Events

Organic / Biodynamic

99-100 points James Suckling
What a finish on this Pontet-Canet. So much energy and brightness. It's full-bodied yet so tight and focused with superb fruit and transparency. It is racy and fine with super fine texture. It's like crushed cabernet sauvignon with cassis, tobacco and cigar box. Licorice and spices. Freshness of the seed. 57% cabernet sauvignon, 35% merlot, 4% cabernet franc, and 4% petit verdot.

97-99+ points Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 Château Pontet-Canet is brilliant and should easily be up with the crème de la crème from the Médoc. Based on 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and 4% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, it was vinified mostly in concrete (there's a small part in wood), and the aging is in 50% new French oak, 35% in amphora, and the rest in once-used barrels. It has an incredibly pure bouquet of cassis, graphite, lead pencil, and scorched earth. This carries to a full-bodied Pauillac with a deep, layered mid-palate, building tannins, and a great finish. It has the purity, richness, and structure that makes this vintage so compelling and is going to be drinkable with just 4-6 years of bottle age but have an incredibly long life.

95-97 points Vinous
The 2022 Pontet-Canet is a surprising wine. Usually much more opulent, especially in warm, dry years, the 2022 comes across as restrained and understated. It is a wine of linear intensity rather than size, marked by notable freshness and a feeling of tension and precision I don’t recall seeing in the past. Clean mineral notes extend the finish effortlessly. I very much admire the precision and vibrancy here. Unforgettable.

95 points Vinous
The 2010 Langoa-Barton has a very pure and quite intense bouquet with black cherries, blueberry and star anis aromas that are typically Langoa. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannins, impressive body and grip with a liquorice-tinged, saline finish that maybe just lacks a little flesh and needs more on the aftertaste. Tasted from an ex-chateau bottle at the BI Wines & Spirits 10-Year On tasting.

94 points Decanter
Lighter framed than Leoville, and while this is delicious, it is not quite at the level of its sibling. Not that anyone is going to complain, and this will be ready to crack out sooner. Opens up to show bramble berry fruits with confident tannins that provide a frame that is going to hold on tight for a good decade at least. Plenty of St-Julien character. Drinking Window 2020 - 2042.

94 points Wine Spectator
Tightly focused, with a beam of cassis and blackberry fruit framed by integrated espresso and charcoal notes. The ample structure drives the polished finish, allowing extra notes of plum sauce, pastis and blueberry coulis to stride through. Shows serious grip at the very end. Best from 2016 through 2035.

95 points Jeb Dunnuck
Tasted on multiple occasions, the 2020 Château Lascombes is clearly another brilliant wine from this château that readers will love. Sporting a deep purple hue as well as a classic bouquet of cassis, dried flowers, freshly sharpened pencils, and obvious minerality, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, has a layered, elegant mouthfeel, lots of building tannins, and a great finish. It’s going to need 4-6 years at a minimum but is some serious Margaux brilliance that will have 30 years of longevity.

95 points James Suckling
Aromas of crushed blackcurrants and cherries with dried Provence herbs, lavender, raw walnuts and spiced cedar. Graphite, too. Full and muscular with a broad-shouldered, velvety tannin structure that goes on for minutes. Textured and chalky with a lingering finish. Very polished. 55% cabernet sauvignon, 40% merlot and 5% petit verdot.

Grape Variety: Blend of Pinot Auxerrois and Pinot Blanc Age of vines: about 35 years Vinification: The grapes are picked by hand and crushed whole. Fermentation with native yeast in stainless steel tanks with temperature control. The wine matures for 6 months in tank, then is transferred to bottle, and stored in riddling rack for 12-15 months before disgorgement.

97 points Vinous
The 2006 Krug Vintage is fabulous. Here the richness, breadth and texture of Pinot come through loud and clear in a Champagne that is classic Krug. Red plum, coffee, spice, baked apple tart and lemon confit all flesh out effortlessly in the glass. The ripeness of the year is evident, and yet the vibrancy of the Chardonnay lends so much energy. The 2006 can be enjoyed today, but also has the balance and stuffing to develop well for many years to come. This is a superb showing from the 2006.

