The wine is a dark, well-pigmented ruby-red in color. Cedar, coffee, tobacco & earthy notes overlay cassis fruit on the nose. The palate is very nicely together, with plentiful coffee notes overlaying black-cherry fruit Balanced acidity & slightly warming alcohol combine to give a firm, well-structured mid-palate. The finish lasts well.

Nose: Intense aromas of ripe red fruits, such as cherries and raspberries, with hints of floral notes and a touch of spice.

Taste: Rich and velvety on the palate, with flavors of blackberries, plums, and a subtle earthiness. Well-balanced acidity and smooth tannins.

Palate: Full-bodied and elegant, with a long and persistent finish. Notes of dark chocolate and a touch of vanilla add complexity to the wine.

Nose: Intense aromas of red cherries, raspberries, and violets, with hints of tobacco and earthiness.

Taste: Rich and velvety, with flavors of ripe red fruits, blackberries, and plums. Subtle notes of vanilla and spice add complexity.

Palate: Well-structured with firm tannins and a balanced acidity. The wine has a long, persistent finish with a touch of minerality.

Candied cherries, wild herbs and darker flowers, with subtle violet notes, create a very pretty aromatic profile. Well-structured, it showcases a great balance, with supple tannins and lifted acidity. While it can be enjoyed now, a bit more time in the cellar would be beneficial.

Guado Al Tasso is from the famous Antinori family from their estate in Bolgheri, the famed appellation on the upper coast of Maremma. The label features the crest and initials of the Della Gherardesca, former owners of the estate. Produced since 1990, the wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and occasionally a small amount of Petit Verdot to best represent the complexity and elegance of the Bolgheri terroir. The palate is intense and complex with captivating aromas of currants, blackberries and blood oranges followed by undertones of spices, tobacco, licorice, and roasted coffee. The palate is mouth filling and persistent, bursting with vibrant silky tannins. A powerful yet graceful vintage with outstanding aging potential.

Once past the opening bouquet of white flowers and dried roses, you find plums, black cherries, black raspberries, mint and cigar wrapper nuances. The palate provides a lush, opulent, vibrant, energetic backdrop for its wealth of deep red fruits and oceanic influences. The finish has a touch of salty chalk that adds complexity to its wealth of silky, ripe, red fruits.

The warm growing season brings decadent aromas of boysenberry and dark cherry, beautifully complemented by layers of jasmine and fresh herbs that maintain a lively freshness. As an Oregon icon, this wine masterfully strikes the perfect balance between being both delicate and playful, offering a truly memorable tasting experience.

This IGT Toscana Bianco white wine from Tuscany, Italy, blends Malvasia Bianca, Trebbiano, and Chardonnay from the I Colli Estate, located in Monteriggioni and Vagliagli, part of the Bindi Sergardi family’s historic estate, founded in the late 1400s. With a white paper color and golden reflections, it offers an intense bouquet of peach, melon, and pear. On the palate, it’s fresh, savoury, and well-balanced with good acidity, fermented and aged in stainless steel to maintain its vibrant character.

A wine that transcends the vintage's challenges, the 2021 Figeac is performing brilliantly in bottle, wafting from the glass with aromas of raspberries and cherries mingled with striking top notes of violet, rose petal, iris and mint. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and suave, it's pure and vibrant, its enveloping core of fruit framed by ultra-refined tannins, concluding with a long, floral finish. Readers in the habit of drinking top grand cru Burgundy are liable to find themselves seduced by this immensely elegant, perfumed Saint-Émilion, a wine I'll definitely be adding to my own cellar. It's the result of gamble that paid off, as Figeac's team chose to wait to pick their Cabernet Sauvignon despite the menace of forecast rain—a menace that, in fact, scarcely transpired. The 2021 saw a somewhat shorter-than-usual élevage of 16 months in barrel without fining. Drink 2027-2050.

The 2021 Léoville Las Cases has turned out beautifully in bottle and clearly numbers among the very finest wines of the vintage. Unfurling in the glass with aromas of dark berries and cassis mingled with notions of cigar wrapper, violets and pencil shavings, it's medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated with a deep and multidimensional core of fruit framed by beautifully refined tannins and girdled by lively acids, concluding with a long, penetrating finish. Serious and structured without being austere, it's a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc and a mere 5% Merlot. Drink 2031-2065.

Offering up aromas of cassis, minty blackberries, lilac and pencil shavings, the 2021 Haut-Batailley is medium to full-bodied, supple and polished, with a succulent core of fruit and delicately chalky tannins. For many years, significant parts of this property were left unplanted, but as of 2022, all 41 hectares are now under vine; so, there'll be more of this Pauillac—with its new, more modern style—to go around. Drink Date: 2025 - 2041

The nose is spicy with hints of vanilla and a touch of licorice, offering both freshness and intensity. On the palate, fresh vanilla takes the lead, followed by subtle notes of white apricot fruits. The finish is slightly woody, yet refined and well-blended, showcasing a nice density of wine.

