France

Alan Meadows - Burghound A discreet application of wood sets off ripe and fresh aromas of poached pear, just sliced green apple and lemon-lime nuances that are picked up by the rich and voluminous medium-bodied flavors that exude evident minerality on the clean, dry and sneaky long finish. This too could use a bit more depth but it's already more complex plus it's a bit more tightly wound. Even so, this refreshing effort could also be enjoyed young without leaving too much potential on the table. Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy, 90 points. Also a lemon and lime colour, with a little more flesh than the Bataillère. Light fennel and mineral...

Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy, 89 points. A plot of 0.60ha replanted with chardonnay in 2013. Definite green tints, light nose, pretty but not immediately terroir evocative, with some charm and energy behind, a little liquorice, more character on the palate. Ready soon, and nicely done. Tasted: February 2022. Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru. Organic. la Bataillère aux Vergelesses – White – Monopole Extending over 0.67 hectares, this Chardonnay’s plot facing south/south-east is new in the domaine (The vines were planted in 2013). Its soil is composed mainly of limestone and sand. Named after a previous owner, Mr. Bataille, the vineyard...

Top Ten Best Selling Wines - December 2022 Under $60 A blend of 45% Clairette, 35% Grenache Blanc and 20% Bourboulenc, the 2021 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc was made mostly in stainless steel, with 20% fermented and matured in demi-muids, one-third of which were new. It's ripe and nicely rounded, with notes of white peach, pear and a hint of pineapple on the nose. In the mouth, it's medium to full-bodied, clean and refreshing, with a long, silky-textured finish and mouthwatering citrus. #TOP

(90% Sauvignon Blanc, 10% Semillon) "Plenty of exotic saffron and apricot notes, but also the grippy minerality that Alto does so well. A little more flesh and less steel than in some vintages, but easily one of the best dry whites of the Médoc, always worth getting hold of. Good length, really stretches out and emphasises the salinity and scrape on the finish. 10% new oak. Harvest stated in August for the first time, on the 31st, finishing on the 1st September, with grapes coming in during the early morning. Just 7,000-8,000 bottles per year." Jane Anson 94/100 Decanter #BB

Graves (70% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Semillon) Wine Enthusiast: 95 Points Barrel Sample. Crisp and tight with fine citrus flavors, the wine is beautifully proportioned with textured, zesty acidity. It shows balance between its structure and its fruits that will only get better as it matures. James Suckling: 94 Points An excellent white Carbonnieux with sliced-lemon, lime and mineral character, as well as hints of citrus seeds. It’s medium-to full-bodied with lots of bright acidity and a flavorful finish. Minerally at the end. Decanter: 93 Points One of the benchmark wines for white Pessacs, and it has succeeded here. Plenty of curling...

WE96 Wine Enthusiast To begin with the wine seems reticent, hiding its glories. Then, little by little, the remarkable richness of the wine comes through, offering an impressive array of flavors and balance between sweet and dry. The wine will definitely age well. Barrel Sample: 94-96 D95 Decanter Powerful fleshy exotic fruits - the juice comes in from the first moment and doesn't let up, ensuring the apricot and mango fruits are shot straight through the core of steel. A brilliant showcase of what the soils of Barsac can do. Barrel Sample: 95. #BB

Wine Advocate 92 points. The 1998 Guiraud is medium gold colored and has quite a toasty/nutty nose with praline and croissant notions over a core of peach preserves, oil skin and white truffle. Mature in the mouth, it sports appealing stone fruit and earthy layers with the richness coming through on the finish. LPB Jun 2018. #SAUTERNES

(80% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% Semillon) James Suckling ""A bright, dense white with lots of dried-lemon, pear and apple character. Some vanilla and cream. It's full-bodied and flavorful. Seriously structured."" (Barrel Score 94-95) #BB

(80% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% Semillon) Rated 94 by Wine Enthusiast Barrel Sample. Texture and taut acidity are the hallmarks of this wine. It has the potential for great fruitiness and a fine richness to come as the wine develops. With its hints of spice and its concentration, the wine needs plenty of time. WA 91-93+. The 2020 Larrivet Haut-Brion Blanc is a little closed to begin, soon unfurling to offer notes of fresh yellow apple, ripe Bosc pears and key lime pie, plus subtle hints of paraffin wax and lemongrass. The medium-bodied palate is tightly wound with apple and citrus layers, supported by compelling tension, finishing steely. LPB May...

(68% Sauvignon Blanc, 32% Semillon) JD 94 jebdunnuck.com, May 2021 (92-94 points) The deep inky colored 2020 Château Latour-Martillac is another classic Graves from this vintage with loads to love. Lots of red, blue, and black fruits, notes of flowers, chocolate, and gravelly earth, medium to full-bodied richness, impeccable balance, and silky tannins all make for an outstanding, undeniably impressive 2020 that shines more for its elegance and purity than outright power and richness. It will benefit from 3-5 years of bottle age and cruise for two decades. WE 94 Wine Enthusiast, June 2021 (WE 92–94 points) Citrus and crisp white apples go...

