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Organic / Natural

Lise & Bertrand Jousset of the Loire craft this small production side project Muscadet.

99 points James Suckling
Intense blackberry and graphite character coming out of the glass, together with dried violets, ink and some asphalt. Full-bodied with wonderfully integrated tannins that spread across the palate and then draw you deep into the wine. Lead-pencil and blackcurrant aftertaste. Tightly wound with a cashmere-like texture. A whole and thought-provoking wine. Try after 2028 and beyond.

98 points Jeb Dunnuck
Reminding me a little of the 2009, the 2019 Ch??teau Smith Haut Lafitte has a rich, powerful style in its cassis, blueberry, and black raspberry fruit as well as its chalky minerality, smoked earth, tobacco, and lead pencil shaving-like aromas and flavors. A blend of 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, this rich, unctuously textured beauty has terrific concentration, sweet tannins, and the vintage's hallmark elegance and finesse. One of the most concentrated, powerful wines in the vintage, it needs 4-5 years of bottle age (or a healthy decant) and will evolve for 30+ years if stored properly. Not enough can be said about what proprietors Daniel and Florence Cathiard, as well as winemaker Fabien Teitgen, continue to achieve at this estate. )

98 points Wine Enthusiast
Rich in black fruits with a structure that acts as a support. Acidity and blackberry flavors with hints of black coffee and a core of denseness that is very fine. The wine will age well, drink from 2026. Organic and biodynamic.

97 points Decanter
A soft, fragrant nose of rose petals and violets alongside raspberries, cherries, blackcurrants, cola cubes and blackcurrant leaf nuance. Tannins fill the mouth, abundant but oh so soft and finely woven into the overall body of the wine which has delicious cooling mint elements nestled between pristinely ripe blue and black fruit and liquorice spice. The flavours expand slowly along the palate gaining in depth, width and energy. This isn't an immediate showstopper but rather it takes its time, revealing itself layer by layer, so charming and seductive, asking you to linger and take a closer inspection. I absolutely love it.

97 points Vinous
The 2019 Smith Haut-Lafitte blossoms immediately on the nose of seductive blackberry, black olive and Bing cherries, perhaps a little more floral than when I tasted it from barrel, and there is a nearly Burgundy-like purity. The palate is medium-bodied with a smooth, almost creamy entry. This is very harmonious, elegant and poised, leading to a mineral-driven finish. A gorgeous, seductive Smith Haut Lafitte that will give three or four decades of drinking pleasure.

96 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Smith Haut Lafitte has turned out very well indeed, unwinding in the glass with a complex bouquet of dark berries, cassis, forest floor, pencil shavings, licorice and spices. Full-bodied, broad and velvety, it's layered and elegantly muscular, underpinned by rich structuring tannins and lively acids, and it concludes with a long, expansive finish. This is another estate where the viticultural and stylistic evolutions of the last decade have delivered a beautifully balanced, harmonious 2019.

96-98 points Wine Advocate
The 2020 Larcis Ducasse has a deep purple-black color, leaping from the glass with bold notions of redcurrant jelly, plum preserves, kirsch and red roses, followed by hints of licorice, fragrant earth and spice cake, with a touch of woodsmoke. The medium to full-bodied palate is laden with fragrant red berries and profound black fruit preserves, supported by ripe, rounded tannins and lovely tension, finishing very long and fantastically layered. Absolutely, stunningly singular. (05/21) Lisa Perrotti-Brown

98 points Vinous
The 2020 Larcis Ducasse is a real showstopper. Bright and vertical in feel, the 2020 possesses tremendous energy to match its super-classic build. Beams of tannin and acid give the wine its shape. Dark cherry and pomegranate fruit are pushed forward, with a kick of blood orange acidity that lends freshness. Graphite, dried herbs, menthol, spice and cedar emerge with some coaxing, but the 2020 is very young and very primary. That of course bodes so well for its future. The 2020 is quite simply a thrilling Larcis and one of the very finest values in all of Bordeaux. (12/22) Antonio Galloni

This Bordeaux blanc is definitely past its prime but wine drinkers with an interest and enthusiasm for whites with age may find it enjoyable. The wine has turned golden in color and has a mild nose of burnt caramel. The palate coats and is textural with nuttiness and more caramel. It finishes like a dry sherry. It might be good with aged Gouda. With this forewarning we will only sell the bottle on a no return basis.

Citrus aromas marked by subtle notes of grapefruit and the zest of lemons. The profile of the wine is a classic, aromatic and refined Sauvignon Blanc unadorned or manipulated. The wine lingers on the palate with a mineral character of freshness.

96 points John Gilman View From The Cellar
The 2022 vintage of Daniel Bouland?€?s Morgon (Delys 1926) is a brilliant young Cru Beaujolais. The wine comes in at an even fourteen percent in this vintage and offers up truly stunning depth of fruit on both the nose and palate, as these ancient vines have dug deep into the subterranean water sources to keep maturity progressing flawlessly in this dry growing season. The wine wafts from the glass in a complex and sappy blend of sweet dark berries, black cherries, pomegranate, grilled pigeon, dark soil tones, espresso woodsmoke and a topnote of violets. On the palate the wine is pure, sappy and full-bodied, with a bottomless core of old vine fruit, fine-grained, buried tannins, great focus and grip and a long, seamlessly balanced and very complex finish. This is one of the greatest young bottles of Morgon I have ever had the pleasure to taste and it would be insane not to allow it at least some time in the cellar to unlock its secondary and tertiary layers of complexity.

