France

Organic

Jeb Dunnuck on a previous vintage:
A richer styled wine (I've compared this cuvée to a Chardonnay from Mark Aubert), the 2020 Novellum has a medium gold hue as well as a rich, powerful bouquet of caramelized lemon, honeyed almonds, candle wax, and toasted bread. Rich, medium to full-bodied, beautifully textured, and balanced, this is another no brainer purchase.

Is this Sancerre in disguise? This refreshing white wine has all the makings of Sancerre and cost under $20! Lip smacking acidity and minerality dominate the palate. Crisp with subtle citrus notes that finishes bone dry. 100% Sauvignon Blanc from old vines.

Quincy does produce exceptionally high quality Sauvignon Blanc, much like Sancerre, but at a much more affordable price. The cost of Sancerre has skyrocketed over the years with it’s immense popularity and recent difficult vintages. So the savvy Sancerre drinker should be looking towards regions such as Quincy to get their high-acid, mineral driven white wine fix.

Today’s wine happens to be produced by an outstanding Sancerre winery, Domaine Sylvain Bailly. This is one of our favorite Sancerre producers, who really created something special with their Quincy botting.

The Bailly family have been vignerons in Sancerre from father to son since 1700. Like most winemaking families in France who suffered from the phylloxera blight in the late 19th century and then the two world wars of the 20th century, it was only in the early 1950's that Sylvain Bailly began to prosper and grow his business. His son Jacques has took the helm in the late 1980s and today, his daughter Sonia manages the estate.

92 points Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 Clos Des Lunes Lune D'Argent Blanc is a pure, balanced, medium to full-bodied white with clean citrus and floral aromatics, a good spine of acidity, and a clean, lengthy finish. It's a classy Bordeaux Blanc based largely on Sémillon.

70% Semillon 30% Sauvignon Blanc
The wine is aged 6 to 7 months in 25% oak barrels, and 75% in little vats.

Winery Notes
On the nose, a wide range of fragrances, from vegetal with ivy and acacia to fruity with peach and lychee. A fresh start, opening for persistent mineral and fruity notes with a lingering finish on the palate.

Organic

90-92 points Vinous
The 2024 Morgon Côte du Py has a vivid, stony bouquet with redcurrant and raspberry fruit unfolding in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-boned tannins and a touch more sour cherry in the mix, especially on the piquant finish. Again, this is very promising and might become the edgiest of Burgaud's 2024s.

Organic

The composition is 60% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is marked by a vibrant ruby/garnet color married to a richly spicy nose with hints of tobacco and coffee in the background; the flavors are dominated by red currant, cassis, and raspberry; the texture is silky and the wine is smooth and generous on the palate; the subtle tannins have grip but are graceful making this wine particularly welcoming over the near term.
The Pueyos follow traditional vinification techniques. After a 3 day cold maceration, fermentation takes place in both cement tanks and stainless steel tanks. Either way, temperatures are closely monitored so the fermentation proceeds at a controlled pace with maximum temperatures reaching 28 degrees Celsius. The “cuvaison” (fermentation + maceration) usually lasts between 15 and 20 days. Closely monitoring the temperature during fermentation helps avoid extracting the harsher, more bitter tannins that can appear if the temperature gets too high. Half of the wine is aged in barrels for 18 months following fermentation. Only 25% new barrels and 25% one-year-old barrels are used each year, to avoid overwhelming the fruit. The second part of the cuvée is aged in cement tanks. The two parts of the wine are ultimately blended, then fined with egg whites before bottling.

The 2017 vintage was tied for Third Place in PJ Wine's - Wine of the Year 2021 blind taste-off.

91 points Burghound
There is good Chablis typicity present in the form of iodine, seashore and petrol along with citrus zest top notes. The delicious, vibrant and precise middle weight flavors flash good minerality on the clean, dry and saline-inflected finish. This is very good for its level and worth considering. Note that the house style is ultra-pure with no wood, and I can vouch from personal experience that the wines age extremely well.

Originating from the usual parcels and raised entirely in stainless steel, it has a brisk nose with Granny Smiths, lime and wet stone. Classic Chablis. The palate is well-balanced, with a bitter lemon entry lending tension. Taut and linear, it delivers a refreshing, spicy finish that lingers in the mouth. Very fine.

If we had our way, fish stores would include a bottle of Muscadet with every dozen oysters sold. But barring new regulatory measures of food and drink, picking up a bottle of Muscadet should be as much of a given as dressing for salad; bread for a sandwich; a steak knife for a steak! That's how perfect and an integral this wine is with briny, East Coast oysters (or any shellfish, truly!). Here, Pepiere's version is bright and briny, with a little lemon meringue and lemon verbena on the nose, and that clear, bracing minerality that keeps you coming back for another sip (and another oyster!). -- PJ

Winemaker Notes:
"This crisp, fruit-forward and juicy wine has expressive aromas and flavors of ripe red berries, with nice heft in the mouth, and mineral and spice notes. Most red meats and grilled or roasted white meats, especially those prepared with savory herbs or spices."

90 points Wine Advocate
Tasted twice, two months apart, with consistent notes, the 2020 Côtes du Roussillon Bastide Miraflors is a 70-30 blend of Syrah and Grenache, aged in demi-muids and concrete tanks, respectively. There's a hint of peppermint, but the primary focus here is on the fruit, ranging from blueberries and mulberries into darker notes of plum and dark chocolate. It's full-bodied and creamy in texture, with deliciously supple, soft tannins, which make it exceptionally easy to drink now, but maybe not particularly long-lived.

