Two vintages into a Direct Import relationship with one of the great singular producers of Crozes-Hermitage, organic since 2007. Keith Mabry on five wines: the estate Crozes, the 60-year-old vines behind Le Rouvre, a new Blanc, the first St-Joseph Yann Chave has ever made, and the Hermitage.
Read MoreGrenache may lead the conversation in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but plot selection, soils and winemaking take these wines in very different directions. Keith Mabry on three of them: the translucent Grenache of Piedlong, Isabel Ferrando's precision, and Beaucastel's Mourvèdre-heavy 2023.
Read MoreLéon de Pins grew up at Château de Montfaucon. Roc des Pins is his own project, and the first two wines are deliberately contrarian: a Tavel dark enough to pass for a light red, and a Cinsault bottled on its own rather than hidden in a blend.
Read MoreKeith Mabry has been buying Château de Montfaucon for more than two decades. The estate is now fully organic, the range runs from the returning $15.99 La Côte to the late-released 2020 Baron Louis, and Léon de Pins has a project of his own.
Read MoreBell Hill and Bass Phillip Pinot Noir, Penfolds Grange, Almaviva, Seña, and other site-specific, ageworthy icons from New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, and Chile — world-class pedigree at a fraction of comparable Bordeaux or Burgundy prices.
Read MoreNew Zealand Riesling, Australian Chardonnay, and Chilean Sauvignon Blanc from the region's most marginal vineyards, where cooler growing conditions trade power for freshness and precision. Rachael Ryan shares nine selections from Marlborough, Central Otago, Gippsland, Tasmania, the Yarra Valley, and Chile's Maule Valley.
Read MoreTake any of these to a dinner party: 19 wines under $20 from Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, and South Africa. Entry-level bottlings from top estates like Torbreck, plus Mediterranean varieties from Ricca Terra and old-vine País from Cachapoal.
Read MoreRachael Ryan on what ties New Zealand Pinot Noir together—a crystalline purity, cool-climate acidity, and a restraint that recalls Burgundy—across 12 wines from Ata Rangi in Martinborough, Fromm in Marlborough, and Valli's three Central Otago sub-regions.
Read MoreDeep-cellar allocations from K&L's buyers: DRC and Coche-Dury from the Burgundy vault, ten 100-point Bordeaux six-packs still sealed in their original wooden cases, a 1961 López de Heredia straight from the bodega, and K&L-exclusive single barrels. Several are down to single-digit case counts.
Read MoreMany collectors that I talk to have the same issue with their cellars; what is coming in doesn’t match what is being consumed (because all their Cabernet allocations need to age before they’re ready to drink). When they don’t have enough bottles with a drinking window that is open now, they often find themselves hunting for something ready-to-drink at auction with older bottles. I have a few solutions.
Read MoreThe September Bordeaux report: a $19.99 seventeen-year-old Fronsac, the Tronquoy vertical, the 2022s' stratospheric scores, new-arrival gems, and a 100-point Sauternes — all in one place.
Read MoreA 100-point Suduiraut, a stunning Coutet, and the case for the most undervalued great wine in Bordeaux — Ryan Moses on why 2023 Sauternes deserves a place in every cellar.
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