2018 Florian Mollet Pouilly-Fume Loire Valley, France

2018 Florian Mollet Pouilly-Fume Loire Valley, France

with No Comment $30-$40FranceKevin VogtLoire ValleySancerre

FLORIAN MOLLET

2018 POUILLY-FUME
LOIRE VALLEY, FRANCE

2018 Florian Mollet Pouilly-Fume Loire Valley, France
Florian Mollet is fervent about his viticulture and winemaking. He’s also not afraid to combine tradition with modern advancements like using multiple small stainless-steel tanks for vinifying each of his parcels separately. His winery is Domaine du Clos du Roc, one of the top houses in Sancerre, formerly the Saint-Satur Abbey, founded in 1450. Their Pouilly-Fume comes from a tiny 6ha parcel across the river near the wine-growing hamlet of Boisgibault, and it produces fruit with remarkable character, clarity, and balance.
 
Domaine du Clos du Roc’s parcel in Pouilly-Fume is grown in silex soils and planted to 100% Sauvignon Blanc. The flint terroir gives the wine a unique personality, and the hallmark a subtle smoky, gunflint note which rises from the glass. 
 
Florian ferments his Pouilly-Fume in stainless steel tanks for three weeks without malolactic fermentation to preserve the wine’s natural brightness. He also ages the wine for six months on the fine lees, contributing to the intriguing textures and overall balance.
 
FLORIAN MOLLET
2018 POUILLY-FUME
LOIRE VALLEY, FRANCE
 
Your Price: $34
 
 
“Wonderful aromas of dried flowers to the cooked apple and some lime. Green papaya too. Medium to full body. Fruity and minerally finish. Drink now.” 
94 Points
 
Winery Notes: “Golden green. The nose opens up to notes of wild flowers backed by subtle citrus fruit. Expressive attack on the palate exuding exotic fruit with refreshing exuberance and delicate balance.”
2018 Domaine Jessiaume Santenay 1er Cru Les Gravieres Red Burgundy

2018 Domaine Jessiaume Santenay 1er Cru Les Gravieres Red Burgundy

with No Comment $40-$50BurgandyFranceKevin VogtPinot NoirRed Burgandy

DOMAINE JESSIAUME

SANTENAY 1er CRU
LES GRAVIÈRES
2018 RED BURGUNDY 

2018 Domaine Jessiaume Santenay 1er Cru Les Gravieres Red Burgundy
Santenay is an appellation of Côte de Beaune that’s best known for its Pinot Noir production. The region includes a dozen Premier Cru Vineyards, and Les Gravières is classically in the best part of the appellation. It’s located near the border of Chassagne and considered by many the top Cru Vineyard in Santenay. At less than $50, Domaine Jessiaume’s Premier Cru Red Burgundy from Les Gravières shows off the remarkable power, beauty, and complexity for which the site is known.
 
Les Gravières has highly-porous oolitic limestone, marls, and white oolite soils. Domaine Jessiaume sources from 60 years old vines have deep root systems that extract minerals and other composites, beautifully expressing the vineyard’s distinct terroir. 
 
Maison Jessiaume values organic viticulture and a gentle touch to winemaking. Their team intervenes as little as possible during the winemaking processes, ferments with natural yeasts, and relies on gravity to transfer the wine into tanks. The cumulative result is a pure and balanced interpretation of the varietal, location, and vintage.
 
DOMAINE JESSIAUME
SANTENAY 1er CRU
LES GRAVIÈRES
2018 RED BURGUNDY
 
Your Price: $49
 
 
“Floral and fresh on the nose, very inviting. Nice mouthfeel, bright, supple, with verve and tension. Complex flavor profile, red stone fruits, clove, cinnamon, nice balance and structure, expansive across the palate. Chewy tannins, very pure. Nice spice on the finish, with blood orange acidity. From vines with an average age of 60 years, aged 14 months in 350L barrels (30% new) before bottling.”
NV Marquis de la Mysteriale Cuvee Grand Esprit Champagne

