France
The vast and diverse wine regions of France, each with its own unique terroirs, grape varieties, and winemaking techniques, are a treasure trove.
In Bordeaux, the birthplace of some of the world's most iconic wines, esteemed vineyards such as Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Margaux, Château Latour, and Château Haut-Brion produce exceptional red wines, showcasing the art of blending Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. The region is also renowned for its exquisite white wines, with vineyards like Château d'Yquem and Domaine de Chevalier producing legendary sweet wines.
Moving to Burgundy, the vineyards of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Domaine Leroy, and Domaine Armand Rousseau capture the essence of the region's revered terroir, crafting exquisite red wines from the Pinot Noir grape. Meanwhile, Domaine Leflaive and Domaine Coche-Dury are celebrated for their world-class white wines, predominantly made from Chardonnay.
The Champagne region, known for its sparkling wines, boasts illustrious houses such as Krug, Dom Pérignon, and Moët & Chandon, as well as grower-producers like Pierre Péters and Jacques Selosse. These vineyards create exceptional sparkling wines using the traditional method, offering a symphony of delicate bubbles, elegant flavors, and vibrant acidity.
In the Rhône Valley, iconic vineyards like Chapoutier, E. Guigal, and Château de Beaucastel produce remarkable red wines in the northern appellations of Hermitage, Côte-Rôtie, and Cornas, showcasing the elegance and power of Syrah. Further south, Châteauneuf-du-Pape is celebrated for its rich and full-bodied red blends, with Château Rayas and Clos des Papes leading the way.
In Alsace, vineyards such as Domaine Zind-Humbrecht and omaine Trimbach craft exquisite white wines, including Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Pinot Gris, expressing the region's unique terroir and varietal character.
These are just a few highlights among the diverse array of wines that France offers. From the Loire Valley's crisp whites and elegant reds to the Languedoc-Roussillon's bold and robust wines, each region presents its own vinous treasures.
France
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Wine Advocate (100)
The finest rendition of this cuvée that Lécaillon has produced to date—and, indeed, one of the finest wines produced by any of Champagne's important houses in the last two or three decades—is the 2008 Cristal Rosé, a brilliant wine that derives from a mere four of the 45 plots that are candidates for inclusion in Cristal: two blocks of Pinot Noir from Aÿ, one of Chardonnay from Mesnil and another from Avize, and I suspect that its origin in the crème de la crème of Roederer's Cristal-worthy holdings has even more to do with the extra dimension it possesses above and beyond its white counterpart than the delicate infusion of Pinot Noir phenolics that give it its delicate pink hue. Unfurling in the glass with aromas of wild strawberries, tangerine, warm pastry and crisp green orchard fruit, the 2008 is medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a racy but beautifully integrated spine of acidity, a multidimensional core and a searingly chalky and laser-focused finish. Impeccably balanced and harmonious, this superb wine represents one of the qualitative peaks of this great vintage. It will be seven or eight years until it truly starts to blossom, but its benchmark quality is already glaringly apparent.保税价格￥ 16,490.00 -
Vinous (97)
A wine of sublime delicacy and finesse, the 2009 Cristal Rosé is simply magnificent. The 2009 is surprisingly refined, silky and nuanced for a wine from a warm vintage. The red and floral-infused overtones are quite attractive, but it is the wine's exceptional balance that places it among the best new releases of the year. Over the years, I have had the chance to taste many vintages of Cristal Rosé, a Champagne that needs bottle age to be at its very best. I suspect that will be the case here as well. Don't miss it.保税价格￥ 8,965.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (99)
