The inverse blend of the Paulinette, the 2015 Costieres de Nimes Chateau Guiot Numa is 95% Syrah and 5% Grenache, from the estate's oldest vines. Toasty, mocha-scented oak frames dark fruit in this full-bodied, richly textured... Read More
Saturated ruby-red. An expansive bouquet evokes ripe, spice-tinged red and dark berry, garrigue, potpourri and incense qualities and a smoky mineral topnote. Stains the palate with concentrated Chambord, cherry-cola, candied lavender... Read More
Beaucastel's 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape is shaping up as a blend of 30% each Grenache and Mourvèdre, with 10% each Counoise and Syrah, plus 20% other permitted varieties, including a healthy proportion of white grapes.... Read More
The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Vieilles Roussanne is also terrific, with a deep, rich, concentrated style that carries classic Roussanne apple and stone fruits as well as honeyed toast, spice, and subtle floral nuances.... Read More
The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape is terrific, offering classic darker berry fruits as well as peppery garrigue and sappy flower notes. As with the Boisrenard release, this has plenty of tannins and structure, but it’s... Read More
Juicy and fresh, with an enticingly plump core of white peach, yellow apple, star fruit and acacia notes that glide through a verbena-gilded finish. The subtle underlying acidity helps to carry this off easily, leaving an echo... Read More
Including slightly more Mourvèdre and from a cooler, higher elevation terroir, the 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Hauts-Lieux has more cassis, game, peppery herbs, and olive notes, as well as the classic violets and... Read More
The 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Reserve comes from a single terroir (which is closest to the Les Trois Sources terroir) and is always a tiny production cuvée that’s just about impossible to find in the market.... Read More
Moving to the 2019s from bottle, the Côtes Du Rhône Lieu-Dit Clavin always shows the style of this estate as well as the vintage, and the 2019 is well worth seeking out. Black cherries, gravelly earth, spicy herbs,... Read More
True to form, the 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Trois Sources is a softer, more elegant wine than the Les Hauts-Lieux and offers a gorgeous perfume of black cherries, black licorice, tapenade, violets, herbes de Provence,... Read More
Like ripe peaches poached in a spiced liquor. Full-bodied and very powerful indeed. It has huge extract, intense salinity, driving acidity and great opulence, flowing into a long finish. A huge Condrieu. Parcels in Chavanay, Condrieu... Read More
Light, attractive fragrance, this is very drinkable. Well balanced with lovely acidity. An excellent vintage for his white Côtes-du-Rhône. There's some intensity here as well as freshness.
Another incredible white from this family is the 2019 Hermitage Blanc, a powerful, concentrated, and remarkably pure Hermitage that has laser-like focus as well as textbook Marsanne notes of quince, green almond, powdered rock,... Read More
Another heavenly white from this estate is the 2020 Hermitage Blanc, which is the usual 80% Marsanne and 20% Roussanne from a mix lieux-dits. Incredibly perfumed with notes of acacia flowers, buttered stone fruits, toasted brioche,... Read More
Ripe and focused, with a core of dark plum and blackberry fruit supported by a well-embedded graphite spine, ending with tobacco and warm earth accents through the finish. Solid. Grenache and Syrah. Drink now through 2026.... Read More
Nearly all Grenache from sandy soils and aged in three-year-old demi-muids, the 2017 Chateauneuf du Pape La Muse is aromatically charged, loaded with peppery dried spices and hints of garrigue and rose petals. Red and black cherries... Read More