France
France
Pierre-Olivier Bonhomme 2020 Melon de Bourgogne
French White
Organically grown Melon de Bourgogne comes from the village of Oudon in the Loire and is harvested by hand. The grapes are pressed and aged for about six months in neutral 500-litre barrels. The profile is pure and balanced, with roundedness from barrel ageing and bright acidity. Melon de Bourgogne was once common in Burgundy and is the variety used for Muscadet.
Les Cortis 2020 Xylofaune
French Red
Made entirely from Mondeuse, this red wine undergoes carbonic maceration as whole clusters and ferments with indigenous yeasts. Ageing lasts twelve months in tank and 500-litre demi-muids. The six-hectare estate lies near Belley, west of the Massif des Bauges in Savoie. Its clay-limestone parcels are cultivated according to biodynamic practices. The finished wine contains 10.5 percent alcohol.
Doudet-Naudin 2022 Bourgogne Chardonnay
French White
Pale, brilliant gold in colour, this Chardonnay shows ripe fruit, quince, broom and rennet apple, with white peach, bergamot, exotic fruit and a light citrus presence. Clay and chalky marls underlie the regional Bourgogne vineyards. Grapes are harvested by hand, pressed pneumatically and vinified at controlled temperatures. The must settles in stainless-steel vats, and maturation continues in stainless steel for eight months.
Le Grappin 2023 Beaujolais-Villages
French Red
Whole clusters from fifty-year-old, gobelet-trained Gamay vines are fermented semi-carbonically in concrete for several weeks. The wine is then pressed into an oak vat for nine months of ageing before being racked and bottled without fining, filtration or added sulphur. Granite and schist underlie the Les Raisses site in Lancié, next to Fleurie. Retained carbon dioxide gives the finished wine a slight prickle, and alcohol is twelve percent.
1006 Vins de Loire 2023 Smalt Sauvignon Blanc
French White
Sauvignon Blanc parcels lie in Touraine's Controis-en-Sologne, on clay over limestone under a temperate climate with oceanic influence. The vines are about thirty years old. Grapes are hand-harvested, slowly pressed and fermented spontaneously. Maturation takes place in a tank. The wine is fresh and fruit-driven, with exotic, floral and citrus aromas and a rounded palate.
Laurent Saillard 2022 En Famille
French Red
Côt and a small portion of Pinot Noir form this Loire red blend. Blueberry and rose appear in a pure, supple profile with a compelling fragrance. The colour is dark without corresponding weight, and the wine contains 11.5 percent alcohol. Côt, another name for Malbec, is the principal grape in the blend, with Pinot Noir used in a smaller amount.
Arnaud Lambert 2023 Les Parcelles Chenin Blanc
French White
Almond, Granny Smith apple, honeyed flowers and mineral notes appear in a dry, delicate profile with present acidity. The wine is made entirely from Chenin Blanc grown on tuffeau limestone with sand and clay topsoil. Natural fermentation remains below seventeen degrees Celsius. Ageing lasts six to eight months in stainless steel, followed by light filtration and the first sulphur addition at bottling.
Château Croix-Mouton 2020 Bordeaux Supérieur
French Red
Deep garnet in colour, the wine offers blackcurrant, blackberry, spice and toasted notes. The palate is medium bodied, with concentrated fruit and a soft texture. The tannins are light and integrated. It is dry and round, with red and black fruit. The wine spends three to four months on its lees, divided between barrels and tanks.
Domaine Ostertag 2023 Vieilles Vignes de Sylvaner
French White
Red apple and ginger spice meet a dry, saline profile with pear, white flowers and chalk. The vines are more than fifty-five years old and are farmed biodynamically. After harvest, the wine spends twelve months on its lees in stainless steel. It carries both organic and biodynamic certification, contains 12.5 percent alcohol, and fresh mineral character is also present.
Château Suduiraut 2010 Sauternes
French Dessert
Harvesting ran from late September to early November in five vineyard passes. The blend combines ninety percent Semillon with ten percent Sauvignon Blanc. Maturation lasts twenty months, split evenly between new barrels and barrels used for one previous wine. The finished wine has fourteen percent alcohol, 145 grams per litre of residual sugar and 3.6 grams per litre of total acidity.