"Smoky and focused, with an intensity to the racy acidity and tightly knit flavors of white peach, chamomile, crystallized honey, pickled ginger and pink peppercorn. Exhibits lovely texture and offers a long, mineral-tinged finish." 92pts WS

"The wine shows a superb, golden yellow color with a beautiful luminosity and a fine and persistent mousse. The nose is clean and intense with warm, rich notes of brioche, French toast and roasted almonds. On the palate the wine is very supple and harmonious, with notes of honey and minerals on the long, sustained finish. Ruinart Blanc de Blancs is produced from a blend of 100% premiers crus Chardonnay grapes from the best of recent vintages. Grapes from the estate vineyards in Sillery and Brimont (ancestral home of the Ruinart family) are joined by carefully selected grapes from other premiers crus vineyards in the C??te de Blancs and the Montagne de Reims." Winemaker notes

Organic / Biodynamic

99 points Jeb Dunnuck
#26 in Top 100, 2022. Pure class, the 2019 Chateau Pichon-Longueville Comtesse De Lalande is another brilliant wine from director Nicolas Glumineau that checks in at the top of the vintage. A blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc that was harvested from mid-September through October 8th. Brought up in roughly 60% new French oak, it hit 14.1% natural alcohol with a pH of 3.7. More elegant and poised from bottle than barrel, it offers a brilliant perfume of creme de cassis, lead pencil shavings, tobacco leaf, damp earth, and graphite. Deep, full-bodied, and pure perfection on the palate, it has this incredible marriage of Latour-like stature and regalness buffered by wonderful, sexy, seamless fruit, which no doubt comes from the higher Merlot content and makes Comtesse de Lalande so singular and unique. It builds slowly with time in the glass and has remarkable purity of fruit, ultra-fine tannins, perfect balance, and a finish that just begs you to pour another glass. It has a seductive, seamless profile that offers pleasure even today (although it needs lots of air to show at its best) yet needs 7-8 years of bottle age to hit the early stages of its prime drink window and will evolve for another 40-50 years if stored properly.

98 points Wine Advocate
One of the wines of the vintage, the 2019 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande soars from the glass with complex aromas of wild berries, tobacco leaf, loamy soil, burning embers and hints of violets and rose petals. Full-bodied, deep and complete, it?????s velvety and seamless, with a broad attack and a multidimensional core of lively, succulent fruit. Concluding with a long, expansive finish, it?????s a remarkable young Pauillac that will offer many years of thrilling drinking. Congratulations to Nicolas Glumineau and his team, who are ushering in a new golden age at an address where standards were always very high.

98 points Vinous
One of the most elegant Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande I can remember tasting. The 2019 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is very clearly one of the wines of the year. Statuesque in its bearing, the 2019 possesses tremendous depth and intensity right out of the gate. Dark fruit, gravel, smoke, licorice and incense draw the taster in. The 2019 is like a great book. You don't want to put it down. Each taste reveals a new layer, a new shade of nuance. The 2019 is quite simply one of the most elegant renditions I have tasted recently. That said, it is also incredibly austere and in need of cellaring. Don't miss it. Tasted three times.

89-92 points Burghound
(85% from Vaumuriens-Haut and 15% from En Chiveau). This is quite firmly reduced and while the underlying fruit appears to be ripe it’s difficult to read in this condition. Otherwise there is excellent punch to the chalky- textured and muscular medium weight flavors that conclude in a sleek, chiseled, linear and youthfully austere finish. This is an excellent Pommard villages with fine aging potential.

A blend of eaux-de-vie aged a minimum of 2 years, this Cognac offers aromas of candied fruit, toffee, vanilla, and wood spice; the palate is full and warming with flavours of chocolate, orange, vanilla, and Christmas cake spices followed by a long and balanced finish.

