France

Organic

The review is on a previous vintage.
92 points Jeb Dunnuck
Moving to the reds, the 2020 Vacqueyras Les Hauts De La Ponche is 50% Grenache and 25% each of Syrah and Mourv??dre. It actually reminds me of a Pomerol with its red and blue fruits as well as bouquet garni, damp earth, and floral nuances. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, I love its balance, and it has silky tannins and remarkable purity of fruit. Drink bottles over the coming 7-8 years.

Crisp blackberry and plum flavors are edged by earthen nuances of bramble and forest floor in this full-bodied blend of 75% Grenache and 25% Syrah. It?€?s juicy but briskly concentrated, framed by ripe, integrated tannins. Enjoy this mouthfilling but easy-quaffing red while it?€?s young.

Winemaker Notes:
"Pale yellow and limpid. Green apple, hawthorn and white blossoms, citrus aromas and exotic fruits. Fresh and well-balanced, lot of fatness and length."

Blending of Grenache Blanc, Clairette and Bourboulenc. Mainly clay and calcareous soils. The wine is aged in vats without malolactic fermentation.

"Beautiful red color, with purple highlights. With a lot of freshness, this rich and spicy wine offers red and black fruits aromas (blackberry, black currant). The palate is beautifully balanced, crunchy, with silky tannins and a very long and aromatic finish." Winemaker notes

Since 1970, La Vieille Ferme has been producing authentic, honest and tasty wines vintage after vintage. In some of the world?€?s best restaurants and bars, La Vieille Ferme has been acknowledged as one of the best value for money wines in the world.

The Perrin family, also owners of the famous Ch??teau de Beaucastel, search for the most suitable terroirs to produce a fresh and fruity wine. Unpretentious, this is the archetypal pleasure wine; authentic, genuine and tasty.

Organic

96 points James Suckling
So expressive and so precise, this is a great modern Cornas. Haunting nose of black forest berries with notes of dry forest floor and wild herbs. Then comes the wonderful combination of restrained richness and youthful freshness on the vertical, medium-bodied palate. And just as the coolness of evening follows the heat of the day, the mineral vibrancy of the finish follows the succulence of the mid-palate.

93 points Vinous
The 2022 Cornas Granit 30 was made from fully destemmed grapes. It exhales prominent black fruit aromatics paired with pencil shavings, iodine and an underlying rusticity. Medium- to full-bodied, structured and concentrated, theres plenty of old-world savoriness in this classic 2022 Cornas...Vincent Paris produced a solid set of wines in 2021 but really excelled in 2022. These are distinctively savory Cornas expressions, but they neatly capture balance and freshness. Neither truly modern nor fully traditional, the Paris style sits somewhere in between, perhaps leaning a bit more toward the latter.

"First created in 1954 (and released in warped, fake dusted bottle), the NV Chateauneuf du Pape La Fiole du Pape (a blend from 2010, 2011 and 2012) gives up classic garrigue, game and assorted sweet red and black fruits. Medium-bodied, nicely textured and easygoing, it?€?s a solid, Provencal effort to enjoy over the coming 4-5 years." WA

Organic

91 points Vinous
Ripe raspberry, pressed violets, licorice and dried herbs compose the multifaceted aromatic profile of the 2022 Cotes du Rhone Coudoulet de Beaucastel. Shaped gently by soft tannins, this refined red contains solid substance and caps off with persistence on the classic finish. Give it another two years to start revealing its full potential.

Organic

The previous vintage (2022) won our Wine Of The Year 2023 Blind Taste Off!

We had fifty wines as contenders for our Wine of the Year this year, but only one can come out on top. Domaine Vincent Paris wowed us with his Les Cotes Saint Joseph and it was the clear winner. The first thing you will notice is the elegant profile in the glass, this is clearly not Syrah from southern France. This Saint Joseph is a wine of subtlety, layered nuance, and not a fruit bomb you might experience from this varietal in other parts of the world. For example, the alcohol is only 12.5% which is so integrated that you don?€?t even notice it. As the wine lingered in our glasses the traditional notes of northern Rhone Syrah unveiled themselves, showcasing garrigue and a savory animal fat component. On the palate, the wine builds and builds displaying pretty blackberry and cherry fruit with some white pepper intertwined. The finish is stoney and a bit rustic which adds so much charm to this very drinkable Saint Joseph.

"I like to drink this wine young, with fruit and freshness, but it can also be kept for around 10 years." - Vincent Paris

We absolutely adored this wine and we believe you will too! Domaine Vincent Paris?€? wines have adorned our shelves many times over the years and we are proud to promote his 2022 Les Cotes aint Joseph. Enjoy!

Organic. 100% Syrah from 10 and 20 year old vines in Granitic soils at 300m in elevation. Prunes to only four bunches of grapes per vine (the norm is between five and seven) which concentrates the vines' growing power and cuts down on the need for green harvests. Ferments at low temps, vinfied 2/3 in barrel and 1/3 in tank. Aged in oak barrels for up to 12 months. Only 580-650 cases produced annually.

Organic

100% Grenache from 50-55 year old vines. This vineyard is just east of Chateauneuf-du-Pape and across the A7 highway; this is a top C??tes-du-Rh??ne vineyard, with red clay and rocky galets soil. (Another famous wine from this area is the Coudoulet de Beaucastel C??tes-du-Rh??ne, considered to be a baby Beaucastel.) Cristia's version is top of the line - rich and concentrated, it is more than you would expect from a C??tes-du-Rh??ne, aged half in cement and half in one to three year-old barrels for 9 months. Certified organic.

Organic

Although fermented in concrete, this is a fuller styled Cotes du Rhone with a good proportion of Syrah. Surprisingly serious for this price point.

92 points James Suckling
A solid red, juicy, textured and dense, with aromas of mixed berries, thyme and baking spices. Medium-bodied with fine tannins. Velvety with crunchy berry character at the center. Vivid and spicy with a flavorful finish. 50% grenache, 20% syrah, 15% carignan and 15% mourvedre. Drink or hold.

Light-bodied, bright, pale yellow with depth and a gold hue, even colour throughout. The nose is appealing and pure, with aromas of honeysuckle, tropical fruit and stonefruit.

92-94 points Wine Advocate
Scents of leather, violets, cherries and strawberries mark the nose of the 2021 Ch??teauneuf du Pape Cuv??e R??serv??e, tasted as a representative assemblage from several foudres. Medium to full-bodied, it's silky but firm, with a long, slightly tannic finish.

As always when visiting Laurence Feraud, there are multiple cuv??es and appellations to sample. In this write-up, I've concentrated on the home estate's wines from Chateauneuf du Pape, but readers shouldn't overlook the C??te du Rh??ne wines from the sister property, Ch??teau du Pegau, the n??gociant offerings under the Selection Laurence Feraud label, or her children's (Justine and Maxim) newly acquired, certified organic estate, Domaine Porte Rouge.

According to Feraud, with 2021, "We're back to an old style of vintage. For me, Ch??teauneuf du Pape is spicy, a bit rustic but not a big, fat, jammy wine."

Organic / Natural

This deep and rich Hermitage, from a family run operation, displays smoked cherry and berry plus dark roasted coffee, iron and red meat on the nose.? On the palate the wine is exceptionally chewy, with cassis, orange rind, and chocolate notes backed by bacon, iron and smoke tones. Excellent acidity and density make this is well-structured Hermitage worthy of additional aging to fully reveal itself.? Decant for at least an hour to serve now. - PJ