Really intense and powerful with great density and energy, showing sliced limes, green apples, stone and minerals. It’s full-bodied and very long. Extremely minerally with precision and brightness. Clear and transparent. Wow. 96-97 points James Suckling. #BB

Wine Advocate 93 points. The pale lemon colored 2016 Clos Haut-Peyraguey reveals a veritable cornucopia of tropical notes—guava, mango and pineapple—with nuances of spiced pears, jasmine, fallen leaves and allspice plus a touch of acacia honey. The palate is elegantly styled with all those intense scents marrying beautifully into a perfumed restraint, finishing with a lively citrus lift. LPB Mar 2019. #BB

Winery tasting note: The color is pale gold with reflections of emerald, a perfection of finesse and purity that flourishes over time, we find notes of menthol, liquorice against the backdrop of this iodized mineral very characteristic of the great Chablis wines. Drink it over the next five to ten years. "Somewhat unusually, here the nose is actually quite similar to that of the La Forêt but with slightly better layering. Otherwise there is terrific intensity to the firm, racy and overtly mineral-driven flavors that possess excellent size, weight and mid-palate density, all wrapped in a super-saline and beautifully well-balanced finale....

The JJ Vincent Pouilly-Fuisse Cuvee Marie Antoinette is a tribute to Jean Jacques Vincents mother; Marie Antoinette Vincent. The wine is sourced from several parcels including young vines from the Chateau Fuisse vineyards of Le Clos, Les Brules and Le Combettes as well as several non-domaine yet family owned parcels throughout the appellation. Cuvee Marie Antoinette is created with a fresh, youthful profile in mind. The grapes are vinified in stainless steel tank with only about 25% of the total blend seeing any time in oak. The resulting wine is pleasing, refreshing and crisp on the palate. Producer Chateau Fuisse has defined the...

Grape variety Chardonnay Average age of the vines 30 years Maturation 12 months in oak barrels (1/4 new barrels) Tasting notes A rich and powerful wine which needs 2-3 years to really develop. TASTING NOTES Shining lemon yellow colour, this is a very radiant wine. With characters of clotted cream and pecans, it balances a natural fullness and richness with a lovely bite of orange zest. Extremely enticing and, true to Justin’s nature, very relaxed and full of charm. Justin's notes: "Seductive, with a bouquet of roses and lychee and a distinct spice aroma on the finish. Golden yellow in colour, spicy in aroma and flavour, reminiscent of...

Justin's Tasting Note: "From the top of village of Meursault, this wine show the freshness of cold area of Meursault. Nice acidity with lots of energy.. Great salinity at the end." Ageing: French oak barrels Origin of wood: Allier and Bertranges 25 % of new oak. Wine remained 24 months in barrels. Viticulture: Pruning style: Guyot simple Manual harvest Green work (de-budding, leaf-thinning,...) Winemaking: The grapes are pressed upon arrival at the winery. We practice a fermentation with a low temperature to keep all the flavours. We start the alcoholic fermentation in vats to have a regular fermentation , then when alcoholic fermentation is...

Clear and brillant, mineral and floral, fresh and vigorous. Its aromatic expression features notes of smoky gunflint and hazelnuts. Justin Girardin. In old French 'bievaux' means 'beautiful valley'. Historically this land was reputed to produce excellent white wines but, after the destruction of the vineyards by the Phylloxera pest, this hillside was left abandoned. In the 1960s a number of vines were replanted and in view of the quality of the resulting wine, the entire hillside was replanted between 1970 and 1986. The slope being steep, the planting was done in terraces. Grape variety Chardonnay Average age of the vines 30 years Winemaking...

"The first notes are very fine, complex and delicate. The aromas of peaches, quince and white flowers follow. Light breathing reveals the delicate scents of exotic fruit. The minerality brings a beautiful equilibrium and harmony." - WINERY NOTES Sancerre is a small wine district in central France, famous for its crisp, aromatic white wines made from Sauvignon Blanc. The classic Sancerre wine is white, bracingly acidic, and has pungent aromas of gooseberries, grass, nettles, and a hint of stony minerality. Richer, riper examples – particularly those from warmer, west-facing sites with chalky soils – often show fruitier notes of...

Winery Notes: Powerful and Rich, Bougros is a very generous and expressive Grand Cru Vintage 2017. Tasting Note Bougros is a very expressive Grand Cru. The situation of the parcel with a great sun exposure explain this concentration. We can find ripe fruit flavors, and a long intensity. Food Pairings : This Grand Cru will be perfect with meat in “sauce”, big sea food, mountain cheese. Parcels of Grands Cru overlooks the town of Chablis. Bougros is the first Grand Cru at the north. It is facing south / south west. In 2017, 100% of the winemaking and aging was in french oak barrels, 20% of new oak. Bottling at the Domaine. #GC

Jasper Morris 92-94. "Ripe , spicy nose, very typical of Bougros. There is a huge mouthful here with excellent tension, some peach notes, everything is there in the rich but balanced style of the vintage. And very long. Tasted Sept 2020." Now that the new generation has settled in at Domaine Lavantureux, we can barely keep track of the new developments, each one more exciting than the last. This bottling marks just their third release from Bougros, a grand cru with abundant sun exposure noted for its high proportion of clay. It stands out from their other wines for its lavish richness, pampering your palate with decadent, limestone-tinged...

Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy, 93-95 points. “Pale lemon in colour, with a touch of viognier-style ripeness, but still elegant. There is a sweet glowing fruit across the palate, before a racy chiselled finish, with excellent acidity, and impressive persistence. This is on the Preuses side of the vineyard, but the style has, something in common with Les Clos.” JM. Winemaker Notes Cellar master Arnaud Lavantureux expounds that his “idea of wine is to show off the exceptional terroirs of Chablis with élevages in wood that are more ‘Côte de Beaune’ in style, to have a combination of flesh on the attack with saline tension on the...