Collection: March

$59.99 bottle / $341.94($56.99) six-pack Over the past few years, Pertois-Lebrun has become our go-to Blanc de Blancs Champagne producer, ousting some of our other long-time and much better known Grower Champagne producers. The Champagnes of Pertois-Lebrun are precise and chiseled with pristine fruit supported by balancing acidity. While this non-vintage Champagne is really good year in and year out, the 2021-base is extra good!  While tasting with Antoine Bouret of Pertois-Lebrun and Champagne illuminati Peter Liem at the domaine last year, we tasted the excellent 2020-base.  When we asked about the 2021-base which had yet to be released, Antoine left us briefly and came back with the unlabeled bottle of ’21-base you see in the picture.  After we compared it with the ’20-base we had tasted previously, I told Antoine that I preferred the ’21-base bottling.  He smiled coyly and admitted that he did too. The 2021-base L’Extravertie offers a vein of minerality that runs throughout the palate. Enjoy now or let it keep improving and gaining in complexity over the next decade. A stunning value!

Chenin Blanc is the darling white wine variety of the wine geek world but you certainly don't need to be a wine geek to appreciate this delicious dry Loire Valley white. This insanely good wine is comprised of 100% Chenin Blanc from the estate's 90+ year old vines in the Le Hu-Boyau vineyard (immediately above the Coulée de Serrant). The Cuvée Spéciale is a dry, full-bodied, rich wine with a waxy texture and honeysuckle notes buttressing an intense core of stoney minerality. Here are importer Kermit Lynch's thoughts: "The Cuvée Spéciale is what it usually is, their best parcel, old vines next to the Coulée de Serrant, fermented and raised in demi-muids, and bottled unfiltered...It is intense with a strong goût de terroir to go with the fruit. It is powerful, coiled like a spring, needs some time, and can age well into the next century." Word! In 2023 I enjoyed the 1985 and 2007 tremendously with Dungeness Crab - I’m just sayin’. Buy a case and watch this wine's beautiful evolution unfold over the next 15+ years.

Geek Alert: Caution-an umami bomb will ignite upon uncorking this wine.  Domaine de Montbourgeau’s 2022 L’Etoile Blanc is the perfect introduction to white wines of the Jura.  It’s a blend of both of the Jura’s two white varieties: Chardonnay and Savagnin, and is made in the traditional manner of not topping up the barrels during aging in the cellar giving the wine a mild oxidative note that pairs with pristine fruit and nutty notes that Jura lovers crave. I just enjoyed a bottle with miso-glazed black cod/sable fish and it matched the umami level of the glazed fish perfectly.  This wine also pairs remarkably well with chicken and pork. Oh, my! “The 2022 L'Étoile resulted from co-fermenting 60% Chardonnay with 40% Savagnin on indigenous yeasts, followed by 18 months élevage in demi-muids. Yellow apple, ripe pear, dried flowers and lemon peel paint a complex aromatic picture. Dense and tight, the concentrated 2022 frames flawless energy on the medium-bodied palate and offers saline accents on the focused finish. Drink through 2034.” - 91 Vinous - Limited.

Franck Balthazar is an elite Cornas producer, issuing some of the greatest Syrah in the world.  His Cornas (100% Syrah) is made in microscopic quantities and always tightly allocated.  Outside the Cornas appellation, Balthazar tends some Syrah and little bit of Grenache, from which he makes this “humble” Cotes-du-Rhone.  A blend of 60% Syrah and 40% Grenache, it’s the Syrah which really takes center stage on both the nose and palate. Aromas of dried herbs de Provence, wild fennel and warm plums segue to a silky smooth palate with bright fruit, suave tannins and a hint of mint on the finish. Enjoy now and over the next three years with burgers, sausages, lamb, mushrooms and garlicky vegetable dishes.

We’ll just come out and say it- this is greatest deal in domestic Pinot Noir we can think of for under $30.  Hailing from the excellent 2021vintage, this Pinot offers pleasing aromas of damp forest floor and cherry followed by a suave palate with notes that echo the aromatic themes wrapped in soft, silky tannins.  In terms of complexity, the ’21 J. Christopher Basalte runs circles around most Pinots costing twice the price - really.

