France
France
Domaine de la Bégude 2019 L’Irréductible Bandol Rosé
French Rosé
An intense colour accompanies generous aromatic notes and fresh liveliness. The rosé comes from forty-year-old vines on ferruginous sandstone soils. Hand-picked berries are sorted, macerated for several hours and slowly pressed, then fermented with indigenous yeasts. Two months on fine lees with regular bâtonnage complete the cellar work, and the vineyards are farmed under certified organic status.
Domaine Zind-Humbrecht 2020 Roche Calcaire Pinot Gris
French White
Citrus, peach, nectarine and quince sit with toasted and earthy notes. The wine has a delicate profile, moderate weight and crisp acidity, especially at the finish. Hand-harvested Pinot Gris spends twelve months on its lees. The dry style is certified organic and biodynamic, and the fruit comes from limestone-rich vineyards around Gueberschwihr and Wintzenheim in Alsace.
Pascal Jolivet 2024 Blanc Fumé Pouilly-Fumé Sauvignon Blanc
French White
This dry, medium-bodied Sauvignon Blanc is fruity, complex, mineral and rich. The vineyard blend comprises fifty percent limestone, thirty percent flint and twenty percent clay-limestone from Tracy-sur-Loire and Boisgibault. Grapes are sorted when the harvest arrives, and the cellar uses gravity during winemaking. The finished wine carries 12.5 percent alcohol, and the house describes its approach as entirely natural vinification.
Château de Béru 2017 Montserre Chablis
French White
A deep, creamy nose sits above a round, juicy profile with freshness, salinity and considerable length. The elevated parcel contains fossilized limestone and Kimmeridgian rock. Seventy-five percent of the wine is raised in barrel, with the remainder in tank, and the bottling is made without added sulphur. The Chardonnay vineyards are farmed organically and biodynamically, and the finished wine is unfined and unfiltered.
Pascal Clément 2021 Bourgogne Chardonnay
French White
Flowers and heather honey sit with a creamy, buttery sensation, nuts, spices and white stone fruit. Chardonnay grapes are pressed as whole bunches, and the wine spends ten months in oak barrels that have been used between one and three times. The finished wine carries 12.7 percent alcohol in a cork-finished bottle. The family's Burgundy roots date to the mid-twentieth century, while its winemaking experience spans more than twenty years.
Clos des Centenaires 2023 Grenache Vieilles Vignes
French Red
Cooked raspberry and sour-cherry notes sit with black pepper. The tannins are supple, and roasted hazelnut appears in the finish. The Grenache fruit comes from old vines in Costières de Nîmes. Fermentation takes place in concrete, followed by ageing in used four-hundred-litre oak barrels. The vineyard has rounded Villafranchian stones and lies near the Mediterranean.
Domaine du Couvent 2020 Les Jumelles Bourgogne Pinot Noir
French Red
The two adjacent Pinot Noir vineyard parcels located in Gevrey-Chambertin are named Grands Champs and Prunier. Together they cover one third of a hectare, with each parcel equal in area and similarly planted. Their clay-rich soils are associated with roundness, structure and power. Average production from the two parcels is seven Burgundy barrels per harvest.
Domaine Séguinot-Bordet 2023 Chablis Premier Cru Fourchaume
French White
Mint, quinine, lemon rind and brine appear with a light oak note. The middleweight palate has a stony character, followed by a balanced, clean and dry finish with length and complexity. Honeysuckle, linden and crushed stone also add further detail. The wine is Chardonnay from estate vines in the Fourchaume sector known as L'Homme Mort.
Domaine Garnier & Fils 2018 Chablis Premier Cru Mont de Milieu
French White
Water-flower fragrances include lily, water lily and arum. The palate is sapid, with a lasting iodine-like finish. Chardonnay from thirty-five-year-old vines is matured in six-hundred-litre French-oak barrels, then blended with thirty percent wine aged in stainless steel. The subsoil contains fossilized oyster shells, and the wine has a white-gold colour. Yellow-fruit and citrus flavours accompany lively freshness and a dense profile.
Domaine de la Pépière 2015 Clos des Briords Muscadet Magnum 1.5 L
French White
Lime, pear, lemon and fresh flowers accompany a mineral profile. Crisp fruit, balance and restraint are also present. The Melon de Bourgogne vines in the Clos des Briords parcel were more than eighty years old at the time of release. Greater old-vine concentration sits within a youthful profile, alongside the same fruit and mineral details.
