White Wine

Organic

Organic

95 points Wine Advocate
The 2023 La Llorona is the fourth vintage of this Godello from a 38-year-old vineyard on sandy soils in the hamlet of Pieros, an elevated zone of the valley at some 500 meters above sea level. It's very sharp—the yields for Godello were very low in 2023, and the wines are concentrated; the grapes ripened early but kept a lot of acidity and salinity. It fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in barrels of different sizes, from 225 to 1,000 liters for 10 months. This only underwent partial malolactic and was bottled at 13.5% alcohol with a pH of 2.77 (!) and 6.2 grams of acidity. It is vibrant, with electricity, a fine thread and a super long and vibrant finish. It made me think of a Savagnin from Jura. 7,351 bottles produced. Drink: 2025-2033.

The 2022 is just a touch sweet with 5.7g/L residual sugar and a little bit of malic acid left too. Weather was a bit extreme in 2022, but the Gewurz came in at the end of August before the heat wave or the rains. They are really happy with Rick's! Acid is present, but the wine is not overly lean or austere, the fruit is savory and the aromatics are a little more pronounced than the last few vintages. The end result is still a relatively subtle, but distinctly aromatic wine that is true to the variety.

So you hear it bandied about: ??????There are thousands of native grape varieties in Italy!?????? That??????s true, but a lot of them are merely cute. The most serious native variety Timorasso deserves another category (and it??????s white to boot). It??????s utterly unique, complex, capable of aging, and transparent to where it??????s grown. Walter Massa is the contadino straordinario who brought the grape back to life in the early 1980s. He remains the leading producer and go-to grower for Timorasso.

For Timorasso as a variety: It??????s native and unique to the Colli Tortonesi (southeast Piemonte). Before 1980s, most growers were ripping out Timorasso and planting Cortese, as the latter produces more and Gavi was all the rage, so they could sell the grapes easily. Timorasso is one of those grapes (unlike, say, Cortese) that really is delicious and refreshing to eat right off the vine, due to its high sugar content and acidity. When Timorasso is vinified, you get lots of complexity and structure (from alcohol and from tannins ?????? skin contact and thick skins!). Yet there??????s plenty of acidity to keep things fresh and a definite counterpoint of what we call ??????honeyed minerality.?????? When Timorasso is young, it can be really tight. As it ages, it loses some of its baby fat, and riesling-ish, petrol-like notes emerge. As far as terroir, Walter vinifies each vineyard separately (or tries to if he has enough tanks) and bottles a small portion of three of the vineyards separately.

Native yeasts. Maceration with skins 48-60 hours. Fermentation 18-22??C. Batonnage. Light filtration. Minimum six months bottle aging before release.

Derthona is the ancient name for Tortona, the town in southeast Piemonte after which the appellation Colli Tortonesi (Tortona Hills) is named.

Organic

Organic / Biodynamic

95 points Vinous
The 2022 Le Mont Demi-Sec is less fruity and charming than, say, Clos du Bourg; its tension and line come from its flinty terroir. Despite its 21g/L residual sugar, it retains a sense of tautness without being totally linear. Radish and pear notes linger on the long finish. This is grown-up demi-sec.

94 points Wine Spectator
This has the structure and bitter-edged minerality to carry its weight and ripeness, with beeswax and white tea notes that overlay crunchy orchard fruit and pink grapefruit with peppery spice notes woven in. A lot of savory detail and acidity makes this superbalanced and very food-friendly. Drink now through 2035.

91 points Vinous
The 2021 Chardonnay (Sonoma Coast) is a gorgeous appellation-level wine. Dried citrus peel, chamomile, white pepper and crushed rocks abound. The 2021 is a classic Red Car Chardonnay built on nervy tension.

Organic / Natural / Orange Wine

A co-ferment of Trebbiano 40%, Sauvignon Blanc 21%, Marsanne 19%, Chardonnay 10%, Colombard 6%, Viognier 4%. Skin contact. 12% abv. This is a serious medium-bodied orange wine that somehow remains delicate on the palate. Tangerine and marmalade notes up front with herbaceousness and tension on the finish.

Organic / Biodynamic

92+ points Wine Advocate
More introverted and shy in comparison to Haut-Lieu, the 2024 Vouvray Clos du Bourg Sec wafts from the glass with aromas of grapefruit, confit citrus, lime and spring flowers. Medium- to full-bodied, dense and phenolic, it's slightly austere with a tannic mid-palate that leads to a gently bitter finish. This refined yet structured wine needs some time in the cellar to chill out. Residual sugar: eight grams per liter.

Organic

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.

A classic expression of California Merlot.

