Robert Parker’s 100-point wines: Then and now

Robert Parker says a 100-point wine should be ‘as exceptional as a particular wine can be: a perfect blend of power, richness, texture, depth, length, balance, freshness, and of course a reflection of its vintage and terroir or origin’.

• Read the Robert M. Parker Jr extended interview for the Decanter Hall of Fame 2020

Here are Parker’s most memorable 100-point wines.

Château Beauséjour, héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse, St-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé 1990

This small, 6.75-hectare (ha) property partly on the St-Emilion plateau and partly on SSW-facing slopes, 30 metres from top to bottom, forms half of the Beauséjour estate (the other half is Beau-Séjour-Bécot), divided in 1869.

It has been in the Duffau-Lagarrosse family since 1847, and the domain is currently managed by family members and cousins Christophe Redaud and Vincent Duffau-Lagarrosse, who entrust direction to Nicolas Thienpont. The estate performed inconsistently until the first decade of the 21st century, but 1990 was always a spectacular success.

Parker gave it a perfect score in 1998, and the wine was described by him in 2003 as ‘one of the great modern-day legends in Bordeaux’, and in 2009 as ‘one of the most singular Bordeaux I have ever tasted, it verges on being port-like, but pulls back because of the extraordinary minerality and laser-like focus’.

Robert Parker’s view today: ‘A one-hit wonder during this era, but spectacular in 2020 where it remains a very rich, full-bodied, exquisite St-Emilion with 30 more years of life.’

Stockists:

UK: £550 (ib) BI Wine and Spirits | US: $695 Cellar Raiders

Château Mouton-Rothschild, Pauillac 1982

This 90-ha property shares, with Château Lafite Rothschild, one of the greatest of all the gravel mounds in the Médoc, and has belonged to the Rothschild family since 1853, at which point it had only 37ha of vines. Baron Philippe de Rothschild won its First Growth status after a long battle in 1973.

After the ‘uninspiring’ 1981 vintage, 1982 impressed Parker hugely from the outset as ‘the most backward and unevolved wine of the 1982 vintage’. In 2000, on its 18th birthday, he considered it ‘immune to oxidation … might be capable of lasting 100 years.’

By 2009, he felt it had ‘thrown off the backward, youthful style that existed during its first 25 years of life and … has developed such secondary nuances as cedar and spice box [though it] … is still amazingly youthful, vibrant and pure. … Thank God it is beginning to budge, as I would like to drink most of my supply before I kick the bucket.’

Robert Parker’s view today: ‘I thought this was pure perfection when tasted from the barrel in March 1983, reinforced by the then cellar-master Raoul Blondin’s comment that it was “the best since the 1945.” It took 15-20 years to shed its cloak of tannin, but today is a heavenly elixir.’

Stockists:

UK: £1208 (ib) Berry Bros & Rudd | US: $1295 Clarets

Château Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan 1989

This is by far the smallest of the First Growths today, at just 51ha, and is arguably Bordeaux’s most historic property, the name being a familiar one in London from the mid-17th century (when it was mentioned by Pepys).

Haut-Brion lies within Bordeaux’s urban fabric, and in common with many Pessac-Léognan properties the blend marries almost equal quantities of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with a little Cabernet Franc (41%, 50% and nine percent respectively in this vintage).

Robert Parker always considered this ‘one of a handful of truly profound wines from a vintage that tends to be over-rated’, as well as ‘one of the greatest first-growths that I have ever tasted’ and (in 2005) ‘undeniably one of the greatest wines made in Bordeaux in the last 25 years’.

In 2003, he noted the ‘brilliant symmetry of the wine, extraordinary purity and seamlessness … The levels of fruit, extract and glycerin in this viscous, full-bodied, low-acid wine are awe-inspiring … one of the immortal wines’.

Robert Parker’s view today: Another superstar that announced its perfection in its primary youth in March, 1990. Always opulent, yet racy and refined with incredible aromatic complexity, it continues to go from strength to strength.

Stockists:

UK: £1695 (ib) Cru World Wine | US: $1975 Blacksmith Wine

Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac 1982

The château of this 73ha property in Pauillac lies close to Latour, while the vineyards mostly lie towards St-Julien – indeed 9ha actually lie within St-Julien. A lighter and more graceful style of Pauillac, then? Just so.

