France Misc

Albert Mann Pinot Gris Hengst Grand Cru 2017 (750ML)

96 WA / 95 WE / 94 JS Harvested on September 19, the 2017 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Hengst offers generous and open (tropical) fruit with lots of floral aromas and great elegance. On the palate, this is a generous, dense,...

Clos Cibonne Cuvee Tradition Rose Cotes de Provence 2019 (750ML)

The heart of Clos Cibonne is Tibouren. The Roux family are great fans of this native varietal and believed it to be the ideal grape for the region. As part of the estate’s revitalization in the 1930s, André Roux...

Domaine du Tremblay Quincy Sauvignon Blanc 2016 (750ML)

Domaine FL Savennieres Chamboureau 2018 (750ML)

98 JS Stare into the abyss and it will stare back at you! This has such an incredible depth of dried-flower and fresh-herb notes that you could get lost in the bouquet, before reaching the sleek and enormously mineral...

Domaines Schlumberger Riesling Princes Abbes 2015 (750ML)

"A closed nose leads to a softly apricot-fruited palate. Tension and structure are provided by a streak of fresh lemon acidity that tones the body and gives a lighter, clear accent to the sonorous fruit." - Anne Krebiehl,...

Huet Vouvray Le Clos du Bourg Moelleux 1ere Trie 2016 (750ML)

96 WS / 17+ JR This is ripe and broad, taking a slightly more power-driven approach, with a mix of tropical mango and papaya fruit, backed by orchard fruit accents of yellow apple and peach. The long, heather...

Huet Vouvray Le Haut Lieu Moelleux 2016 (750ML)

95 WS / 16.5+ JR Gorgeous crystallized ginger, dried quince, glazed pear and warm persimmon notes are seamlessly interwoven here, gliding through a lengthy finish that picks up a lilting green tea accent. Frankly off-dry...

Huet Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec 2019 (375ML)

95 WA / 93 WS The deep brown clay soils of the Haut-Lieu plateau provide the typical fruitiness and freshness wonderfully in Huet's 2019 Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec. Ripe pear, tangerine and orange fruits with notes of lemon...

Huet Vouvray Moelleux Cuvee Constance 2016 (500ML)

96 WS Intense acidity cuts through the rich and plump profile of this sweet version, creating harmony and focus. Shows a wide range of flavors, with golden raisin, fig and flambéed pear notes on the palate,...

Mousse & Fils Ratafia La Vie en Meunier NV (500ML)

This 100% pinot meunier Ratafia from Champagne goes back to a 1947 family recipe from Champagne Moussé Fils using their Marc de Champagne, a liqueur distilled from pomace after winemaking. Non-sparkling, it...

Nicolas Joly Vignobles de la Coulee de Serrant Savennieres Roche Aux Moines Clos de la Bergerie 2017 (750ML)

94 VM More acidity and structure than 2018, though still a big hedonistic wine (and 15% abv). But there is something deep and complex here. Rich and dense, with grilled tropical fruit and melon, underlying herb and spice,...

Triennes Rose 2020 (750ML)

Two of Burgundy’s greatest names – Jacques Seysses, founder of Domaine Dujac, and Aubert de Villaine, co-owner of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti – are the partners behind this pioneering property in...

Weinbach Gewurztraminer Cuvee Theo 2018 (750ML)

96 JS / 16.5+ JR An exotic array of herbal nuances with lemons and lychees, intermingled with chamomile flowers. The palate has a very succulent and juicy feel with a rich, fleshy and ripe array of peaches and stone fruit...

Weinbach Riesling Schlossberg Grand Cru 2018 (750ML)

97 JS / 95 WE / 17.5 JR This dry riesling has astonishing elegance for the very warm vintage, with super ripe orange and papaya notes that lie far from the mainstream for the grape. Sure, it’s slightly Baroque on the...

Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Clos Windsbuhl 2018 (750ML)

96 JS / 95 WE Rich, powerful and frankly sweet, but somehow cool with delicate exotic-fruit character (not just lychee), this is a highly structured gewurz that will need some years of bottle age to reveal its ample...

Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Hengst Grand Cru 2017 (750ML)

 97 JS / 94 WE / 94 WS This has such complex, fresh and pristine florals with lilacs, frangipani and lemon blossom, intermingled with very ripe peaches, pears, lychees and melon. Plenty of spice, too. The palate is...

Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Rangen de Thann Clos St Urbain Grand Cru 2016 (750ML)

98 JS / 96+ VM / 96 WE Smoky and floral with mango peel and candied oranges, making this an extremely unusual gewurztraminer and an amazing dry white. The long mineral finish gets an extra kick from the generous tannins and...

Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Rangen de Thann Clos St Urbain Grand Cru 2019 (750ML)

97 JS This is a massively concentrated and enormously structured wine with so much smoke and spice, but there’s also so much rose aroma that it comes off as charming rather than imposing. And the giant freshness at...

Zind Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen De Thann Clos St Urbain Grand Cru 2012 (750ML)

95-97 VM / 95 JS / 94 WA / 94 WE Medium straw-gold color. Pure, highly aromatic nose combines orange zest, smoke and white truffle, with complicating notes of lemony, marmaladey botrytis. The strong botrytis character is...

Zind Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen De Thann Clos St Urbain Grand Cru 2019 (750ML)

98 JS So spicy and smoky with a hint of mushroom, this is an enormously deep and concentrated dry pinot gris that’s just beginning to open up. With some aeration, ripe melon character is added to the expansive picture...

Zind Humbrecht Riesling Brand Grand Cru 2017 (750ML)

96 JS / 94-96 WA / 95 WE The aromatics here are incredible. Such purity of lemons and grapefruit with a striking, stony and flinty edge. This is so pure and so complex. The palate has a wildly concentrated and detailed...

Zind Humbrecht Riesling Brand Grand Cru 2019 (750ML)

98 JS A giant of minerality with enormous structure, this also delights you with the stunningly ripe apricot and pineapple fruit that’s wrapped around its dense core. This will surely only get better for many years to...

Zind Humbrecht Riesling Clos Hauserer Grand Cru 2019 (750ML)

96 JS With its cornucopia of yellow fruit, floral notes and wet-stone character, this is at once fleshy and enormously structured. Nothing opulent or warm about it at all, though. In fact, the very long finish is decisively...

Zind Humbrecht Riesling Heimbourg 2019 (750ML)

95 JS There’s a lot of discussion about “noble austerity“ in wine, but those wines are often just a bit hard. This has a certain mineral austerity, but it is welded to the ripest of citrus aromas and...

Zind Humbrecht Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos St Urbain GC 2019 (750ML)

98 JS This dry riesling masterpiece is full of seeming contradictions that give it a sense of mystery you very rarely find. So rich and concentrated, yet also astonishingly vivid and precise, the aromas range from smoke to...