French Wines

Château Calon-Ségur in St-Estèphe is a brilliant property, that's hugely sought after. This, the second wine, is a brilliant purchase: one that you should stock up on.

Château Capbern is a real gem of our Bordeaux range. From St-Estèphe, and made by the same team as high-achiever Calon-Ségur, this is a wine that will thrill with its energy and complexity, and with its price. It’s a wine that comes very highly recommended: stock up at En Primeur prices, while you have the chance.

Billecart-Salmon might be one of the most recognisable names in Champagne, but it remains a family-run business to this day, with its cellars in the heart of the Montagne de Reims. Their Brut Réserve is a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, and is made in a wonderfully harmonious style. It is chalky and zesty, with bright, crunchy apple fruit on the palate and a zippy freshness. Its 50%+ reserve wine in the blend gives it complexity and character.

There's a Pinot Noir character on the nose of the 2019 Roc de Cambes, with dark cherries, and lots of floral notes. There's a sweetness to the fruit, and such a delicacy to the tannins. This is beautifully balanced, and incredibly refined: such a good wine, it's not to be missed.

There’s lots of creamy merlot character on the 2020 Evangile, a Pomerol which gets better every year we taste it. Lovely silkiness to the tannins, that build through and coat the palate. Very detailed and feel that slight savoury cabernet franc on the finish. Very pure and insanely long. Gets better and better.

Complex, smoky and floral on the nose. This is terroir-driven Sauvignon Blanc, with superb texture and balance. It is precise and layered, full of savoury, dried herb and grassy notes on the palate. Impressive length. A perfect accompaniment to fish dishes or with goats cheese.

This vineyard borders Pommard, and has produced a wine with a fruity, vibrant pallet of cranberry and redcurrant flavours in 2019. In cooler years it can be a little austere, but in 2019, it is a winner, with such plush and charming fruit.

As the name suggests, this is higher up than the surrounding vineyards, and its elevation affords it a freshness and precision. Alongside the decadent berry fruit and garrigue herbs are notes of baked earth and roasted spices. What a wonderful Châteauneuf.

Initial notes of white flowers on the nose, such as jasmine, honeysuckle and vine flowers can be felt and then opens with fruitier nuances of apple, pear and peach. A few notes of fresh sliced almond and frangipane complete the bouquet. In the mouth, the cuvée reveals more complex aromas: dried apricot, hazelnuts, honey and sugar candy. Silky textures give the wine its personality, elegance and character. The aging has imparted particular depth and power to the wine.

This is Clusel Roch’s classic blend. Indeed, until recently it had been called ‘Classique’ rather than Les Schistes. It comes from a range of vineyards across the iron-rich soils of the Côte Brune, including Le Plomb, Montmains, and the bottom of Viallière. The blend is saline and taut, with a flash of fresh cherry running through the palate. Fragrant, with a little cool spice.

Deep and brooding, very mineral and fine, striking tannic structure and there's a depth to the fruit. Power, balance and intensity. Really impressively put together with energy and length.

This comes from a selection of 100-year-old vines in some of Stéphane’s best parcels, Champelrose, Eygats, and Combe. It follows in the same vein as the Cornas, but with greater presence of tannins and drive. It will therefore need longer in bottle to reach its peak. Hugely elegant, mouth-coating, and intense.

There is something magical here: it is at once aromatically precise, and energised with a wildness, reminiscent of garrigue herbs. As usual, it is a blend of 15 different parcels around Cornas, which Stéphane vinified separately, only blending at the final moment before bottling. Great freshness and balance.

Blended from six lieux-dits, there's wonderful tension here between ripeness and mineral purity, with wonderfully perfumed and expressive Syrah fruit. The tannins are ripe and supple: this is a complete wine.

This is a balanced and refined Savigny, with a long, plummy, spicy finish. It has 20% whole bunch, helping draw out the tannins in a more gentle expression, which works well here. Perfumed with plum, red cherry and rose petal, with a delicious freshness. Fantastic.

