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100% Merlot aged one year in a combination of neutral oak and steel tank. Medium-bodied, easy drinking Bordeaux with mild tannins. The brambly fruit has a radiance that makes it a pleasure to drink. Truly amazing value and a pleasure to drink, with lovely supple fruit and fine gravelly notes to complete the profile. A baby Graves to drink every night!

Château Cantelaudette is part of the Bordeaux holdings of the Chatelier family, which also owns Château Chatelier (formerly known as Château Fantin). The estate, located in the appellation of Graves de Vayres, was established by the family in 1870. At the time, as was the custom, they planted a variety of crops including grapes.

Château Cantelaudette is set between the cities of Bordeaux and Libourne in the northern part of the Entre-Deux-Mers region on a plateau overlooking the Dordogne River. The proximity to both the river and the ocean brings a warming influence that helps to fully ripen the grapes.

Jean-Michel is committed to improving the impact of farming on the environment and has obtained the demanding Haute Valeur Environnementale certification, which reflects excellence in the areas of biodiversity, plant protection, management of fertilizer use and management of water.

Organic / Biodynamic

Mas des Capitelles’ workhorse Vieilles Vignes is built on the backs of Mourvèdre (50%) and Carignan (25%) from vines up to 80 years old, with Syrah (25%) completing the blend. After a 30-day maceration with a small proportion of semi-carbonic whole clusters in the fermentation, one-fifth of the cuvée was aged in oak and four-fifths in fiberglass and enamel vats, with bottling taking place after 14 months. An exuberant nose of blueberries, violets, and warm dust evokes the sun-scorched slopes of the appellation in visceral fashion, and the palate sizzles with an almost spiky minerality, framed by rich but firm blue and black fruits. The balance of refinement and wildness here is extraordinary, with neither trait calling too much attention to itself.

Mas des Capitelles began in 1999, when ninth-generation vigneron Jean Laugé began bottling his own wine after a lengthy stint at the local co-operative, where his father's a driving force in the creation of the Faugères appellation in the early 1980's had served as president.

91 points Wine Spectator
A well-balanced Champagne, with a vibrant backbone of acidity and a creamy mousse, this offers spice and tea rose accents to the crushed white cherry, toasty and candied lemon zest flavors. Clean-cut finish.

A blend of 50% Pinot Noir, 25% Pinot Meunier and 25% Chardonnay from the Montagne de Reims and the Côte des Blancs; about half of the juice comes from 1er Cru and Grand Cru vineyards.

The Marie Weiss label is produced by the superb, small Champagne house of Ployez-Jacquemart, which is located in the small village of Ludes on the Montagne de Reims. The Marie Weiss bottling is produced entirely from purchased grapes or must, and the new release was quite a lovely bottle. The refined and complex nose wafts from the glass in a blend of apple, white peach, brioche, a nice touch of fresh nutmeg and a lovely base of chalky soil tones. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, crisp and wide open, with good mid-palate depth, lovely focus and complexity, elegant mousse and lovely balance on the long and classy finish. This is not quite as structured out of the blocks as the Ployez-Jacquemart Brut NV, which really is built to age long and gracefully, and the Marie Weiss is a lovely counterpoint from the Ployez family for those who really want to drink their bubbly right after it is purchased.

Organic

The Guilhem is airy and breezy, with the grace that makes it a real charmer. This pale-colored, beautifully textured Rosé is impeccable in its balance. Pretty floral notes fill out the mid-palate effortlessly. Despite its light color, the 2022 offers plenty of depth and tons of stylish appeal.

35% Grenache, 35% Syrah, 30% Carignan

Organic / Biodynamic

90 points Jeb Dunnuck
Based on 70% Syrah and 30% Grenache, the 2020 Syrah La Touge has a pretty, juicy, up-front, and medium-bodied style as well as classic Minervois elegance. With complex notes of mulberries, new leather, peppery garrigue, and dried flowers, it's drinking nicely today yet should easily evolve for 4-6 years. It's a hidden little gem of a Syrah from the Languedoc

