Editorial
Éditorial October 15, 2024
Although the current period is largely fraught with uncertainty, both nationally and internationally, we do have two very short-term certainties: that the Christmas/New Year festivities are fast approaching, and that these will undoubtedly be happy moments of joy and sharing.
With this in mind, we are pleased to present you with our new Autumn-Winter 2024/2025 catalog, valid until next spring, compiling 1,200 wines in the available vintages, and potentially as many gifts to offer.
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What's new in Bordeaux
We're starting to bring in the 2022 Bordeaux wines as they are bottled, and these alone account for 3/4 of the new Bordeaux wines in this catalog (with 84 2022 Bordeaux wines on offer).
It seemed all the more logical to concentrate our selection on 2022 as we know that neither 2023 nor (even less) 2024 will overshadow it.
In Gironde, 2022 is undoubtedly a perfect vintage for reds, already hailed as such by all the critics (in its vintage table, the Guide Hachette ranks 2022 as the best since... 1961 !).
It's true that the 2022s were born under extraordinary weather conditions: 4 continuous months, from June to September inclusive, perfectly hot, sunny and dry (and accompanied by forest fires just as extraordinary). What's more, the know-how and technical skills needed to make the most of a hot, dry vintage have been widely acquired and honed by winemakers and oenologists during previous heatwave vintages.
While 2022 is certainly one of the greatest vintages since 2000 (along with 2020, 2016, 2010 and 2005), it stands out from its counterparts for its immediate palatability. Bordeaux 2022s are extraordinarily rich and intense in every way: color, fruit, flesh, tannins, alcohol, with a fatness and smoothness that spontaneously create a sensation of unparalleled fullness. From the very first en primeur tastings, this hedonism reminded us of a modern clone of the formidable 1982 vintage.
Another remarkable feature of 2022 is that success is widespread, on both left and right banks, from the smallest estates to the most prestigious crus classés, as the almost ideal weather has smoothed out the qualitative disparities between terroirs. The second wines, crus bourgeois and crus from satellite appellations (Côtes wines, Médoc, Moulis, Graves, Fronsac, Lalande de Pomerol, Montagne, Puisseguin, Lussac, etc.) mostly delighted us, sometimes even dazzling us with their depth of flesh and soft tannins.
If you want to fill your cellar with superb, fleshy, generous and devilishly seductive Bordeaux, dive into the 'petits' 2022! You won't break the bank and you won't have to wait long, because they'll delight you both young and old (just as they did with the 1982s).
Conversely, if you're looking to acquire some of Bordeaux's finest jewels that will stand the test of time, the 2022 “grands” are for you!
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What's new outside Bordeaux
As in Gironde, 2022 was also a remarkable vintage in Burgundy/Beaujolais, one more as Bourgogne Aujourd'hui headlined on the cover of its September 2023 issue: “Vintage 2022: brilliant reds, elegant whites. Another great year!»
The white Burgundies were able to take advantage of the cool nights of July/August, bring harvest dates forward (usually 85 instead of 100 days after flowering) and benefit from irreproachable health conditions. The red Burgundies show full ripeness of the grapes while remaining fruity and crisp, with an aromatic palette between red and black fruits and alcoholic degrees between 12.7° and 13.5°.
We now complete the Burgundy and Beaujolais pages with the 2022s from the following estates:
• Chablis : Isabelle et Denis Pommier,
• Côte de Nuits : Jean Fournier, Arlaud, Clos des Lambrays, Château de la Tour, Laurent Roumier, de l'Arlot,
• Côte de Beaune : Rémi Jobard, de la Pousse d'Or, Jean Chartron
• Beaujolais : Janin (with those already present of domaine Desvignes)
Among other new features, we are delighted to welcome for the first time this season :
- the sincere, accessible cuvées from Simon-Devaux, an authentic Champagne winemaker,
- the cuvée Dizy Terres Rouges from Champagnes Jacquesson,
- Tardieu-Laurent's plot-based selections, Le Goût du Lieu, now available individually,
- the emblematic Tempier estate, the most representative of the quality that old Mourvèdre grapes can achieve on their Bandol terroir,
- the most comprehensive range (6 whites and 6 reds) from Swiss icon Marie-Thérèse Chappaz.
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Tasting Offers
This season we're offering 6 Tasting Offers (1 dry white and 5 reds) :
- Clos de Boüard 2017, excellent Montagne Saint-Émilion from the de Boüard family (Angélus), now perfect to enjoy without breaking the bank. At €19.80 a bottle.
- L'Échelier (white) 2017 and Les Mémoires (red) 2021 from domaine Les Roches Neuves, known as one of the great Loire stylists, in organic and biodynamic production for a long time (2002). Two great Loire wines, 100% chenin for the white and 100% cabernet franc for the red, in floral, refined and delightful versions. At €35.00 and €32.50 a bottle respectively.
- Château Clerc-Milon 2016, a magnificent Pauillac at the very beginning of its apogee, which manages to be simultaneously full-bodied and appealing, all power and refinement. At €105.00 a bottle.
- La Gravette de Certan 2021 and Vieux-Château-Certan 2021, the second wine and the grand vin of Pomerol's hottest estate, which has produced two splendid 2021s that the Revue du Vin de France enthusiastically describes: “This plateau terroir having been unaffected by frost, 2021 is a magnificent success for the estate, noticeable right from the second wine.... You have to taste the Vieux-Certan wines to understand the greatness of Pomerol”. At €58.30 and €280.00 per bottle respectively.
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Finally, to round off this selection (and your future dinners), we've chosen the formidable Liqueur d'Abricot by Jean-Marc Roulot (the producer of great Meursault wines), who succeeds better than anyone else in capturing all the flavor, roundness and intensity of ripe apricots just picked from the tree. A totally addictive marvel!