Noëlla Morantin 2018 Marie Rose Pét-Nat
French Sparkling
Cabernet Sauvignon is pressed directly, then fermented in fiberglass before bottling with twenty-two grams of sugar. A secondary fermentation in bottle creates the natural carbonation. The wine spends twenty-four months sur lattes before disgorgement and is bottled without added sulphur, fining or filtration. The organically certified vines grow on clay, flint and limestone soils, and the wine is classified as Vin de France.
Domaine Gauby 2012 Les Calcinaires Blanc Côtes Catalanes
French White
Grapefruit and plum appear with orange blossom, honeysuckle, nutty nuances and resin. The palate is ample, and the finish is persistent, fresh and mineral. The blend contains Chardonnay, Maccabeu, Muscat and Vermentino. Fruit was harvested by hand in boxes and sorted at the cellar. Whole clusters were gently pressed, indigenous yeasts were used without additions, and maturation lasted seven months in stainless steel and wood.
Yannick Alléno & Michel Chapoutier 2023 Guer-Van Crozes-Hermitage
French Red
Smoked lard and speck appear with freshness in this Syrah. The structure is tight and velvety. The grapes were fully destemmed, and maceration lasted four weeks in concrete vats with regular pump-overs. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentations were carried out with indigenous flora in barrels. Maturation lasted twelve months in previously used barrels. The vines grow in brown and colluvial soils derived from metamorphosed granite.
Domaine La Paleine 2024 Saumur Blanc
French White
Apple, pear, white flowers and honey appear in a dry, medium-bodied Chenin with present acidity and a delicate texture. The wine has no oak character and contains less than 1.2 grams of residual sugar per litre. It carries Organic and Biodynamic classifications. The grapes are hand harvested, and fermentation uses indigenous yeasts in stainless steel; maturation lasts twelve months in stainless steel.
Comtesse de Malet Roquefort 2022 Bordeaux Rouge
French Red
Ripe red fruit and subtle spice accompany a supple palate, fine tannins and freshness. The blend is ninety percent Merlot and ten percent Cabernet Franc. Grapes are selected rigorously, with most sourced from family properties. The vines grow in sandy clay soils. The wine honours Countess Isabeau, the first Malet Roquefort owner of Château La Gaffelière in 1705.
Clos du Tue-Boeuf 2019 La Guerrerie Touraine
French Red
Ripe redcurrant, blackcurrant and blackberry appear with violet and spice. The palate is ample, dense and fruity, with fully integrated tannins. This is a fresh, fruit-driven red made without added sulphur. The wine carries fourteen percent alcohol and comes from Touraine in the Loire Valley. The family estate works sixteen hectares across Touraine and Cheverny on flinty clay over chalk.
Domaine Buronfosse 2020 Marcus Térentius Varro Chardonnay
French White
Chardonnay comes from a 0.3-hectare vineyard on a limestone plateau at the base of Rotalier Mountain in Jura. The vines grow in a cool mountain setting. Maturation lasts about nine months in neutral barrels. The estate's white wines are kept topped up rather than aged oxidatively, and the growers favour a fresh style. The property covers four hectares in Rotalier.
Roland Lavantureux 2022 Chablis
French White
Pear and lemon appear with a touch of wet walnut. The palate has concentration, mid-palate weight and salty preserved-lemon freshness, with a bright finish. Chardonnay comes from a five-hectare parcel in Lignorelles. The estate vinifies each parcel separately, and this wine receives twenty-five percent barrel élevage. The profile is long and direct, and alcohol is 12.5 percent.
Domaine Delaporte 2022 Sancerre Chavignol Blanc
French White
Light gold colour with green highlights accompanies boxwood, rhubarb, blackcurrant, kiwi, white flowers, white fruit and citrus. The palate is soft and rounded, with bright freshness and mineral notes. Balance and a long finish are also present. Sauvignon Blanc accounts for the entire wine. The grapes were harvested by hand, and the wine records thirteen percent alcohol under the Sancerre appellation.
Autour de l’Anne 2023 Los Annegeles
French White
Vermentino and Colombard are grown on limestone and red-clay soils in a one-hectare vineyard, whose vines average twenty years of age. The grapes are harvested by hand and ferment spontaneously in concrete tanks with indigenous yeasts. Ageing continues in tank, without fining, filtration or added sulphur. Cantaloupe, citrus, soft texture and energy define this biodynamically farmed white blend.