This is from the lowest slopes at Vieille Julienne, a great site for Grenache, which loves its sandy, pebbly soils. The vines have an average age of 75+ years, and the wine is concentrated but poised. The Grenache gives generosity and breafth, and 10% Counoise brings some softer notes, freshness and balances the natural power of the wine. Lots of plush dark fruit flavours and firm structure, with a crunchy, red fruit accent and a minerally, stony finish.

This is one of the finest sites of the Côte Blonde, and it produces a wine of huge elegance and subtlety, although you’ll want to tuck it away for a few years before pulling the cork.

Mon Village is the destination for the fruit of the Ogier’s younger vines, and it’s an approachable yet not-to-be-undervalued Côte-Rôtie. Very floral and supple, with persistence on the finish.

One of the lesser known Nuits premiers crus, this vineyard is shared with Domaine Robert Chevillon, just below Aux Thorey, on the Vosne side of the appellation. Its clay-rich soils have yielded a big-shouldered, powerful Nuits, with a complex and surprisingly silky palate with an ample, pleasing finish.

The 2020 Rieussec is delicious. Full of layers of zesty citrus, fresh mandarin, peach, honeysuckle and white flowers, as well as baking spices and a hint of marmalade. Rich, textural but refreshing and lifted on the finish. Each bottle has a distinctive resealable cork closure.

This is a new cuvée in 2019, made from 50+ year old vines grown on a south-facing slope. It has a salty grip, and expresses the purity of fruit that Syrah is capable of in the best hands. Elegant and structured for the long-haul.

Like Les Clousots, this is a blend of two sites in Meursault rather than a single lieu-dit. It is a combination of Les Casses Têtes and Les Murgers de Monthélie. This cuvée has been bottled since 1996, and is a cornerstone of the Javillier range. It is always the straightest and more driven of the range. In 2021, this expresses a wonderful honeysuckle, floral and fresh stone fruit bouquet and there is a full and vibrant expression on the impressive finish. As ever, elegant and refined. Leave for a year or two before diving in.

This cuvée is picked 2-3 weeks later than the others from the Domaine, and contains a higher proportion of mourvedre, giving darker, more mineral fruit, with more tannin and density. Layered and serious, this is a wine for the cellar. It more than justifies its separate bottling.

An impressive Le Gay, this opens with notes of violets, chocolate, and ripe purple fruit. The palate finds the perfect balance between freshness and exuberence with fleshy bramble fruit clothing the wine's ripe tannin. This ends with a long, supple finish and accents of liquorice and brine.

Cool berry fruit, with tapenade and fine tannins, and nice acidity, from a mix of foudre and demi-muids. Hints of violet and lovely freshness to the fruit. Real hit of salinity - this a Châteauneuf you can drink - with a persistent finish and a nice phenolic bitterness keeping it all focused.

Vignes Franches lies right in the middle of the Beaune Premiers Crus, bordering Clos des Mouches among several others. The third vintage for this cuvée, it has attractive cherry fruit aromas with an interesting herbal note. There is an elegance and depth to the crunchy, cherry fruit on the palate and a very fine and long saline finish.

This is the emblematic cuvée of the Rostaing domaine, which blends 15 lieux-dits from around Côte-Rôtie. It showcases the Rostaing signature style: rich, dense fruit, with bold tannin structure. The 2021 has wonderfully open fruit, and this will drink well from early on. Savoury and highly appetising.

This is a blend of two parcels and is the hidden gem of Sorrel’s range. 20% comes from Bessards, and 80% from Les Plantiers, just below Le Méal. These vines produce fruit with real power, and this wine has a great presence. But the floral tones and salty fruit make it more accessible than the Gréal, and mean it should start to open up a little earlier.

An outstanding value Pomerol, now owned by Calon-Segur this is undoubtedly one to watch. An insider's tip from the Pomerol plateau, this has energy, power, and ripeness in perfect balance. A beauty.