Just about as good as it gets, the 2012 Cristal Rosé is a magical effort based on 56% Pinot Noir and 44% Chardonnay. It’s a powerful, medium to full-bodied, incredibly textured rosé offering a huge amount of salty, chalky minerality as well as awesome notes of white cherries, orange blossom, caramelized apples, and toasted bread. It shows the ripe, rounded richness of the 2012 vintage yet has bright, racy acidity, perfect balance, and a great, great finish. It opens up nicely with air and will ideally be given 2-4 years of bottle age, and it should evolve for 2-3 decades.保税价格￥ 6,030.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (99)
Just about as good as it gets, the 2012 Cristal Rosé is a magical effort based on 56% Pinot Noir and 44% Chardonnay. It’s a powerful, medium to full-bodied, incredibly textured rosé offering a huge amount of salty, chalky minerality as well as awesome notes of white cherries, orange blossom, caramelized apples, and toasted bread. It shows the ripe, rounded richness of the 2012 vintage yet has bright, racy acidity, perfect balance, and a great, great finish. It opens up nicely with air and will ideally be given 2-4 years of bottle age, and it should evolve for 2-3 decades.保税价格￥ 8,225.00 -
Wine Advocate (100)
The 2013 Cristal Rosé from Louis Roederer is one of the most complete wines to be found in Champagne in this vintage, so utterly pure and precise that I would run the risk of exhausting superlatives trying to express its clarity. Displaying a pale hue, it soars from the glass with a bouquet of kaleidoscopic complexity, featuring notes of tangerine zest, raspberry and rose petals mingling with peeled almonds and spices. Enjoyed from magnum, disgorged in February 2024, the wine’s persistent palate offers a bright, vibrant core of fruit, refined mousse and fine-boned structure, with racy and fresh acidity and a long, chalky finish. “With 2013, I was confident from day one, which was not the case with 2008,” recalls Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon, and the result in the glass precludes any argument about it—the 2013 Cristal Rosé is a wine that’s structurally complete, deep and multifaceted, even more spectacular than the white 2013 Cristal. When I asked William Kelley why he gave 99 points to 2013 if he rated the 2008 Cristal Rosé with 100, he for a moment insisted to me that it was the other way around.保税价格￥ 8,230.00 -
Vinous (97)
The 2007 Cristal Rosé opens with the most captivating, extraordinary bouquet imaginable. Sweet, exquisite and beautifully layered in the glass, the 2007 is intense yet weightless, with extraordinary overall balance and remarkable finesse. Today, the 2007 Cristal Rosé is a wine of pure seduction. There is little doubt the 2007 is a great Cristal Rosé in the making. This is the first vintage in which all of the fruit was farmed according to biodynamic principles. According to winemaker Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, biodynamic farming has brought increased aromatic presence in the fruit and also given the Pinot a bit more intensity than normal, so much so that in 2007 the blend is 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay as opposed to the 60/40 split that has been more typical over the years. In 2007, the fruit was picked in August, which is also unusual, but bud break got off to an early start, so the growing season turned out to be longer than the classic 100-day period that is typical from bud-break to harvest. All of that means the 2007 Cristal Rosé is a much more classic-feeling wine that one might have expected.保税价格￥ 9,270.00 -
Wine Advocate (95)
Disgorged four years ago, with four grams per liter dosage, after a decade sur lattes and six years sur pointes, the 2000 Cristal Vinothèque bursts with notes of golden orchard fruit, mandarin, white flowers and iodine. Full-bodied, ample and powerful, with a deep and layered core, lively acids and a beautifully pearly mousse, it's a long, sapid Champagne that's showing very well today. As Lecaillon observes, the Vinothèque is the house's riposte to "everyone who says Cristal is released too young—with the Vinothèque releases, we've exaggerated the aging process to make Cristal more powerful and more dramatic." And this release is certainly a formidable effort in a vintage impacted by hail in the Montagne de Reims.保税价格￥ 12,180.00 -
(1x150cl) 2002James Suckling (99)
An extraordinary champagne experience that you’ll never forget! Tons of white chocolate on the savory nose pulls you into this concentrated and chalky champagne with rich candied citrus and mirabelle fruit. So much oily umami complexity right through the huge breathtakingly vivid finish. Just 10% of each vintage of Cristal gets the extra years of aging for release as Vinotheque. Tasted at the Cristal vertical tasting at the champagne house on July 6th, 2023. Drink or hold.保税价格￥ 16,560.00 -
