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$24.95
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France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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Producer notes: "A luminous robe, pale and clear. Aromas of white flowers, notes of vanilla. Fruity, unctuous, a mineral character, honey, vanilla. A long finish. Serving suggestions: Fish in cream, shellfish, cheese of character. It is ideal as an aperitif. A novel partner for foie gras."
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$19.95
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France
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Loire
In stock,
1
available
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The Bailly family have been winemakers in Sancerre since 1700. This is a classic styled Sancerre from Bailly's vineyards in and around the village of Bué, one of the greatest villages in the appellation. 100% Sauvignon Blanc.
Not yet reviewed; 2010 vintage rated 93 points by John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2010 Sancerre 'Terroirs' from Sylvain Bailly is classic Bué terres blanches Sancerre, with a depth and complex refinement that is very special indeed. The deep, complex and classy nose wafts from the glass in a seamless blend of gooseberry, lime zest, tart orange, suave, chalky minerality, white flowers, cut grass and just a touch of white pepper in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and tightly-knit, with a great core of fruit, laser-like focus and cut, impeccable balance and great grip on the very long and intensely flavored finish. This is as good as Bué Sancerre gets! 2012-2020."
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$19.95
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France
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Loire
In stock,
1
available
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Wine Spectator on the 1999 vintage: "Straightforward dessert wine, with sweet tangerine and lime candy notes... Good length on the finish."
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$67.95
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WS 95
WE 95
WA 92
France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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List $85.00
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95 points Wine Spectator: "[$85 list] Rich, but pure and incredibly focused, with a laser beam of chamomile and quince cutting through the core of dried pineapple, white peach, Cavaillon melon and green plum. The finish has buried minerality, gorgeous mouthfeel and superb length. Drink now through 2030. 1,500 cases made. (9/30/11)"
95 points and 'Cellar Selection,' Wine Enthusiast: "With so much intensity, botrytis and concentration, this is going to be impressive. It is still very young, at a closed stage, but the ripe currant as well as the honey dominate. Great wine. (Jun 2011)"
92 points David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate): "Linden (i.e. basswood) honey and lily perfume; candied lime and grapefruit peel; quince preserves and pineapple scent the Baumard 2008 Quarts de Chaume and inform a glycerin-rich, oily, soothingly-unctuous palate that preserves elements of fresh citrus and salinity sufficient to call forth salivation and at least go some way toward offsetting what is for now extreme sweetness. The sheer persistence of flavor here is remarkable. This is likely to be a very long-lived (20+ year) and perhaps eventually an extraordinary wine. But for now it does not approach the complexity not to mention the sense of balance exhibited by the corresponding Coteaux du Layon Sainte Catherine. (Aug 2010)"
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$19.95
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WA 92
France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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List $25.00
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92 points David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate): "[$25 list] Baumard’s 'regular' (a.k.a. Clos St.-Yves) 2008 Savennieres bursts from the glass in an exuberant bouquet of buddleia and apple blossom; quince and intimations of wet stone. This transcends the poise and clarity exhibited by several immediately preceding Clos du Papillon bottlings and suggests that -- chronologically speaking -- we have moved up into a new echelon of expressiveness. The bitter, piquant notes of toasted nut, quinine, white pepper, and fruit pit here are extremely subtle and integrated into a matrix of lusciously juicy pear, white peach, and quince. A salvia-inducing salinity and scallop-like sweetness ally themselves to the stony mineral elements in this wine’s long finishing colloquy with flowers and fruits, and there is a levity and refreshment -- and sheer drinkability -- that I have not noticed in previous Baumard Savennieres -- particularly pre-2007. Yet there is still ample sense of glycerin-richness and subtle oiliness. The combination of roughly a half percent less alcohol and more expressive acidity renders this drier-tasting than its 2006 and 2007 counterparts. Florent Baumard admits that a lesser percentage of his 2008s went through malo-lactic transformation than in most vintages, though I did not have chance to check precise analytical data on that. This sensational value is a delight to drink now. Whether it will 'suffer' on that account a reduced 'life span' must remain to be seen, although if anything my intuition is that this will be lovely for a decade, but that you would be foolish to deprive yourself of its short-term pleasure. (Aug 2010)"
Producer notes: "A round, smooth, and well balanced wine. Savennières is a tiny region located on the northern banks of the Loire River, just across from the town of Rochefort Sur Loire. The entire appellation consists of fewer than 200 acres (77 hectares) of vines, all planted to Chenin Blanc. The South/Southeast facing vineyards are planted on unique soils composed of schistous volcanic debris mixed with sandstone and granite, imparting a strong, intensely original minerality to the Chenin Blanc grape. Maximum permitted yields are the lowest in France for dry whites (25 hl/ha), resulting in wines of stunning concentration and perfume. The combination of this concentration with the naturally high acidity of the Chenin Blanc grape results in wines capable of lasting and improving for decades. This wine is par excellence, a wine to accompany grilled fish or sauce, seafood, hors d'oeuvres."