Organic

94 points View from the Cellar (John Gilman)
The 2017 vintage of les Picasses from Domaine Raffault has just been released, nearly six years out from the vintage. The wine is simply outstanding on both the nose and palate, with the bouquet hopping from the glass in a vibrant and already complex blend of sweet dark berries, cassis, cigar wrapper, gravelly soil tones, a touch of smoked meats, currant leaf and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and complex, with superb mid-palate depth, excellent soil signature and grip, ripe, well-measured tannins and impeccable balance on the long, complex and very classy finish. At age six, this wine is certainly approachable today, but it is still a puppy and the real fireworks will not start until it is at least twelve years of age. Outstanding young Chinon! 2023-2075+

92 pts Wine Spectator
A lovely hint of honeysuckle accents the flavors of mirabelle plum, white cherry, anise and grated ginger in this vibrant Champagne, which is finely knit and detailed in texture, with a mouthwatering finish of ripe fruit, spice and chalk accents. Disgorged November 2019. Drink now through 2025.

Ployez-Jacquemart blends wines while respecting the typicality of each grape harvest. Our Extra Quality Brut Champagne can be tasted following ageing of a minimum of three years. Our Extra Quality Brut is a blend of Premier and Grand Crus with a majority of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes (usually 60% black grapes and 40% white grapes). Our black grapes provide greater richness, complexity and roundness. We only use pure Cuvees (first pressings) and the make-up of this blend only exceptionally uses reserve wines when the grape harvest quality is too low.

Ployez-Jacquemart is a family House created in 1930 by Marcel Ployez and his wife Yvonne Jacquemart.

The whole essence of Ployez-Jacquemart rests in our continual search for excellence and our remarkable abilities to make truly fine wines. These skills have been passed down through three generations. Deep-seated pride in our product and heritage are the cornerstones of our traditional approach to champagne production

93 pts Wine Spectator
This vibrant version shows a range of toasted brioche, baked cherry, crystalized honey, grated ginger and coconut flavors, remaining light-footed and lively throughout. Beautifully balanced, with a lasting, mouthwatering finish

Winemaker Notes:
"An intense nose, dominated by red fruit, with spices and some oak notes; a round and supple wine with well knit tannins on the palate."

Organic

80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc from organically farmed vineyards. The wine was fermented and matured in cement tank for eighteen months. Vibrant, lush plum notes dominate the palate with subtle notes of garrigue and saddle leather. The Cabernet Franc adds a lot of character to this accessible everyday drinker.

Enjoy Pomerol but don’t want to shell out big bucks for it? You should look towards Pomerol’s northern neighbor Lalande de Pomerol as a more affordable option. Lush Merlot-based wines are what both appellations do best, but Lalande de Pomerol won’t use up your monthly wine budget in one fell swoop.
 
Domaine Gonzague Maurice has produced a lovely Lalande de Pomerol from the grand 2020 vintage named Le Pavillon de Saint Jacques. We were very impressed with how bright and cheerful this was, perhaps due to only cement tank used for fermentation and maturing. No oak barrels here, just pure organically grown fruit. The wine also displays some traditional notes of cedar and garrigue which must be the 20% of Cabernet Franc in the cepage.

This is a no-brainer for all red wine drinkers, California and French wine drinkers alike. I can’t imagine someone disliking this, but what do I know? Give this a shot, it just might become your new “house” wine.

Organic / Biodynamic / Natural

Its truth is revealed on the palate: intense, succulent, mineral and slightly nutty. This Muscadet has stringent acidity which leads to a long and salty finish. As minerally refreshing and satisfying as it is now, it clearly will age up to five years continuing to develop even more depth and complexity.

Round and fruity, like a good Macon Chardonnay. Shows apple and berry flavors in a soft yet balanced frame. Drink now. ?BS - WS87

91 Points Wine Enthusiast
The home chateau of the group of properties owned by the Guyon family, this estate has produced a solid very ageworthy wine. It has dark tannins and rich juicy black fruits. With its structure and bright berry and plum flavors, it will not be ready to drink before 2020.

