We rated 1,479 wines in our first tasting month of 2025 – not including all the bottles we rated for our Bordeaux 2022 Vintage Report – and found two perfect-scoring wines, as well as a bounty of goodness from regions such as Napa Valley, the Rheingau in Germany, Barolo and Greece.
James uncorked an absolute beauty while he was tasting the soon-to-be-released wines of Chateau Latour. He found the Chateau Latour Pauillac 2016 to be at the same level as the legendary 1982, calling it a new “benchmark” because of its superb balance and ultra-fine yet intense tannins.
Senior Editor Stuart Pigott also tasted a few extraordinary French wines during the month, starting with the “almost perfect” Domaine de la Chapelle Hermitage La Chapelle 2022, which Stuart said showed incredible focus and structure. Domaine de la Chapelle is owned by the Paul Jaboulet Ainé winery and shares the same winemaker, Caroline Frey, who also made the bold (and moderately priced) Paul Jaboulet Aîné Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert 2022, which represents the best vintage of Domaine de Thalabert in more than a decade, as well as the Paul Jaboulet Aîné Cornas Domaine de Saint Pierre 2022, whose tension between the energetic tannins, the aromas of elderberry, flint and graphite plus the hardcore stony minerality makes it really exciting, according to Stuart.