Boutinot Les Côteaux Côtes du Rhône Villages 2015
Boutinot’s 2015 Les Côteaux Côtes du Rhône Villages is a cuvée of 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah assembled from cru parcels in Sablet, Séguret, and Cairanne. The nose ripples with baritone, atramentous aromas of black cherry, blackberry, black olives, saddle leather, pain grille, savory herbs, and lilacs. Medium-bodied on the palate with well-integrated tannins—menthol, Tellicherry […]
Ferraton Pere & Fils Saint-Joseph La Source Rouge 2015
Displaying classic Northern Rhône character, the Ferraton Père & Fils Saint. Joseph “La Source” 2015 is opaque quinacridone violet in the glass with an aromatic profile awash in smoky plums, blackberries, earth, sun-dried tomato, braised meat, and anise. Crafted from 100% Syrah that has been biodynamically farmed and aged concrete and new and neutral oak […]
Domaine Santa Duc Vacqueyras Les Aubes 2010
This bottle disappeared in a hurry—the 2010 Santa Duc Les Aubes is a strapping blend of 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah. Blackberry compote, black olives, smoldering embers, venison terrine, and cracked black pepper form the stratified layers of the nose. Full-bodied, earth and underbrush wash over the palate just before a vein of acidity surfaces […]
Gustave Lorentz Pinot Blanc Alsace Réserve 2016
Made from 100% Pinot Blanc sourced from vineyard parcels in the Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergheim, and grown in predominantly clay-limestone soils, the Gustave Lorentz Réserve Pinot Blanc exhibits a light and limber profile on the nose and palate. Almond cookie, lemon drop, green apple, dried mint, and wet stone. In the mouth, it’s refreshing […]
Château de Ribebon Bordeaux Supérieur 2015
Poised and polished, Château de Ribebon is a blend of 60% Merlot with 20% Cabernet Franc and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon from old vines ranging in age from 60 to 100 years—all grown on a gravelly outcrop overlooking the Dordogne River. Aromas of plums, black currants, sweet tobacco, and menthol waft from the glass. Pillowy tannins […]
Dopff & Irion Cuvée Réne Dopff Pinot Blanc 2016
Limpid pale yellow in the glass, the 2016 Dopff & Irion Cuvée Réne Dopff Pinot Blanc is awash with spritely notes of d’Anjou pear, freshly cut yellow apple, white peach, blanched almond, and spring blossoms. Round on the palate, with body and autolytic mid-tones from four months aging on the lees—subtle minerality, white pepper, and […]
Château Le Doyenné Côtes de Bordeaux 2016
Delicious for its price point, the 2016 Château Le Doyenné is composed of 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Cabernet Franc. As it evolves in the glass lifted aromas of menthol, incense, and violets swirl around darker notes of blackberry and dusky plums. It’s medium-bodied with grippy tannins at the mid-palate, and a limber […]
Jean-Luc Colombo Cape Bleue Rosé 2017
Coursing minerality takes a back seat to fruit in this Provençal pink composed of 67% Syrah and 33% Mourvèdre—wet slate, ancient marine soils, limestone, chalk, and oceanic salinity surge through the nose and salmon-hued core. What fruit there is, lilts amongst the tides, wild strawberries, melon, and a touch of white peach. It’s all too […]
Château Poitevin Médoc 2015
From Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot vines planted near the Gironde estuary, seated in purely alluvial soils—Girondine gravel and clay subsoil—the 2015 Château Poitevin drinks better on the second day, and offers up a puissant bouquet of black currant, Damson plum, earth, aged saddle leather, dark chocolate syrup, and sweet tobacco. Aged 14 months […]
Domaine des Vieilles Pierres Pouilly-Fuissé ‘Les Crays’ 2015
Crafted from old-vine Chardonnay the 2015 Jean Jacques Litaud Pouilly-Fuisse ‘Les Crays’ is the color of goldenrod, and offers plenty of olfactory charm: yellow apples, unripened pineapple, tamarind, and beautiful citrusy undertones. It’s an agile wine, with suppleness and fabulous texture followed by a back-palate infused with minerality, fleur de sel, and white grapefruit that […]