Featured Wines - January 2023

The 2019 Château Lescalle Cuvée Emmanuel Tessandier Bordeaux Supérieur (65% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Petit Verdot) is an expressive young red Bordeaux that is ripe, round, and utterly satisfying. Its regal purple robe underscores the authority of the 2019 vintage and the particular success of Château Lescalle in what is certainly one of the finest, most consistent Bordeaux vintages. Moreover, the comely Château...

In France, it is said that dirt is destiny, but weather ultimately determines the vintage quality as well as the quantity: the 2021 vintage in Vouvray delivered on all fronts. The 2021 Domaine de la Racauderie Vouvray Sec comes across as classic Vouvray, offering up a delicate perfume of stone fruits, crisp fall apples, and Bosc pears. In the mouth, the region’s vivacious minerality born of Vouvray’s limestone-rich tufa soil melds with fresh...

Grown on hillside vineyards in central Tuscany, the 2020 Carpineto Dogajolo Toscano Rosso IGT exhibits a deep purple robe as well as beguiling aromatics in the form of freshly picked berries, cherries, rose hips, and violets. Juicy and equally seductive in the mouth, the 2020 Dogajolo offers up layers of lovely fruit, loamy earth, and hints of vanilla and spice from 6 months in French and American oak barrels. Rare is the Tuscan red that offers...

Carpineto’s 2021 Dogajolo Bianco mirrors the beauty and timeless charm of Tuscany. Grown on hillside vineyards under the central Tuscan sun, the 2021 Carpineto Dogajolo Toscano Bianco IGT (40% Chardonnay, 30% Grechetto, 30% Sauvignon Blanc) embodies the terroir from which it sprung, beginning with a glint and bright straw color. Ethereal, hauntingly beautiful aromatics beckon the eager taster to dive right in. Fresh and lively in the mouth...

The 2018 Villa di Capezzana Carmignano (94 points – James Suckling; 92 points – Vinous) captures the exceptional beauty and allure of Tuscany and wholly captivates the senses. With a deep ruby robe with flashes of violet, a seductive bouquet redolent with the scents of roses and violets, and silky tannins that embody a delicious mélange of woodland berries and clean forest floor, the sensuous 2018 Villa di Capezzana Carmignano is downright...

The 2020 Domaine Gilles Noblet Les Champs Pouilly-Fuissé sports a bright yellow robe, the color of the noonday sun. Even more satisfying are the aromatic scents of soft ripe fruit, acacia flower, forsythia, and deft touches of vanilla, which waft from the glass. This singular Pouilly-Fuissé is even more rewarding in the mouth, where it graces the palate with heightened fruit and floral flavors in the form of acacia, forsythia, and tropical...

Raspail-Ay has again in the superlative 2019 vintage fashioned one of the greatest wines of the Gigondas appellation. The 2019 Domaine Raspail-Ay Gigondas (70% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre) captures the Ay family’s consummate craftsmanship, balancing elegance and texture with power and depth of flavor. The 2019 Raspail Ay Gigondas is aromatic, textured, and bold in flavor, all while keeping its equilibrium. One would never know it tops...