Alsace, Rhône & Rest of France

Our 2020 Reserve White is a Chardonnay which comes from the wonderful team at Collovray & Terrier in the Limoux region of the Languedoc. The wine is fresh, fine and elegant, with a lemon-lime refreshment and a creamy texture. The finish is long and rewarding. A saline note draws out the minerality derived from this parcel’s limestone soils, giving this wine a true sense of place.

{***}
{region}Rhône{region}
{color}White{color}

{vintage}2020{vintage}

{maturity}drink-now{maturity} {maturity-text}Drink now{maturity-text} {***}

For the 2019 vintage, Jean-Luc Terrier has sourced fruit from older vines and higher-altitude plots. The addition of 10% Pinot Noir to the historically Merlot/Syrah-based blend has transformed this into a beautifully fragrant, complex and elegant wine brimming with sweet red cherry fruit and displaying super fine tannins. It is harmonious and perfectly in balance with real subtlety and a long, extremely enjoyable, refreshing finish.

{***}{region} Languedoc{region}
{color} Red {color}                                                               {maturity}drink-now{maturity} {maturity-text}Drink now{maturity-text}
{vintage}2019{vintage}{***}

We are delighted to once again partner with the esteemed Ch. la Mascaronne for this fresh and delectable rosé. The initial sensation of biting into a fresh red plum is followed by vivid notes of wild strawberries, raspberries and redcurrants. Above all, this is an energetic, pure and mineral wine with delicious freshness and a long, creamy finish.

{***}
{region}Provence{region}
{color}Rose{color}
{maturity}drink-now{maturity}
{maturity-text}Drink now{maturity-text}
{***}

Very pure, round and flavorful supported by beautiful acidity adding body and volume. there is a fine and elegant aromatic framework enhancing length. Beautiful, sharp structure.

{***}{region} Côtes de Provence{region}
{color} Rose {color}                                                               {maturity}drink-now{maturity} {maturity-text}Drink now{maturity-text}
{vintage}2021{vintage}{***}

The 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de Mon Aieul is just now starting to shed a tiny amount of its abundant baby fat that's been front and center since release. Still, it pulls no punches in its thrilling aromas and flavors of kirsch liqueur, roasted garrigue, black raspberries, incense, cured meats and licorice, and it is about as quintessential Grenache as you can find. Thrillingly concentrated, intense, perfumed and layered with incredible balance, this full-bodied beauty should hit its peak in another 2-3 years and keep for at least a decade after that.

{***}{region} Rhône{region}
{color} Red {color}                   {maturity}drink-now{maturity} {maturity-text}Ready, but will keep{maturity-text}
{vintage}2007{vintage}

{ratings}
 [] The Wine Advocate:: 99/100        
{ratings} 

{***}

Inky ruby. Intensely perfumed aromas of ripe red/blue fruits, potpourri and smoked meat show excellent clarity and spicy lift. Offers deeply concentrated boysenberry, black raspberry, spicecake and violet pastille flavors. Hints of candied licorice and cracked pepper build on the back half. Finishes on a suave, alluringly sweet note of blue fruit liqueur, with slowly emerging tannins and outstanding focus. - Vinous

{***}{region} Rhône{region}
{color} Red {color}          

{maturity}ready-improve{maturity} {maturity-text}Ready, but will improve{maturity-text}
{vintage}2015{vintage}

{ratings}[]Wine Spectator:: 97/100
[] Wine Advocate:: 95/100

[] Vinous:: 94/100{ratings}

{***}

{***}{region} Rhône{region}
{color} Red {color}                                                              

 {maturity}laying-down{maturity} {maturity-text}For Laying Down{maturity-text}
{vintage}2018{vintage}

{ratings} []Wine Advocate:: 95-97/100

[]Vinous:: 93-95/100

{ratings}

{***}

Nearly as good as the la Côte Blonde, the 2016 Cote Rotie La Belle Helene is plump, round and full in the mouth, yet it lacks some of the former wine's exotic perfume. It still shows lovely purity, with baskets of ripe red berries, a plush, creamy mouthfeel and a long finish. It's a terrific wine that suffers only by comparison. With its terrific concentration and balance, it should drink well for two decades or more.