Robert Parker’s enthusiasm for the wines of Pichon Lalande waxes and wanes by vintage (he gives the “unmistakably vegetal” 1990 79 points, in contrast to Jancis Robinson’s 18/20), and the initial en primeur score for Pichon Lalande 1982 was 85-88.

It had, though, climbed swiftly through the 90s to 99 points by 1990 and reached perfection in 2000, when Parker commented, ‘I have had this wine half-a-dozen times over the last 11 months, and have rated it either 98, 99 or 100 on every occasion … delicious since birth, but absolutely stupendous over the last decade.’

By 2009, Parker noted ‘glossy, rich, flamboyant cassis fruit, chocolaty, berry, jam-like notes, and plenty of earthy, foresty flavours. This is a full-bodied, extravagantly rich Pichon Lalande seemingly devoid of acidity and tannin, but the wine is incredibly well-balanced and pure.’

Robert Parker’s view today: Unimpressive from barrel where it seemed disjointed and flabby, at each subsequent tasting it became more delineated and profound, hitting the magic three digits once in bottle. This late bloomer was always one of the sexiest of wines and still at its peak today.

Stockists:

UK: £495 Morgan Fine Wines| US $695 Cellar Raiders

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, La Tâche Grand Cru Monopole 1985 

Among the great Vosne-Romanée Premiers Crus, today’s la Tâche is amply dimensioned at 6.06ha, though its original kernel was just 1.43ha. It’s a DRC Grand Cru monopole, though a few Premier Cru fragments of Les Gaudichots, the vineyard merged with La Tâche in the 19th century, exist in separate ownership.

The La Tâche style is exuberant, opulent, sometimes exotic. Robert Parker was an early enthusiast for this wine, awarding it 100 points in 1988; the ripe style of the ’85 vintage appealed.

Other critics’ enthusiasm, by contrast, was qualified (‘a fine La Tâche but well short of profound’ for Allen Meadows) with scores today in the 92-96 range and most critics feeling that the wine has reached its peak and will not improve further.

Robert Parker’s view today: Has never lived up to my early praise about ‘the perfect Burgundy’. Still very complex and tasty, but clearly overrated.

Stockists:

UK: £4611 Cru World Wines | US: $5795 Clarets

Château Petrus, Pomerol 1982

Pomerol possesses some of the Right Bank’s finest gravels, but the vineyards of the 11.5ha Petrus are marked by blue clays, and these are usually adduced to account for its firm, structured opulence. The property is owned by Jean-François Moueix, but was run by his brother Christian Moueix until 2008, with Jean-Claude Berrouet as winemaker.

Robert Parker was hugely enthusiastic about this wine as a barrel sample. ‘From barrel, this remains one of the greatest wines I have ever tasted,’ he wrote in 2000, and early tastings of the wine in bottle still revealed a ‘colossal Petrus … Full-bodied, tannic, and super-concentrated’, meriting 98 points in 1998.

Disappointment set in thereafter, with some scores as low as 90 in the first decade of the 21st century, and a 93-point score in 2009. ‘It reveals a certain herbaceousness, and there is significantly less concentration than I initially believed (too much filtration?) along with a cedary spiciness … has reached full maturity much faster than some of its peers.’

Robert Parker’s view today: As perfect as a young Bordeaux could be from five-to-six barrel tastings in 1983 and 1984. From bottles, a diminished product: thinner, and seemingly stripped by aggressive filtration. A tragedy.

Stockists:

UK: £7258 Cru World Wines| US: $4995 Benchmark Wine Co

Harlan Estate, Napa Valley 2001

Bill Harlan’s 97-ha estate in the western hills of Oakville, set above the Oakville benchlands, rises (often steeply) from 68m above sea level to 374m, and includes 17ha of heart-stoppingly beautiful vineyards planted mainly to Cabernet Sauvignon, but with 20% of Merlot, eight percent of Cabernet Franc and a two percent seasoning of Petit Verdot.

The aim from the off (1984) was quality without hurry or compromise, and in the fine Napa Valley vintage of 2001 (the debut vintage for current Harlan winemaker Cory Empting) Harlan produced ‘a perfect wine for my palate’, as Robert Parker wrote in 2005. He added, ‘An extraordinary effort that comes across as a hypothetical blend of Mouton Rothschild, La Mission Haut-Brion, and Montrose. … Explosive richness, a marvellous, full-bodied texture and fabulous purity, concentration, complexity and nobleness are the stuff of legends.’

