Wine & Spirits - Winter 2020 - 99

34TH A NNUA L B U YING G U ID E

radical wearing patchouli, with the breath of
raw limestone and Indian spice. Then, the
more I went back to it, the more it made me
smile, until I sort of fell in love. There's gentleness to balance the bold spice, and a honeyed note that lends it stamina and length.
Yes, it's just a co-op Chablis, but I would be
jazzed to score a case for my cellar. -J.G.
(W&S 10/20) § USA Wine West, Sausalito, CA
278074

dre with white varieties. The wine's orangered hue parallels its scents of strawberries,
candied orange rind and white cherries,
which carry through in ﬂavor, too. Mouthﬁlling in its satiny texture, yet not at all heavy,
this quiet powerhouse would pair well with
fried anchovies or ratatouille. -T.Q.T. (W&S
10/20) § Regal Wine Imports, Moorestown, NJ
277733

$46

2019 Côtes de Provence Elégance Rosé ^
You might want this for the label alone, a
retro, Mediterranean-blue illustration by
Monsieur Z. The wine inside, then, will be
a lucky bonus: While it's fashionably pale in
hue, it's impressively vibrant in ﬂavor, with
invigorating lemon-pith acidity and saline
notes driving crisp white-cherry fruit. It feels
like the sort of wine you'd want to drink on
the beach at Ramatuelle, near Saint-Tropez,
where Pampelonne producer Camille Coste
farms her 35-acre estate. -T.Q.T. (W&S
8/20) § Regal Wine Imports, Moorestown, NJ

92 | Louis Jadot

2017 Pernand-Vergelesses Les Combottes ^
Part of Jadot's Domaine Gagey, this is a lively
Pernand with delicious yellow fruit ﬂavors
and a rich raw-almond character. It's spicy,
cool and lasting, sustaining fresh fruit ﬂavors
for days. -J.G. (W&S 10/20) § Kobrand, Purchase, NY

LOIRE
275603

93 | Domaine Mardon

$22

2018 Quincy Cuvée Très Vieilles Vignes ^
The Mardon family sustains vines ranging
from 50 to 80 years old on sandy gravel for
this sauvignon. Delicious freshness races
through the white fruit ﬂavors of peach and
pear, tingling with pink grapefruit acidity.
Luscious, clean and mouthwatering, this is
sure to bring on smiles whether you serve it
with fresh chèvre or roast John Dory. -J.G.
(W&S 4/20) § Skurnik Wines & Spirits, NY
275608

93 | Domaine Martin

$31

2018 Sancerre Les Monts Damnés ^ Pierre
Martin farms 35-year-old vines on this steep,
north-facing slope; he allows the juice to ferment spontaneously in stainless steel tanks,
where it then ages on the lees. It's a big wine,
a Botero nude carved out of limestone, with
a smooth delivery of mouthwatering mineral
salts, crushed oyster shells, rich golden apple
fruit and lemon savor. As potent as the ﬂavors may be, the wine remains transparent
to the soil. This has the structure and depth
for long aging. -J.G. (W&S 4/20) § Skurnik
Wines & Spirits, NY

F RAN C E R O S E
278505

93 | Roucas Toumba

$20

2019 Vacqueyras Rosé de la Rouche ^ This
is no summertime quaff; it's a serious wine
that happens to be paler than most reds. Eric
Bouletin, who's been single-handedly running this Vacqueyras estate since the early
2000s, blends it from three distinct cuvées:
a direct-press grenache viniﬁed in enameled
stainless steel tanks and two lots aged in 500liter barrels-one a saignée blend of syrah
and grenache, the other a blend of mourvè-

92 | Mas de Pampelonne

$20

FR A N CE RED
BEAUJOLAIS
275920

93 | Domaine des
Quatre Vents

$24

2018 Fleurie ^ The Darroze family farms 30
acres on a granite hillside in Fleurie, growing a wine that Karen Goodlad of NYC College of Technology-Hospitality Management
described as "an expression of the region. It
doesn't feel made; it just lets the grapes do
what they want to do." The result is brisk,
bright and cherry-svelte, the fruit freshness integrated into the tannins and lasting
together in a sweet woodlands scent. The
Duboeuf family has been buying the entire
production of this domaine for more than 30
years, and this may be the best wine we've
tasted from the property. -J.G. (W&S 4/20) §
Quintessential, Napa, CA
275918

93 | Jean-Ernest
Descombes

Wine & Spirits

expression, suiting the wine to long aging.
-J.G. (W&S 4/20) § Quintessential, Napa, CA
278045

91 | Château de la Pierre

$18

2018 Régnié Sans Soufre ^ The Barbet family makes this from a parcel of vines planted
between 60 and 70 years ago, certiﬁed
organic since 2013. Made without added
sulfur, the wine showed some bottle variation, one bottle displaying its natural-wine
credentials more than the purple granite soils
in which it grew. The second bottle was fresh
and lovely, with black-raspberry brightness
and a kick of acidity-a clean, juicy Régnié
with stamina. -J.G. (W&S 10/20) § David
Bowler Wines, NY

BURGUNDY
278058

92 | Domaine Bouchard
Père & Fils

$45

2017 Beaune 1er Cru du Château ^ Brisk,
bold and juicy, this wine glows with red and
purple fruit and ﬂoral notes. As it opens
over the course of several days, any sense of
compression in the coal-black tannins turns
toward detail, those tannins layered into a
satiny mille-feuille of savory custard and rose
petals. This is a selection from Bouchard's
parcels in 17 premier cru vineyards, all viniﬁed separately before blending. -J.G. (W&S
10/20) § Maisons & Domaines Henriot, NY

RHONE
278507

93 | E. Guigal

$20

2016 Gigondas ^ Like all of Guigal's wines,
this was treated to extended aging in housecoopered barrels. The two years it spent in
wood seems to have preserved the freshness
of the fruit: The ﬂavors are herbal and spicy,
with bright tart-cherry ﬂavors deepening to
marasca cherry. It feels full and lively, layered
and elegant, delicious now and structured
to age well over the next ﬁve to ten years.
-T.Q.T. (W&S 10/20) § Vintus, NY

$24

2018 Morgon ^ Descombes was the ﬁrst
grower Georges Duboeuf worked with when
he started his ﬁrm in 1968. This domaine is
now run by Descombes's daughter, Nicole
Descombes Savoye, who produces this wine
for Duboeuf from close to 30 acres with a
southeast-facing exposition, the vines ranging in age from 50 to 100 years old. Made
with destemmed grapes in a partial carbonic
maceration, the wine is all raspberry, meadow
ﬂowers and iron-edged tannins. And it's the
tannins that last, detailed in their mineral

277108

92 | Saveurs du Temps

$15

2018 Costières de Nîmes ^ A label from the
Vignerons Propriétés Associés cooperative,
this blend of syrah and grenache (80/20) wins

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Wine & Spirits - Winter 2020

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