In May 2020 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 2023.

Let us discuss the approach

I have heard from a few of you. I do not understand your QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) scoring. So, let us take another shot at this! Every time a customer comes into a shop or goes online to buy kosher wine, they have a choice of a few thousand wines, online, or many hundreds in a store. The question is how does a buyer differentiate one wine from the next?

If they like Terra di Seta wines, as I do, and it costs 30 dollars, then he/she will compare other wines to that wine, in regards to the wine and the price. That is the same for any wine they like and any wine they are looking at buying. Price matters! Now, the real question is how can you compare two wines to each other. Any two wines in the world of kosher wines? What characteristics can you use to compare them?

Let us say they like the 2022 Elvi Wines Clos Mesorah. It is a red wine from Montsant, Spain. OK, what other wine can you compare with it? You can compare other Montsant kosher wines, like the Cellar Capcanes wines. However, the Cellar Capcanes wines have an issue – they have been poor for many years! As the ratio states it is QUALITY to price! Quality is primary; once you have a good wine, you can compare it with similarly good wines.

OK, so we need equal or comparably equal quality and that is it??? So, let us say there exists a rose from Montsant that scores the same quality score as Clos Mesorah, are they comparable (by the way no such wine exists!)? What about a white wine – same? Can/should someone compare them? The answer is no, of course. People will compare similar items. OK, are we then forced to compare ONLY Montsant wines with Montsant wines? Of course not, that is NOT how people think. People will compare like-scored red wines with like-scored red wines. Further, there are literally SIX Monstant Kosher red wines on the market. How can one compare six wines to each other? It has no value.

So, the question remains how do we compare two wines? What criteria can we use to compare them? The first step is for us to agree that people will compare wines that are similar in style, but not in locale, region, or price. So what is that characteristic that they will use to compare two arbitrary kosher wines? Price IS NOT the answer.

So, let us recap – we have two similarly scored wines (AKA quality) but they are very different in many ways. Let us look at three of the wines below, two of which are from the greater Medoc region:

1. 2022 Chateau d’Agassac Cru Bourgeois, Haut-Medoc – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
   Drink until 2038
2. 2022 Chateau Fourcas Dupre, Listrac-Medoc – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
   Drink from 2034 until 2040
3. 2022 Chateau Royaumont, Lalande de Pomerol – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
   Drink from 2030 until 2038

These wines sell for between 38 dollars and 60 dollars. So, are these wines comparable? I would state they are, and further state that wine buyers compare them every time they read my lists and other lists that like these wines. Again, the primary requirement is quality – these all scored roughly the same quality score.

So, next, would you at least compare two Medoc wines to each other? The Chateau Fourcas Dupre and the Chateau d’Agassac? I would say yes for sure. Well, why is the Royaumont any different? Of course, they are very distinct wines, but in the end, what do oenophiles buy such wines for?? To store them and share them at a later date, meaning that wine buyers classify wines by regions, but ultimately they classify them by their ability to age gracefully or not! This means some wines age beautifully, and many will be good to enjoy in the coming years.

So, now you see the logic to the categories I use to compare wines – this is the list once again:

• 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

Essentially, ignoring sparkling, rose, and dessert wines, there is white wine and red wine. Each of those two major categories is broken into their age-ability. Red wines have three age ranges while white wine has two. Then there are the other three aforementioned groups, rose, sparkling, and dessert wines.

Once you have scored a wine – IRRELEVANT to the price – this is KEY, you must place that wine into one of the 8 categories listed above. Once you have done that, any wine in that category is available for comparison. Using the median approach, wines are stacked and ranked by their price, within that category, and some rise above others, by having an equal or better quality for a lower or equal price. Please read more about this here and here.

The Summary

Before we get to the list of the best QPR wines for this past year, I wanted to give you some raw stats. I tasted more than 1200 wines this past year. In actuality, it is probably far more, I just did NOT care to write notes on hundreds more because all it would have said was NO. I made sure to taste all the Israeli wines at three KFWE, and while some were worthy of notes, none garnered these scores. The pain was all I remember. In the end, 188 wines were scored with a QPR score of WINNER, for the blog year 2024.