This gourmand, full-bodied and elegant wine is one of the sweet spots of the Comte Armand stable. As ever, it is a blend of two vineyards in Auxey: Les Bréterins and Les Duresses. Bréterins is steep, well-drained, with very limestone soils contributing savoury elegance; Duresses is clay-based and builds power and body in the wine. It has the savoury structure for good ageing potential, though it is still fragrant, silky and inviting in its youth.

Aloxe-Corton, which hugs the hill of Corton, may not be the most famous village in the Côte d’Or, overshadowed both metaphorically and literally by the grands crus, but in the hands of winemakers like Etienne the results can be impressive - and good value. This is spicy and dark-fruited on the nose, with a juicy palate that abounds with summer fruits and a voluminous, structured finish.

Berliquet, tucked away between the illustrious names of St-Emilion, really is one to watch. 2017 was the first vintage under the new owners, who also run Chateaux Rauzan Segla and Canon. It’s full of rich plum and blackberry fruit with a mineral complexity alongside woody herbs and licquorice spice. Elegant and silky with soft tannins.

A blend of 15 lieux-dits across Côte Blonde and Côte Brune (in total 25 plots go into it). Really nice character here, fresh and lifted and pure with amazing density and a long and deep finish. René adores his son’s handiwork here.

“Bousselots” means “little bumps”, but this premier cru’s clay-rich soils make for a rounded and approachable Nuits-Saint-Georges. Complex and generous, with plenty of cool fruit coming from that clay in the soil.

Only made in the better vintages Jean-Paul thinks around 10% of the wine this year has gone into Cuvée Félix, from their 27 plots across 16 hectares. It contains 30% Mourvèdre which lends a musky, cool blackcurrant character. Finely packed tannins coat the mouth and there's a lot of dark fruit concentration on the palate. Floral hints and fresh acidity builds to a fine finish, this should be fantastic with a few years in bottle.

Jean-Marc makes some of the best Chassagne Rouge around. With old vines (as old as 70 years old) planted on the clay soil pockets from 5 different parcels around the village, he has produced a great example again in 2021. This old vine cuvée is perfumed with rich, red-fruit and spice, and has a pleasing sour cherry freshness on the palate.

The 2020 Pavie-Macquin is another lovely wine from this impressive Thienpont-owned estate. Fine tannins and intense fruit, with lots of spice and minerality on the finish. Really well put together in 2020.

Domaine des Ardoisières is one of the hottest addresses in the Savoie. This red is a blend of 65% Gamay de Chautagne, 25% Mondeuse, and 10% Persan. It is brimming with dark cherry notes and a spicy lift, with the cool smoky freshness of this high-altitude region. Supple, salty tannins, and a long balanced finish.

Thibaud and Michel Chevré only started making this cuvée in 2017, but it was frosted so badly in 2019 none was made at all. It is a pleasure to see it bounce back in 2020. The 50 year old Chenin vines on sandy clay and limestone soils make for a beautifully floral and aromatic style of wine. It has a pretty fruit weight and long mineral finish. Very good indeed.

A bottling that pushes the boundaries of what high-quality Beaujolais can be: grapes spend an enormous seven months macerating in large clay amphorae, creating a textured, explosive wine that’s spectacularly delicious.

From the moment this wine was poured, the air was filled with notes of white and pink flower petals, alongside more complex notes of Black Forest ham, lavendar and a hint of tapenade. Black-berried fruit dominates the palate, which displays an exceptional textural component, as well as purity and depth of the very highest order. There is an effortless style about Mon Aïeul, which is delightfully natural and terroir-focused, almost beyond comparison within the region.

Dom Ruinart breaks the mould in 2010. It's a vintage that hasn't yielded universally celebrated wines in Champagne, but the Dom Ruinart is an exception to the rule, and one to get seriously excited about. The critics have heaped praise on it, with Antonio Galloni stating "the 2010 Dom Ruinart is one of the most impressive Champagnes ever made here. If there is anything better, I don't think I have tasted it!" It has huge vinous energy and wonderful complexity. This is an absolute classic in the making. 4g/l dosage.

