Saint-Émilion vintage 2025: Château Ausone: 65% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. 13.7% alcohol. Cabernet Sauvignon was so excellent that it was included in Grand Vin for the first time since 1995. The wine displays an expressive and fruit-laden nose of wild cherries. There is freshness and tension, richness, a fabulous midpalate, and a long, sensual finish that goes on and on. This wine is very distinguished and seamless. One of the best wines of the vintage, a sure bet. There will be no second wine (Chapelle d’Ausone) in 2025, as all harvested parcels had very high quality and went into Grand Vin. 99-100p.

Mount Edelstone 70th Anniversary Tasting 1956-2022

Perfect 100 points Graham 80 year old Tawny Port – Only 600 bottles of the 80y old were bottled and the shelf price will be well above 1.000 GBP. For Charles Symington the blending process was very emotional, as his father, Peter Symington, was born in 1944. When turning 80, Peter very much enjoyed this special Port. Dark red colour with intense reflections and a green-gold rim. Gentle and perfectly balanced Douro Bake aromas on the nose with coffee, dried orange and tobacco. Complex, dense herbal notes in the bouquet, chocolate, malt, tobacco leaves and caramel, floral notes and a hint of chocolate and toffee in the background. Incredibly complex notes on the palate. Herbal mix, chocolate, tea, malt, honey, tobacco. Perfectly long, balanced and complex finish with many overlapping layers. A perfect Port! 100

Château Lafite 2025 / Deep dark ruby garnet, opaque core, violet reflections, delicate edge brightening. Floral touch, delicate roses, dark wild berries, candied violets, delicate licorice, some velour, multi-faceted, inviting bouquet. Juicy, elegant, red cherries, delicate redcurrants, fine, silky tannins, a hint of lime, salty minerality, delicate, full of finesse and long-lasting, sure maturity potential. 99p

Masseto tasting 1998-2022 / Masseto 2015: A truly legendary, text-book perfect growing season. A normal spring gave way to a hot, intensely sunny summer. Crucially, timely rains in late July relieved any potential vine stress. August brought cooler nights, allowing the Merlot to preserve its aromatic freshness while reaching unprecedented levels of sugar and tannin ripeness.

 The perfect masterpiece and the ultimate expression of Masseto. This vintage is an olfactory explosion of ripe blackberries, dark chocolate, black truffles, and wet iron clay. The palate achieves absolute, breathtaking harmony. It delivers a monumental, multi-layered texture that manages to be simultaneously opulent, dense, and magically weightless. A flawless, unforgettable expression of a golden Tuscan season. 100 points

Tastingbook visited at Monteverro / The 10-member tasting panel from Tastingbook.com recently concluded a follow-up visit to the Monteverro estate in Tuscany to evaluate the winery's latest releases. This was far from the group's first pilgrimage to the property. With every consecutive visit, expectations have naturally heightened as the winery's quality trajectory continues its stratospheric ascent. Once again, the estate delivered an uncompromising masterclass in viticulture.This latest review confirmed that the wines continue to meet high international standards, showing no signs of slowing down.

The flagship red releases—the Monteverro 2020, 2021, and 2022—performed consistently well, with each vintage receiving scores above 96 points. Meanwhile, the newly released white flagship, the Chardonnay 2023, established itself as a highlight of the lineup, securing a strong 98 point rating.

Bordeaux 2025 Vintage / Pauillac / Château Mouton Rothschild 2025: 98% Cabernet Sauvignon + 2% Merlot. 13.1% alcohol. One of the best visits I experienced during primeur tastings in April 2026. Thanks, Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy! Potent and distinguished. It has a refined nose, offering plenty of blackcurrants and violets, spiced with notes of tobacco and leather. Exuberant, rich, and creamy on the palate with great structure, complexity, depth, and length. Vibrant, sophisticated, and with excellent mid-palate. This is definitely one of my top picks from the vintage. A future classic, for sure! 99-100p.

Château Fontenil Vertical 2022-2005 / I have tasted Château Fontenil during primeur for more than a decade, but I have rarely seen them in bottle, and even rarer tasted them. Boy was I in for a treat! On a relatively misty morning I turned up at Fontenil and I did not expect anything near this amazing lineup. I am a big fan of Fronsac, these wines are so undervalued, and here we are, another big tasting confirming that exact same thing. Gorgeous wines. 

Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey 1929 / An absolutely sensational bottle—youthful, highly elegant, and perfectly balanced between acidity and sweetness. Delicate, slightly salty caramel, malt, dried figs, and molasses weave together in a masterpiece of flavor. Simply brilliant—off the charts! 20+ points

The first day is now behind us for the 18th annual '100 Best Champagnes' ranking,, a joint project by Tastingbook and FINE Champagne Magazine, highlighted exceptional vintage and prestige cuvées. Top accolades today went to the Dom Pérignon 2017 and Salon Cuvée 'S' Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs 2015, both achieving 98 points. The tasting showcased the evolution of cooler vintages against the warm, solar characteristics of 2015 and 2018, culminating in a definitive selection for the 2026 ranking. With hundreds of Champagnes still left to taste over the coming weeks, the race for the ultimate crown in The 100 Best Champagne 2026 ranking remains wide open!

Large Coche-Dury tasting and few others: The Corton-Charlemagne 2002 was equally as impressive, but in a more mature way. It was in a perfect spot, on a bridge between youth and wisdom, with extraordinary balance and tension. I think that the 15-20 year mark is a real sweet spot for great vintages of Coche CC. Ooh la la (98).

Australian New Releases / Claymore Wines The Fields of Anfield Road 2024 ($75) – When one thinks of Claymore wines, two things come to mind – cracking Clare Valley wines and an unfathomable devotion to the Liverpool Football Club (I guess you can’t have everything). Those who follow the sport will know that the mugsmashers, as they are fondly known, snuck in to win the competition earlier this year. To celebrate that, they have released this Shiraz Cabernet blend and a bottle can be yours for literally just 0.00000025% of what the Club has spent on players in the off-season. 

An inky maroon hue with a purple rim, there are notes of cocoa powder, blackberries, cassis, mocha, cold tea, dried herbs, chocolate and smoked meats. The oak is deftly handled and there is an intriguing saline/iodine notes running through the wine. Good balance and focus, with bright acidity, there is excellent length. It will drink well over the next decade and continue to improve. Those who are not fans of Liverpool are probably hoping that this is a one-off. 93.