Simonnet-Febvre 2020 Irancy Paradis Pinot Noir
French Red
Intense violet colour accompanies berries and blackberries. Present, melted tannins give the wine power and length, with roundness and firmness in balance. Pinot Noir grows on limestone marl in a south- to southwest-facing amphitheatre protected from northerly winds. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel, followed by eighteen months of ageing divided between eighty-five percent stainless steel and fifteen percent oak.
Domaine Roland Lavantureux 2022 Chablis Vieilles Vignes
French White
Three parcels in Lignorelles, planted with vines roughly fifty to sixty years old, contribute to this Chablis. Forty percent is raised in barrels of mixed sizes, with no new oak. Yellow citrus and honey appear in a deep profile. The wine is cool, direct and energetic, with intensity at the finish and a light creamy accent from barrel ageing.
Domaine de l’Ecu 2017 Ange Pinot Noir
French Red
Pinot Noir is harvested by hand, with half the fruit destemmed. Native fermentation takes place in stainless steel, with pumpovers during the first seven or eight days, followed by pneumatic pressing and twelve months in amphora. Bottling is unfined and unfiltered. Ripe black fruit, blackberry, violet and delicate spice accompany a full-bodied profile that combines power with delicacy.
Chanterêves 2022 Bourgogne Blanc
French White
White peach, apple and citrus form the flavour profile of this Chardonnay. The certified-Organic white is made in Burgundy with older barrels and carries twelve and a half percent alcohol. The domaine's white wines ferment spontaneously with indigenous yeasts, spend twelve months in used oak barrels ranging from 228 to 600 litres, and continue in stainless steel without filtration or fining.
Domaine Pinson 2015 Chablis Premier Cru Vaillons
French White
The estate's 0.20-hectare left-bank parcel sits at the top of the slope in Les Chatains. Its soils are less Kimmeridgian and more Portlandian. Vinification takes place in tank and maturation in old barrels. The white wine is fruity, round and charming. Oak is used for density and micro-oxidation rather than wood flavour, and the estate harvests all of its vineyards by hand.
Domaine Fumey-Chatelain 2023 Arbois Chardonnay
French White
Yellow fruit, white flowers and anise appear in a mineral, fresh and elegant profile. The vines grow on clay and limestone, with plantings from the nineteen-fifties and the twenty-tens. The wine is made entirely from Chardonnay. Fermentation is spontaneous with native yeasts in barrels, while maturation lasts twelve months in barrel. This white wine comes from the Jura region of France.
Lou Dumont 2023 Bourgogne Blanc
French White
Lemon zest, ripe pear, white peach, white blossom, hazelnut and crushed limestone accompany crisp citrus and subtle creaminess. Bright acidity and a saline finish add further detail. Made entirely from Chardonnay, the wine ferments with indigenous yeasts and matures on fine lees, mainly in older French oak. Sulphur additions are minimal, and the wine is made without bâtonnage.
Matthieu Barret 2022 Pas Calé Pinot Noir
French Red
Fresh rose and violet accompany smoked bacon, cocoa, mint, blueberry and clove. The red wine is structured, rich and elongated, with young tannins. Pinot Noir comes from thirty-five-year-old vines rooted in Jurassic clay-limestone. Grapes are hand-harvested, then undergo whole-cluster carbonic maceration and a three-week maceration. The wine matures for eight months in glass vessels and is bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Bénédicte & Stéphane Tissot 2023 Arbois Chardonnay Patchwork
French White
Grilled sesame, honey, lemon confit, mineral notes and ripe apple accompany a dry, medium-bodied wine with dominant acidity, generous mouthfeel and balanced wood. White blossom, peach, white pepper and toast add further detail. The Chardonnay comes from several smaller Jura parcels on mixed soils. Fermentation and maturation take place in barrel, and the alcohol level is thirteen and a half percent.
Domaine Séguinot-Bordet 2024 Chablis Premier Cru Vaillons
French White
Pale yellow-gold colour with green reflections accompanies flowers, peach, pear and melon. The Chardonnay is elegant and fresh. White citrus, crushed stone, saline lift and a silken texture add further character. Cool fermentation and a short period on lees are used for this Premier Cru wine from Chablis. The wine comes from the Vaillons Premier Cru vineyard.