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$9.95
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France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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List $14.00
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87 points David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate): "...bright, bracing lemon and lime and borderline grassiness are accompanied by cooling mint, attractively pungent caraway, and a palpable sense of extract and chalky minerality... this gets high marks for sheer tenacity and for its light bulb-like, wake-up personality. (Aug 2008)"
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$14.95
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RP 90
WS 89
France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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List $18.00
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90 points Robert Parker: "[$18 list] The richest of this quartet is the 2009 Muscadet Goulaine Vieilles Vignes, which comes from 55-year old vines that the proprietors, brothers Jean-Jacques and Remi Bonnet, think is the finest terroir of the appellation, Goulaine. Aged 18 months on its lees, the wine exhibits lots of crushed seashell, lemon butter, zesty grapefruit and white currant characteristics in a fresh, medium-bodied, ripe, mineral-laced style. With more body and intensity than the three 2010 cuvees, it should be drunk over the next 12-24 months. (Aug 2011)"
89 points Wine Spectator: "[$18 list] This bright white offers peach and citrus oil notes, as a lively saline edge carries through the finish. Drink now. 150 cases imported. (5/31/12)"
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$15.95
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WA 90
France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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90 points David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate): "Tasted from the earliest of several bottlings representing a common assemblage, Boulay’s regular cuvee of 2011 Sancerre leads with scents of mint, pennyroyal and chervil, and behind that fresh grapefruit and lime, all of which team up on the palate for a performance that’s irresistibly luscious, but also unusually buoyant, bright and invigorating for its vintage (virtues enhanced by palpable retained CO2). The herb and white pepper impingement in this Sancerre’s sustained finish reminds me a bit of Gruner Veltliner, while chalk and iodine add notes of intrigue. This will be a versatile delight over the next several years. (Jun 2012)"
This family domaine of 9ha located in Chavignol can trace its history back to 1380. Of the 9ha owned by Gérard Boulay, 8 of the hectares are on the slopes of Chavignol on Kimmeridgian or 'terre blanche' soils (actually similar to the soils in Chablis). The wines produced on 'terre blanche' are some of the most distinctive and soil-inflected Sauvignon Blancs produced in the Loire, with a delineation and minerality often reminiscent of a top Chablis. Among its top ranks, including some of Boulay's neighbors (the Cotats, Vatan, Thomas-Labaille), these are gorgeous, ageworthy wines that are a clear step above 'regular' Sancerre. Boulay works the soil manually. Average vine age is 45 years old. The wines ferment naturally. He adds no yeast and minimal amounts of SO2. The Sancerre-Chavignol is fermented in tank and undergoes a light filtration before bottling.
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$25.95
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WA 90
France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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90 points David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate): "Tasted from the earliest of several bottlings representing a common assemblage, Boulay’s regular cuvee of 2011 Sancerre leads with scents of mint, pennyroyal and chervil, and behind that fresh grapefruit and lime, all of which team up on the palate for a performance that’s irresistibly luscious, but also unusually buoyant, bright and invigorating for its vintage (virtues enhanced by palpable retained CO2). The herb and white pepper impingement in this Sancerre’s sustained finish reminds me a bit of Gruner Veltliner, while chalk and iodine add notes of intrigue. This will be a versatile delight over the next several years. (Jun 2012)"
This family domaine of 9ha located in Chavignol can trace its history back to 1380. Of the 9ha owned by Gérard Boulay, 8 of the hectares are on the slopes of Chavignol on Kimmeridgian or 'terre blanche' soils (actually similar to the soils in Chablis). The wines produced on 'terre blanche' are some of the most distinctive and soil-inflected Sauvignon Blancs produced in the Loire, with a delineation and minerality often reminiscent of a top Chablis. Among its top ranks, including some of Boulay's neighbors (the Cotats, Vatan, Thomas-Labaille), these are gorgeous, ageworthy wines that are a clear step above 'regular' Sancerre. Boulay works the soil manually. Average vine age is 45 years old. The wines ferment naturally. He adds no yeast and minimal amounts of SO2. The Sancerre-Chavignol is fermented in tank and undergoes a light filtration before bottling.
