This great terroir has been under-exploited over the three decades of my professional experience tasting Bordeaux. From a 14-acre parcel on the famed Cote Pavie, the 2009 is the finest wine Saint-Georges has ever made. A deep ruby/purple hue is followed by aromas of blueberries, black currants, and kirsch intermixed with hints of earth, crushed rocks, and spice. Medium to full-bodied with good precision, freshness, and length, it should drink well for 15-20 years. (Tasted once.)

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (188)

  Wine notes

This great terroir has been under-exploited over the three decades of my professional experience tasting Bordeaux. From a 14-acre parcel on the famed Cote Pavie, the 2009 is the finest wine Saint-Georges has ever made. A deep ruby/purple hue is followed by aromas of blueberries, black currants, and kirsch intermixed with hints of earth, crushed rocks, and spice. Medium to full-bodied with good precision, freshness, and length, it should drink well for 15-20 years. (Tasted once.)

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (188)

  Wine notes

This has been a fabulous wine over recent vintages, but I do not think many consumers have caught on. Of course, there is far less of this classified-growth St.-Julien than of any of the Leovilles, Beychevelle, Talbot, Gruaud Larose, or Branaire Ducru. Unbelievably powerful, rich, and impressive, this may be the finest St.-Pierre ever made. An inky/purple color is followed by notes of creme de cassis, spring flowers, and forest floor, a layered, full-bodied, powerful mouthfeel, perfect balance, and extraordinary richness, purity, and unctuosity. This great St.-Julien should hit its peak in 7-10 years, and last for 30-50. Bravo! (Tasted two times.)

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (...)

  Wine notes

This is the luxury cuvee from 7.5 acres in the La Bienfaisance vineyard. Yields were frightfully low in 2009, 19 hectoliters per hectare, largely because of the May 12 hailstorm that devastated a band of St.-Emilion estates. The final blend of 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Franc has a whopping 14.8% alcohol, but it doesn’t show whatsoever, another characteristic of the concentration and density of fruit in 2009, combined with very sweet tannins and loads of freshness and vibrancy. Inky blue/purple., with notes of blueberry, graphite, espresso, and earth, this wine is full-bodied, opulent, dense, and richly textured. It should drink well for 15-20+ years. (Tasted once.) 

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (188)

  Wine notes

Run by the Cordier family, with the vineyard managed by Alfred Tesseron’s team at Pontet-Canet, this is the first vintage from their biodynamically farmed estate, and it is certainly the best wine I have ever tasted from Senejac. A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, oodles of black currant fruit are intermixed with some licorice, underbrush, and foresty notes. Great fruit, a sumptuous, fleshy texture, and plenty of succulence and length make for a big, rich, nicely textured wine to drink over the next decade. (Tasted two times.) 

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (188)

  Wine notes

A sleeper of the vintage, this is the best wine I have ever tasted from this property. A dense purple color is followed by abundant meaty, black currant, black cherry, licorice, underbrush, and forest floor characteristics. Full-bodied, powerful, rich, and silky-textured, it will provide plenty of pleasure over the next decade. (Tasted once.) 

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (188)

  Wine notes

The Sigalas-Rabaud has a well defined nose: grapefruit, nectarine, honey and lime, much more primal than some of the other 2009s. The palate is very well balanced with excellent acidity: apricot, honeysuckle, a touch of orange zest and then vibrant white peach bursting across the finish with lime flower and lemongrass on the aftertaste. Wonderful persistency, power and freshness. Without question: the 2009 is the best Sigalas-Rabaud that I have tasted and this nectar comes highly recommended.

Neal Martin, Wine Advocate Issue (188)

  Wine notes

Tannic and backward, the 2009 has a promising nose of floral-infused black currants, licorice, and earth. Medium-bodied, restrained, and very pure, this mid-weight Margaux needs 2-5 years and will keep for several decades. (Tasted once.) 

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (188)

  Wine notes

One can’t say enough about what proprietors Daniel and Florence Cathiard have accomplished at this estate since 1990. Regrettably, I am old enough to remember how horrible the wines were before the Cathiards purchased the property. They have fashioned one of the most consistently outstanding wines, both white and red, over the last two decades, and their 2009 probably eclipses any previous performance. An opaque purple color is followed by an explosive nose of graphite, black currants, licorice, incense, and a hint of black tea. The wine hits the palate with extraordinary density, unctuosity, and richness, yet it never comes across as heavy or overbearing. Deep and full-bodied with sensational concentration as well as remarkable purity and precision, this brilliant wine possesses the high, but sweet tannins that are a hallmark of the vintage, and exceptional delicacy allied to massive power and richness ... a rare combination indeed. This prodigious effort should drink well for 30-40 years. Bravo! (Tasted five times.) 

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (188)

  Wine notes

Ferocious tannins are not unusual for Sociando Mallet, but I was surprised that in a vintage that produced exceptionally tannic, but ripe wines, the Sociando Mallet tannins were atypically austere. Nevertheless, the wine boasts huge concentration along with an inky/purple color, a full-bodied, powerful palate, and a long finish. Excellent purity, density, and minerality are present in this cuvee, and it is capable of lasting 30-40 years. This estate is situated on some of the finest terroir of the Haut-Medoc, near Calon-Segur in St.-Estephe. (Tasted two times.) 

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (188)

  Wine notes

One of the outstanding successes of the 2009 vintage, this may surpass the superlative 2007. It has a more understated nose at the moment, but is very well defined with honey, white peach, orange peel and crushed stones. The palate has a viscous entry, is very well balanced, very powerful with great depth and effervescent minerality. Layers of botrytis layer across the mellifluous finish that is beautifully defined and sensuous. Fabulous. 

  Neal Martin, Wine Advocate Issue (188)

  Wine notes

One of the outstanding successes of the 2009 vintage, this may surpass the superlative 2007. It has a more understated nose at the moment, but is very well defined with honey, white peach, orange peel and crushed stones. The palate has a viscous entry, is very well balanced, very powerful with great depth and effervescent minerality. Layers of botrytis layer across the mellifluous finish that is beautifully defined and sensuous. Fabulous. 

  Neal Martin, Wine Advocate Issue (188)

  Wine notes

One of the outstanding successes of the 2009 vintage, this may surpass the superlative 2007. It has a more understated nose at the moment, but is very well defined with honey, white peach, orange peel and crushed stones. The palate has a viscous entry, is very well balanced, very powerful with great depth and effervescent minerality. Layers of botrytis layer across the mellifluous finish that is beautifully defined and sensuous. Fabulous. 

  Neal Martin, Wine Advocate Issue (188)

  Wine notes