France

• Alsace
• Bergerac
• Bordeaux
  • Barsac
  • Bordeaux Supérieur
  • Margaux
  • Graves
  • Haut-Medoc
  • Listrac
  • Pauillac
  • Pomerol
  • Saint Emilion
  • Saint Estephe
  • Saint Julian
  • Sauternes
• Burgundy
  • Beaujolais
  • Bourgogne
  • Chablis
  • Côte de Nuits
  • Mercurey
• Cahors
• Champagne
• Cognac
• Corsica
• Gascony
• Jura
  • Arbois
• Languedoc-Roussillon
  • Minervois
• Loire Valley
  • Bourgueil
  • Jasnières
  • Muscadet
  • Mont Louis
  • Sancerre
  • Saumur
  • Savennières
  • Touraine
  • Vouvray
• Rhone (Rhône)
  • Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  • Cornas
  • Crozes-Hermitage
  • Gigondas
  • Hermitage
  • Lirac
  • Saint Joseph
• Provence
  • Bandol
• Savoie
• Tavel

This is a late harvest wines made from Chenin Blanc grapes in the Loire Valley, France.  12% abv.  Very pretty in the glass with a deep golden color, clear and bright.  The nose has orange zest, honey apricots and sea air.  Full bodied.  Good acidity.  On the palate, this is sweet and is probably best served as a dessert wine.  Not cloying.  Notes of apricots and slight honey.  Long finish.  Deep and complex.  This will drink well on its own, but would work great with less sweet dessert such as a simple cookie or a Polenta Cake.  Sweet Chenin Blanc wines can last a long time.  This is alrea

The wines of François Pinon have been some of our favorites for quite some time.  His son Julien is now involved with him at the winery.  This wine is so named as the grapes (100% Chenin Blanc) come from three separate plots.  The wines are fermented with native yeasts in old wooden vats in the naturally cool cellar carved out of a limestone hillside.

This is a sparkling wine from the Loire Valley made from Chenin Blanc grapes.  The wine receives zero dosage.  It is made in the pétillant style using "natural" winemaking techniques (no added sulfites).  Pale gold in color, clear and bright.  Lots of quickly disappearing, medium sized bubbles.  The nose is lovely with green apples, with a slight smoky note and some minerality.  Medium bodied.  Good acidity.  On the palate, sour apples, some green apples and minerality.  This is mostly dry.  Nice on its own, but better with food.  This is versatile and will work with a wide variety of foods

This is a sparkling wine (Methode Traditionelle) made from Chenin Blanc in the Loire Valley of France.  Yellow/gold in color with slight green hues, mostly clear and bright.  The mouse shows a fair amount of medium sized bubbles.  The nose has a nice minerality to it with crushed rocks and a slight seltzer quality.  Nice mouthfeel.  Medium bodied.  Good acidity.  On the palate, there is a nice seltzer note with slight ginger and a hint of char.  A bit of an herbal note (almost scallion like) on the finish.  This drinks well on its own and is very food friendly.  It would be excellent with l

This is a certified biodynamic wine made from 60% Pinot Auxerrois, 10% Pinot Blanc, 10% Riesling, 10% Pinot Gris, and 10% Pinot Noir grapes in Alsace, France.  Silvery/gold in color with a modest mousse of smaller bubbles.  The nose features orange peel, slight floral note and minerality.  Medium  bodied.  On the palate this is lighter in style.  Citrus with underlying minerality.  Nice finish.  This drinks easy on its own but will work better with food.  It would be very nice with an Onion Tart.  Drink over the next few years.  

This is a lightly sparkling wine made from Chenin Blanc in the Loire Valley in France.  Golden in color, the mousse quickly fades in the glass.  Medium sized bubbles.  The nose is different with yeast, slight doughy notes along with a bit of salinity.  Medium to full bodied.  On the palate, this is refreshing.  Dry.  Notes of honey (not sweet) and crushed shells.  Good acidity.  Long finish.  This drinks well on its own but really needs some food.  It would be very nice with a wide range of foods from a Beet Salad to a Quiche.  Unique and not a substitute for a Champagne styled wine.  Drink

Consumed on a Celebrity Cruise Ship (Alaska) wine tasting.  A blend of 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay.  Pale golden with some green hues and a steady stream of tiny bobbles.  The nose is interesting with toast and limes.  Perhaps a slight bit of oxidation.  On the palate, this is somewhat demur but had plenty of stuffing.  On the palate, more about minerality with slight pear and a bit of chalk.  An interesting bitter almond note on the finish.  Good acidity.  This is drinking maturely but nice right now.  Depending on how one likes older Champagnes, this is probably best drunk sooner th

Ruby in color, some browning, but appropriate for age 17.  Clear and bright.  The nose is nice with cherries, some earthy funk/Merde notes, spice and slight darker cherry notes.  Medium to full bodied.  Light tannins.  Nice balance.  On the palate, cherries, black cherries and earthiness.  Complex.  Bigger on the nose than the palate.  Nice finish.  Overall, everything one could ask from a 17 year old 1er Cru from a good/not great vintage.  It went very well with Tofu and Veggies (at a Japanese Restaurant).  Pretty much at peak now, but still five to ten more top years left.  

Wines from this winery keep showing up from the early 70's.  I am not sure of the story, but it seems to stem from the sale of the winery and vineyards in 2014 from the Lurton family to Dennis Debourdieu. The vineyards were ripped up and new plantings incorporated into Chateau Doisy-Daene.  It is an old estate in fact, it was classified as a second growth in the 1855 classification of Bordeaux.

What a treat to drink.  This is a fascinating vintage.  After some less than great years, this looked like it could possibly be exceptional and the Bordeaux hype train got into gear.  Despite many fans who kept saying just be patient, it never took those last few steps.  That said, it also has so much to offer.  The wines can be austere, but they also are complex and fascinating.  Which brings us to the Lafite.  Is it a great Lafite?  No.  Is it a great wine, certainly close.  Ruby in color with browning, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cherries, graphite, and slight cigar box.  Med