Robert Parker’s view today: Spectacular concentration and complexity and still a youthful colossus in 2020.

Stockists:

UK: £1233 Fine + Rare| US: $1195 World Class Wine

Groth Reserve, Napa Valley 1985

This estate was founded by Atari CFO Dennis Groth and his wife Judy in 1981 with a 49ha vineyard purchase on the valley floor at Oakville, complemented the following year with an 18ha purchase south of Yountville; daughter Suzanne is now President and CEO.

The Reserve wine is not made every year, and the winery was propelled into the spotlight when Robert Parker gave its 1985 Reserve his first ever Napa ‘perfect’ score in 1988. This great news was also galling for the Groths, since much of that vintage had already been sold in bulk to Cain. As Parker notes below, the wine has faded somewhat now.

Robert Parker’s view today: The first Napa Cabernet to get 100. Held at perfection until late 90s and then began to fade and lose focus and flavour intensity.

Stockists:

US: $949 Blacksmith Wines

Tenuta San Guido, Sassicaia, Tuscany 1985*

*Bolgheri-Sassicaia today, although Vino da Tavola at the time.

This wine from the Tuscan coast was first made for family consumption in the 1940s; it came to market in the late 1960s, and finished the 1980s as one of the world’s most collectable Italian classics. These three vineyards, the stony gravel soils they grew in and the wine’s blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon with the balance from Cabernet Franc helped make Bolgheri’s name.

Robert Parker wrote, in 1997, that he had tasted the wine ‘frequently, and have never failed to give it a perfect rating. At the same time, I have often mis-identified it as the 1986 Mouton Rothschild’ – another perfect wine, and the ultimate compliment for a Tuscan Cabernet.

‘I believe it is one of the half dozen or so greatest wines made in the 20th century,’ Parker wrote in 2014, ‘and is the greatest wine made anywhere in the world in 1985.’

Robert Parker’s view today: One of the greatest wines ever made in the world and still vibrant, intense, magical and profound in 2020.

Stockists:

UK: £5000 (magnum) MWH Wines| US $2194 Benchmark Wine Group

Domaine Saint Préfert, Collection Charles Giraud, Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2007

This 17ha estate, most of which is sited on rolled pebbles over blue clay in the south-western ‘Grandes Serres’ section of the appellation, is the creation of Isabel Ferrando, who acquired the core of the domain from the widow of founder Fernand Serre in 2002.

The Collection Charles Giraud is a blend of 60% old-vine Grenache with 40% old-vine Mourvèdre, all whole-bunch fermented and given 18 months in fourth-use demi-muids.

Robert Parker initially scored the wine 94-97 points on first reviewing it in 2008, but by the following year it had won an ‘utterly perfect’ score. ‘Notes of camphor, ground pepper, sweet blackberry and black cherry fruit interwoven with liquorice, garrigue and spice box. In that sense, it is the quintessential expression of a Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Provence and the Southern Rhône … Wow!’

Robert Parker’s view today: For my taste, still one of the most hedonistic and complex wines I have ever consumed – and I have drunk through over five cases of it, with never an off or corked bottle and never less than a 100-point experience.

Stockist:

US $249 Bottle Shop

Paul Jaboulet Aîné, La Chapelle, Hermitage 1990

Back in 1990, this was still the property of the Jaboulet family. Indeed, the 1990 La Chapelle is widely considered the last great vintage in their ownership; the company and its vineyards were acquired by the Frey family in 2006.

It’s not a single-parcel wine, but a selection of the best lots from the 22ha of Syrah owned by the Jaboulets; the core usually featured wine from Méal, Bessards and Greffieux. It was on Robert Parker’s 100-point list by the mid-1990s, and in 2000 he noted, ‘Extraordinary freshness for such a mammoth wine in addition to abundant tannin, an amazing 60-second finish, and a level of glycerin and thick, fleshy texture that have to be tasted to be believed.’

Robert Parker’s view today: The modern day replacement for the 1961: spectacular richness, stunning balance and complexity.

Stockists:

UK £456 Fine +Rare | US $575 Cellar Raiders

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