Featured Wines - March 2023

Deep, juicy, and redolent with the savory scents of crushed berries and wild herbs, the 2019 Château Cabezac Minervois Tradition Rouge (50% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 20% Carignan) epitomizes the hedonistic pleasure one can expect from the Dondains and the venerable appellation of Minervois. Round, flavorful, and increasingly silky and supple in texture, the 2019 Château Cabezac Minervois Tradition Rouge graces the palate with beautiful fruit-forward...

Comporting itself much like a fine Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, the 2021 Château La Genestière Lirac Blanc (70% Grenache Blanc, 30% Clairette) embodies the best of both worlds. It offers a glimmering straw color, which betrays more than a hint of the shimmering Provencal sun, along with seductive scents of Asian Pear, starfruit, and lime infused with subtle hints of wild herbs and minerals. Yet, it is in the mouth that the wine truly blossoms...

The weather smiled on Bordeaux in 2019, yielding another excellent vintage to which the 2019 Château Laronde Desormes will aptly attest. Volume is a shade below average, but the quality of the wines in 2019 is once again superb. Left Bank châteaux such as Laronde Desormes, whose cépage or blend contains a good percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon, have benefited the most from the hot dry weather that prevailed throughout the harvest. The 2019...

Esterházy’s 2021 Estoras Burgenland Grüner Veltiner exhibits a green flash and glows with a glint of the sun. Moreover, it offers a light but enticing aroma of freshly picked green apples, pears, freshly squeezed citrus, and liquid minerals. In the mouth, the 2021 Esterházy Estoras Grüner Veltliner offers crystalline freshness with a precise balance of fruit and crisp acidity, which not only portents the wine’s racy lip-smacking finish, it also...

Sequum’s 2019 Kidd Ranch Napa Valley Zinfandel is hedonistic and downright delicious. Produced from 100% Zinfandel grapes, this seductive, bold-flavored Zinfandel offers a beautiful deep garnet color, amplifying aromatics, and plenty of wild berry and bramble flavors all nicely wrapped in silky tannins. Floral with hints of violet, lavender, bramble, and herbs, and exceedingly voluptuous on the palate, the Sequum 2019 Kidd Ranch Zinfandel...

Eric Sautier’s 2020 Domaine Dozon Clos du Saut au Loup Chinon exudes elegance and the sensuous charm of Chinon’s Cabernet Franc. The wine’s ruby red robe captures the eye, while the seductive scents of raspberry, black cherry, and wild violets greet the nose. In the mouth, the wine graces the palate with the same raspberry and wild cherry flavors that seduced the nose. Add a touch of Cabernet Franc’s appealing earthy marrow, reminiscent...