Domaine Rolet Crémant du Jura Blanc Brut NV
French Sparkling
Chardonnay makes up half the blend, with Savagnin and a combined portion of Pinot Noir, Trousseau and Poulsard. The grapes are harvested exclusively by hand and pressed as whole bunches. A second fermentation takes place in bottle, followed by at least twelve months on laths. Fine bubbles accompany white fruit, citrus and floral notes, with a lightly saline character and a taut finish.
Thibaud Capellaro 2021 Pierre Taillée
French Red
Syrah comes from two massale-selected vineyards just south of Condrieu, one in Saint-Joseph and one across the river. Half the grapes are destemmed and half retained as whole clusters for fermentation. The wine is pressed into 650-litre demi-muids for an eleven-month élevage. It is classified as Vin de France and records 12.5 percent alcohol.
Domaine Naudin-Ferrand 2023 Bourgogne Aligoté
French White
Aligoté comes from parcels in Magny-lès-Villers and Villers-la-Faye, on shallow, gently sloping clay-limestone soils with good sun exposure. Grapes are harvested by hand and pressed directly. Fermentation takes place in enamelled or stainless-steel tanks with indigenous yeasts, followed by full malolactic conversion and several months on the lees. The wine is lightly filtered and bottled by gravity.
La Familia Mauvinon 2024 Bordeaux Blanc
French White
Sauvignon Blanc gives a lively citrus profile, white-flower notes and a mineral line. The palate is chiselled and direct. Grapes are harvested by hand, then fermented at low temperature in stainless-steel tanks. Stéphane Defraine makes the wine. It records 12.5 percent alcohol and 62 milligrams per litre of sulphites. Production takes place outside the château.
Champagne Thiénot Brut NV
French Sparkling
Pale gold colour and plentiful small bubbles accompany green apple, citrus zest, fresh apricot and floral notes. The palate is light-bodied and balanced, with lemon acidity, ripe apple and a citrus-and-green-apple close. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier make up the non-vintage blend. The mousse is creamy and sustained. Quince is also present, and the finish is long.
Chartron et Trébuchet 2023 Chablis
French White
Bright pale yellow colour with green and gold reflections accompanies white fruit and mineral notes. The palate is balanced, and the finish has lemon flavour and freshness. Chardonnay grows on Kimmeridgian marl and limestone in northern Burgundy's Chablis appellation. Vinification takes place in stainless steel without oak, and the wine also ages on its lees. Alcohol is 12.5 percent.
Domaine de la Paleine Saumur Brut NV
French Sparkling
Chenin, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc and Grolleau Gris make up the blend in proportions of sixty, twenty, ten and ten percent. The biodynamic vineyard is Demeter-certified, with clay-limestone soil and twenty-five-year-old vines. After stainless-steel fermentation, the wine referments in bottle to produce fine bubbles. Ageing lasts eighteen to thirty-six months. Disgorgement uses no added sugar or sulphites.
Bouchard Père & Fils 2021 Bourgogne Chardonnay
French White
Pale gold colour appears with peach, pear and creamy fruit character. Chardonnay comes from clay-limestone sites across Burgundy. Ageing lasts eight months, predominantly in stainless steel with a small portion in French oak barrels. Alcohol is 12.5 percent, residual sugar is 2.2 grams per litre and total acidity is 3.73 grams per litre. Its pH is 3.35.
Domaine du Tix 2017 Cuvée Bramefan Ventoux
French Red
Ruby-purple colour with violet reflections accompanies fine wood, toast, prune, fig and macerated cherry. The bouquet is complex and deep, while the attack is highly spicy. Dusty blueberry, violet and graphite are also present. Full-bodied, the wine has firm, powdery tannins and black and blue fruit. Syrah makes up ninety-two percent of the blend, with eight percent Grenache.
Domaine Charles Sparr Crémant d’Alsace Brut NV
French Sparkling
Tart citrus, herbs and mineral notes accompany a medium-bodied, moderately fruity profile with full acidity and lift on the finish. Pinot Blanc forms the entire blend. Secondary fermentation takes place in bottle, and lees ageing lasts twelve to eighteen months. The wine is Brut, with twelve percent alcohol and 4.3 grams per litre of residual sugar.