LVMH - Vins D'exception Gift Set 2015 (Pre-arrival) (4 pack bottles)
Wine Advocate: 100 Points
Cheval Blanc 2015 : 100WA Medium to deep garnet-purple colored the 2015 Cheval Blanc is still incredibly primary at this very youthful stage. With coaxing it unfurls to reveal beguiling notions of ripe black cherries mulberries licorice baking spices and smoked meats with touches of incense and potpourri plus wafts of cast iron pan and crushed rocks. Full-bodied very rich very firm/taut and with very ripe fine-grained tannins it allows a glimpse at its incredible depth of flavors with a very long multi-layered finish. Wow. Clos des Lambray 2015 : 95WA The 2015 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru continues to show very well unfurling in the glass with a rich bouquet of ripe plums blackberries dark chocolate and forest floor. On the palate it's full-bodied satiny and powerful with an ample chassis of fine structuring tannins and a deep core of fruit but the wine is shutting down and is more inscrutable than it was six months earlier. Readers with bottles in their cellars are sitting on a great example of Clos des Lambrays one of the best produced since the 1970s but a decade's patience is advised. Colgin IX Estate Red 2015 : 100WA Composed of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon 19% Cabernet Franc 15% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot the 2015 IX Proprietary Red Estate sports a deep garnet-purple color and nose of smoked meat blackberries and black currants with suggestions of baking spices dark chocolate fertile earth dried Provence herbs cardamom and lavender plus a touch of cigar box. Full-bodied rich firm and restrained it has a lovely earthy soft-spoken style at this youthful stage promising great things to come over the forthcoming 25-30 years. Chateau d'Yquem 2015 : 100WA Following a very long harvest stretching nearly two months the 2015 Château d'Yquem came in at 13.9% alcohol and 144 grams per liter of residual sugar sporting a pH of 3.65 and six grams per liter of tartaric acid. None of these numbers however even remotely begin to tell you how profound this wine is. The nose opens with electric notes of ripe pineapples green mango orange blossoms and lemon tart with hints of fungi lime zest crushed rocks and jasmine. The freshness on the palate is just astonishing permeating and lifting layer upon layer of tropical fruits and earthy notions all encased in a sumptuous texture and culminating in a very very long mineral-tinged finish. Truly this is a legendary vintage for d'Yquem. I've been conservative with my drinking window here and I would not be at all surprised if our descendants are drinking this vintage well into the next century.
Vinous: 99 Points
Cheval Blanc 2015 : 99VM Totally seamless in the glass with no beginning and no end the 2015 Cheval Blanc is simply extraordinary. It's hard to describe the 2015 because all of its elements are so perfectly in place. Beautifully delineated aromatics make a strong opening statement. Vibrant and wonderfully nuanced on the palate the wine exudes energy and vitality through to the persistent silky finish. Many other 2015s speak with more assertiveness and volume but Cheval Blanc is more understsated. In 2015 Cheval Blanc created quite a stir in announcing that a whopping 91% of their crop would be bottled as Grand Vin. There will be no Petit Cheval while the rest of the wine was sold internally. - By Antonio Galloni on December 2017 Clos des Lambray 2015 : 95VM (100% vendange entier): Healthy dark red. Pure but tight aromas of raspberry spices rose petal licorice and herbs. Densely packed and vibrant--impressively so for a 2015--with notes of bitter orange rind and peppery herbs accenting its flavors of red berries brown spices menthol mocha and underbrush. Very savory wine with terrific spicy depth as well as more punch than the 2016. Finishes very firm and extremely long with serious but refined tannins and superb lift. An outstanding vintage for this grand cru this wine combines the best characteristics of 2005 and 2010 and that's a formula for longevity and greatness. - By Stephen Tanzer on January 2018 Colgin IX Estate Red 2015 : 97VM The IX Estate is the most brooding and tannic of these 2015s from Colgin. Huge swaths of tannin enshroud the fruit in this decidedly virile intense Pritchard Hill red. Readers will have to be patient as the 2015 is going to need at least a few years to come into its own. Even today though it is a stellar wine. - By Antonio Galloni on November 2017 Chateau d'Yquem 2015 : 98VM The 2015 d'Yquem is without question one of the wines of the vintage. Just as alluring from bottle as it was from barrel the 2015 is a wine that engages all of the senses from the intellectual to the more hedonistic. Lilting notes of pineapple mint orange peel and white flowers grace the palate but it is the wine's sense of balance and total harmony that impress most. In 2015 Yquem had its earliest start to the harvest since 1893. Even so the winemaking team did a magnificent job of preserving freshness. The 2015 was fermented in 100% new oak and residual sugar is 145 grams per liter but great wine is never about numbers. Above all else the 2015 Yquem is a wine of energy and class. Don't miss it! - By Antonio Galloni on December 2017
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