Editorial

Editorial 15th october 2022

After the hottest summer ever recorded in Europe [Copernicus] and with the return of the first autumnal frosts, we are pleased to present you with this new "Autumn-Winter 2022/2023" catalogue, which will accompany us until the end of the next winter, which we hope will not be too harsh (energy crisis).

A new season, therefore a new selection, mainly marked by the arrival of the first wines of 2020, a great vintage with countless successes both in Bordeaux and everywhere else in France.

If 2020 is the result of another hot and dry summer favourable to the vine, what differentiates it from its predecessors is the recurrent coolness of the nights in July and August. This cool night-time temperature preserves the acidity, while the day/night thermal amplitude gives the grapes their aromatic complexity.

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2020 in Bordeaux

For the red Bordeaux wines of the two banks, the three vintages 2018, 2019 and 2020 may seem similar at first glance. Although all three are remarkable and of a high standard, these vintages show very different qualities and profiles:

• 2018, wines, with superior density and tannins, to be forgotten in the depths of your cellar. Count on 10 years of ageing for the non classified wines, and double or even triple that for the greatest classified wines. or even triple for the greatest classified growths.

• 2019, wines are like the 2015s in their maturity, roundness and the softness of their fine, velvety tannins. Like them, they will evolve quite quickly and open up in 3 to 5 years.

• 2020, perfectly balanced wines, both rich and dynamic, concentrated and precise, in line with the exceptional 2016s. Like them, they will delight us in the short term (wait at least 5 years as they have only just been bottled) as well as in the long term (20 years and more).

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2020 in Burgundy

To set the scene, we will quote the serious magazine Bourgogne Aujourd'hui which did not hesitate to headline its cover in August 2021 "Vintage 2020 - The Greatest? This while qualifying (April 2022) the 2018-2019-2020 vintages in Burgundy as "the fantastic 3!".

Clearly, the reds are leading the way in 2020. The wines are simply magnificent: pure, fleshy, simultaneously airy and deep, and certainly with long and beautiful cellaring.

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Tasting Offers

Our traditional Tasting Offers feature two highly recommended (and discounted) whites and two reds: 

  • Tempus Vivendi 2020, a very fine and fruity dry white wine made from 100% albariño from its favourite terroir of the Rias Baixas (Galicia's Atlantic coast) and produced by the master of the genre Alberto Nanclares, at €16.60 per bottle.
  • Château Coutet 2019, the Sauternes region is really the only place in the Gironde where you can find a premier grand cru classé rated 99/100 by the Revue du Vin de France, and yet at €33.30 a bottle.
  • Château Dalem 2017, an elegant and sophisticated version of Fronsac made by an expert winemaker, Mme Rullier. A Fronsac in evening wear, now appreciable, for only €16.60 a bottle. 
  • Château Durfort-Vivens 2016, second grand cru classé of Margaux at the forefront of organic (certified since 2015) and biodynamic farming, its 2016 offers a floral palette as subtle as it is unique, at €70.00 per bottle.

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New domains

Among other things, several new domains are joining (or returning to) our catalogue this season:

  • In Bordeaux, the Clos du Jaugueyron organic vineyard, which, on 8 hectares straddling the Haut-Médoc and Margaux appellations, produces admirable nuggets described by the Revue du Vin de France as "Margaux à la bourguignonne". With Mille Roses and Closeries des Moussis, the southern Médoc is now the nursery of young organic talent on the left bank.
  • In Burgundy, the Domaine Luc et Lise Pavelot bio or the best of Burgundy: great terroirs (Pernand-Vergelesses and Corton hill), practices intelligently combining tradition and modernity, and above all, more than wise prices. Spontaneous favourites for both their whites and their reds.
  • in Switzerland, the Cave des Amandiers, the domain of one of the star winemakers of the Valais, Alexandre Delétraz, with two dry white wines (100% petite arvine) and a red wine (100% syrah like a Côte-Rôtie, the Valais being the upper Rhône valley). 
  • in Armagnac, the Domaine du Hourtica, one of the most authentic producers of Bas-Armagnac, which refuses to rectify its eaux-de-vie and only puts them on sale after a minimum of 20 years of ageing. Four vintages are offered, from 1995 to 1969.

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