{***}{region} Rhône{region}
{color} Red {color}                  

 {maturity}ready-improve{maturity} {maturity-text}Ready, but will improve{maturity-text}
{vintage}2016{vintage}

{ratings}
 [] The Wine Advocate:: 92-94/100        
{ratings} 

{***}

Stéphane brings a Burgundian approach to the region’s terroir from his studies in Beaune. He works with multiple lieux-dits, both in and out of the appellation, vinifying each separately and using oak sparingly to allow the particularities of each to show.

Lieux Dits, which translates to ‘said location’, refers to a specific site akin to a single vineyard. Stephane has 6 Lieux Dits across both the Côte Blonde and Brune - feminine, masculine, floral, savoury, earthiness all come through. 

{***}{region} Rhône{region} {color} Red {color}

 {maturity}ready-improve{maturity} {maturity-text}Ready, but will improve{maturity-text}
{vintage}2016{vintage}

{ratings}

[] Jeb Dunnuck ::95/100

{ratings}

{***}

Stéphane brings a Burgundian approach to the region’s terroir from his studies in Beaune. He works with multiple lieux-dits, both in and out of the appellation, vinifying each separately and using oak sparingly to allow the particularities of each to show.

Lieux Dits, which translates to ‘said location’, refers to a specific site akin to a single vineyard. Stephane has 6 Lieux Dits across both the Côte Blonde and Brune - feminine, masculine, floral, savoury, earthiness all come through. 

{***}{region} Rhône{region}
{color} Red {color}                  

 {maturity}ready-improve{maturity} {maturity-text}Ready, but will improve{maturity-text}
{vintage}2016{vintage}

{ratings}

[] Jeb Dunnuck ::92/100

{ratings}

{***}

Stéphane brings a Burgundian approach to the region’s terroir from his studies in Beaune. He works with multiple lieux-dits, both in and out of the appellation, vinifying each separately and using oak sparingly to allow the particularities of each to show.

Lieux Dits, which translates to ‘said location’, refers to a specific site akin to a single vineyard. Stephane has 6 Lieux Dits across both the Côte Blonde and Brune - feminine, masculine, floral, savoury, earthiness all come through. 

{***}{region} Rhône{region}
{color} Red {color}                  

 {maturity}ready-improve{maturity} {maturity-text}Ready, but will improve{maturity-text}
{vintage}2016{vintage}

{ratings}

[] Jeb Dunnuck ::94/100

{ratings}

{***}

Stéphane brings a Burgundian approach to the region’s terroir from his studies in Beaune. He works with multiple lieux-dits, both in and out of the appellation, vinifying each separately and using oak sparingly to allow the particularities of each to show.

Lieux Dits, which translates to ‘said location’, refers to a specific site akin to a single vineyard. Stephane has 6 Lieux Dits across both the Côte Blonde and Brune - feminine, masculine, floral, savoury, earthiness all come through. 

{***}{region} Rhône{region}
{color} Red {color}                  

 {maturity}ready-improve{maturity} {maturity-text}Ready, but will improve{maturity-text}
{vintage}2016{vintage}

{ratings}

[] Jeb Dunnuck ::96/100

{ratings}

{***}

Stéphane brings a Burgundian approach to the region’s terroir from his studies in Beaune. He works with multiple lieux-dits, both in and out of the appellation, vinifying each separately and using oak sparingly to allow the particularities of each to show.

Lieux Dits, which translates to ‘said location’, refers to a specific site akin to a single vineyard. Stephane has 6 Lieux Dits across both the Côte Blonde and Brune - feminine, masculine, floral, savoury, earthiness all come through. 

{***}{region} Rhône{region} {color} Red {color}

 {maturity}ready-improve{maturity} {maturity-text}Ready, but will improve{maturity-text}
{vintage}2016{vintage}

{ratings}

[] Jeb Dunnuck ::96/100

{ratings}

{***}

Both the 2010 and the 2009 continue to blow me away every time I taste them, and to me, these represent the pinnacle of Cote Rotiealbeit in very different styles. The 2010 Cote Rotie la Turque is a much more masculine and edgy wine that's going to reward cellaring. Its inky black color is followed by classic notes of smoked meats, scorched earth, licorice and ample black fruits. Big, rich, tannic and structured, dont think about touching bottles until at least 2020.
Jeb Dunnuck - 28/12/2016

{***}{region} Rhône{region} {color} Red {color}

 {maturity}laying-down{maturity} {maturity-text}Ready, but will improve{maturity-text}
{vintage}2010{vintage}

{ratings}

[] Wine Advocate ::100/100

{ratings}

{***}

This is Rostaing’s signature blend from various parcels across the appellation, using 95% wholebunch to great success. The wine itself has a dark inky colour which is an indication of the concentration and richness to come. The palate shows incredibly pure, dark fruit with a textbook note of violets. Despite its pedigree this is very approachable, but will reward a few years’ patience. Drink 2021-2031.