Rich, viscous, nervy, and wonderfully lemony, Domaine Tempier has created a southern masterpiece. A freshly grilled fish and a hot summer day know no better companion.
Blend: 60% Clairette, 18% Ugni Blanc, 19% Bourboulenc, 3% Marsanne

This Riesling opens with a vibrant nose of vineyard peaches, citrus, ripe Elstar apple, and hints of fresh pineapple, revealing a dense, mineral-driven character. Delicate floral notes and a subtle hint of anise lend an exotic touch. The palate is spicy and refreshing, balanced by juicy peach, pineapple, and herbal notes, with acidity and sweetness in harmony. Its mineral backbone and long, complex finish capture the essence of the Wrttemberg terroir, offering a Riesling that is as refreshing as it is nuanced.

The Dautel estate, though relatively unknown in the United States, is one of Wrttembergs leading producers. The familys winemaking legacy stretches back 500 years, yet Ernst Dautel, in the 1970s, was the first of his family to attend Geisenheim, Germany's premier winemaking school. Ernst left the local cooperative, embracing estate bottling to pursue quality-focused wine production. His son, Christian, continued this legacy, drawing on experience from iconic wine regions in France, Australia, and South Africa. Christian now oversees the estate, farming Grand and Premier Cru sites across varied soils, from marl to rare Schilfsandstein. With deep respect for his familys work, Christian crafts wines that express the unique characteristics of each vineyard while honoring the Riesling grape's inherent flavors.

Organic / Natural

An intriguing white from Viognier and Roussanne. The vines are a minimum of 10 years old. The wine is directly pressed. Maturing is done on fine lees, and then bottled without being filtered. The total SO2 is less than 25mg/l when bottled

97 points Wine Advocate
The 2015 Albarino Selección de Añada is nothing short of phenomenal. For some reason, I hadn't tasted the young 2015 Albarino at the time it was released. It comes from the Los Bancales vineyard planted some 50 years ago and fermented with indigenous yeasts but without malolactic fermentation. It has a bright, almost fluorescent color and a complex, subtle and nuanced, elegant and expressive nose, with notes of sea shells and sea breeze, grass and white flowers. It's very clean, and the palate shows great balance and even feels a bit young. It has remarkable acidity and freshness (seven grams of tartaric acid) with good ripeness and 13% alcohol. This matured in tank with lees for over 30 months and was bottled in June 2024. It feels more serious and less exotic than earlier vintages. 18,000 bottles produced. This is the finest vintage that I can remember. Bravo!

91 points James Suckling
A sleek, light-bodied sauvignon blanc with plenty of exotic flower and passion-fruit aromas, but only a hint of green vegetal aromas (mostly fine beans). Bright but polished acidity. The touch of creaminess at the finish completes a very satisfying composition.

Eins Zwei Dry is the Riesling that has always provided an elevated entry point into the Leitz world of wine. This wine is a cross section of various Rheingau loess and clay soils with an appealing, dry character. The wine is characterized by effusive aromatics and mineral structure, though supple with fruit and cool lees enrichment. - Winery

Organic / Biodynamic

We wanted to expand the effort beyond Chandon de Briailles, so came to be the Maison de Nicolay project. We purchase whole grapes and un-fermented grape juice from neighboring vineyards who are certified biodynamic or in the process. After inspecting the grapes during veraison and harvest, we make a selection that can support elevage without added sulphur or yeasts- wines from pure grape must. The grapes ferment and mature in our Savigny Les Beaune cellar (a very old cave), without pumpover, filtration, or sulfur and are bottled by hand via the chevre a deux becs method. In this way we are able to preserve the wine's freshness and allow the terroir to express itself clearly.

A wine which pays homage to the adventure of the Portuguese sailors that explored the world in the XV Century. The route from Europe to the Indian Ocean - known as the "Silk & Spice Route" - was pioneered by Vasco da Gama who rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1498. Flavors like nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper changed world cuisine, while silk from China became prized for its luxurious touch. An original XV century map on the label shows the Bay of Bengal, separating South and Southeast Asia, and the Portuguese coat of arms, a historical graphical element dating to 1248.

A slightly sweet red.

This blend of wines from Dao, Bairrada and Lisboa is ripe, full of black fruits and with subtle signs of the wood aging.... it is warm with its own spiciness as well as as a juicy aftertaste.

Organic / Natural / No Added Sulphur

La Lambretta 2022 is Gemma Mir??'s new wine, a unique expression of grape-ripened Muscat from Priorat. Sourced from 40-year-old vineyards at the Les Pinyanes estate, this wine is a tribute to Gemma's family memories, with subtle notes of citrus and Mediterranean aromas. Unfined, Unfiltered. 10% abv

Organic / Biodynamic

95-97 points Vinous
Pear and pineapple aromas meet fine, floral characters in the 2020 Demi-Sec Le Haut-Lieu. While this wine's edges are rounded, it is refined and elegant. It has a sense of density on the mid-palate, but it's not about weight or richness despite its demi-sec status. The wine has an intensity and a structured core reflecting the naturally low yields here. While there is 20g/L of residual sugar, a sense of freshness and underlying urgency pulls this wine through, leaving an off-dry impression. Unfinished sample.

