French Wine between $50 and $75

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

83% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Merlot aged in 60% new French oak, this is a richer-feeling Pauillac with a refreshing mineral streak on the firm finish. Very enjoyable now and over the next 20 years.

Organic/Bio We think of Pomerol as being all about power, but Mazeyres goes the finesse route in 2019. As Vinous says in the 93 point review, “The 2019 Mazeyres is bright, effusive and so inviting. Blood orange, mint, rose... Read More

Organic/Bio For decades, the Dekeyne family sold their 5 HA of grapes from the Cote de Sezanne to large houses in Epernay and Reims until brothers Gael and Baptiste recently began to bottle their own Champagne. It's outstanding,... Read More

Organic/Bio This is sunshine in a bottle and for winemakers in Burgundy, 2022 came as “a year of relief,” or at least according to the Berthelemot family. There is a freshness about this wine that just makes you get... Read More

Organic/Bio Only 1er Cru for white since 2001, Sous Fretille is on the limestone rich and south-facing lower slopes of a hill next to Corton. Made all in barrel (25% new), it’s a lovely, almost delicate, expression of white... Read More

Organic/Bio The vineyard’s very steep slope and poor soils want to give highly mineral and structured Chablis, while the root virus that impacts all plantings here naturally suppresses yields and gives deep concentration.... Read More

Organic/Bio The clonally diverse very old vines here are the pride of the estate and are providing cuttings for replanting other vineyards over the next decade or so. You can pretty much smell the vine age here in a nose that’s... Read More

Pretty much everything you’d hope for in a classically-styled, old-school, Gigondas. It’s big and full with lots of black olive/garrigue and a big, grippy, finish. As Vinous says in the 93 point rave, “a total... Read More

Organic/Bio Lower ABV Burgundy's Marquis d'Angerville crafts this delicious Jura red from Pinot Noir (60%), Trousseau (35%) and Poulsard (5%) - Trois Cepages. All destemmed and aged in Burgundy barrels and foudre, it's... Read More

Lower ABV As Vinous says, “Servin is a rather under-estimated Chablis producer” as Austrlian-born winemaker Marc Cameron turns out classic, cellar-worthy, Chablis year-after-year. This is from the top 1er Cru in Chablis,... Read More

Organic/Bio With folks like Francois Cotat and Gerard Boulay, Vaceron sits at the very top of any informed Top Sancerre lists. Organic farming, low yields, native fermenation and large cask aging give Sancerre of uncommon volume... Read More

Organic/Bio This far north in Montagne de Reims, Pinot Noir can struggle to mature but Pierre Fresne coaxes the 65% Pinot Noir, 5% Pinot Meunier and 35% Chardonnay used here to perfect ripeness. The wine is around 60% vintage... Read More

Organic/Bio Lower ABV Jerome Seguin's 0.7 acre plot of Chambolle Musigny vines are just above the village chapel, an unfortunately prime location for the damage from 2021's April frosts. But the 40-50 year-old vines then... Read More

In the far north of the Cote de Nuits, Fixin can be a bit robust and rustic. Here Seguin draws from 40-50 year-old vines and smooths and rounds out the wine with 12 months in oak (25% new). Incisive aromas of wild cherry and tart... Read More

Dom Perignon - yes, he was a real winemaking monk! - pioneered the making of white Champagne from black Pinot Noir grapes in the 1600s. The techniques were refined by the large houses in Champagne's northern regions, but somehow... Read More

Always a darker, richer, Pinot than you'd expect from Chassagne, the touch of extra freshness from 2021's cooler growing season makes this even harder to resist than usual. Black and red cherry fruit serve as the wine's... Read More

Perrine Fresne’s second NV Champagne matches the quality of the first, but is definitely a different wine. In the cooler 2021 harvest, she leaned into the quality of her Chardonnay (42% of the blend) with her best plots... Read More

Benoist and Isabelle Perseval farm 4HA of vines in the 1er Cru Montagne de Reims village of Chamery to create distinctive, creative, Champagnes. Here they blend Pinot Noir and Meunier from 2018 with 40% reserve wines, all aged... Read More

Organic/Bio Wine Advocate calls Thibaud Boudignon one of France’s foremost vignerons and winemakers today for his ultra pure, intense, Chenin Blancs from Savennieres and Anjou. Here 35 year-old vines on schist and volcanic... Read More

Lower ABV Cornas has the reputation as one of the more austere, strict, Syrahs of the Northern Rhone, but if there’s such a thing as “fun Cornas,” this is it. From three plots, partially destemmed and aged in... Read More