I have stated it over and over again now, there is no way we can buy all the good wines out there unless you have a local warehouse to store them and you drink two or more bottles a day. That is the excellent news about Kosher Wine today! I hope we have not yet hit peak QPR WINNER Wine.

This year, the list came to a total of 34 names, and none had to dip below 93 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. This year, there are 34 or so QPR WINNERS who scored 93 this year but not in a single area.

The 4 regions that encompass the 34 WINNERS are in order of size, France (27), Spain (4), USA (2), and Hungary (1). Within France, it is not all Bordeaux! There are wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Chateauneuf du Pape.

Of the 34 WINNER, 4 of them are white, 28 are red, and 2 are sweet. However, at the lower price and quality QPR WINNERS (think 20 dollars 91 scoring wines), you will find that white wines are the majority!

This year we have 9 wines that are a WINNER in Europe and the rest of the world and NOT in the USA.

• The 2020 Chateau Haut Brisson) is because of pricing here in the USA.
• The 2023 Domaine Raymond Usseglio & Fils Chateauneuf du Pape, Blanc is not the same here in the USA as it is in Europe. I have no idea what happened to it but the quality is vastly different.
• The 2021 Tokaj-Hetszolo Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos is because of pricing here in the USA.
• The 2020 Chateau Haut Brisson is because of pricing here in the USA.
• The 2022 Chateau Royaumont is because the wine is Mevushal here and not as good, though still a WINNER, but not at the same quality.
• The 2022 Les Roches De Yon-Figeac is because the wine is Mevushal here and not as good.
• The 2022 Chateau Gazin Rocquencourt is because the wine is Mevushal here and not as good.
• The 2022 Chevalier de Lascombes is because the wine is Mevushal here and not as good.
• The 2022 Château Olivier Grand Cru Classe is because of pricing here in the USA.
• The 2022 Chateau Haut-Marbuzet is not available at all here in the USA.

Sadly, there were no new Sparkling or Rose wines to make it to the score of 93 and to meet its counterpart pricing. To me this is a HUGE issue in the kosher wine market! The kosher wine market has lifted up one of the previous sad wine categories, white wine! Which is HUGE! Sadly, we have not moved from there. We have a dominating red and white kosher wine scene. What is lacking sorely, is quality, sparkling wines! The rose wines will never reach the upper echelons, at least in the Kosher wine markets! However, there is actual demand for sparkling wines, and sadly, the products being sold are nice, but the prices are too high, or the quality is too low.

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!

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:

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%)

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 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%)

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%)

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%)

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%)

2021 Chateau Marquis d’Alesme Becker, Margaux – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
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%)

2019 Elvi Wines Herenza, Rioja Reserva, Rioja – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
This is the second time I have had this. I had it in NJ, and I was less impressed than I am now. I wonder if the shipping caused bottle shock. I will need to taste this again in NJ for KFWE.
This is a more elegant and unique Rioja than the 2018. The nose of this wine is lovely but a bit closed. I want more mushrooms. It is there; it needs time. It has sweet spices, umami, lovely red fruit, soy sauce, loam, and milk chocolate.
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is ripe, not candied, with some sweet oak, intense acidity, juicy and ripe plum, spiced raspberry, dense minerality, salinity, smoke, and sweet spices that give way to a mouth-draping tannin structure. It is plush, with sweet spices, cinnamon, cloves, and rich oak.
The finish is long and balanced, with sweet baking spices, cloves, cinnamon, sweet cedar, milk chocolate, some nice mushrooms in the back, soy sauce, and lovely acidity that bring this wine together. I think that we should be drinking these Reserva younger, including the 2018 vintage, these young! Drink until 2027. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 14.5%)

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%)

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%)

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%)

