Wine

First created and made by Australia’s Chris Ringland, this is an unabashedly flashy and hedonistic bland of Monastrell and Cabernet Sauvignon done in new French oak. A tad more structured than the 2018, but the 92 point... Read More

Pinot from Carneros, at the southern end of Napa/Sonoma, gives a distinctive blend of freshness (from the cold bay nearby) and heft (from the clay-rich soils). This is a great example, serving up bold black cherry and blackberry... Read More

Lower ABV This is classic Albarino from the seaside region of Ribadumía in the heart of the Salnés valley, bounded on two sides by cold Atlantic Ocean water flowing inland through the estuaries – or “Rias”... Read More

Organic/Bio Lower ABV What starts off as a round, almost creamy, mouth full of sweet and bitter orange, peach and lemon zest flavors get an electric jolt of energy on the finish that grips to squeeze out every last drop of this... 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

From a California Sparkling wine specialist, this is elegant, nicely textured, Chardonnay of fine freshness and length. In 2023, it’s all Russian River fruit from a vineyard next door to Kistler and Ritchie Vineyards and... 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

The race for best value California Cabernet Sauvignon of the year is over: this is the winner going away. If you love California Cab’s rich blackcurrant and blackberry fruit, dash of chocolate, sweet spice, full body and... Read More

By FAR the best vintage yet of this always wildly over-performing, huge value, oak-aged Rioja Crianza. As always, it's a blend of 90% Temparnillo and 10% Graciano aged 12 months in used American oak casks. More ripe, dark,... Read More

This started out as regular red Port, but was allowed to rest in casks for around 20 years – some less, some longer – to take on layers of orange peel, toasted nut and caramel flavors and old Port’s unique “Tawny”... 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

We suspect most of these will hop into shoppers’ bags because they’re just so cute and priced so attractively for impulse giving and stuffing of stockings. That’s fine, but please don’t overlook something... Read More

Lower ABV It’s so tempting to call this “baby Puligny Montrachet” that…well, what the heck. It’s baby Puligny Montrachet from a trio of vineyards that all abut the village AOC boundary. Like his... 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 three vineyards on the Puligny... Read More

If Sylvain’s other white Burgundies are seriously good, his sparkling Cremant de Bourgogne is seriously fun. It’s a wine Sylvain makes to welcome friends to his home, to celebrate bud break, successful flowering, and... 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

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

Giuseppe Beppe Caviola is one of the most important consulting oenologists in Italy, and his work at this, his own, personal, estate is exceptionally impressive. Twenty year-old vines and 400 meters elevation support low yields... 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

One of the most wildly delicious and complex not dry wines we know of. You can call it sweet if you like and it will certainly do magic with an apricot upside-down cake. But we'll be drinking our bottles before dinner (or... Read More

A stunning white to enjoy with rich food – cassoulet, wild birds, lobster – or even a fresh chevre. It’s 50% Gros Manseng, 35% Petit Manseng and 15% Petit Courbu fermented in wood, although you’ll only... Read More

Winemaker Neil Koch has worked with superstar Philippe Melka at benchmark Napa Cab houses like Seavey Vineyards, Bryant Family and Vineyard 29 and helped make the bold whites and Chardonnays of Lewis Cellars as assistant winemaker... Read More