NV Marquis de la Mysteriale Cuvee Grand Esprit Champagne

with No Comment $30 and underChampagneChampagne/SparklingFranceKevin Vogt

MARQUIS de la MYSTERIALE

CUVÉE GRAND ESPRIT
CHAMPAGNE NV

NV Marquis de la Mysteriale Cuvee Grand Esprit Champagne
How much would you expect to pay for a bottle of Champagne? Champagne commands a higher price tag than other sparkling wines due to strict requirements on aging and the fact that the region is roughly 8% of the size of Sonoma County. Champagne wines must spend at least 15 months in the bottle before release, which is longer than any other Sparkling, and they usually start above $40-$60/btl. There’s a reason why Marquis de La Mysteriale Champagne is just $29.99. The company that produces it has decided to discontinue this particular wine, which creates a grand opportunity for you.
 
Maison de Grand Esprit crafts their Champagne in a toasty and rich style, which they achieve through aging on the lees for a full 15 months. Their winemaking team sourced the grapes from small family growers, and they completed the blend with 59% Chardonnay and 41% Pinot Noir. 
 
Winemaker Florent Gauthier has an inherent passion for wine he’s developed in France, Switzerland, Australia, Chile, Argentina, and California, even working for a brief time at Stags’ Leap Winery. He believes in minimal intervention winemaking and allowing for each wine’s finesse and elegance to express itself.
 
MARQUIS de la MYSTERIALE
CUVÉE GRAND ESPRIT
CHAMPAGNE NV
Retails at: $60
 
Your Price: $29.99
 
 
“This wine is soft and well balanced. An attractive predominance of Chardonnay in the blend with Pinot Noir gives an edge of minerality as well as fresh apple flavors. The wine is ready to drink.”
90 Points
 
“Rich and complex yet fresh, our Champagne possesses a beautiful, intricate aroma of toasted bread, almond and nougat combined with a fine, persistent mousse.”
2017 Clos Du Caillou Cotes Du Rhone Cuvee Unique VV

2017 Clos Du Caillou Cotes Du Rhone Cuvee Unique VV

with No Comment $30 and underCotes du RhoneFranceKevin VogtRhone ValleyRhone Valley

CLOS Du CAILLOU

2017 COTES Du RHONE
CUVEE UNIQUE VV

2017 Clos Du Caillou Cotes Du Rhone Cuvee Unique VV
Clos du Caillou is a top producer of Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines, who at their core are stewards of their land. They’ve practiced biodynamic viticulture since the early 2000’s, and they were certified organic in 2010. Interestingly, their Old Vine Cotes-du-Rhone comes from a parcel walled by renowned Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards. It was intentionally left out of the appellation by the owner, following a bureaucratic spat back in 1936. It’s truly one of the best Cotes-du-Rhone wines made.
 
The winery forged Clos du Caillou’s old-vine Cotes-du-Rhone Cuvée Unique from 45-year-old vines grown in sandy soils, which lends to the silky elegance and fine-grained texture that’s become a hallmark of their wines.
 
The 2017 vintage harmoniously married 82% Grenache with 18% Syrah and was kept for 16 months in Oak. The wine offers supple yet compact fruit that spans black cherry, wild lavender, hints of wild game, and a touch of spices on the palate.
 
CLOS Du CAILLOU
2017 COTES Du RHONE
CUVEE UNIQUE VV
 
Your Price: $29.99
 
 
“This classically built wine begins with a complex nose including red cherries, baking spices, minerally iron, and sweet violets. The concentrated flavors carry red plums, kirsch, red currants, and earthy mushrooms to a delightfully long finish on the palate. This wine is a stunning value in every vintage, and one that almost everybody who tastes it loves.”
92 Points
2016 Chateau Haut Bergeron Sauternes (375ML)

2016 Chateau Haut Bergeron Sauternes (375ML)

with No Comment $30-$40BordeauxFranceKevin VogtSauvignon Blanc

CHÂTEAU HAUT-BERGERON

2016 SAUTERNES (375ML)

2016 Chateau Haut Bergeron Sauternes (375ML)
Sauternais is a region inside the Graves section of Bordeaux that’s best known for producing Sauternes, sweet dessert wines made from botrytis affected Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle varieties. It’s arguably the most famous region in the world for white dessert wines, and they’ve been made there since the 17th century. The most celebrated of them all is Château d’Yquem, which can top $500 per bottle. Notably, some of Château Haut-Bergon’s parcels sit adjacent to d’Yquem, and at less than $40 for the 375ml bottle, this is an incredibly stunning Sauternes.
 
