Producer: Dehours et Fils
The Dehours Champagne Brut Grande Reserve is the result of an assemblage of Meunier, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with a great percentage of vin de rèserve, fermented according to Solera methods, embraced by Jerome in 1998.
Producer: Gerard Perseval
Gérard Perseval combines his extensive knowledge of biodynamic viticulture and his profound respect for nature to create structured and complex wines, treasures in bottles capable of exciting the senses.
Producer: Jacquesson
The NV Extra-Brut Cuvée No. 744 is soft, open-knit and caressing. The natural radiance of the vintage comes through in the wine's ample, creamy feel. Apricot, spice, dried flowers, hazelnut and lightly honeyed notes are all beautifully laced together.
Producer: Jacquesson
For the 2018 harvest in Aÿ, Dizy, Hautvillers (68%), Avize and Oiry (32%), the previous winter was exceptionally rainy, this was followed by a mild, stormy spring. The weather changed from June onwards, becoming fine and dry, resulting in a particularly early harvest: we started picking on 30 August and finished on 11 September. The vines were in perfect...
Producer: Jacquesson
NV Extra-Brut Cuvée No. 743 (2015 base) is soft, open-knit and caressing. The natural radiance of 2015 comes through in the wine's ample, creamy feel. Apricot, spice, dried flowers, hazelnut and lightly honeyed notes are all beautifully laced together.
Producer: Bouquin Dupont Fils
A wonderful champagne, 100% Chardonnay of Avize from vineyards more than 60 years old. A base of citrus fruit melted with the scent, and taste, of a custard where there are also two drops of lemon juice. Delicious and enjoyable.
Producer: Jacquesson
2017, the harvest from Ay, Dizy, Hautvillers (66%) Avize and Oiry (34%). Winter and Spring were exceptionally dry; the beginning of Spring was mild but, in April, destructive frosts ravaged the vineyards, especially in the Côte des Blancs. Temperatures then rose and the weather was good until July. The end of the growing season was hot but very wet. The...
Producer: Jacquesson
2019. Winter was mild and dry. Spring frost struck three times and mainly caused damage to our Chardonnay vines, hence the predominance of the Pinots in this cuvee. Summer was dry with heatwaves that caused sunburn. We harvested a very high-quality crop with moderate yields from 12th to 22nd September. The wines are structured, balanced, long and complex....
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The 1999 Chateau Margaux is another overlooked vintage that transcends the growing season. This example, which is from an ex-château magnum, is delightful. It offers a slightly more fruit-driven, heartier bouquet than you would presuppose from a supposed mediocre season. Black fruit is laced with graphite and clove and blossoms with aeration while maintaining superb delineation. The palate is still youthful with seamlessly integrated oak, fine tannins and gorgeous black fruit tinged with tobacco and smoke.
Producer: Pauillac
The 1989 Haut-Bages Liberal opens up nicely in the glass, with an intriguing combination of, juicy red-fleshed fruit underpinned by distinctly stony, chalky notes that give the wine much of its energy.
Producer: St Emilion
The 2016 Ausone was mightily impressive from barrel. Bottled in July 2018, it has a very intense bouquet of black cherries, cassis, cedar and light pencil box aromas emanating from the 50% Cabernet Franc. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, filigreed tannin that belies the density and structure of this Ausone.
Producer: St Emilion
The 2018 Tauzinat |'Hermitage has quite a refined and harmonious bouquet of blackberry, boysenberry, melted tar and light incense aromas. I appreciate the way it unfolds. The palate is medium-bodied with supple yet quite firm tannins, but what I really love about this is the cashmere finish that has a spring in its step.
Producer: Pauillac
The 2011 Latour is well-defined on the nose with blackberry, bilberry, cedar, hoisin and a touch of mint. There is impressive intensity here, regal and convincing. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins. There is a solid backbone to this wine, plenty of freshness, quite powerful towards the finish with superb persistence. Wonderful.
Producer: St Emilion
Owned by the Castéja family, Trottevieille has one parcel of some of the oldest vines in St.-Emilion. Dense purple, the 2005 has beautiful blueberry, plum and blackcurrant fruit, with an attractive underlying minerality.
Producer: Margaux
The 1999 Chateau Palmer has a sumptuous bouquet of mulberry, fresh dates and sloes. It is certainly an excellent wine that every wine lover should have in his cellar.
Producer: Pessac Leognan
Laville Haut-Brion is arguably the greatest dry white wine in Bordeaux. Aromatically complex on the nose and almost lusciously rich on the palate, with strong mineral overtones, and with a finish to die for.
Producer: St Julien
The 2009 Ducru-Beaucaillou has a killer bouquet with wonderful definition: blackberry, wild hedgerow, minerals and touches of pressed flower. This has just lost some of its puppy fat in recent years. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannin, taut and quite linear, lightly spiced with a firm grip but plenty of elegance towards the finish. This is...
Producer: St Emilion
The 2016 Angélus has an intense, powerful bouquet with copious black cherries, boysenberry, orange pith and iodine scents that threaten to overwhelm the senses. The medium-bodied palate offers supple tannins, a fine bead of acidity, a dash of black pepper and impressive detail and persistence on the finish.
Producer: St Emilion
The 2018 Tauzinat |'Hermitage has quite a refined and harmonious bouquet of blackberry, boysenberry, melted tar and light incense aromas. I appreciate the way it unfolds. The palate is medium-bodied with supple yet quite firm tannins, but what I really love about this is the cashmere finish that has a spring in its step.
Producer: St Emilion
The 2008 Ausone has a really showstopping bouquet, to wit, one of the most seductive you will find in 2008: pure red cherries, crushed strawberry and vanilla pod scents, later rose petal and an almost honeyed aroma. The palate is medium-bodied with sensual, ripe tannin that feel lavish, luxuriant.
Producer: St Estephe
The 2017 Montrose is a very pretty, polished wine that speaks much more to finesse than power. Expressive floral and spices notes add an attractive inner sweetness to a Montrose that in 2017 leans more into the red fruit spectrum. Gracious yet deep, with terrific overall balance, the 2017 Montrose is a total winner.
Producer: St Emilion
A wine of sublime elegance and finesse, the 2017 Cheval Blanc is endowed with tremendous energy, precision and cut. Red fruit, mint, sage, blood orange, star anise and exotic spice notes abound in a mid-weight, finely cut Cheval that dazzles with its energy.
Producer: Pauillac
When I tasted the 2018 Pontet-Canet in barrel I described it as a "freak of nature." The 2018 is more than that, it is a freak of nature. Made from yields of just ten hectoliters per hectare, the 2018 possesses off the charts richness, phenomenal balance and head-spinning intensity. Put in another way, if Lalou Bize-Leroy made Bordeaux, it would taste...
Producer: St Emilion
Château La Gaffelière is one of the oldest properties in the appellation, and is one of Saint Emilion's great classics. The wine releases intense aromas of blackcurrants, leather and wood. On the palate, it reveals fine concentration with long, elegant tannins.
Producer: St Estephe
The 2017 Cos D'Estournel a nose that bursts forth with blackberry, raspberry coulis, crushed stone, iodine and pressed iris petal. The palate is medium-bodied with supple black fruit laced with black truffle and graphite.
The 1999 Chateau Margaux is another overlooked vintage that transcends the growing season. This example, which is from an ex-château magnum, is delightful. It offers a slightly more fruit-driven, heartier bouquet than you would presuppose from a supposed mediocre season. Black fruit is laced with graphite and clove and blossoms with aeration while maintaining superb delineation. The palate is still youthful with seamlessly integrated oak, fine tannins and gorgeous black fruit tinged with tobacco and smoke.