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$37.95
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France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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92 points David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate): "Strong oil and fusil notes combine with pungent lime and grapefruit zest, green herbs, and suggestions of iodine in the complex and penetrating nose of Boulay’s 2010 Sancerre Clos de Beaujeu, setting the tone for a brightly and juicily citric, herb- and mineral-saturated palate performance, over which a bittersweet floral perfume hangs alluringly. This finishes with tingling brightness, zesty piquancy, mouthwatering salinity and grip, albeit less long-lined and diversely mineral than the corresponding Mont Damnes. And like that wine, it became more expressive after it had been open for half an hour. Here is another candidate for at least a decade’s cellaring, though it could certainly be drunk without regret today. In a reversal of the procedure Boulay followed with this year’s Mont Damnes, the Clos de Beaujeu fermented in tank and was then raised in assorted (older 300-liter) barrels. (Jun 2012)"
Importer notes: "The Clos de Beaujeu is from a single vineyard (0.75 hectare) and is fermented in barrel and bottled without filtration. It expresses great richness in the mouth. Flavors include honeyed lime, and wildflower. There are also some smoky notes. It is still very young and only just beginning to reveal its potential."
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$37.95
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WA 92
France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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92 points David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate): "Boulay’s 2010 Sancerre Monts Damnes is prominently lemony, with piquant rind, black tea, and an aura of chalk dust and oil present already in the nose. At least as dense, compact, firm, and bright as the corresponding regular bottling, this nevertheless picks up a greater diversity of more vivid and succulent fruit elements in the form of white currant, tangerine, and white peach; then finishes with focus and penetration: chalky; zesty; herb-tinged; and with a salty streak serving for saliva inducement. This responded beautifully to time in the air, and I expect it to gain depth and acquire some richness of patina over the next 6-8 years, as well as to keep for several more thereafter. It was fermented in a large wood foudre but thereafter raised in tank. (Jun 2012)"
17.5/20 points Stephan Reinhardt (The World of Fine Wine): "Clear and bright greenish white-yellow. Ripe and fresh fruit aromas, quite concentrated and deep, but quite closed. A wine like this could perhaps (perhaps!) benefit from large oak vats because it seems to be caged now. Thus, I would pour it into a decanter for two or more hours. On the palate, the wine is very firm and mineral, powerful, rich, and very complex, but again it seems to be caged and would maybe benefit from oxygenation. Very mineral soul. A pure, intense, persistent, and most likely great Loire wine that is made not for tastings but for storage. Enjoy in four years or so. (Issue #36; 2012)"
This Sancerre is made from vines that are grown on the Monts Damnés plot, a steep slope that does not allow for mechanization, hence all the work, including grape-picking, is done by hand. Gérard Boulay is one of the very finest producers in Sancerre, and the wines he crafts at his home base of Chavignol are amongst the deepest, most intensely flavored and racy Sancerres you will find. He describes his role as one of "surveillance" to make sure nothing goes wrong. In general he works by instinct, because he wants to "let the wine live" and so he tries not to interfere with the natural process.
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$17.95
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France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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The honey and white acacia blossom in this Vouvray’s perfume is a rare treat. The wine has youthful deliciousness and great aging potential.