Château Haut-Bergeron is owned by one of the oldest families in Sauternes, with more than 200 years and nine generations of winemaking. Their Estate consists of 35 hectares of vines in Sauternes and 12 hectares in Graves. 
 
The 2016 release unites 80% Semillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc, which mirrors Château d’Yquem plantings. On the palate, the wine is graceful, rich and intense, and comes loaded with overripe apricot, nectarine, honey. If you’re searching for a brilliant Sauternes to add to your cellar, this is it.
 
CHÂTEAU HAUT-BERGERON
2016 SAUTERNES (375ML)
 
Your Price: $39.99
(375ML)
 
 
“Pitch-perfect Sauternes, with focused scents of ginger, marmalade, honey and Asian spices. Gorgeous candied apricot palate which is generous with its high quality oak, delivering creamy vanilla custard notes. Everything is In place here.”
96 Points, The Decanter World Wine Awards
 
“This is very serious for this producer with very pretty depth and intensity in terms of rich fruit and a long and intense finish. Excited about this wine.”
92-93 Points
 
“Pale lemon colored, the 2016 Haut-Bergeron has quite a savory nose of baker’s yeast, warm bread, fresh straw and fried spices over a core of lemon meringue pie, baked peaches and beeswax. The palate has wonderful restraint with bags of tightly wound nuances and fantastic freshness, finishing long and honeyed.”
92+ Points
 
“Hint of ginger and well integrated and lush. Streak of green. Needs quite a time. And overall a refreshing style of Sauternes.”
16+/20
2018 P. Ferraud & Fils Julienas Cru Beaujolais Les Ravinets

2018 P. Ferraud & Fils Julienas Cru Beaujolais Les Ravinets

with No Comment $30 and underBurgandyFranceKevin VogtPinot Noir

P. FERRAUD & FILS

JULIENAS CRU BEAUJOLAIS
2018 LES RAVINETS 

2018 P. Ferraud & Fils Julienas Cru Beaujolais Les Ravinets
Burgundy’s value region of Beaujolais to the South is becoming increasingly known for more than just fruity, easy-drinking wines, and Ferraud’s 95 Point Cru Beaujolais proves it. Beaujolais has ten villages designated Cru, and it’s where the world produces the best examples of the Gamay variety. Julienas is the oldest village, dating back 2000 years, and named after Julius Caesar. Wines from Julienas have deep color, generous bouquets, powerful fruit, and earthy characteristics. At $28, the quality of this one will make you do a double-take.
 
Julienas is in the far Northwest of Beaujolais, and the region has soils ranging from schist and volcanic rocks to ancient alluvial deposits. The varying soils and wide range of terrain lend to the robust, earthy & weighty wines produced there. 
 
Beaujolais is made with the Gamay grape variety, which spawns from Pinot Noir, and produces a more fruit-forward red with refreshing natural acidity and palpable floral and earthy characteristics. With 95 points and a gold medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards, this rare Cru Beaujolais won’t be around for long.
 