91 Points James Suckling
The savory and earthy notes give this a lot of personality.

89 points Vinous
The 2014 Chateau Rollan de By is a gorgeous Cru Bourgeois. Dark blue and purplish fruit, tobacco, lavender and menthol meld into a core of dark fruit. Exuberant, racy and super-expressive, the 2014 is one of the under-the-radar gems of the vintage. Drink it over the next decade. Alain Raynaud is the consulting winemaker. Drinking window: 2017-2026

 Now here is a gem of a wine for you Bordeaux enthusiasts, Chateau Rollan de By Cru Bourgeois Medoc 2014. This Cru Bourgeois will appeal to Bordeaux lovers with a die-hard traditionalist palate. This has all the leather, tobacco leaf, cedar and forest floor you crave and has ten years of bottle age! It is drinking in a sweet spot right now displaying evolved fruit notes, not the youthful vibrancy you would experience with a new vintage like 2021. Oh, not to mention the going price for the 2021 vintage is $45-$50!

Chateau Rollan de By has 45 hectares planted to 70% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Petit Verdot. They have a terroir of clay and gravel soils. The vines at Chateau Rollan de By are old, with an average age of 35 years. The wine is aged in a combination of 90% new, French oak barrels and 10% new, American oak barrels for an average of 12 months.

100% Pinot Noir; 100% "methode traditionelle", and 100% delicious. This bright, strawberry and cherry tinged sparkler from Alsace is the perfect way to start, or finish, and evening. Loads of fruit on the front, but not cloying or sweet. This would be amazing with some fresh fruit or just on its own while waiting for friends to show up to the dinner party. - PJ

PJ WIne - Best Buy!
Chateau Grimard is a small, three generation-old family estate located in the commune of Lugon, just outside the Fronsac region on the right-bank of Bordeaux. The vineyard lies on a south-east slope, which is ideal for attaining full ripeness. The vines have an average age of 25 years. Chateau Grimard is a classic Bordeaux, offering a deep red-purple color, a lush bouquet, and ripe plummy-cassis fruit with good structure. It is a wine with more definition and character than most other petite
chateaux, which is in part due to the excellent location of the property, where the Merlot grape thrives in the area’s clay soils. Chateau Grimard is vinified and matured in stainless steel tanks to ensure that it gives immediate pleasure at the table. It is a versatile, food-friendly wine that can be enjoyed with fowl and red meat dishes.

Organic / Biodynamic / Natural

60% Grenache, 15% Cinsault, 10% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre, 5% Vermentino.

92pts Wine Advocate:
Straw yellow and with a golden hue in color, the Pol Roger NV Reserve Brut displays a brilliant, perfectly ripe but also fresh, highly elegant and refined fruit aroma on the nose; think of cooked pip fruits like pears and apples, but also quince-confiture and yellow stone fruits, such as apricots and peaches intermixed with vanilla, brioche (pain aux raisins), some nutty flavors and also some white floral notes. On the palate, this medium-bodied Brut is as round (if not pretty sweet) and fruit-driven as it is delicate, pure and very elegant. The mousse is deliciously fine and leads this charming and perfectly balanced fizz to a long, aromatic, stunningly dry and slightly mineral, impressively long finish. This is extremely well done Champagne from equal parts of Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay sourced in 30 different crus. This Reserve includes 25% of reserve wines and was dosed with nine grams per liter.

The "White Foil" is sourced from top quality vineyards in Montagne de Reims (Pinot Noir), Vallee de al Marne and Petite Valle d'Epernay (Pinot Meunier) and the Cote des Blancs (Chardonnay). Pol Roger "White Foil" is traditionally a blend of equal parts Pinot Noir (body and depth), Pinot Meunier (freshness and vigorous fruit) and Chardonnay (elegance and finesse) and is sourced exclusively from juice from the "cuvee" (first pressing). Each final blend contains a minimum of two vintages with the youngest components being a minimum of three years old. Average dosage for the "White Label" is 8g per liter.

The Pol Roger family takes extreme pride in more than 160 years producing some of world’s finest Champagne. Founded in 1849, Pol Roger is one of only a few Grande Marque Champagne houses that remains family owned and operated. Pol Roger owns close to 50% of the vineyards used for their Champagne production, a true rarity in this region of large firms. Using strict guidelines, grapes are sourced exclusively from 1er and Grand Cru vineyards that rate at an average of 95 points on the Echelle des Crus classification system. (In each vintage, the Echelle des Crus system, or ladder of growths, operates on a percentile basis to fix grape prices of each cru, or delimited vineyard area in the Champagne appellation; Pol Roger’s vineyards, therefore, rank close to the highest quality possible among the Grande Marque Champagne houses.) Prior to final blending each lot is aged on its own, separated by village, vineyard, grower and grape variety. Once blended, each bottle of Champagne Pol Roger is hand riddled in the cellars deep below the Epernay chateau. In effect, each bottle of Cuvee Champagne is hand-made. Pol Roger Champagnes are the marriage of power and elegance. "Pol Roger is the 'gentlemen's' Champagne", as Jean-Paul Kauffman wrote in 'Voyage en Champagne'. "It is not surprising, therefore, that Winston Churchill, and even the British royal family should have made it their favorite over the years. This refinement reflects a whole lifestyle. It is also a source of infinite pleasure. Pol Roger Champagne has a soul, created by the union of a family's spirit and the character of a vineyard".