2020 Chateau Teyssier, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is ripe, big, bold, and bigger than the 2019 vintage, with black almost blue fruit, blackberry, plum, cassis, blueberry, sweet herbs, smoke, great graphite, tar, roasted herbs, and dense smoke, Bravo! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is lovely and densely mineral-driven, with lovely acidity, incredible graphite, ribbons of charcoal, dense fruit, minerality, sweet oak, and controlled fruit brings this mouthfeel with blackberry, plum, no hint of blue fruit, but that may come with time and loam. The finish is long, dense, and rich, with lovely minerality, graphite, pencil shavings, loam, and rich tar, with hints of tobacco, but what really sticks out is the scraping minerality, fruit, and sweet tannin. Lovely, Bravo!! Drink from 2026 until 2032. (tasted January 2024) (in London, UK) (ABV = 13.5%)

2022 Elvi Wines Clos Mesorah, Montsant – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely. It pops with intense brightness, followed by a massive attack of ripe but controlled fruit, white pepper, lovely funk, dense minerality, rich salinity, intense graphite, roasted animal, soy sauce, blue and red fruit, ripe and juicy blueberry fruit, and lovely root beer.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, dense, rich, layered, elegant, and nicely extracted. It has lovely acidity, impressive freshness, intense blackberry, raspberry, nice blueberry, rich black pepper, graphite, soy sauce, umami, loam, dirt, forest floor, lovely mouth-coating tannin, and good fruit focus.
The finish is long, dirty, earthy, smoky, and umami-dense, with great graphite and ripe, mouth-draining tannin, dirt, minerality, graphite, and blue fruit, and a smoked animal lingering long. Nice! Drink from 2030 until 2036. (tasted December 2024) (in Clos Mesorah, Spain) (ABV = 15%)

2022 Chateau Gazin Rocquencourt, Pessac-Leognan – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER (France))
THIS WINE IS NOT AVAILABLE in the USA. What we get is Mevushal. This note is for the NON-Mevushal wine.
The nose of this wine is less ripe than in previous vintages, with dense fruit but beautifully controlled. It shows ripe black and red fruit, with hints of blue fruit, dense smoke, rich minerality, and great pop. It is the pop and the minerality that bring it around with floral notes of rose, rich milk chocolate, and sweet oak. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is closed, and the structure tells you this will be a huge wine with blackberry, cassis, and plum, a lovely fruit focus, filled with minerality, great acidity, and dense smoke. The wine here is backed by dense minerality, and the oak is less pronounced than in others, but the acid and thick tannin structure, along with the minerality, are impressive. This is a massively built wine without the massive fruit. The finish is long, dense, and tannic, with sweet oak, tannin, graphite, and dark chocolate. Bravo! Drink from 2030 until 2038. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%) NOT AVAILABLE IN THE USA

2022 Chevalier de Lascombes, Margaux – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER (France))
THIS WINE IS NOT AVAILABLE in the USA. What we get is Mevushal. This note is for the NON-Mevushal wine.
The nose of this wine is more Cali than Bordeaux, which has become the way with Chevalier recently. It shows dense black and blue fruit, smoke, loads of sweet oak, oak-driven sweet dill, intense milk chocolate, tar, and loam. The pop is there. This may well be the best Chevalier since 2017. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is more controlled than previous vintages; it still is pushed for me, but the wine is correct, with a dense and plush mouthfeel, something we have yet to taste, a rich, plush mouthfeel, but the fruit is pushed a bit with blackberry; blueberry, dark plum, and lovely minerality. The acidity is rich and helps make this pop. The finish is long, tannic, layered, and dense, with milk chocolate, sweet oak, mouth-drying tannin, tannic, and structured, with rich minerality, graphite, rock, and roasted herbs. Bravo! Drink from 2027 until 2037. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%) NOT AVAILABLE IN THE USA