A serious, age-worthy vintage of La Mission Haut Brion here. With a deep, dark, rich hue, the wine pops from the glass with its smoky essence made even better by its layers of black currants, black plums, tar, herbs, cigar box, and tobacco accents. The palate is full-bodied, powerful, rich, intense, mouth-filling, and long. Everything is in balance, meshing power with precision, purity, freshness, length, and complexity. Like all the great vintages of La Mission Haut Brion , this is going to demand time in the cellar before it unfurls and displays all it has to offer. Drink from 2036-2060. 98 Points

This is a surprisingly thin wine from this classic vineyard and stellar vintage. Flavors of strawberry, watermelon and cranberry seem dilute, and there is little backup as the wine trails out the finish. It's a pleasant and balanced wine, aged in 28% new French barrels that push out a toasty finish. Paul Gregutt

Truffle, underbrush, new leather and chopped herb aromas slowly emerge in the glass. The bright, elegantly structured palate delivers tart cherry, licorice and tobacco alongside vibrant acidity and tightly wound noble tannins. It's still youthfully austere so give it time to develop. 

"While this wine has density and richness, the structure gives it an ageworthy shape. Its power is tamed and given sophistication, while acidity and black-plum flavors give freshness. The wine will be impressive. Drink from 2024. Roger Voss" - 96/100, Wine Enthusiast

Intense Ruby ​​red color with purple reflections, elegant and persistent perfume characterized by hints of cherry. On the palate it is dry, full and harmonious.

It immediately begins to impress with seductive aromatics of ripe black cherries and blackberries, which are woven together with exotic spices, tobacco, espresso, florals, gravel and savory nuances all taking shape in the glass.

A stunning wine, it possesses off the charts richness and tremendous depth that just builds with time in the glass. Inky dark fruit, plum, spice, licorice, menthol and crushed berries saturate the palate. 

1 Bottle Each of the following wines:
Ausone 100 JS / 99 VM / 98+ WA
Cheval Blanc 100 WA / 100 JS / 100 VM 
Haut-Brion 100 JS / 98+ JD / 98 VM / 98 WA
Lafite Rothschild 100 WA / 100 JS / 98 JA 
Margaux 100 WA / 100 JS / 100 JA 
La Mission Haut-Brion 100 JD / 99 WA / 99 JA
Mouton Rothschild 99 JS / 99 AG / 98+ WA 
Petrus 100 JD / 98 VM / 98 JA / 98 DE 
Yquem 98 VM / 97+ WI / 97 JA / 97 DE

This is really excellent with creamy tannins and a lovely berry, currant and blueberry character. Full and luscious for the vintage. Superb. Second wine of Ausone.

The nose is delicate, mingling rhubarb and peach fragrances with delicious notes of white flowers. A fresh attack with notes of rhubarb gives way to an alluring, delicious and pure mouthfeel. Persistent and smooth, the finish reveals buttery and subtle aromas of Muscadelle.

The vineyard of Vosne-Romanée covers about 240 ha on Vosne-Romanée and Flagey-Echezeaux. The village of Vosne-Romanée, situated at the heart of the Côte de Nuits, is comprised of six fabulous Grands Crus such as Romanée-Conti, Tâche, Richebourg… whereas its neighbor, Flagey-Echezeaux, shelters Echezeaux and Grands-Echezeaux. The production of Grands Crus represents ¼ of the vineyard. Les Echezeaux itself covers only 34.8 hectares, at an altitude varying between 230 and 300 meters above sea level, with a rather complex mixture of soils: limestone, red silt, marl…

Open and intense nose with notes of orange and grapefruit. The attack is fresh and supple. Well-balanced and concentrated wine with good mineral length on the finish.

Blackberries and black currants define the nose, palate, and character of this classy Pauillac. The wine offers vibrancy, chewy textures, and nuances of mint, tobacco leaf, cedar, peppery spices, and tobacco wrapper. Classic, classy, refined, and with ample layers of sweet, lush, dark fruits with the tannins to age, this will drink well early, yet it will also evolve quite well.

A mild and very wet winter led to an early and even budbreak. The damp weather lasted all the way through Spring accompanied by some very cool temperatures. Miraculously, full flowering took place between the 7th and the 11th of June which was a 5-day period of lovely weather and relatively hot temperatures. These conditions encouraged a quick and uniform flowering followed by a good return of fruit. The midpoint of the colour change of the berries happened around the 10th of August, with excellent uniformity across all the grape varieties. Despite these unpredictable swings of Nature; the heat and the absence of rain, the vines could maintain a healthy foliage right up to the beginning of the harvest thanks both to the water reserves and to the ploughing of the plots. Harvesting started 8 days late. Light showers at the beginning of September and a lovely Indian summer during the picking meant that all the grape varieties achieved perfect ripeness and a healthy condition placing the 2016 vintage among the great vintages.

"Potazzine" refers to colourful and vivacious birds which inhabit the Tuscany countryside. The property is owned by Gigliola Giannetti who created the winery in 1993 upon the birth of her first daughter and further expanded it another 2ha three years later after the birth of her second daughter.  Potazzine is also a term of endearment given to children by parents and grandparents and it was Gigliola’s mother who affectionately gave this nickname to the two girls.  These prestigious wines are made using natural fermentation with indigenous yeasts, long macerations and ageing in Slavonian oak for 40 months resulting in wines with smooth tannins. The nose is fruity and floral with notes of red cherry, and violets, defined by savoury tomato leaf, balsamic and spice notes for a beautifully balanced wine.