This is a great site for Grenache, which loves its sandy, pebbly soils. The vines have an average age of 75+ years, and the wine is concentrated but poised. The 2019 has a dry, savoury length, with spicy and floral notes emerging with some air. It's a truly delicious Châteauneuf-du-Pape from a tip-top vintage.

This is another top cuvée from Domaine Giraud, named in honour of François and Marie’s father, made from vines planted in 1901 in the sandy soils next to Château Rayas.

When asked whether the Château was having to change anything to compensate for climate change, Marie Descotis, who heads up the Château's research and development department, explained that their terroir is proving to be perfect for the somewhat warmer and drier conditions over the last few years, allowing their Cabernet Sauvignon to flourish. The blend this year is made up of 86% of this Cabernet, 10% Merlot and the rest split between Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The resultant wine is the most concentrated they have ever produced, yet it is also incredibly poised and balanced. Dark berry fruits, notes of woodsmoke and spice come through on the nose. The palate is immediately fresh and pure, with a layered sense of fine tannin, depth and power. There is a graphite-like grip to the structure, a definite minerality and a core of cool-natured, classic fruit. Despite the concentration and density in the wine, the balance is such as to give it an almost approachable sensation. Beautiful rather than pretty, this is an elegant and refined wine that shows what could be achieved in 2011 with great terroir and a deft hand.

In 2021 this has a delightful herbal freshness entwined with the red berry fruit. It comes from granitic slopes in the heart of Cornas. It has no new oak and is always the most floral and forward of the Courbis Cornas wines.

This is the second of the domaine’s signature cuvées (the other is Cornas Les Chailles). It comes from the old vines planted further up the slopes at altitudes ranging from 250-400m. The wine shows old vine intensity, twinned with the precision of the 2021 vintage.

This comes from three parcels of 100-year-old vines in Champelrose, Eygats, and Combe. It is intense, and incredibly elegant on the nose, with mineral, saline, iodine notes. The palate shows voluptuous tannins which wrap around the deep red fruit, creating a mouth-coating texture.

Comtes de Champagne Brut Rosé is a rare beast next to the white, with its own paricular following. It's a blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir, of which 16% is red wine blended in for the core of red fruit and delicate colour it imparts the wine.

This is the calling card of the Boxler domaine. Sommerberg is the steep 19 hectare grand cru vineyard that rises up dramatically behind the village of Niedermorschwihr, where the Boxler cellar lies. Indeed, Sommerberg is synonymous with Boxler: this is the most famous and celebrated iteration of the vineyard. It typically has drive and tension, and in 2021 it has mouthwatering minerality, and a sappy, almost fragrant salinity. Concentrated yet weightless. This is a Riesling to hold onto for a few years and enjoy as it gains in stature with age.

Sometimes overlooked, those that do so do so at their peril: the Hermitage Rouge really is a baby Gréal in 2017. Silky and fine but with oodles of depth, it’s a simply stunning Syrah.

Initial notes of white flowers on the nose, such as jasmine, honeysuckle and vine flowers can be felt and then opens with fruitier nuances of apple, pear and peach. A few notes of fresh sliced almond and frangipane complete the bouquet. In the mouth, the cuvée reveals more complex aromas: dried apricot, hazelnuts, honey and sugar candy. Silky textures give the wine its personality, elegance and character. The aging has imparted particular depth and power to the wine.

P2 - or Plénitude 2 - is a fascinating wine to taste. It comes about when the team at Dom Pérignon hold back a small portion of vintage Champagne in their cellars of Hautvillers. For a further 10 years after the wine’s initial release, these bottles age on lees and gain in richness and complexity. So in total, it means the wine has spent almost two decades before disgorgement. This extra time adds harmony, complexity, and intensity.

Floral and expressive, haunting aromatics with wonderful ripeness of fruit. Palate is very textured and fresh, and very saline. Impressive density and length on the finish. This is wonderful.

65% Gamay de Chautagne, 25% Mondeuse, 10% Persan. A beautiful pale ruby from a super-star Savoie domaine. It is lightly scented with wild cherries, Alpine strawberries, and a light graphite smokiness. Its sappy adicity and fine sweet tannins combine in this distinctive and delicious mountain red.

