roasted herb, lovely oak presence, blackberry, boysenberry, plum, tar, searing but integrating tannin. It is almost elegant, more concentrated, and more focused than elegant, but it is still a beautiful wine that shows the power of Napa when controlled.
The finish is long, powerful, concentrated, plush, and rich; the minerality, graphite, rock, and power are lovely, followed by roasted mint, menthol, herbs, more soy sauce, and dark chocolate, just lovely! Bravo! Drink from 2028 until 2038. (tasted November 2024) (in Napa Valley, CA) (ABV = 14.8%)

2021 Four Gates Merlot, La Rochelle, Santa Cruz – Score: 94 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine reminds me of a slutty Margaux minus the minerality, with lovely elegance, a classic left-bank slut bomb, showing black, blue, and red fruit, rich loam, some mushroom, and intense dirt, lovely! The elegance is wild, and while one may want to guess Bordeaux, the fruit and the lack of the dense minerality tell you California. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is incredible; wow, the elegance and concentration are incredible. It shows blackberry, plum, boysenberry, rich, sweet oak, and smoke, and it is so inviting but also so far away at this time.
This wine is concentrated, expressive, elegant, powerful, and yet so good and refreshing. This is what wine should be! The finish is long, ripe, balanced, draping, and elegant, with graphite, forest floor, and rich salinity. This needs time, so much time. Drink from 2035 until 2040. (tasted November 2024) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.3%)

2020 Château Pontet Labrie, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 95 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine is lovely, rich, plush, ripe, and smoky, elegant, with rich tar, black and red fruit, tobacco, minerality, and iron shaving, which is impressive. Like all 2020 wines, the wine is crazy approachable and lovely!
The mouth of this full-bodied is dense, layered, extracted, and richly expressive, with rich minerality; the wine’s beauty is in the mineral-driven mouth with blackberry, plum, cassis, plush, and velvety, but also scraping with minerality, and incredible focus of fruit, minerality, mouth-draping tannin, and rich loam, smoke, and dense dirt, Bravo! The finish is incredible, a real tour-de-force with minerality taking over, followed by rich tar, black fruit, tannin, rich tobacco, and dense fruit. Bravo! Drink from 2027 until 2036. (tasted January 2024) (in London, UK) (ABV = 13.5%)

2022 Chateau le Gay, Pomerol – Score: 94 (QPR: GOOD)
This is the 3rd time I have had this wine, and it is in a very different place. The nose of this wine is nice, balanced, ripe, not pushed, with no heat at all, showing beautiful minerality, rich expression, concentration, jammy but elegant fruit, with black and blue fruit, raspberry, smoke, earth, and graphite all coming together. It’s really nice.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine starts with oak, ripe, not candied, balanced, with great acidity and elegance, blackberry, black pepper, dark raspberry, and boysenberry. It is rich, ripe, and plush, very nice, with an intense minerality and graphite presence, backed by a rich and mouth-draping tannin structure and dense fruit. The oak issues I had before are already calming down. The fruit, structure, tannin, elegance, and incredible acidity all come together with mouth-draping but also drying tannins to make a monster of a wine. This is a very special wine and quite impressive.
The finish is long, ripe, and structured, with black fruit, tannin, cacao, a nice oak influence, scraping graphite, lovely pencil shavings, rock, sweet tobacco, and roasted herbs. Bravo! Drink from 2032 until 2042. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)

2022 Chateau Moulin Riche, Saint-Julien, Bordeaux – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon and 21% Merlot. The nose of this wine is lovely. It is black and blue, with dense fruit and some nice floral notes. It is rich and dense, with minerality and tar that lifts along with bright fruit. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is lovely, layered, extracted, elegant, dense, and rich, like a bull in a Chinese shop. It has dense blackberry, raspberry, cassis, and plum, backed by great acidity, rich minerality, smoke, earth, and layers of minerality, graphite, rock, and tar. Lovely! The finish is dense, rich, smoky, and mineral-driven, with incredible fruit focus and incredible minerality, yet so elegant, the dark chocolate, graphite, pencil shavings, and rich tannin, bay leaf, and menthol, all wrapped in a dense and plush approach. Quite impressive. Drink from 2032 until 2040. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2022 Chateau Malartic Lagraviere Grand Cru Classe de Graves, Pessac Leognan – Score: 94+ (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is glorious and beautiful, everything I want from a wine: intense minerality, lovely pop, rich graphite, ripe black fruit, cassis, smoke, roasted herb, tar, loam, followed by gravel, dirt, menthol, sweet oak, and baking spices. Bravo! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is layered, concentrated, and extracted, but in control, with lovely fruit focus, incredible acidity, dense with blackberry, cassis, plum, hints of blueberry, dry, not ripe or candied or anything like that. This is a wonderful example of what you could do with 2022: dry wine with ripe fruit; the overall profile is bone dry with blackberry, cassis, smoke, menthol, gravel, mouth-draping tannin, elegance, without being plush and ripe, a true proof of what a great wine looks like in 2022. The finish is long, layered, concentrated, and glorious, with more graphite, pencil shavings, gravel, and dense smoke. Bravo! Drink from 2030 until 2042. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2022 Chateau LaGrange, Saint-Julien – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is riper than some other 2022 wines, but it has lovely control. The nose pops with acidity and has everything you want in a nose: crazy pop, smoke, black and red fruit, minerality, loam, and tar. Bravo! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is nice. It has some balance issues, but the ripeness is not the issue as much as the overall picture is a bit off here and there. The mouth of this full-bodied wine has incredible acidity, but the fruit sticks out, the blackberry, plum, and raspberry are a bit candied, but the minerality and acidity help, with lovely graphite, intense mouth-drying tannin structure, rich smoke, tar, and rich earth. The finish is long, dirty, mineral-driven, and ripe, with milk chocolate, graphite, and dirt. Drink from 2028 until 2035. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)

2022 Chateau Leoville Poyferre, Saint-Julien – Score: 94 (QPR: GOOD)
This wine is a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, & 1% Petit Verdot. The nose of this wine is lovely, rich, and elegant, with tar, ripe red and black fruit, green notes, roasted herbs, sweet spices, beautiful minerality, and great smoke.  The mouth of this full-bodied wine is beautiful, stunning, rich, dense, controlled, elegant, and draping, with mouth-draping tannin, blackberry, plum, raspberry, rich saline, and minerality that is off-the-charts, tense, and focused with an attack that is incredible. Bravo! The finish is long, dense, rich, extracted, and yet elegant, along with more dark fruit, more pop, minerality, graphite, loam, and rock; just lovely, and it lasts forever. Bravo!! This wine is the most accessible one of all the high-end 2022 wines. Drink from 2035 until 2045. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)