Domaine Claude Riffault 2020 Sancerre Rouge La Noue
French Red
Garrigue, wormwood, violet, raspberry and blueberry accompany a silky texture, with chalky and lightly stemmy character. Fruit cake and tea leaf add further detail. Made entirely from Pinot Noir with whole bunches, the red comes from Sancerre in the Loire Valley. The organically farmed wine has a deep ruby colour, red-fruit detail, balance and a persistent finish.
Domaine Lucien Crochet 2022 Sancerre Les Calcaires
French White
Golden-yellow colour accompanies chalk, pale stone fruit, lemongrass and mild toast. The wine has volume, crisp acidity and mild extract. Savoury fruit and a creamy texture accompany a long, vigorous finish. Made entirely from Sauvignon Blanc, it draws fruit from chalky, south-facing parcels in Sancerre. Mineral and saline details are also present, and the fruit comes from calcareous soils in Bué.
Famille Hugel 2009 Riesling Jubilee
French White
Straw-yellow colour accompanies ripe, bright fruit with mint, herbs and mineral-earthy notes. The wine has a soft aromatic character, a touch of toast and refreshing herbal flavour, together with minerality and a long, complex finish. Riesling comes from thirty-year-old vines in the Schoenenbourg vineyard at Riquewihr, where marl and clay lie over gypsum-rich subsoil. Alcohol is 13.55 percent.
Domaine de Marcoux 2014 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc
French White
Melon, cured ham and citrus accompany salty mineral notes in this medium-bodied, textured white. The wine also shows lively citrus, floral and herb details with lime, green apple and tangerine. Roussanne and Bourboulenc are gently pressed. Most of the wine remains in stainless steel on fine lees, while a small portion of Roussanne matures in barrel.
Domaine Fumey-Chatelain 2022 Arbois Chardonnay
French White
Yellow-fleshed fruit, white flowers and anise sit alongside minerality, tension and freshness. Chardonnay grows on clay-limestone soil. Fermentation and maturation both take place in barrel for a year and a half, using indigenous yeasts. The vineyard site is in Montigny-lès-Arsures, within France's Jura region. The producer places this Chardonnay among its white wines known as vins ouillés.
Domaine de l’Enclos 2019 Chablis Premier Cru Vau de Vey
French White
Lemon and lime zest, pear skin and oyster-shell notes accompany a ripe profile with fine, delicate structure, length and freshness. This Chardonnay comes from an east-facing Chablis Premier Cru slope planted in the late nineteen-seventies. The vineyard is farmed organically. Vinification uses native yeasts, with maturation divided between tanks and barrels before light filtration and bottling.
Domaine de la Mordorée 2021 La Dame Voyageuse Châteauneuf-du-Pape
French Red
Cherry, raspberry and strawberry shape this Grenache-led Rhône red. The wine is medium- to full-bodied, taut and crisp, with silky tannins at the finish. Grenache accounts for 90% of the blend. It comes from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, an appellation in the Rhône region of southern France. Its fruit profile is somewhat redder than usual for this cuvée.
Piper-Heidsieck NV Cuvée Brut Pride Edition Champagne
French Sparkling
Pear, white peach, citrus and orange blossom accompany toasted bread, fresh almonds and mint. The Champagne wine combines a crisp sensation with creamy texture, concentration and salinity. Its blend is 50% Pinot Noir, 30% Pinot Meunier and 20% Chardonnay, drawn from more than one hundred Champagne crus. The house classifies the cuvée as multi-vintage Brut.
Domaine Desvignes 2021 Givry Rouge
French Red
Dark berries, clove and exotic spice appear in this Pinot Noir from Burgundy. The wine is medium- to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with powdery tannins and succulent acidity. Produced in Givry within Burgundy's Côte Chalonnaise, this red draws on several village parcels with clay-limestone soils. The overall profile is deeper and brooding, with concentrated character.
Elian Da Ros 2022 Coucou Blanc
French White
Floral, taut and enveloping, with grapefruit and stone-fruit notes. The blend combines Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Sémillon. Vines are farmed biodynamically on clay and gravel above blue marl. Cellar details include slow pressing, cold settling, fermentation and ageing in foudres and concrete. The wine comes from the Côtes du Marmandais in the southwest of France.