This parcel is quintessential Chinon: at the top of the hill overlooking the Loire river, its flood plains, and the charming eponymous town. It is named after the huge and statuesque oak tree that grows at its edge. Its excellent position affords it good ripening and drainage. The soil here is clay and sandstone, and produces a wine with a pretty red fruit structure, and some distinctively spicy notes. In 2019 it has harmonious balance, a little lighter in weight than the Varenne and Dioterie, it has this amazing freshness to the fruit.

The hallmark of great Châteauneuf is the ability to balance the weighty, mouthfilling fruit with freshness and lift, making a wine that can be enjoyed without being overpowering. Few make a wine with such charm and expression whilst still retaining the generous, mouthfilling style the region is famed for. Jean-Paul, take a bow.

Chardonnay here refers to the village, rather than the variety. Clos de la Crochette is a charming walled vineyard that Dominique bought in 2003. After a little investigation he discovered it is one of the most historic sites in all of Burgundy, first planted by the monks of Cluny (c.900 AD). This has beautiful tension and energy, it comes as little surprise this spot has been a favourite for winegrowers through the centuries.

You’d expect this wine to be one of the best in the stable: from home turf, made from a magnificent blend of grapes from all but two of the village’s lieux-dits in 2021. It is one of the most complete and compelling portraits of the village you’ll find, and it’s a wine to remind you that these Olivier Leflaive wines are not only the most benchmark example of their appellations, but also some of the most exciting in their category. This is everything Puligny should be, and more: tight, steely, nervous, and in 2021, fabulously concentrated in rich fruit with a long, chalky, mineral finish

This is made from a high quality Beaujolais village parcel, but after the wine was rejected in 2012 for being ‘too pale’, Jean-Claude decided to change its classification to the much freer Vin de France, valuing the innate character of the wine over the AOC’s regulations. It remains one of the most interesting in his range. The palate is so light on its feet, with a lifted red berry energy. 100% whole bunch Gamay gives it a cool, bright structure with lacy tannins. No sulphur dioxide is added at all here. Equally well suited as a chilled aperitif red or a superb lighter style to finish an evening off: this is natural winemaking at its finest, least-faddy best.

This is one of two signature reds at the domaine (the other being Cornas Les Vieilles Vignes). Les Chailles is tight and firm in its youth, but floral aromatics open up with some aeration, promising this will start drinking well from early on.

Beautiful cherry fruit. Delicate, fresh, lovely purity and also plenty of juicy berries on the finish. Very saline and defined.

This tiny cuvée is the jewel in the crown at this estate. It’s tough for any young domaine to buy vines in Côte-Rôtie these days, and only the very brave attempt it. Graeme and Julie now have two tiny parcels, and this cuvée has already won them much praise as the new kids to get seriously excited about. The 2021 continues their strong form. It is restrained, tightly coiled, and serious. It will need more time than the rest of their wines to open up, but will unfurl in magnificent splendour.

This is a hugely powerful and impressive Châteauneuf. Old vines (100 years+), low yields, slightly cooler north-facing terraces, and Jaun-Paul's magic touch make for an exquisite wine. Very limited. The 2012 is now hitting its stride, with mature savoury notes, leather and spice coming through the juicy Grenache fruit.

Lovely intensity and power. There's so much depth and concentration here, spanning floral notes to deep dark fruits, bound up with lovely tension and elegance. This is beautiful. The finish is nicely balanced with a cool, saline finish and more spice and flowers. Quite brilliant.

65% Gamay de Chautagne, 25% Mondeuse, 10% Persan. 2018’s warm season has lent this a depth of dark cherry and wild berry core, married with the cool smoky freshness of the high-altitude region. Supple, salty tannins, and a long balanced finish. Domaine des Ardoisières on top form.