Wine Advocate (96)
The 2000 Cristal Rosé Vinothèque is similarly striking, soaring from the glass with notes of confit orange and stone fruit mingled with honeycomb, freshly baked bread and subtle hints of fresh field mushrooms. Full-bodied, vinous and multidimensional, it's ample and layered, with a concentrated core of fruit, lively acids and a long, sapid finish. It's a remarkable wine in its prime today.保税价格￥ 23,830.00 -
Vinous (93)
The 2018 Camille Hommage Le Mesnil-sur-Oger is sourced from Volibarts, a well-exposed parcel in Mesnil that informed the 1961, the last Coteaux Champenois made at Roederer. It was aged in a combination of 60% amphora, 20% new oak and 20% steel. Lemon confit, almond, dried flowers and tropical accents fill out the layers effortlessly. It will drink well right out of the gate.保税价格￥ 3,780.00 -
James Suckling (97)
So expressive on the nose, with cedar, dried lemon, praline, flint, chalk, grapefruit, white apricot and peach stone. So intense. Sharp, but creamy, with beautiful density and a compact mid-palate, yet elegant and refined. Medium body. Crazy length. Chardonnay from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. 1,665 bottles made. Try from 2023.保税价格￥ 3,835.00 -
Vinous (93)
The 2019 Hommage a Camille (Mareuil-sur-Ay) is terrific. Bright and effusive, with gorgeous fruit purity, the 2019 dazzles from the start. Clean mineral notes frame a core of bright red cherry fruit. A whole range of earthy and savory undertones typical of Mareuil add layers of complicating nuance. I love the precision here. The 2019 is a gorgeous wine in every way.保税价格￥ 4,995.00 -
保税价格￥ 13,000.00 -
Decanter (98)
A most subtle hint of toastiness is expressed as grilled hazelnut on the rather shy nose. Later on, a hint of crushed lemon balm adds to the citric aroma. The palate has a vivid mousse that carries very bright, vibrant lemon notes to the nose, backed and supported by a chalky depth. That line of acidity is luminous, scented, pure, lasting and rather linear, but it is balanced by notions of riper fruit, ripe Mirabelle plum, even apricot. There is something saline, long, absolutely citrus-focused here; exquisite. There is just so much fruit, which is always framed by citrus. Exquisitely long. Tasted from magnum.保税价格￥ 1,860.00 -
Emanating elegance and refinement, the Louis Roederer Vignoble de la Montagne Late Release 1995, 1996 NV graced the world with its majesty, courtesy of the acclaimed Champagne House of Louis Roederer. Birthed in the grandeur of Montagne de Reims, France, this wine is a testament to the meticulous cultivation and artistry in every Roederer creation. It offers an engaging dance of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, matured over three exceptional years, heightening its charm.
Upon tasting, connoisseurs savour the profound complexity and robust flavours held within its golden depths. A beautiful interplay of orchard fruits, honeyed brioche, and stone fruits, harmonised with an exquisite, mineral-laced finish that is quintessential of Louis Roederer Vignoble de la Montagne late releases. Its evolved, yet vibrant taste, earned through an extended ageing period, unveils a masterful balance that gleams through every sip, telling a story of a momentous vintage.
保税价格￥ 8,235.00 -
Expertly crafted by acclaimed winemaker, Louis Roederer, the Vignoble de la Montagne Late Release 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999 NV is a wine of exceptional calibre. Born of the revered soils of the Champagne region in France, its exquisite blend marries Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in captivating harmony. This prestigious vintage is preserved with a late release, allowing the wine’s unique characteristics to evolve and enrich over time. The producer, Louis Roederer, is globally recognised for its meticulous viticultural practices and commitment to terroir expression. Each vintage showcases his expertise and passion; the elegant effervescence, the crisp acidity and complex flavour profile are true testament to this. For those seeking the epitome of fine wine, the Louis Roederer Vignoble de la Montagne Late Release 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999 NV offers a tasting experience of incomparable prestige.