P. FERRAUD & FILS
JULIENAS CRU BEAUJOLAIS
2018 LES RAVINETS
 
Your Price: $28
 
“The Domaine Ferraud Julienas “Les Ravinets” 2018 begins with a complex nose including mixed fresh berries, exotic spices, fresh mushrooms, and purple flowers. On the lively palate, penetrating wild cherries, red currants, iron, earthy minerals, and a mouth-quenching acidity carry through to a long, concentrated and satisfying finish.”
93 Points
 
95 Points
 
Gold Medal
 
Decanter World Wine Awards 2019
2018 Maison Jessiaume Burgogne Chardonnay White Burgundy

2018 Maison Jessiaume Burgogne Chardonnay White Burgundy

with No Comment $30 and underBurgandyChardonnayFranceKevin Vogt

MAISON JESSIAUME

BOURGOGNE CHARDONNAY
2018 WHITE BURGUNDY 

2018 Maison Jessiaume Burgogne Chardonnay White Burgundy
Maison Jessiaume values organic viticulture and a gentle touch to winemaking. This combination means their team intervenes as little as possible during the winemaking processes, ferments with natural yeasts, and relies on gravity to transfer the wine into tanks. The cumulative result is a pure and balanced interpretation of the varietal, location, and vintage, and at just $28, it’s also a stupendous value.
 
Jessiaume is a historic estate constructed in 1850, located in the Santenay region in the Côte de Beaune. The winery has 10 hectares of vines spread over the municipalities of Santenay, Auxey-Duresses, Beaune, Volnay and Pommard. 
 
Santenay has soils rich in limestone, and their Chardonnays often have palpable minerality, floral characteristics, and fresh fruits. Domaine Jessiaume’s 2018 Bourgogne Chardonnay is a perfect representation of the area’s values, and with very little imported in the US, don’t hesitate to secure your case. 
 
MAISON JESSIAUME
BOURGOGNE CHARDONNAY
2018 WHITE BURGUNDY
 
Your Price: $28
 
“Nose of apricots, white flowers. Great mouthfeel, pure, rich, balanced, great structure and expressiveness. Flavors of orange stone fruits, orange citrus, ginger and spice. Hand harvested, aged for 10 months in neutral oak barrels and 2 months in stainless steel tanks before bottling.”
2016 Janicot Vignobles Cahors Malbec Lamagdelaine Noire

2016 Janicot Vignobles Cahors Malbec Lamagdelaine Noire

with No Comment $30 and underCahorsFranceKevin VogtMalbec

JANICOT VIGNOBLES

2016 CAHORS MALBEC
LAMAGDELAINE NOIRE

2016 Janicot Vignobles Cahors Malbec Lamagdelaine Noire
Malbec originates from France and thrives in the Cahors region in the South, where they’ve produced it since the late middle ages. In Cahors, the Mediterranean climate combines the cooling influences from the Atlantic with calcium-rich limestone soils to create a deeper, richer, meatier Malbec. Janicot Vignobles’ 96 Point Cahors Malbec from Château Lamagdelaine is a brilliant example of how profound they can be, and at less than thirty bucks, the value is real.
 
Château Lamagdelaine’s 16 hectares of vines that reside on both sides of the Gallo-Roman aqueduct have thrived there for nearly 2000 years. This wine’s remarkable complexity results from the three distinct soil types within the Estate, which include; limestone scree cone, gravel, and siderolithic clays.  
 
The vineyard produces deep, black, intense, aromatic Malbec fruit that carries a freshness from the Southwest facing rows. Their vines average 40 years and reach deep into the thin topsoil, which results in a more concentrated wine with depth and complexity. 
 
JANICOT VIGNOBLES
2016 CAHORS MALBEC
LAMAGDELAINE NOIRE
 
Your Price: $29.99
 
96 Points
 
Gold Medal
 
Decanter World Wine Awards 2019
 
“Beautiful dark color, complex aromas mingling with very ripe red fruits. Mouth of beautiful substance where the tannins are round and well melted, the wine blends harmoniously with the wood, a finish with toasted notes.”
2017 Frederic Magnien Red Burgundy Bourgogne Graviers

2017 Frederic Magnien Red Burgundy Bourgogne Graviers

with No Comment $30-$40BurgandyFranceKevin VogtPinot Noir

FREDERIC MAGNIEN

2017 RED BURGUNDY 
BOURGOGNE GRAVIERS

2017 Frederic Magnien Red Burgundy Bourgogne Graviers
In Burgundy, expressing a vineyard’s terroir and the concept that the land the grapes are grown in bestows qualities unique to that site, hold true. Winemaker Frédéric Magnien’s mantra is to bring out the purest translation of Burgundy terroirs. He differentiates himself from other négociants by working closely with partner growers throughout the year and selecting only organically farmed, older-vine parcels cared for to his exacting standards. His Red Burgundy from Graviers offers remarkable insight into this excellent site, and at $33 it’s as Wine & Spirits writes, a “Crazy-good Bourgogne rouge”.
 