2022 Chateau d’Agassac Cru Bourgeois, Haut-Medoc – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is classic Cabernet-driven wine from Medoc, with rich black fruit, hints of red fruit, dense loam, minerality, and smoke. This is a rich and balanced wine on the nose with great pop. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is crazy fun. The acidity is off the charts, and the minerality is dense. This is a blackberry, cassis, and graphite-driven wine with rich loam and dirt, dense and layered but also focused. Bravo! The finish is long, dense, and rich, with hints of green notes, rich minerality, graphite, scraping mineral, dark chocolate, dense smoke, iron shavings, and loam. Bravo! Drink until 2038. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%)

2023 Domaine Raymond Usseglio & Fils Chateauneuf du Pape, Blanc, Chateauneuf du Pape – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 5 fruits, Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Roussanne, Bourboulenc, & Piquepoul. The nose of this wine is lovely with peach, apricot, grapefruit, jasmine, intense minerality, rock, limestone, slate, intense tart fruit, and rich salinity. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is incredible, layered, and tart, with intense acidity, crazy fruit, rich salinity, smoke, rock, yeasty notes with good precision, and fruit focus. The wine is richly tense, showing orange, peach, nectarines, lemon/lime, rock, jasmine, and intense minerality. Bravo! The finish is so long, so tense, so layered, with rich saline, rock, limestone, fruit, smoke, and floral notes with so much citrus intensity. Bravo! Drink until 2028. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2021 Chateau Gazin Rocquencourt Grand Vin, Blanc, Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is ripe, with rich oak, showing notes of toast, French oak, Asian Pear, yellow and white flowers, waxy notes, peach, paraffine, and gooseberry, there are no green notes on the non-Mevushal wine. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine has wonderful acidity and is refreshing, with good peach, gooseberry, smoke, and flint, not hollow at all, rich and layered with sweet smoke, great tension, sweet fruit, and gooseberry that really works well. The finish is long, tense, layered, and smokey, with great flint, acidity, and waxy notes. Drink by 2030. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)

2021 Chateau Puyblanquet, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This is a blend of 75% Merlot & 25% Cabernet Franc.
The nose of this wine is ripe, there are no green notes to be found, and rich smoke, minerality, dark rhubarb, plum, raspberry, dark red fruit, and loam.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine tastes like a 2020 wine, this is ripe, how a 2021 got to this maturation is incredible and for a 13% ABV, I am shocked. Cool!
The mouth of this full-bodied wine fully encompasses what I want from a Bordeaux, dirty, earthy, smoky, fruity, balanced, great structure, not overly extracted, yet complex, with rich minerality, dense fruit, dense mouth-draping tannin, refreshing, with an unctuous approach, showing black plum, black cherry, and berries. The finish is long, dirty, earthy, and smoky, with a mouth-draping tannin that lingers forever, minerality that lasts forever, with scraping graphite, and smoke, really fun!! Drink by 2033. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2022 Chateau Rayne Vigneau Madame de Rayne, Sauternes – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this sweet wine is ripe and candied, with loads of funk, sweet jasmine, guava, mango, sweet and juicy pineapple, honeyed melon, and honeysuckle. Nice! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is layered and somewhat complex, with good guava, great acidity, mango, apricot, honeyed melon, honeydew, and dripping honey-coated walnuts. It has a dense/weighty and rich mouthfeel, almost plush. The finish is long, sweet, ripe, and candied, with lovely funk, smoke, and bitter notes that linger long. Bravo! Drink until 2045. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)

2022 Le Nardian, Bordeaux – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The notes of the nose are lovely, ripe, yet well balanced, yellow plum, smoke, peach apricot, wet grass, straw, incredible funk, almonds, pineapple, ginger, lovely jasmine, intense minerality, just a true joy, lovely and yet better than the 21. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is beautiful, layered, extracted, and tart, with intense acidity, intense mineral, graphite, sweet oak, peach, apricot, yellow plum, white pepper, pineapple, and lovely funk all wrapped in nice tannin, and smoke. The finish is long and tart and funky, with ginger, sweet pepper, and richly almond-driven, Bravo! Drink until 2030. Drink until 2030 (tasted January 2024) (in London, UK) (ABV = 12.5%)