Fun Fact: Champagne Pol Roger is delighted that their Brut Reserve Non Vintage, has been chosen to be served at the reception following the marriage of His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales to Miss Catherine Middleton on 29th April 2011.

Winemaker Notes:
"More than a century before champagne, the Benedictine Monks of the Abbey of Saint-Hilaire in the Southern foothills of Limoux had created France's Very First Sparkling Wine. The Blanquette Brut predominantly uses a local grape variety, the Mauzac. Up to 10 percent of Chenin and Chardonnay are permitted. Fresh, Lively, Crisp and Dry."

Organic

One of the best value Burgundian producers, Lucien Muzard's approach of organic farming, hand-harvesting, and traditional winemaking creates a wonderful expression of Bourgogne Rouge. A deliciously light drop of red fruit flavor with a distinct sensual silkiness and minerality, it's an exemplary bottle of Bourgogne Rouge. This comes from parcels in Maranges and Santenay, plus a one hectare parcel in the Hautes Cotes. Always an exceptional value, the 2023 is simply delicious and an amazing value!

Organic

Some of the vines here are over 70 years old. Even with a reticent, understated nose one can sense the energy and precision in this wine. There’s a lovely, creamy texture on the palate, with bright citrus notes and a long, lingering, savoury, mineral finish. A very fine example of Chablis which would compete very effectively against many a premier cru.

92 points Vinous
The NV Brut Ultradition is the same base wine as the Extra Brut Ultradition. Here the higher dosage seems to give the wine greater fleshiness and immediacy, while changing the wine's shape. Some of the mid-palate creaminess seems to have been achieved at the expense of a bit of persistence. Disgorged: November 2016. Dosage is 6-8 grams per liter. - Antonio Galloni

92+ John Gilman
The current release of Laherte Frres non-vintage Ultradition Brut is composed from an atypical and highly attractive cpages of sixty percent pinot meunier, thirty percent chardonnay and ten percent pinot noir and was finished with a dosage of six to eight grams per liter. This is from the base year of 2012 and the wine is outstanding, offering up a very refined, meunier dominated constellation of white peach, loads of spring flowers, chalky soil tones, gentle smokiness and a dollop of brioche in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, fullbodied and extremely elegant, with a fine core, superb soil signature, refined mousse and a very long, complex and dancing finish. This is a beautiful bottle of non-vintage Brut!

Base 2020.

For classic rose Champagne elegance, it is hard to top Ruinart. From the first glance at its rounded bottle, to its strawberry tinted bubbles that dance up the from the bottom of the flute, nothing says "tonight is the night" more than this delightful fizz. Typical baguette notes merge with pinot-noirish aromas and flavors of cranberries and honeysuckle. The top shelf of rose sparklers. - PJ

"This seems drier than its stablemate, the famous Yellow Label, and is the better for it. There is an urgent freshness here, driven by red currants and tight plum skin flavors. It is lively but full in the mouth, and shows just the right bottle age." 91pts WE

Made using 50 to 60 different crus, the cuvee is based on Brut Yellow Label's traditional blend: 50 to 55% Pinot Noir, 15 to 20% Pinot Meunier, and 28 to 33% Chardonnay.

Established in 1970 by John and Suzanne l'Hoste, the business was handed down to their sons Pascal and Dominique, who invest all their passion and determination in the vineyard. By bringing care, attention and modernity, by the constant desire to distinguish themselves with their knowledge and desire for perfection, by always working with a respect for nature in the service of both vine and wine, they continue to develop this wonderful nectar we call champagne. They will be delighted to help you discover and enjoy it.