保税价格￥ 7,625.00 -
(1x150cl) 1996Decanter (99)
Just hints of smoky lemon play on the nose before a touch of grilled cashew appears, seemingly propelled by lifting scents of smoky lemon zest. Incredibly scented. The palate adds a completely new dimension of flavour with an expressive note of lemon peel that is as salty as it is ripe. A profound note of chalk seems to pull you into the coolest of depths. The mousse still sparkles with lemony brightness, and the legendary 1996 acidity is electric, luminous, incandescent. This is incisive, deliciously uncompromising, wonderfully complex, utterly concentrated yet twirling weightlessly on tiptoe like a prima ballerina. You cannot help but want more of that endless, mouthwatering length. Incredibly youthful and endless. Tasted from magnum.保税价格￥ 4,515.00 -
Decanter (97)
A touch of Mirabelle plum is framed by strident lemon on the nose. Smoky echoes seem to appear with more air, alongside freshly picked chestnut mushrooms. Later on, there is a real note of honey. The palate is bundled in its lemon expression: pure, heightened, linear, alive with lemon zest, almost like freshly squeezed Amalfi lemon juice tempering ripe Mirabelle plums. Yet there are shadows of grilled nuts, of deep chalk, of subtle smokiness - the bubbles still burst, carrying all these flavours. The finish presents a lovely note of peppery rye crumb. A very complex and compelling wine. You want to go back because every time you do, new things happen. Wow. Tasted from magnum.保税价格￥ 3,730.00 -
Decanter (97)
A touch of Mirabelle plum is framed by strident lemon on the nose. Smoky echoes seem to appear with more air, alongside freshly picked chestnut mushrooms. Later on, there is a real note of honey. The palate is bundled in its lemon expression: pure, heightened, linear, alive with lemon zest, almost like freshly squeezed Amalfi lemon juice tempering ripe Mirabelle plums. Yet there are shadows of grilled nuts, of deep chalk, of subtle smokiness - the bubbles still burst, carrying all these flavours. The finish presents a lovely note of peppery rye crumb. A very complex and compelling wine. You want to go back because every time you do, new things happen. Wow. Tasted from magnum.保税价格￥ 1,855.00 -
Decanter (97)
The merest touch of caramel pops up on the nose – or is it a tone of apple with a touch of maple syrup? Later on, lovely smokiness sets a reductive accent. The palate has a very textural presence, a very lively mousse, almost urgent and certainly vivid. That textural element is also expressed in flavours of wet chalk, countering bright lemon and being complemented by rounded ripeness of fruit. The lemony length is endless, mouthwatering, with an edge that is reminiscent of apricot or Mirabelle plum skin, underlining the mouthfeel before that lemon zestiness takes over again on the long finish. Tasted from magnum.保税价格￥ 3,985.00 -
Decanter (97)
The merest touch of caramel pops up on the nose – or is it a tone of apple with a touch of maple syrup? Later on, lovely smokiness sets a reductive accent. The palate has a very textural presence, a very lively mousse, almost urgent and certainly vivid. That textural element is also expressed in flavours of wet chalk, countering bright lemon and being complemented by rounded ripeness of fruit. The lemony length is endless, mouthwatering, with an edge that is reminiscent of apricot or Mirabelle plum skin, underlining the mouthfeel before that lemon zestiness takes over again on the long finish. Tasted from magnum.保税价格￥ 1,755.00 -
James Suckling (96)
Just over two-thirds pinot noir (Verzenay) and the balance southeast-facing chardonnay from Chouilly. This has 30% of oak fermentation which has compressed the wine, lending it an air of extreme concentration. The nose is gently spicy, offering peaches and cherries as well as neat autolysis edge. The palate has a powerful, long and assertive feel, with peach and lemon pith, chalky minerals, and some grapefruit. A powerful vintage for Roederer.保税价格￥ 3,330.00 -
保税价格￥ 2,905.00 -
Rarely does a wine exude the excellence of terroir as playfully and profoundly as the Lucien & Andre Brunel Chateauneuf-du-Pape Les Cailloux 1989. Produced by father-son duo, Lucien and Andre Brunel, whose familial lineage in winemaking dates to the 17th century, this wine comes from Southern Rhône's prestigious Les Cailloux vineyard. This 1989 vintage carries 13% alcohol and boasts of Grenache-led grapes, blended to perfection with Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault.