Organic / Biodynamic

Organic

90 points Vinous
The 2019 Brut Nature Blanc de Noirs L'Arbre, from a parcel in Pouillon, is seriously impressive. Bright, focused and super-polished, with tons of aromatic presence, L'Arbre shows a refined, elegant side of Meunier that stands apart from the typically bigger style found in most mono-varietal bottlings. There's tons of energy and vibrancy. The 2019 feels a bit severe, but some of that may be attributable to its recent disgorgement. Naturally the vintages are different, but the 2018 version is quite a bit more open.

100% Pinot Meunier from the single parcel of Voyet in the Marne village of Pouillon, this is the Cuillier family's most historic vineyard. Sandy soils over limestone. The winery embraces regenerative principles of cover cropping and low-/no-till farming to increase soil organic matter and to preserve and enhance biodiversity. Applies homemade composts to enrich soil and incorporates Vitiforestry, which is the intentional integration of trees into the vineyards (a.k.a Agroforestry when integrated into other agricultural crops). Indigenous yeast fermentation in small stainless steel tank. Aged in tank for 12 months followed by 36 months sur lattes. No fining or filtration, disgorged by hand, zero dosage.

Organic

Organic / Biodynamic

Vergelesses is a tiny Premier Cru climat of the Pernand-Vergelesses appellation. The vines here were once considered the best in the commune and inspired the local Pernand council to incorporate 'Vergelesses' as part of the village name. The Premier Cru vineyards of Pernand-Vergelesses are divided quite neatly into two sections: to the east of the village and to the south, where they flow into the plains east of Beaune. The eastern section focuses on white wines, while the more-obvious Premier Cru sites - with their south-eastern aspect on the limestone slopes of the Cote d'Or - make both red and white. Vergelesses falls into the second of these categories, producing white wines from Chardonnay and red wines from Pinot Noir. It is located immediately below the Ile de Vergelesses climat,

This historic estate was established in 1834. Claude de Nicolay took over from her mother as winemaker in 1988 and crafts traditionally styled wines from one of the Cote d'Or's great terroirs, the hill of Corton and its surrounding villages. The vineyard management has been fully biodynamic since 2005 and organic since 1998. Claude's brother, Francois de Nicolay joined the domaine in 2001.

"(50% pinot noir and 25% each of chardonnay and pinot meunier): Pale, bright pink. A wild, pungent bouquet evokes redcurrant, cherry and licorice, with a suave floral quality in the background. Juicy, penetrating red fruit flavors are braced by a note of blood orange and show impressive intensity. Finishes brisk and incisive, with excellent length." 91pts Vinous

The outstanding 2000 is the finest example I have yet tasted from this estate. The wine, a sleeper of the vintage, has a dense ruby/purple color and a gorgeous nose of creme de cassis intermixed with raspberries, wet stones, and flowers, and a hint of subtle oak. It is elegant yet powerful, medium to full-bodied, yet light on its feet. It is a beauty, with some moderate tannin to shed in the finish. - Robert Parker (4/03)

89/100pts Wine Advocate:
The 2013 Corton Blanc actually comes from mainly Corton Bressandes, with 10% from Corton les Chaumes. The nose is clean and fresh with beeswax and yellow flower scents that just need to develop more complexity. The palate is medium-bodied with hints of custard cr??me and nougat on the entry, nicely judged acidity with a harmonious, slightly nutty finish that fans out gently, but does not wish to exert great length. Enjoy this over the next 4-6 years.

Cabernet Sauvignon (67%), Merlot (27%), Cabernet Franc (4%), Petit Verdot (2%).

The second wine of Château Peyrabon. Notes of both black and red fruits.

A bright acidity and spicy notes on the finish

Organic / Natural

60% Grenache
with the rest consisting of Syrah and Cinsault. Fermented in concrete tanks.

Organic / Biodynamic

Some very stony and flinty aromas with graphite. Red and dark plums, too. Smells fresh and very complex already. The palate has great density and a fine, compressed tannin texture, as well as a very focused finish. Spiced black cherries and blackberries, cassis and dark chocolate to close. Short carbonic maceration and juice is racked off during the carbonic process. A captivatingly powerful but focused Morgon.

An off-dry sparkling wine from Sauternes that is 50/50 Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Aged in used Sauternes barrels. This bright, refreshing white is the perfect aperitif.

Wine Advocate, 96pts. - "Pale to medium gold colored, the 2009 Coutet leaps from the glass with warm apple pie, dried mango, fresh straw, lemongrass, ginger and cr?me caramel notes. The rich, concentrated, unctuous flavors are lifted by amazing freshness, finishing epically long, layered and with a tantalizing nuttiness."

Decanter, 96pts. - "On clay over limestone soils, relatively cool compared to Sauternes, this has a purity and freshness that is striking . . . Full of the quince, candied orange, truffle, apricot and lemon curd that you hope for in a quality sweet Bordeaux, coupled with lime blossom, ginger and citrus zest adding poise and character."

Organic / Biodynamic / Natural

Malbec, Muscat de Hambourg, Merlot, Colombard, Grenache Noire, Muscat d?€?Alexandrie
Whole bunch maceration, fermentation in concrete vats and aged. No fining no filtering.

Friends and winemakers, Benjamin Taillandier and Fabien Jouves collaborated on this fresh bistro red. 12.5% abv