2021 Domaine de Chevalier L’Esprit de Chevalier Blanc, Pessac-Leognan – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 80% Sauvignon Blanc & 20% Semillon.
The nose of this wine is lovely, ripe, extracted, and funky with intense funk, straw, hay, smoke, rich toast, sweet oak, Asian pear, smoked duck, citrus, gooseberry, wet grass, green notes, and sweet herbs. Bravo! The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine has richness, precision, and an impressive verve, the funky minerality follows through from the nose with ripe Asian pear, lovely gooseberry, lemon curd, and lemon Fraiche, followed by ribbons of minerality, saline, graphite, all wrapped in a toasty, funky mouthfeel, lovely! The finish is long, tart, ripe, balanced, and refreshing with great acidity, smoked duck, smoked pear, gooseberry, and tart lemon, lovely! Drink by 2030. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2020 Chateau Haut Brisson, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER (France))
The nose of this wine is okay, it has red fruit, with plum, cherry, currants, milk chocolate, and sweet herbs. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine does not have enough acidity, the fruit is nice enough with cherry, currants, sweet spices, and herbs. The mouth feels plain and simple, I was hoping for more. The finish is long, with nice tannin, and smoke, but I am missing the fruit and acid to make this wine whole. Drink by 2026. With time, two days of time, this wine finally opens, it now has the right amount of acidity that it needs, with good enough complexity, I wish there was much more. This wine is still a shadow of the 14 and 16 vintages. Drink from 2027 until 2033. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%)

2022 Chateau Trianon, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is really lovely, with cherry, plum, tar, minerality, green herbs, sweet spices, oak, and dark fruit. It is really nice. 
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, layered, and concentrated, showing milk chocolate, good acidity, rich minerality, nicely extracted, with dark plum, candied blackberry, cassis, and rich cherry, so lovely, bravo. 
The finish is long, ripe, and concentrated, with great acidity, lovely fruit focus, not tense but very professional, with more tar, minerality, graphite, rock, and sweet herbs. Drink from 2028 until 2036. (tasted November 2024) (in Teaneck, NJ) (ABV = 14.5%)

2022 Four Gates Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is riper than most Four Gates Pinot Noir, but the truth is the balance is incredible: ripe red and almost black fruit, cacao, sweet smoke, garrigue, minerality, and loam; this is a stunning wine. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is lovely, showing great acidity, rich black cherry, dark plum, some blackberry, mouth-draping tannin, sweet oak, lovely green notes, and lovely vanilla, all wrapped in a plush, concentrated, and elegant package. Lovely! The finish is long, ripe, balanced, creamy, concentrated, and elegant, with cacao, some coffee, sweet herbs, and sweet spices. Bravo! Drink from 2033 until 2040. (tasted November 2024) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)

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%)

2022 Chateau Royaumont, Lalande de Pomerol – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER (France))
THIS WINE IS NOT AVAILABLE in the USA. What we get is Mevushal. This note is for the NON-Mevushal wine.
This wine is a blend of 70% Merlot & 30% Cabernet Franc.
The nose of this wine is ripe, but it is the minerality and ripeness that come to the fore with floral notes, rich tar, black and blue fruit, and lovely pop. What sticks out is the fruit and the dense minerality.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is lovely, the purity is there, with pure salinity and graphite, followed by black plum, raspberry, boysenberry, dense graphite, scraping minerals, smoke, rich earth and loam, and roasted herbs. It is really about the sense of focus, the elegance of the tannin and sweet oak, and the fruit focus precision.
The finish is long, dirty, mineral-driven, and fruity and a great show for the 2022 vintage. Drink from 2030 until 2038. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%) NOT AVAILABLE IN THE USA

