James Everhart

9.3

Beautifully balanced pairing well with moderately spicy Indian food. Drunk, January 2025, still has room for improvement. $47 purchased at the end of 2020. — 6 months ago

V

8.9

Fantastic! Drank in Feb 2023. Smooth, but enough body behind it to stand up to a meal or be drunk alone — 2 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.4

Pop n pour - a treat from a friend before we head out. My first experience with this vintage. Nice mousse and color. Notes of toast and bread yeast, some citrus and stone. Not as vibrant as an 02 I last had, which is not surprising. And not as energetic as other 96 vintages I’ve had in the last year. Am told this was bought in release and stored in perfect conditions. Supports a premise that Cristal might need to be drunk within 20 years of the vintage. — 4 years ago

Kirsten Spalding

9.2

Drunk review 4: I like this. Notes of black pepper, dry, earthy metals, medium body- not heavy, but not too light. Fall-like wine. I would pair this while petting a Labrador Retriever. — 4 years ago

Ethan Samuels

9.4

2020 vintage drunk in April 2024. Evolved to become more charcoal, dark chocolate, tobacco, pencil shavings. Grippy and young still, have a second bottle and will revisit in a decade +. — a year ago

Jae Cho

9.2

First go with the ‘16 and it’s got the blackberry, plum, tobacco and mineral that just goes on and on. A silky 12.5% it rivals any previous vintage. Drunk over 3 days and it’s still elegant at the last sip. — 3 years ago

Rob Brobst III

10

2018 Materium comes from the Weitz Vineyard in Oakville and is all Cabernet Sauvignon brought up in mostly new barrels. It's a very different wine than the Amoenus release and has more elegant, seamless aromas and flavors of crème de cassis, black raspberries, tobacco leaf, flowery incense, and sandalwood. Château Margaux-like in its elegance and complexity, this brilliant wine has loads of sweet fruit, flawless integration of its tannins and acidity, flawless balance, and just a heavenly overall profile that I wish every reader could taste. This extraordinary effort can be drunk today or cellared for 30 years or more. — 4 years ago

Andrew Cullimore

8.9

Deep ruby , garnet thinner rim . Quite deep fruits again . Spicy fruit darker in profile than the 1998 . But in style quite similar to the 1998, not the austerity or classic profile of the 1995 or 1996. Redder lighter fruits again , touch of spice and tobacco. A bit more stuffing than the 1998 , bit more tannin noticeable, with good acidity . This is better balanced than the preceding wine , has more complexity with quite good length on the slightly saline tinged finish. Certainly aromatically the youngest wine in the tasting , this can be drunk now though will improve over the 5 years perhaps and last well a further 5-10. — 2 years ago

Wayne Jaffe

9.0

Lovely mineral notes, long finish! Bought in San Sebastián drunk at the Barber's in Wilmslow! — 3 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.0

This is Bass Phillip’s entry level Cuvée of about 5 different Cuvées. Pale Ruby with cloudiness from BP’s policy of bottling unfiltered. Jujube confectionery notes with savoury cherry and forest floor. Light to medium weight palate, made to be drunk young. The fruit for this wine comes from the major part of the Leongatha vineyard (where the Estate, Premium and Reserve Pinots come from). Even though this is a different vintage to previous notes on Delectable for Crown Prince the tasting notes are similar. — 4 years ago