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$23.95
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France
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Loire
In stock,
9
available
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Not yet reviewed; 2009 vintage rated 92 points by John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2009 Clos Habert Demi-Sec from Domaine Chidaine is a beautiful example of the vintage, with the sunshine touch of this year evident on both the nose and palate. The beautifully expressive nose offers up a fine blend of sweet grapefruit, fresh pineapple, honeycomb, beautifully complex and delicate soil tones based on the tuffeau, lemon peel, beeswax and citrus blossoms. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and beautifully complex, with a great core of fruit, brisk acids and outstanding length and grip on the complex and still quite youthful finish. The vintage’s ripeness is apparent here in a touch of backend heat, that will probably dissipate with bottle age, but which jumps out a bit right now- particularly after tasting through the stellar lineup of 2010 Chidaine wines! This is lovely, but give it a few years to more fully integrate its ripeness. 2015-2040+."
Importer notes: "Clos Habert lies adjacent to the Clos du Breuil and the vines are planted in clay and a type of silex called perruches. Chidaine uses this fruit to make a tendre style of Montlouis with a lovely balance and minerality, usually around 20 g/l of residual sugar. Vine age ranges from 25 - 60 years old."
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$11.95
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France
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Loire
In stock,
1
available
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Importer notes: "50% Pinot Noir and 50% Grolleau from organically farmed estate fruit. Floral nose with hints of currants, along with the excellent acidity and the mineral core we've come to expect in Chidaine wines! 550 cases produced." This wine embodies everything you want in a rosé: fragrant, delicate, and highly drinkable - buy this one by the case for all your summertime get-togethers.
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$26.95
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JG 96
France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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96 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "I have been waiting ever since François Chidaine purchased the Clos Baudoin for this legendary vineyard to fully recover from its decades of relative neglect and really start to come into its own, and perhaps the 2010 vintage will be looked back upon as the year that this finally happened. The 2010 Sec is an absolutely stunning young wine, soaring from the glass in a complex and utterly refined nose of quince, pink grapefruit, magically complex, chalky soil tones, spring flowers, beeswax, citrus zest and a touch of lanolin. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and utterly refined, with a rock solid core of fruit, brisk acids, laser-like focus and a huge intensity on the utterly refined and endless finish. This is an absolutely brilliant young bottle of Vouvray Sec! 2018-2050+. (Jan/Feb 2012)"
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$21.95
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France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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Not yet reviewed; 2010 vintage rated 93+ points by John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2010 Vouvray Sec 'les Argiles' from Domaine François Chidaine has a touch more residual sugar than the Montlouis Clos de Breuil Sec in 2010 (five grams per liter versus three), and this gives the wine a bit more early accessibility out of the blocks. The deep, complex and very compelling nose soars from the glass in a complex mélange of pear, sweet quince, a touch of honeycomb, orange zest, beautifully complex chalky soil tones, dried flowers and just a whisper of lanolin in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, pure and full-bodied, with beautiful nascent complexity, a rock solid core, bright, seamless acidity and outstanding length and grip. The les Argiles bottling is made from a variety of different vineyards, including the well-known Le Haut Lieu, and like the Domaine Huët version, it shares a certain 'feathery' elegance in its youth that is very, very attractive. This wine will allow a year or two of superb drinking, and then probably shut down seriously for five or six years, before it emerges from its adolescent hibernation and starts to really deliver on all of its considerable promise. 2012-2040."
Chidaine's estate grown Vouvray produced from parcels throughout the great vineyards of the Clos Baudoin property, Les Argiles is normally vinified dry. Notes of honey, citrus, pear and apple are present in the nose with just a hint of caramel. Full-bodied in the mouth, but fresh with lively acidity, this is world class chenin at an unbeatable price. 1% residual sugar.
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$14.95
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France
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Loire
In stock,
7
available
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100% Cabernet Franc from 50-year-old vines. Vinified in stainless steel tanks. Ripe and generous. A great match with game and grilled meats. Alcohol 13%.
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$16.95
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France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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The family of Patrick Coulbois has cultivated vines in the region since the 17th century. Coulbois owns a total of 8.7 hectares (21.5 acres) of vineyards and practices lutte raisonée; he aerates the soil, uses natural composts and no insecticides. Plantings closest to the house date to 1955, and this fruit goes into the Les Cocques cuvée. This wine exhibits aromas including green apple, grapefruit, blood oranges, white flowers and minerals. Bone dry, medium-bodied and crisp, it is a wonderful partner for seafood, cold salads and goat cheese.