95-96 points Wine Advocate
The 2020 Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Demi-Sec is clear, pure, subtle, deep and fresh, with highly refined chalky/sandy lemon aromas. Rich and intense yet silky textured and refined on the concentrated palate, this is a juicy, highly elegant, perfectly balanced, persistently salty and mouth-salivating Haut-Lieu with very fine tannins and a long, firm and pretty powerful but elegant and complex finish. Still more stringent than the Le Mont Demi-Sec in the beginning, but after aeration, this is not just a greatly finessed Chenin but one of the finest Haut-Lieu's I have tasted from Huet. Tasted as a tank sample in April 2021.

Organic / Natural / Orange

Chardonnay/Tocai Friulano. Radikon??????s 750ml bottlings, known informally as the ??????S?????? line, are Sasa Radikon??????s addition to his dad Stanko??????s original 500ml line: they are still ??????orange?????? wines but less intensely so due to a shorter period of skin contact and aging. Otherwise, all of the wines are made identically: the Chardonnay and Sauvignon are destemmed, crushed and co-fermented with natural yeasts in oak vat, with no temperature control and no sulfur. Maceration lasts for 10-14 days (versus 2.5-3 months for the flagship wines). After a gentle pressing, the wine is put in 6000-liter Friulian-made French oak botti for a year on its lees; it is bottled with a tiny amount of sulfur and without filtration and then aged in bottle for a year before release. Slatnik is named for a nearby village.

Organic / Biodynamic / Natural

50% Chardonnay, 50% Weißburgunder. Spontaneous fermentation in new 1200L oak barrels (called Stückfass). Aged in those same for seven months, then moved into inox tanks for four months of settling. Unfined, unfiltered, 25mg/L SO2 added. Dominik says this wine is probably the most “classical”in his lineup: you’ll see the lightest influence of the new wood, which he calls ‘a little bit of 90’s kitsch,’ with light notes of pineapple and coconut, but there’s still great tension, lovely structure, and fine acidity.

Organic / Natural / Orange

100% Pinot Grigio. Radikon's 750ml bottlings are Sasa Radikon's addition to his dad Stanko's original 500ml line: they are still "orange" wines but less intensely so due to a shorter period of skin contact and aging. Otherwise, all of the wines are made identically: the Pinot Grigio is destemmed and fermented with natural yeasts in oak vat, with no temperature control and no sulfur. Maceration lasts for 10-14 days (versus 3 months for the 500ml wines). After a gentle pressing, the wine is put in 3500-liter Slavonian oak barrels for a year and a half on its lees; it is bottled without filtration and with only a miniscule amount of sulfur. This Pinot Grigio bottling was dubbed "Sivi" starting in the 2016 vintage; it means "gray" in Slovenian, in reference to the grayish-pink color of the grape's skin

Organic

Organic

Organic / Biodynamic

92 points Wine Advocate
The white 2023 Sin Bulla was produced with Palomino (Listán, a more delicate biotype) fermented and matured for nine months in old bota, where it matured and developed a thin layer of flor that grows in the bota, which was full and never topped up, so the effect of the flor is quite subtle. It's light and fresh, easy to drink, with contained alcohol (11%) and an ethereal feeling, a spicy twist and good freshness (pH 3.3), with a chalky mouthfeel and a very tasty and salty finish.

Short maceration with skins for five hours before manual pressing. Transferred by gravity to 500L, 100-year-old botas which previously contained Manzanilla. Spontaneous fermentation.

Juan Jurado belongs to a new generation of young winemakers who see potential in the Marco de Jerez region beyond traditional fortified wines. After living away from his native Andalusia for many years (from Sitges to Australia via London), during which time he trained in the world of wine and sommellerie, he decided to return to his roots to start a project focused on authentic wines that reflect the diversity of the Jerez Region beyond Finos and Olorosos. In 2022, Jurado invested all his savings to purchase a small vineyard in the Miraflores de Sanlúcar estate, along with winemaking equipment including a press, destemmer, casks, and jars to produce his first vintage. This marked the birth of Agrícola Calcárea, a project dedicated to crafting honest wines using minimal yet sufficient intervention to showcase the unique characteristics of each vineyard through classic and ancestral varieties of the Marco region. The resulting wines are highly aromatic, featuring stone fruit, citrus, and white flower notes, with chalky and salty undertones. On the palate, they are savory and mineral, with a touch of bitterness.