2022 Les Roches De Yon, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER (France))
THIS WINE IS NOT AVAILABLE in the USA. What we get is Mevushal. This note is for the NON-Mevushal wine.
This wine is a blend of 81% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, & 6% Petit Verdot. The wine has changed its name by dropping the Figeac moniker.
The nose of this wine is lovely, with rich minerality, dense smoke, smoked meat, roasted herbs, red and black fruit, tar, graphite, and loam. It’s a very concentrated and bright nose. Bravo!
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is inky, dense, and tart, with rich minerality, graphite, great acidity, dense smoke, earth, ripe blackberry, plum, raspberry, dark cherry, mouth-draping tannin, elegance, smoke, rich toast, and sweet oak. Bravo!
The finish is long, smoky, dirty, and earthy, with lovely rich toast, rich graphite, and smoke. Drink from 2028 until 2038. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%) NOT AVAILABLE IN THE USA

2022 Chateau Montviel, Pomerol – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely, showing great pop, saline, minerality, rich smoke, tar, black pepper, spice, red and black fruit, and lovely smoke.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is more elegant than the Royaumont, with great acidity, lovely minerality, elegance, raspberry, blackberry, plum, rich gravel, bramble, lovely smoke, mouthfeel and tension, mouth-drying tannin, and smoke. A very good approach for the 2022 vintage – nice!
The finish is long, tart, mineral-driven, and smokey with graphite and saline, more spice, and black pepper, lovely! Drink from 2030 until 2028. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 15%)

2022 Domaine du Château Philippe le Hardi Aloxe Corton, Aloxe Corton, Burgundy – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine pops really well, showing rich loam and dirt, saline, and coffee with roasted herbs and nice smoke, cherry, and rhubarb. The nose is very expressive, complex, rich, and lovely! The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is nice, more complex, and elegant; it has a nice heft, good mouthfeel, lovely acidity, and smoke, with cherry, raspberry, and darker fruit, tension, and precision, rich saline and dirt, and nice makeup.  The finish is long, dirty, ripe, controlled, and elegant, Nice! Drink from 2030 until 2038. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%)

2022 Chateau Fourcas Dupre, Listrac-Medoc – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine starts green and herbal but, with time, opens to dirty, smoky, and ripe, with black and red fruit, ink, iron, graphite, and roasted herbs. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is super-closed, showing great tension. It is a lovely and elegant wine with mouth-draping tannin, blackberry, currant, dark cherry, roasted herb, and dense graphite. Bravo! The finish is long, tannic, rich, dense, and closed, with more lovely graphite, rock, roasted herb, and smoke. Bravo! Drink from 2034 until 2040. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2023 Jean-Philippe Marchand Bourgogne, Hautes-Cotes de Beaune, Hautes-Cotes de Beaune – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is nice, with lovely paraffin, smoke, sweet oak, ripe cherry, coffee, Roasted herb, and burnt/toast notes. Nice! The mouth of this wine has slight bubbles that blow off and a lovely mouthfeel. It shows raspberry, cranberry, sour cherry, and lots of floral notes, including jasmine, rose, and dark cherry. It also has rich salinity, beautiful acidity, mouth-draping tannin, and almost meaty notes. Nice! The pop and focus is impressive, along with its refreshing approach. The finish is long, dirty, earthy, mushroom, floral, and smoky; this is coming together, and it is nice. The saline, smoke, floral notes, and acidity linger long. Drink from 2027 until 2034. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 2024)

2023 Jean-Philippe Marchand Nuits-Saint-George, Aux Herbues, Nuits-Saint-George – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine was closed to start, but with time, it opened, and nice floral notes poked out; with coffee and smoke, cherry is now in the front, with sweet oak, green notes, roasted herbs, and bramble. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is ripe, with sour cherry, very dirty, earth, loam, floral notes, rosehip, mushroom, wet loam, tart and refreshing acidity, pomegranate, and rhubarb. It’s really nice. The tannin, earth, smoke, and ripe fruit really bring this together with the oak and acidity. Nice! The finish is nice, tart, smoky, and refreshing, with the mushroom and loam working well. The fruit, mushroom, dirt, smoke, and floral notes really interplay well. Bravo! Drink from 2028 until 2033. (tasted January 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)