Philippe and Valerie Bassereau (4th generation) have been managing the Chateau de la Graves estate since 1990 in one of the more unknown appellations of Bordeaux: Cotes de Bourg (on the right bank opposite of Margaux). Here they specialize in the ancient Colombard grape, blended with Semillon for the white wines, and Merlot dominated reds. This gorgeous white wine is a blend of 60% Semillon and 40% Colombard that blends acacia flowers, nutmeg spice and lemony citrus that pairs well with many seafood dishes, both grilled and raw!

On the nose, it has aromas of dark fruit, vanilla, and spice, while on the palate, it is full-bodied with flavors of black cherry, plum, and tobacco. The tannins are firm and well-structured, providing a long and elegant finish. This wine is a perfect pairing for hearty meat dishes, such as grilled steak or roasted lamb.

In the heart of Willamette Valley, Iris Vineyards on 870 acres features over 10 acres of Pinot Gris vines. Dry farmed for concentrated berries, this Pinot Gris has aromas of Asian pear and pineapple with a lively balanced palate of yellow apple and grapefruit. The versatility of this wine allows it to pair well with white fish, scallops, and yellow curry. A quality pinot gris from a quality area.

This powerful "Super Tuscan" is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. Located in the heart of Chianti Classico, the passion for Bordeaux and its wines was the inspiration for creating these blends. Careful grape selection, ageing in French barrique and sure lie, gives these wines depth of character and rich and exotic textures. In the bottle you will find notes of blackberry, cassis, plum and violet wrapped up in spice, leather, and cedar. Decant for optimal experience or lay down for a few years. Stunning wine.

The S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon is rich and complex with aromas of currants, violets, and dusty cocoa powder. Generous dark fruit flavors dominate the palate and meld with hints of graphite. The tannins are structured but have a soft edge, and the Napa Cabernet finishes with a dark chocolate note.

We don’t often think about Nebbiolo outside of Barolo or Barbaresco, but the northern region of Gattinara is a quality region growing points-worthy Spanna, as it is known here. Elegant with aromas and flavours of dried roses, raspberry jam and hints of toasted nuts and vanilla. If you’ve never tried Nebbiolo from Northern Piemonte, this is a good place to start. 

This wine shows an earthy but fresh nose which evolves into fruity glimpses on the palate. The flavors' weight, from light to medium, contribute to a beautiful balance and length, one of the best in its range.

Aromas of sweet cherries, currants, loamy soil and espresso roast introduce the 2017 Pommard 1er Cru Clos de Verger, a medium to full-bodied, supple and open-knit wine that will drink well out of the gates. The character of the vintage emphasizes the charm that wines from this site often display. -WA

Michel Rey Pouilly Fuisse La Marechaude is a white wine made from Chardonnay grapes grown in the Pouilly-Fuisse subregion of Burgundy. The wine has a bright, golden color and a complex bouquet of ripe fruit, including peach, apricot, and tropical fruit, with hints of vanilla and toast. On the palate, the wine is rich and full-bodied, with flavors of stone fruit and citrus, balanced by a refreshing acidity and a long, lingering finish. This wine pairs well with seafood, poultry, and creamy sauces.

Louis Latour's vineyards cover 50 ha and includes the largest collection of Grand Cru in Burgundy, not to mention a name synonymous with quality. En Chevret vineyard is located in the Volnay appellation; an eastern exposition located close to Mersault. It has a bright ruby color and aromas of red fruits, such as cherries and raspberries, as well as floral and spice notes. On the palate, it is medium-bodied and well-structured, with flavors of ripe fruit, earth, and subtle oak nuances. This is an elegant wine with supple tannins and a round, slightly woody finish.

Le Grappin began in 2011 with a vision to seek out special sites in the over-looked, under-appreciated reaches of Burgundy and to seek out viticulteurs who tend their vines throughout the year with exceptional care and attention, to give the grapes the best opportunity to shine. This wine comes from the Beaune Premier Cru, made from 100% Pinot Noir from 40 year old vines. It has aromas of red berries, black cherry, and a hint of earth. On the palate, it is dry, medium-bodied, well-balanced, and elegant, with flavors of strawberry, raspberry, and a touch of spice with a long smooth finish.

Domaine Jacques Prieur Beaune-Grèves 1er Cru Blanc is a classic, elegant Chardonnay from Burgundy, offering a blend of ripe orchard fruits (apple, pear, peach), citrus (lemon), and floral notes, with toasty hints of vanilla, almond, and flint from oak aging, featuring a vibrant acidity, good tension, and a long, mineral, refreshing finish, pairing well with rich fish, poultry in creamy sauces, or truffle dishes. 

Luxury is not typically associated with white wine, but this top-rated wine made from Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco is without a doubt, one of Italy’s most iconic. The beautiful texture and minerality of this wine will help it age for decades.