This wine is gorgeous. Pliant and succulent in the glass, with striking fruit presence, Siaurac shows just how compelling the best Lalande de Pomerols are. Red cherry fruit, blood orange, mint, spice and cedar build into the creamy, beautifully layered finish.

Limpid orange-pink. Mineral-accented strawberry, cherry and orange aromas are complemented by a subtle floral topnote. Shows good energy and spicy lift on the palate, which offers juicy red berry, orange pith and rose pastille flavors and a touch of botanical herbs. The floral note repeats a bright, supple finish that leaves a bitter cherry note behind.

A dense midnight-purple color. Robust aromas of blueberry, blackberry, peppercorn, lavender, and dried herbs open to reveal notes of smoke, toast, and a touch of vanilla. Massively powerful, with muscular and jammy black- and blue-fruit flavors plus complex flourishes of savory spice and earth. Laden with silken tannins, the concentrated palate carries the wine through to an extended finish. A vin de France in the tradition of the best garagiste wines. Drink now–2031.

Juicy and layered black fruits here, this is excellent, with real sense of drive forward through the palate and well expressed tannins that have texture and sap running through them. Easy to recommend, and good value.

Bottled earlier this year, the 2016 Costières De Nîmes Lou Coucardié checks in a blend of 50% Mourvèdre, 30% Grenache, and 20% Syrah that was 66% destemmed and aged two years in 500- and 600-liter barrels. This blockbuster beauty boasts a deep purple color as well as a smoking good bouquet of blackberries, cured meats, ground pepper, Asian spices, and flowery incense. Deep, full-bodied, and concentrated, it’s still seamless, balanced, and weightless on the palate, and shows why 2016 is such a great vintage in the southern Rhône Valley. This wine just about maxes out the value scale and can be drunk with incredible pleasure today or cellared for a decade.

Cyrille Portalis has crafted an outstanding 2022 Bandol Rose. With a harmonious bouquet and aromas of red berries, spices, iodine, jasmine, wild strawberry and menthol, it’s round and supple, medium to full-bodied, layered and textured, with mineral acidity and an ethereal yet lively finish. This blend of 80% Mourvèdre and 20% Cinsault tastes like the essence of Bandol rosé. Drinking 2023 - 2028

The 2018 Chablis Vaillons 1er Cru was picked at 58hl/ha and spent 18 months in stainless steel except for just 7% aged for 9 months in oak barrels. It offers attractive, slightly waxy aromas on the nose that give way to orange blossom and apple peel with aeration. The palate is well balanced with crisp acidity, and just a dab of ginger on the entry that actually resurfaces toward the finish. This is a pretty and well-executed Vaillons.

More cassis, violets, flowers, and black pepper notes emerge from the 2020 Ventoux Persia, and it's more lively and elegant on the palate, with high yet integrated acidity and very fine, polished tannins. While the 2019 is a bigger, richer wine, the 2020 is more elegant and finesse-driven. It should benefit from a year in bottle and drink brilliantly through 2030.

The 2019 Goulée by Cos d'Estournel is an intensely savory, aromatic Médoc. Tobacco, spice, cedar, mint, dark cherry, licorice and incense all grace this mid-weight wine. Silky tannins round things out in style. The 2019 is a charmer. Drinking 2024 -2034

The 2017 vintage of les Picasses from Domaine Raffault has just been released, nearly six years out from the vintage. The wine is simply outstanding on both the nose and palate, with the bouquet hopping from the glass in a vibrant and already complex blend of sweet dark berries, cassis, cigar wrapper, gravelly soil tones, a touch of smoked meats, currant leaf and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and complex, with superb mid-palate depth, excellent soil signature and grip, ripe, well-measured tannins and impeccable balance on the long, complex and very classy finish. At age six, this wine is certainly approachable today, but it is still a puppy and the real fireworks will not start until it is at least twelve years of age. Outstanding young Chinon! 2023-2075+

This white strikes a nice balance between peach, apple and lemon fruit and light herb and earth accents. The vibrant structure keeps it defined and extends the finish. Drink now through 2024. 12,000 cases imported.

A terrific vintage for this wine, which was bottled just a couple of weeks prior to my late June visit, the 2021 Cotes du Rhone Coudoulet de Beaucastel is a blend of 30% each Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah, plus 10% Cinsault. From a vineyard just outside the boundaries of the appellation of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, it's a remarkably consistent wine and always a solid value. Scents of sunbaked stones, black cherries and licorice appear on the nose, joined by hints of purple raspberries and dark chocolate, while the medium to full-bodied palate is lush and velvety, finishing long and complex.

Gentle aromas of lemon and apple pick up a stony element as this white builds on the palate. Rich, yet backed by a vibrant structure, ending with a lemon note and a chalky feel on the finish. Drink now through 2023.

A subtle hint of tangerine on the nose dissipates to leave ripe lemon brightness. The palate is beautifully concentrated, juicy and fresh, brimming with lemon-edged Mirabelle fruitiness. A chalky depth anchors everything in more coolness despite the ripe, rounded vintage.

Ripe quince and apricot fruit, with a slight hint of herbs but also a note of honey. The silky texture caresses the palate and there is none of the acerbity younger vines can produce with this grape. Lafarge was very pleased with his Aligoté: 'There was good quality and reasonable alcohol; the 2019 was a classic, but the 2020 has great depth.

Aromas of sliced green apples, goosberries, lime zest and lemon peel. It’s medium-bodied with bright acidity. Fresh, zesty and clean. Drink now.

Notes of sun-drenched black cherry and strawberry preserves are sonorous in the fruit-forward, piercing blend of 90% Grenache and 10% Syrah. It highlights all of Grenache's red-fruited delights and soft, pillowy tannins along with a twist of Syrah's peppery, brambly spice. Delightful young, it should maintain peak through 2030 at least.

Subtle aromas of hot stones, flint and dried mangoes following through to a full body, with layers of fruit. A tangy and bright finish. A typically bright and vivid Loire sauvignon. Drink now.

Lots of rich quince and Meyer lemon notes as well as subtle spice and honeyed almonds, toast, and woodsmoke notes emerge from the 2019 Saint Joseph La Source Blanc. Medium to full-bodied, it has a round, nicely textured mouthfeel, good freshness, and a great finish. As with Chapoutier, this estate likes to keep as much CO2 in their whites as possible, so don't be afraid to give this a quick decant.

A rich and layered red that shows plenty of fruit and velvety tannins, with a citrusy and black olive undertone to the ripe and flavorful fruit. Full and intense. Give it two or three years to soften and refine. Drink after 2025 and onwards.