This is one of the great gems of our list: a top class grower’s signature wine. The fruit comes from around the village of Ingersheim, near the domaine’s cellars in Niedermorschwihr. Jean Boxler’s parcels are clustered around these villages; here, his attention to detail in the vineyard is revered by neighbours. There’s no doubt his efforts pay off in this 2020, which is concentrated, fresh, and poised. All of Jean Boxler’s wines have this enigmatic energy; they hold your attention and intrigue your taste buds. It bursts with zingy lime juice and white blossom. As ever, this is irresistible as a young wine but will also age beautifully.

This parcel sits just under one of Nuits-St-Georges’ most celebrated premiers crus, Les Vaucrains. It has an agile, elegant, and pretty structure, more refined than the straight village cuvée.

Historically known as a village for reds, Chassagne can still be home to some of the Côte de Beaune’s Pinot Noir gems. Here the vines are 100+ years old, Dark fruit and lavender on the nose, it’s very expressive. Really cool fruit, and smoky and earthy, this is one you simply have to try.

Beautiful pale straw colour and gold highlights shimmering with flashes of green.
A marvellous floral burst comes right off the glass, with white flower and hints of passion fruit. On the palate, plenty of richness and elegance, with honey and great acidity balancing all the components in this splendid wine.

Attractive notes of white peach and apricot on the nose, with a hint of zesty citrus, giving this an immediate sense of poise. On the palate, this is balanced and appealing. Intense without being cloying, finishing very pure and fresh.

Decanter: High acidity balances high sugar. Intriguing muscadelle floweriness. Marvellous finesse. 19 points.

This Savennières has a brilliant attack. It is pithy and weighty, with plenty of energy. It grown on sandy soils over schist bedrock and the resulting wine is vinous and saline. A little oak gives structure to the palate and the finish shows ripe, concentrated fruit.

This is Julien’s flagship wine. It is rich and woven-through with ripe tannin and forest berry flavours. It has a silky body and a bright, red-fruit-driven finish.

This is Syrah wearing its Pinot cloak. The Kamaka is the wine that needs the most explanation in the Bott cellar. Seyssuel, on the other side of the river to Côte-Rôtie, is an appellation on the march. There are hopes that it will be elevated to full cru status within a matter of years. Here, the schist and gneiss soils glisten in the sunlight; there’s no granite on this side of the river, The Syrah that grows here is floral and pinot-esque, with an elegant texture and a spicy, salty undertow. Kamata is the Maori word for rock or stone, and a nod to Graeme’s Kiwi origins. Much more than a curiosity

Guy buys these grapes from a friend in the La Garonne climat. There’s an attractive floral note on the nose and a wonderful fresh, finesse to the fruit. The finish is long and saline leaving you reaching for another sip.

A negociant wine, this has a lovely tannic structure, alongside the generosity of the vintage.

This is a selection of the family’s favourite tonneaux (the large demi-muid barrels they like to use for ageing) of their larger Crozes-Hermitage Cuvée. Highly fruit-driven. It has a dramatic frame of black, cassis-like fruit, underscored by a touch of tapenade. The tannins are grippy and present. It’s a Crozes with some umph.

Blended from six lieux-dits, there's wonderful tension here between ripeness and mineral purity, with wonderfully perfumed and expressive Syrah fruit. The tannins are ripe and supple: this is a complete wine.

It is well worth following Olivier’s reds, particularly in recent vintages. 2020 is another superb example of Clos des Hâtes following the outstanding 2019. The vineyard had previously been owned by M. Duvault-Blochet, former owner of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Today, high density planting and organic farming mean low yields, which does a great service to the fruit - red berries with a smoky graphite scent lingering over them. Mineral and defined.

Four hectares, owned entirely by Michel since 2014. East facing, steep slopes with soils that resemble those of Grand Cru Corton. Wild and saline, this punches well above its weight.

Indigène is a blend of 50% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot noir and 5% each of Poulsard and Trousseau. Its name refers to the use of only natural ingredients in its winemaking: primary fermentation with indigenous yeasts, and secondary fermentation initiated by the addition of Stéphane's own liqueur de tirage, made from the domaine’s own, fermenting straw wine. It is creamy and gently sparkling, with a vinous character running through the palate. It is one of the finest examples of its type