Graviers Vineyard is located in the sub-region of Chambolle-Musigny and is planted over soils rich in clay and gravel. The vines average 40 years in age, and the deep root systems help provide a vivid interpretation of the earth beneath and overall individualistic terroir.
 
Frédéric Magnien is a fifth-generation winemaker from Morey-Saint-Denis, who learned his craft from his father Michel Magnien of Domaine Michel Magnien. He furthered his knowledge by coming to California and working with Josh Jensen at Calera Vineyards before traveling to Australia and making his way back to Burgundy to follow his dream of producing wine under his name. 
 
FREDERIC MAGNIEN
2017 RED BURGUNDY 
BOURGOGNE GRAVIERS
 
Your Price: $33
 
“This fruit comes from a single parcel east of the RN74 in Chambolle-Musigny, where Magnien works with a grower farming 40-year-old vines in clay soils over gravel. He destems the grapes, allows a spontaneous fermentation while controlling the temperature, then ages the wine in older barrels, presenting the kind of depth and richness that could stand in for a Villages wine. The flavors are bold and ripe, almost chunky in their cherry intensity, with tart raspberry and apple-like acidity to brighten the finish. Crazy-good Bourgogne rouge.”
91 Points
2017 Chateau Moulin De La Grangere Bordeaux Saint-Emilion Grand Cru

2017 Chateau Moulin De La Grangere Bordeaux Saint-Emilion Grand Cru

with No Comment $30-$40BordeauxBordeauxFranceKevin VogtSaint Emilion

CHÂTEAU MOULIN DE LA GRANGERE

2017 BORDEAUX  
SAINT-EMILION GRAND CRU 

2017 Chateau Moulin De La Grangere Bordeaux Saint-Emilion Grand Cru
On paper, Château Moulin de la Grangère has everything you would want from a great Bordeaux. Their location is next to Château Pavie, one of Saint-Émilion’s most revered wineries that earns regular 100 point scores. Next, their consulting winemaker is Michel Rolland, whom many would argue is the world’s top winemaker. Their 2017 Saint-Emilion Grand Cru follows through with penetrating fruit, beautifully integrated tannins, and perfectly balanced acidity on the palate. At $33, the only thing this wine doesn’t have is a high price to match its tangible pedigree.
 
Château Moulin de la Grangère sits at the foot of the finest slopes of Saint-Émilion, where they planted their certified organic vines in clay-limestone soils. The winery excelled in 2017, and it was a vintage the Wine Spectator described as follows… “Cloudy July kept wines on the fresh, pure side, with good acidity and modest tannins. St.-Emilion atop the limestone plateau is excellent.” 
 
This wine is often 100% Merlot, but in 2017, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon increased structure in the final blend. Before fermentation, the wine team used vibrating tables to meticulously sort the most pristine berries, which shows in this stunning Grand Cru. 
 
CHÂTEAU MOULIN DE LA GRANGERE
2017 BORDEAUX  
SAINT-EMILION GRAND CRU
 
Your Price: $33
 
“The Château Moulin de la Grangère 2017 is a beautifully elegant Bordeaux, beginning with a nose of red currants, pomegranates, crushed granite, freshly turned earth, and light florals. There is an intriguing tension between red currants, mountain blackberries, crushed minerals, and cool blue fruits on the palate. It is elegant and focused with a seamless, supple mouthfeel and a long finish. Drink now through 2028.”
93 Points