The 2009 is one of the greatest Leoville Las Cases I have ever tasted, which is saying something given the many compelling wines that have been made at this estate. A final blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, and 9% Cabernet Franc has resulted in a wine that appears to be a hypothetical blend of the 1982, 1986, and 1996. Its 13.8% alcohol is perhaps the only thing that sets it apart from those vintages, which had nearly a full percentage point less. The high alcohol is barely noticeable in this 2009, which boasts an inky/purple color, monumental concentration, and great clarity and purity of creme de cassis, black cherry, spice box, graphite, and wet rock characteristics. Extremely full-bodied with a boatload of sweet tannin nearly concealed by the wine-s power, glycerin, and awesome fruit concentration, this intense effort never tastes heavy or tiring. This remarkable St.-Julien should be accessible in 3-4 years, and will evolve for 40-50. (Tasted once.) - WA96-100

There are 10,500 cases of the 2009 Haut-Brion, from a blend of 46% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 14% Cabernet Franc. For technicians, the highest ever natural alcohol, 14.3%, was achieved, with a pH of 3.9, which is about the same as the 1989 and 1990, as well as 1959. This is the kind of wine to send chills even up my spine, and I have been tasting here for nearly 30 years. An extraordinary nose of plum, blueberry, raspberry, crushed rock, and that intriguing floral as well as unsmoked cigar tobacco note (a classic sign of this terroir) is followed by a wine of creamy unctuosity reminiscent of 1989, but there is a freshness, vibrancy and precision that is historic and possibly unprecedented. Some graphite emerges as the wine sits in the glass, but the wine is very thick while at the same time precise and elegant. This is the quintessential expression of one of the greatest wine terroirs of the world. To reiterate, the good news is that there are going to be 10,500 cases of Haut-Brion in 2009, which is about 1,500 more cases than the 9,000 produced in 2005. This wine will probably need 7-8 years of cellaring when released and evolve as well as the 1959 has (which is still a perfect wine today), so we?????re realistically talking 50-75 years when stored in a cool cellar. (Tasted once.) - WA98-100

Chambertin-Clos-de-Beze is a Grand Cru vineyard and corresponding appellation of the Cote de Nuits. It forms half of a vineyard that is regarded not only as the most prestigious in Gevrey-Chambertin, but arguably the whole of Burgundy. The soils of the Chambertin-Clos-de-Beze vineyard are well drained and stony, with a thin layer of pebble-strewn, chalky topsoil over a deep, rocky base. The percentage of clay in the soil reduces higher up the site, giving way to drier, looser limestone.

Alain was born in 1950 to Yvon Burguet, a tacheron for Domaine Tortochot who also worked his own vines in Gevrey. fter military service, Alain returned to Gevrey and decided to start his own domaine, working exclusively with rented vines until 1974 when the opportunity arose to buy his first 2.10 ha of vines in the village. He bottled his own production from the start, and began to earn a reputation for himself, which was boosted around 1982 when Becky picked up Alain?€?s wines. She brought Jean Troigros to taste, who was utterly impressed with the Gevrey Vieilles Vignes and promptly added them to his restaurant?€?s list. Alain continued to expand his domaine, acquiring 1er Cru Les Champeaux in 1985, inheriting some of his father?€?s 3.5 hectares in 1991, while still working rented vineyards. Well before the more global movement toward sustainability and almost 20 years before Ecocert was created to certify organic agriculture, Alain insisted on organic methods.

Organic

Made from 100% Chardonnay from the Mont Royal, Chanet and Grand-Vaux parcels, all on steep, east-and-west-facing slopes of blue limestone-clay marls, the Crémant du Jura is aged on the lees for three years before disgorgement. Clean and mineral, this wine is bone dry, with slight tart apple fruit. There is no dosage applied, shaping a pure sparkling wine that clearly expresses the profound terroir of this remarkable region.

Organic

75% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay
Both vinified in barrels separately. All grapes are hand-harvested from vines aged around 25 years old and planted on superficial clay-limestone soils. The alcoholic fermentations are made in thermo-regulated stainless steel vats and after the malolactic fermentation both wines are matured in one year in casks aged over 3 years. Then the secondary fermentation occurs in the bottle with more than three years of aging before being disgorged three months prior to sale with a dosage of 8.5 grams.