The Aubert family has lived in Saint-Émilion since 1750 and has a long and successful history as producers of some of Bordeaux’s finest wines. They own over 600 acres of vineyard property, making them one of the largest family producers on the Right Bank. Their estate centers around the old family home of Château de Ribebon, a magnificent 18th century building that was once a hunting lodge for King Louis XIV, beautifully preserved, on a terrace overlooking the Dordogne River. Chateau de Ribebon is a blend of 70% Merlot 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc.

This has an array of juicy, rich red-plum and berry aromas and flavors that make for a very impressively balanced wine that has good, persistent red-fruit flavor through the finish. Drink or hold

Organic

Organic

This is the most important wine of the estate, a serious red vinified to reflect its capacity to age. The grapes are harvested at a point of slight surmaturit?? which captures the profound scents and flavors of the surrounding hillside garrigue. The cuvaison continues for at least a month; then, the wine is racked into tank for aging. The wine is bottled twenty to twenty-four months after harvest. As the wine ages in bottle, it develops enticing notes of juniper, rosemary and thyme as well as the savory flavors of wild berries and a hint of the "animal" all in all, one of the more compelling values in all of France.

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.

Crafted from 20+ year old vines of Sauvignon Blanc in the village of Bue, but also extending into Sancerre, Amigny, Crezancy, and Montigny. Impeccably focused with laser-like acidity. Bright citrus fruit mingles with notes of wet stone and minerals. The wine dances on the palate with grace and elegance. Another perfect example of Sancerre from Sylvain Bailly.

Organic

A lovely blend of 40% Grenache, 35% Cinsault, 10% Syrah, Tibouren, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Light, vivid orange. Mineral-accented red berry and pit fruit aromas are complemented by a subtle floral top note. Silky and energetic, offering fresh strawberry, tangerine and nectarine flavors that deepen with air. Shows sharp delineation and very good persistence on the finish.

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.

A lean dry expression of Alsatian Pinot Blanc.

#69 On The Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines Of 2024!

91 points Wine Spectator
A rich version, bordering on creamy, this peach-, apple- and stone-inflected white is complex and long, with fine balance and a long aftertaste that resonates with fruit and mineral notes. Drink now.

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.

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.

Cremant d’Alsace Brut CATTIN is a dry and fruity sparkling wine with delicate bubbles. It’s the perfect drink for celebrations!

Appearance: bright pale gold; fine bubbles.
Nose: fresh; green apple and white flowers.
Palate: fresh and dry palate; lively acidity balanced with fruitiness of green apple and lemon; fine and creamy bubbles.

A single-vineyard wine made by the winemaking team of Margaux estate Ch??teau Siran, this wine has structure, dense tannins and layer upon layer of black fruits. 2019 was an excellent vintage in Bordeaux.

80% Merlot, 10.5% Petit Verdot, and 9.5% Cabernet Sauvignon. From an eleven hectare single-vineyard plot on the Margaux border. 25 year-old vines planted in a sandy gravel subsoil with clay topsoil. Fermented in stainless steel and aged for twelve months in French oak, with two rackings.

"This outstanding property in Labarde in the southern part of the Margaux appellation is making consistently delicious, fragrant, deeply colored wines that are in quality on a par with the best Grands Bourgeois Exceptionnels." - Robert Parker, Bordeaux: The Definitive Guide For The Wines Produced Since 1961

Chateau Siran is a highly regarded Bordeaux producer vinifying wine in Margaux. We have had a vintage or two of their Margaux over the years, but we didn?????t know they produce a second wine named Saint Jaques De Siran. And it is this wine that recently knocked our socks off while tasting through an assortment of French wines. Saint Jacques de Siran is a throwback to the Bordeaux of yesteryear with its oak-influenced characteristics. This is not a new-aged, acid-driven Bordeaux all about upfront juicy fruit. No, this has all those classic notes that made Bordeaux popular in the first place, like cedar, saddle leather, tobacco leaf, and dried fruits. I had a flashback while tasting this that it was the early 2000s and I had Bordeau from the nineties in my glass!

Chateau Siran has long been recognized as one of the top estates in Margaux. The property has been in the Miailhe family for six generations????? a total of 160 years. Today, the property covers 88 hectares, with 38 hectares planted to vines. The other fifty hectares are left as woods and meadows, for their beauty and to promote biodiversity, a priority of the Siran team.

The majority of Chateau Siran?????s vines are planted in the commune of Margaux, but they also have a very special 11 hectare parcel on the border, which is classified as Bordeaux Superieur and bottled as ?????Saint-Jacques de Siran?????. The terroir here has clay topsoil over the famous Bordeaux sandy gravel subsoil. The vines are planted at a density of 5,000 vines per hectare and average 25 years old. The Miailhe family has practiced sustainable agriculture since 2000 and the vineyards have been certified sustainable, HVE3 since 2018. Only organic fertilizers are used and they work with grass cover and plowing to control weeds

One of Southern France's great values year in year out. A typical Méditerranéen blend : 40% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 30% Carignan. A soft approachable style that is driven by more earthy elements than a ripe fruitiness. Fermented in stainless steel giving the wine a freshness that is hard to deny.

Dry