Meticulous viticulture methods and sustainable cultivation practices enhance the remarkable complexity of this wine. Enjoy the distinct expression of the heavily pebbled, clay-limestone soil that imparts a unique mineral character. This full-bodied red captivates with its multifaceted bouquet, combining mature, dark fruits, earthy undertones and hints of black chocolate, leading to a rich and lasting finish.
Experience the iconic integrity, grandeur and elegance of the Lucien & Andre Brunel Chateauneuf-du-Pape Les Cailloux 1989, a cornerstone of a true connoisseur's collection.
保税价格￥ 6,675.00 -
Vinous (92)
Good full red. Roasted plum, smoke, licorice and game on the nose; less expressive than the 2001 following the October bottling. Sweet and supple in the mouth, with floral red fruit flavors and a silkiness of texture that reminded me of Burgundy. Sound acids give this 2000 a juicy quality and contribute to the impression of grip.保税价格￥ 7,345.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (95)
The 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape is flat-out brilliant, and readers looking for an incredible wine that will drink well for upwards of two decades should back up the truck on this one. Incredible black cherry, Provençal garrigue, pepper, and licorice notes give way to a full-bodied, perfectly balanced, seamless 2019 with ripe tannins, no hard edges, and a great, great finish. You could safely put this up with the crème de la crème in a blind tasting and it would do just fine. The blend is 70% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre, 12% Syrah, and the rest Cinsault, aged mostly in concrete tank, with 12% brought up in old barrels.保税价格￥ 1,725.00 -
Burghound (89-92)
A moderately toasty nose reflects notes of cassis, wild red currant and soft floral wisps. The sleek, muscular and broad-shouldered flavors make quite a contrast with the slightly skinny and lean finish where the wood toast telegraphed by the nose resurfaces. Again, this may come together but that is far from a certainty.保税价格￥ 19,480.00 -
Burghound (93-96)
Ripe aromas include those of plum, dark cherry, warm earth and a whisper of the sauvage. The supple, delicious and dense big-bodied flavors flash enormous power and drive that really builds from the mid-palate to the explosively long and sappy finish where the only nit is a hint of warmth. Note that this is very firmly structured and in need of at least a decade of keeping and should reward almost two.保税价格￥ 21,185.00 -
Vinous (94-97)
Good medium ruby. High-pitched violet perfume lifts the aroma of ripe black cherry. Wonderfully suave, intense and refined, with a pungently fresh quality that reminded me of cut grass. This highly concentrated wine has perfectly integrated acidity, as well as a stronger limestone character than usual. In a rather masculine style but also seamless and suave. Finishes with outstanding length and class, the tannins totally buffered by fruit and minerals. Mounir Saouma noted that this wine has been great since the beginning.保税价格￥ 22,470.00 -
Burghound (90-93)
Reduction knocks down the underlying fruit though wisps of spice escape the funk. More positively are the racy and highly energetic middle weight flavors that brim with minerality on the markedly firm but balanced and persistent finish that will need to add depth to reach the upper end of my projected range.保税价格￥ 16,985.00