Organic / Biodynamic

91 points Wine Advocate
The 2021 Brut Nature Methode Traditionnelle, bottled in 2022 and disgorged in August 2024 without dosage, was matured in demi-muids or large barrels. Unfurling from the glass with aromas of exotic fruits, pear and herbs mingled with a lovely reduction, it's round and sappy, fresh and delicate, with a lively, ethereal finish. It could gain depth and raciness with one or two years in the cellar.
100% Chenin Blanc

Pre-Order - Wine arrives in January 2026

#5 on The Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2025

96 points Wine Spectator
This is very fresh, expressive and focused, with violet, iris and rosehip notes darting to the fore, while flavors of sleek raspberry and red currant preserves race along behind. Almost flattering, but there’s a subtle chalky tension piercing the finish, which sails through. A dreamy wine. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2026 through 2040.

100 points Vinous
The 2022 Beau-Sejour Becot is a total stunner. What a wine! The 2022 was magnificent en primeur, and it is all that from bottle. The aromatics alone are mesmerizing. Crushed rose petal, mint, blood orange, new leather and cedar meld into a core of pliant red-toned fruit. More than anything else, I am so impressed with the wine's precision and finesse. I have never tasted a Beau-Sejour Becot like this.

99 points Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 Château Lynch-Bages is based on 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, and 3% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Its inky purple hue is followed by a sensational Pauillac that has a blockbuster (and classic Lynch-Bages) style in its darker currants, smoke tobacco, lead pencil, and crushed stone-driven aromatics. These carry to a full-bodied, powerful, massively concentrated 2022 that has a dense, layered mid-palate, velvety tannins, flawless balance, and a rare mix of power and elegance. This is a château that’s clearly firing on all cylinders, and this magical beauty will need a decade (or more) to hit the early stages of its prime drinking window. Don't miss it!

98 points James Suckling
#94 in Top 100 World Wines, 2025. A terrific Lynch from a hot vintage with blackcurrants, mint, dried lavender, graphite and thyme on the nose and palate. Medium- to full-bodied, it shows fantastic tannins with a lovely texture that reminds me of cashmere, becoming slightly chewy in the finish. Give this four to five years of bottle age. Try after 2028.

90 points Wine Spectator
Pineapple skin, apple and honey on the nose. Full-bodied, very sweet and very lively, with intense acidity and a spicy aftertaste. The best in a while from this estate. Reviewed 3/2008

Sec
Winemaker Notes:
Dry depending on the year, it is a fresh and fruity wine that expresses itself. The combination of its freshness and delicate flavors makes it suitable for serving fish and grilled white meats, shellfish, vegetables and Japanese dishes. Ideal in its youth for the aperitif.

Organic

A partnership between Arnaud Combier, Francois de Nicolay of Chandon de Briailles (Savigny), Jeff Carrel, this estate delivers exceptional wines from distinct Beaujolais appellations. Aromatic and fresh, the wine is bursting with notes of yellow fruits. Initially round and full on the palate, developing into a tonic freshness and tense finish. Perfect with rich seafood and pastas, roasted chicken and more.

Organic / Biodynamic

The vibrant Domaine Weinbach Pinot Blanc launches with delicate aromas of orchard fruits and white blossoms. Well-structured, crisp, and perfectly balanced due to an interesting contrast between the freshness of the acidity and the ripeness of the fruit. Ending on a firm and persistent finish.

Danielle Meunier of Château Haut Segottes is the winemaker. Chateau Haut-Segottes second wine provides a supple, beguiling counterpoint to the flagship cuvée’s muscular classicism. Comprised entirely of Merlot—partly from a one-hectare plot in the dark-sand soils of Corbin, and partly from a hectare in Fortin—Clos Petit-Corbin displays the sheer elegance the variety can achieve in this appellation. Florent and Danielle employ no new wood here, and a small portion of the wine remains in tank during the élévage, thereby further emphasizing its purity and drinkability. What strikes the drinker about this wine is its sense of grace: this is not Merlot forced into some caricature of voluptuousness or gym-pumped into an awkward imitation of Cabernet; rather, it revels comfortably in its lip-smacking red-fruited prettiness. It’s the kind of wine that can only be produced here, and only by growers who are able to fully trust noble Merlot to be its truest self.