When 05 MDT is on it’s hard to beat. An absolutely pristine bottle tonight, in color barely having aged a day, still markedly youthful with captivating aromatics, a powerful, voluminous and waxy textured palate that comes with age, racy lemony acids and crystalline minerality. There’s such tremendous weight and density in this vintage yet it’s still chiseled and focused in its delivery. Just brilliant tonight. Thunder mountain ftw 🥳 — 7 months ago
The 2016 Palmer is a brilliant wine from Thomas Duroux, though I feel it will ultimately be surpassed by the 2018. You cannot argue with the nose: intense black cherries and raspberry fruit, crushed violets and crème de cassis (as if there was a touch of Pauillac in there). The palate is medium-bodied with fleshy, sensual tannins, perfect acidity, velvet smooth with layers of chocolate-tinged black fruit, hints of black pepper and cedar towards the sustained finish. It is a fabulous Palmer that will give much pleasure. Tasted at the Palmer vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, August 2023)
— 2 years ago
+2 hour decant(decent chunky/fine sediment) A beautiful deep ruby red color. On the nose: Expressive nose captivates with dark red fruit, espresso, chocolate, floral, menthol, sweet tobacco. Taste: rich, round, intense wine with dark cherry/blackberry, minerals, cedar, tobacco, and a peppery-pencil lead-dried herb long dry finish. YUM! A brilliant wine just entering its drinking window with time to go. — 5 months ago


The 2015 Viña Ardanza is only the third vintage of this wine that I’ve tasted, yet it has quickly become perhaps my favourite Rioja - for quality, value, style, and sheer pleasure. This is a match for the brilliant 2010, with an outrageously pure and beautiful nose of balsamic paste, bitter orange, black cherry, fig and vanilla. The palate is supple but firm, quite dark in character, with a gorgeous medley of black and red fruits, perhaps slightly fuller bodied than the 2010, and carrying through to a long, bitter orange, tar and tobacco-laced finish.
This is just such superb stuff, and to say it sells for around £20-30 a bottle, it’s a cellar must. — 2 years ago
Stunning as usual. Nose is dense almost like a pastry aromatic texture if that makes sense. Gorgeous green apple and some pear and huge minerals but you smell the opulence of 2022. Lots of brown sugar as well. Rich, energetic and just full of fruit. Huge fruit which is just brilliant here. So complex and concentrated with the fruit veering more towards fruit skin. Exquisite balance and drop dead purity. Wow this is clean. Stunning inner mouth aromas. Chewy and dense unreal depth. Finish leans saline and the juiciness keeps pumping the fruit skin, little bit of fruit flesh and unreal length that also has tiny accents of spice. Brilliant. What a finish. Lingers like a bad zit. I love 22, has all the opulence, but also all the minerality and all the energy. Brilliant. Ah wow, after 6+ hours open this is a delight. It’s so filigreed and elegant with sweet minerals and so much juiciness backed by the most unreal precision ever. — 6 months ago
A combination of nutty and citrus zest . Beautiful wine in her youth. I would keep this baby deep in the cellar for at least 5, maybe 10, years. Brilliant even by Cristal standards and may be among their best ever — 2 years ago
GaryWEdwards
A wonderful expression of Merlot primarily that ticks all the boxes- cigar, dark berry and earthy roots. Brilliant — a month ago