Freddy R. Troya

9.1

Château Haut-Batailley 2023 – Pauillac, Grand Cru Classé, BDX, France 🇫🇷

Overview
A beautifully structured and layered Pauillac delivering serious grip, depth of red fruit, and refined finesse, driven by a 60% Cabernet Sauvignon-led blend with 37% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot support. The wine shows clear complexity and architectural balance, combining power and polish without heaviness, positioning itself as a confident mid-pack contender capable of punching above its weight.

Aromas & Flavors
Red currant, cassis, wild raspberry, graphite, cedar shavings, crushed gravel, subtle tobacco leaf, cocoa dust and fresh spice.

Mouthfeel
Medium-plus body with firm, finely grained tannins, excellent mid-palate density, vibrant yet integrated acidity, precise structural tension, and a long, focused finish that grips beautifully without roughness.

Food Pairings
Grilled ribeye, lamb rack, beef bourguignon, duck breast, rosemary potatoes, aged hard cheeses.

Verdict
A poised and confident Pauillac showing layered complexity, structural clarity, and real finesse. Not a brute-force heavyweight, but a beautifully driven, technically precise wine with strong aging potential and excellent balance.

🍷 Personal Pick
This feels like a wine that thrives on precision rather than raw horsepower, beautifully controlled grip, layered red fruit, and elegant finesse throughout. The kind of bottle that rewards attention and quietly impresses from start to finish. — 4 months ago

Rodney Miller

9.2

The palate is refreshing despite being a bit muted. A bit of glycerin with notes of rosemary and herbs. — 10 months ago

Jakub Kalinowski

9.4

Brilliant, fascinating nose. Almost devoid of fruit, yet so enticing!
Dried rosemary, lavender, fennel, floral. Some dark, creamy black fruit, baked earth, some leather. And continues to evolve in the Glas. Precise, fresh, beautiful!!
On the palate - fresh, polished yet with such depth & character. The quality of the tannins is mind blowing. So polished, so fine yet monumental at the same time. And in this frame - juicy, fresh, floral acidity and just a touch of black fruit. Brilliant, quirky, bordering on profound, and so delicious at the same time. What a wine!!! — 3 years ago

Freddy R. Troya

9.2

Château Brane-Cantenac 2023 – Margaux, Grand Cru Classé, BDX France 🇫🇷

Overview
A highly aromatic and deeply concentrated Margaux showing impressive layering, polished texture, and outstanding fruit density, with oak integration still prominent in its youth. Built for complexity and long-term evolution.

Aromas & Flavors
Blackberry compote, wild blueberry, cassis, black cherry liqueur, violet petal, sweet cedar, cocoa powder, graphite, subtle vanilla and toasted spice from new oak.

Mouthfeel
Medium-plus to full-bodied with silky, refined tannins, dense mid-palate concentration, seamless flow across the palate, and a long, plush finish. Oak remains slightly forward at this stage but clearly destined to integrate.

Food Pairings
Dry-aged ribeye, rosemary lamb, duck confit, porcini risotto, aged Gruyère or Comté.

Verdict
A seductive, high-concentration Margaux with real depth and aromatic brilliance. Oak currently rides slightly high, but the underlying fruit density and texture suggest excellent aging potential and future harmony.

🍷 Personal Pick
The perfume is intoxicating and the fruit core is massive, this just needs time for the oak to melt into the frame. Big upside once the pieces lock together. — 4 months ago

Pooneet K

9.3

Lovely wine. It’s wild that recent releases go for $200+ per bottle. Bought for $40 from vinchicago many years ago, after having at Terete in Haro, Rioja on our honeymoon.

Paired with grilled leg of lamb marinated with garlic, rosemary, thyme, and orange. Opened 4 hours ahead and decanted an hour. Not quite as deep as the last bottle (2+ years ago) but still very delicious. Wonderful example of what well made top quality Rioja can be. Incredible depth on the palate and finish. Medium perfect acid. Just delicious. — 9 months ago

Andrew Liguori

9.1

Rustic. Dried cherries/cranberries, lots of tomato leaf, and dried herbs (thyme, rosemary, marjoram). Great with a pappardelle pork bolognese — 4 years ago

Andrew Liguori

9.2

Black olive, burnt bacon, rosemary and herbs. Bold, dense body but the alcohol seems to lift it up easily. Mandatory lamb or steak. — 7 months ago

Doug Powers

9.1

Crunchy red berries and blueberry, rosemary and other herbed de Provence aromas as well, lively acidity, lovely balance, doesnt show heat (even though it’s 14.5% ABV), long, lingering finish, beautiful old vine (70+ years) Carignan from a vineyard at 2,400 feet elevation in Mendocino County!! — 8 months ago

with Jim

Andrew Cullimore

9.2

Medium ruby garnet core with quite wide garnet rim . On the nose this shows some development with dry spices , leather , dark cherry, cedar , dried rosemary , sage with some meaty hints . On the palate there is quite a lot of structure with gritty , somewhat rustic tannins and fresh acidity . Menthol tinged dark cherry , liquorice , dried sage and dry spices . Good length and balance with fresh acidity , the alcohol though is a little warming so I would drink this on the cooler side . This is quite a structured , traditionally styled Brunello but with personality and presence . Drinking quite well and showing some development, will perhaps continue to improve over next few years and last well a further 5-10 . — a year ago

Big Wave Dave

9.5

Insane complexity. Bacon cheeseburger in a glass. Dark fruit, with hints of fig, rosemary, and mushroom sauvage. Strong bacon, savoury meat character. Med/full but not in any way heavy. Complete, and drinking beautifully. Will go forever, but singing now. — 4 years ago

with Racquel