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“Gulpable” Chianti Classico isn’t really a thing, but maybe it should be? This blend of 90% Sangiovese plus Merlot and Colorino aged in big Slavonian oak casks would be a fine example. It’s bursting with... Read More

Bouchaine releases its Chardonnays late so they have a chance to really flower in bottle. Like here, where the oak has integrated with the rich pear fruit and acids come up to keep things fresh and highly drinkable. As Suckling... Read More

Organic/Bio Lower ABV Mersault’s Vincent Boyer and Languedoc’s Emmanuel Lucas de Bar created this project to make wine together in both regions. The fruit here is from just outside of Meursault near Volnay, is fully... Read More

Organic/Bio Vincent Boyer has moved his old family estate to organic farming and now gives his wines two years elevage – one in 5-8 year-old barrel and a second in concrete egg. This wine, from sites in lower Meursault,... Read More

Organic/Bio What do Cognac makers drink for an aperitif or at lunch? Pineau des Charentes! And this is one of the very finest from Cognac's first organic estate. The wine starts with fresh, unfermented, juice from the Cognac... Read More

Just imagine taking the richest, most mouthcoating, just-pressed wine grape juice and then adding enough high-end VSOP Cognac to it to bring the alcohol up to around 17%. Then put the blend into Cognac barrels for a minimum of... Read More

Howell Mountain specialist Bravante makes tiny quantities of powerful, deep, mountain structured wines. Here roughly one-third each Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot get extra perfume from 24% Cabernet Franc and lift from 7% Malbec.... Read More

Natural winemaker Chris Brockway and importer Tim Elenteny created Brea to bring low-intervention winemaking to traditional Cabernet grapes, making something authentic (but not weird!). They crush it with this Cabernet from a... Read More

Brick & Mortar is really a California sparkling house, meaning they grow a lot of cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. When Pinot gets a bit too ripe for fizz, it’s perfect for elegant, pure, juicy still wines like this... Read More

Just what you’d hope for in $20 Prosecco, but for less! This is crisp, clear and very fresh with pretty apple and yellow pear fruit accented by notes of thyme and wild herb. The tiny bubbles give the wine a creamy feel that’s... Read More

Just what you’d hope for in $20 Prosecco, but for less! This is crisp, clear and very fresh with pretty apple and yellow pear fruit accented by notes of thyme and wild herb. The tiny bubbles give the wine a creamy feel that’s... Read More

If you love California Cab’s rich blackcurrant and blackberry fruit, dash of chocolate, sweet spice, full body and fine and firm tannins that are ready to party with a steak, then you’ll definitely enjoy drinking this.... Read More

Unless you taste a lot of California Chardonnay, it can be hard to realize how big an accomplishment Bartholomew Broadbent has pulled off here. It's 100% Chardonnay, picked ripe and full of pear and stone fruit flavors perfectly... Read More

A delightfully plump and easy Grenache/Syrah blend from this value-oriented Chateauneuf du Pape estate. Done all in tank, the fruit comes first here with enough earthy complexity to hold your interest. As Wine Spectator said of... Read More

Butler Nephew makes nice vintage Port, but Tawny is really the house specialty and where they excel. The Tawny style here is a bit more elegant and noticably brighter than most, although there's still plenty of toasted nut... Read More

Smells great, tastes even better, crazy good price for high quality white Burgundy. That’s really what you need to know here, but we’ll try to give you a little more. It’s from vineyards on the Puligny border... Read More

In this very short harvest, there's a little more oak influence to Sylvain's village Puligny (not more new wood, but more second and third use barrels that needed to be kept full!). It just makes this lovely Chardonnay... Read More

I believe the technical tasting note for this wine, as approved by all the most serious wine writers, is: Hubba Hubba. There’s this thing white Burgundy winemakers do where they let the wine sit in the barrel on what’s... Read More

I certainly didn’t expect to write this, but Sylvain Bzikot’s 2023 village Puligny Montrachet is even better than his outstanding 2022 edition. It’s from several plots of vines above the village of Puligny including... Read More

Lower ABV In the 1970's, Arneis almost went extinct despite being the most important white grape in the Langhe. Luckily for us, a resurgence in interest for Piemonte whites saved Arneis and we get this expression from Ca'Viola.... Read More

Coco Chanel used to advise that the last thing a fashionable person should do before walking out the door is take off one accessory - less is more. Here, despite a brief stay in barrel, the winery left the oak at home and lets... Read More

This is old-school Barolo at it's best. Fruit from across Barolo, 30 days on the skins and 24 months in large oak cask gives a wine of outstanding intensity and grip. As James Suckling says in the 95 point review, A structured... Read More

Cuatro Rayas was founded in 1935 to do one thing - make terrific Verdejo. Back in the beginning, that meant a wine that would seem really...let's say exotic...to us, a white wine aged in glass demijohns in the hot Spanish... Read More

Cade’s Estate Cabernet shows Howell Mountain power and grip in a softer, more accessible, style. As Jeb Dunnuck says in his 93 point review, “The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain comes almost all from the estate... Read More

Natural Not “really” a Pet-Nat, but definitely that vibe is in play here in this wild and frothy blend of New Zealand Chardonnay (70%) and Pinot Noir. The base wines are made separately and then blended, bottled, given... Read More