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$64.95
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WA 90
France
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Loire
In stock,
1
available
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List $89.00
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90 points David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate): "[$89 list] The Dagueneau 2008 Blanc Fume de Pouilly smells of lemon and caraway, which along with nettle, chalk, and salt make for an invigorating, bright, whistle clean and handsomely lean expose of its grape and terroir. This sends shivers up my spine, though it will no doubt be a bit too lean and bracing for some tasters. It should serve well for at least the next 2-3 years. (Aug 2010)"
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$63.95
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France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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List $80.00
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91-92 points David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate): "Fresh lime and lemon -- along with the bite of their pips -- render Dagueneau’s 2010 Blanc Fume de Pouilly (just before bottling) refreshing and invigorating. Cut, bell-like clarity, and shimmering interchange of citrus, herb, salt, and stone lead to a ringing persistence that reels you in for the next sip, an appeal that I don’t expect will fade for at least the next half dozen years. (Jun 2012)"
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$109.95
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WA 93–94
France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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93-94 points David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate): "A pungent suggestion of diverse hedge flowers and high-toned herbs rises from the glass of Dagueneau 2010 Blanc Fume de Pouilly Silex; then migrates to a palate dominated by succulent grapefruit, white peach, and cassis. Breadth, opulence, sheer extract, a silken texture, and high glycerin, all seem to enhance this Sauvignon’s sense of sweet ripeness, though citrus zest and berry skin lend satisfying counterpoint. There is resonance and depth to the finish here, and if for now not quite the dazzling complexity of the corresponding Sancerre Monts Damnes, then certainly a compelling performance that promises to be worth revisiting over the next dozen or more years. (Jun 2012)"
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$109.95
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WA 93–94
France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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List $140.00
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93-94+ points David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate): "[$140 list] From an enclave just outside the cuverie in Saint Andelain, the Dagueneau 2009 Blanc Fume de Pouilly Silex delivers an almost inordinate diversity of floral, herbal, citrus (predominately grapefruit), and pit-fruit (predominately nectarine) elements, with the bitterness of fruit pits, smoky pungency of red currant and crushed stone, as well as notes of shrimp shell reduction and iodine inflecting a long, bittersweet, yet at the same time vibrant, buoyant finish. This silken textured seducer should gain with time in bottle and be worth following for ten or a dozen years. (Aug 2010)"
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$16.95
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France
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Loire
In stock,
4
available
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Daulny's normal cuvée is far from normal: after all, grapes from some of the appellation's most revered vineyards make their way into this cuvée, including old vine plantings at Les Monts Damnés, Les Bois Butteux and La Perriere. His yield is about 50 hl/ha (3.4 tons an acre -- normal for Sancerre) and the wine is fermented and aged in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. The wine sees no malolactic fermentation and thus retains freshness and vibrancy beneath plenty of forward, ripe fruit.
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$15.95
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WA 87
France
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Loire
In stock,
1
available
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List $25.00
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87 points David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate): "The wines are also released at a leisurely pace, so that Domaine Aux Moines’s 2006 Savennieres - Roche Aux Moines represents their current release... offers a fascinating combination of peach, citrus oils, raw mushroom, and alkaline, wet stone suggestions of things mineral. In the mouth, this is richly peachy with prominent citrus oil and peach kernel bitterness. It preserves more than a modicum of fresh fruit juiciness... I would plan to serve this wine over the next couple of years. (Aug 2010)"
Producer notes: "Our Estate offers a single dry vintage wine: the 'Domaine aux Monies'. This is a dry white wine, made from 100% Chenin Blanc grown on a clay shale terroir, with excellent ageability."
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$6.95
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WA 87
WE 86
France
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Loire
In stock, 12+ available
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87 points David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate): "[$11 list] Laurent Gregoire’s 2009 Muscadet de Sevre et Maine Sur Lie from Domaine de Beauregard (a name that only figures on a neck label, but then, his own is even more hidden-away) delivers the sort of soft, generous satisfaction that was to be derived from his 2005. Suggestions of Persian melon, nut oils, and grapefruit are tinged with salt and herbs, and there is ample juicy refreshment in a finish with alkaline and saline accents. Enjoy it over the coming year. (Aug 2010)"
86 points Wine Enthusiast: "Showing tightly crisp grapefruit and citrus flavors, with an intense dryness and acidity, this is classic Muscadet, fresh, very bright and green. (May 2011)"
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