{***}{region}Rhône{region}
{color}Red{color}                                                                                           {maturity}laying-down{maturity} {maturity-text}For laying down{maturity-text}
{vintage}2017{vintage}

{ratings} [] Wine Spectator:: 92/100

[] Vinous:: 93/100

[] Jancis Robinson :: 17.5/20

{ratings}

{***}

Jean-Luc Jamet worked for many years alongside his brother Jean-Paul at the family estate, Domaine Jamet, before setting off on his own in 2013. He now works a total of eight hectares with his son, Benoit: five hectares of Côte-Rôtie, two of Côtes-du-Rhône and one hectare of Vin de Pays. Currently undergoing extensive renovations, the estate can be found on the plateau at Le Vallin, an impressively windy drive above the slopes of the Côte Rôtie.

Made with 25% whole clusters): Lurid violet color. Smoke-accented scents of blueberry, licorice and olive are sharpened by a bright mineral quality. Silky, focused and appealingly sweet, with a light touch to its fresh dark berry, black pepper and violet pastille flavors. Gentle, slow-building tannins add gentle grip to the sappy finish, which strongly repeats the blue fruit note. 

{***}{region} Rhône{region}
{color} Red {color}                  

 {maturity}laying-down{maturity} {maturity-text}Ready, but will improve{maturity-text}
{vintage}2015{vintage}

{ratings} [] Vinous:: 90-92/100
       
{ratings} 

{***}

A blend of 70% Chardonnay and 15% each of Chenin Blanc and Mauzac, this is a beautiful, balanced wine, with elegant aromas of orchard fruit and honeyed spice. Aged traditionally and generously on its lees, it shows more exotic fruits on the palate with a clean, pebbly backdrop and an impressive depth of flavour.

{***}{region}Languedoc-Roussillon{region}
{color}White{color}                                                               {maturity}drink-now{maturity} {maturity-text}Drink now{maturity-text}
{vintage}NV{vintage}{***}

{***}
{region}Sancerre{region}
{color}White{color}
{vintage}2019{vintage}
{maturity}drink-now{maturity}
{maturity-text}Drink now{maturity-text}
{***}

Francois Cotat produces idiosyncratic, complex and ageworthy Sancerres from his tiny 3 hectare estate at the heart of the prized Chavignol commune which lies on Kimmeridgian clay and Caillotte soils.

Such is the steepness of the slopes (in the vineyards of Les Monts Damnés, Le Cul de Beaujeu and La Grande Côte) that cultivation is arduous and must be done entirely by hand. The grapes are late-picked for maximum flavour and in the winery, François adopts a very traditional, non-interventionist approach, barrel-fermenting the juice in old demi-muids using natural yeasts.

At times, François' wines have had to be declassified to "simple" Vin de Table status due to a higher level of residual sugar or alcohol than the appellation's rules permit or simply because the local committee find them too atypical.

François racks according to the phases of the moon and the wines develop with age and, in the best vintages, can be cellared for more than 50 years.

{***}{region} Sancerre{region}
{color} White{color}

{maturity}drink-now{maturity} {maturity-text}Drink Now{maturity-text} {vintage}2001{vintage}{***}

The coolness of the 2021 vintage has yielded this wonderfully fresh and juicy Côtes du Rhône. The nose is full of black cherries and blackberries, with a touch of spice. Crunchy redcurrant notes mingle with darker berries on the palate, surrounding a pure, riverbed core and finishing with a ripe, raspberry-seed purity. This is full of energy and completely delicious.

{***}{region}Southern France{region}
{color} Red{color}                                                             

  {maturity}drink-now{maturity} {maturity-text}Drink now{maturity-text}
{vintage}2021{vintage}
{ratings}
 {ratings}       {***}