Dedicated white grape grower Mark Royer's vineyard planted on the basalt laden bench of the South Western Eoala-Amity Hills is nearing it's 10th birthday. The essence of this fantastic site seems to reveal itself a little more each vintage. The basalt soil adds a nice flinty mineral vein and helps preserve acidity while the ocean wind exposed bench cools the vineyard and thickens the grape skins adding weight and texture. The resulting 2024, from a very good Oregon vintage, is a wine built with tension, weight, and drive. "Elegant and elevated, this mineral-driven Chardonnay stays lean and bright. Taut aromas of lemon pith, sea salt and dried white florals, there are rich tones of honeyed ginger and peach skin. The palate is rich, with deep lemon curd tones, fleshy ripe pear and salty grilled lemon peel. It's layered, complex and wildly elegant." - 94, Decanter

$49.99 bottle / $269.94($44.99) six-pack Damn!!! This is incredibly expressive, terroir-driven wine and about as "old-school" as it gets.  Ethereal nose with Nebbiolo fruit, tobacco, earth, leather, etc. The palate is fairly full-bodied for Alto Piemonte, but still very lively and vibrant. Immediately recognizable as Piemontese Nebbiolo (even Barbaresco-ish) but with a different kind of complexity and soil expression than you get from the Langhe. Comprised of about 90% Nebbiolo with splashes of Croatina and Vespolina, it’s delicious already but needs time to really reach its (very) full potential. This is the real deal and runs circles around most $100 Barolo and Barbarescos. If you’re willing to spend $50 on Barolo or Barbaresco, but not Bramaterra, you’re missing out. Drink 2023 - 2040. Only 50 cases of this wine made into the U.S.  Very limited.

$29.99 bottle / $167.94($27.99) six-pack This white from Mount Etna is so damn delicious! Close to 100% Carricante, this Aedes is at once rich and lush with apricot and nectarine fruit while pulsating with Etna’s volcanic minerality. I Custodi’s cellar master is long-time Etna guru Salvo Foti (formerly Benanti’s winemaker). Foti considers himself a bianchista (white wine lover) who prizes elegance and tension in his wines while allowing the volcanic spice to shine forth at the same time. Enjoy now and over the next few years with shellfish, prawns, halibut, swordfish, chicken or pork dishes. We love this wine.  Don’t hesitate - this wine always sells out quickly.

This wine is steeped in the history of Mt. Etna winemaking. Using the ancient Palmento method, as has always been done on Etna, the process utilizes multi-level stone vats to crush grapes by foot and ferment must via gravity followed by the final extraction with a very old manual screw press (check the attached video!) The result is a beutiful vibrant red color that smells of earth, raspberry, cherry, and blood orange. The palate is bright and crisp, pulsing with that typical volcanic smokey minerality. Medium bodied with very good length and a savory component that wants to be paired with gamey meats. Drink now through 2032.  -Lance's Pick

Directly to the southeast of Tuscany is the sleepy, beautiful landlocked province of Umbria. Here, Sagrantino and Sangiovese are the backbone of Umbria’s red wines.  Arnaldo Caprai is one of Umbria’s greatest wine estates and this wine is an excellent example of Montefalco. Soaring aromatics highlight the Sangiovese component of this wine with dusty cherry, new leather, dried sage and earthy aromas.  The palate is mid-weight but full-bodied in perception due to Sagrantino’s density and tannic structure. The dark fruit, earthy note, acidity and tannic structure are all in balance in this classy red priced for everyday drinking. Enjoy with grilled lamb or beef, hearty stews, pizza, charcuterie and all manner of pork now and over the next  five years. “Bright and fruit-forward with ripe raspberries and cherries as well as sweet spices, chocolate and candied orange peel. Medium- to full-bodied with deep, succulent fruit and firm, tightly packed tannins.” - 92 James Suckling  A lot of wine for the money.

$34.89 / $191.94($31.99) six-pack Kumeu River New Zealand Chardonnays - the southern hemisphere’s greatest white wines? Founded in 1944 by Mick Brajkovich, wife Katé and son Maté, Kumeu River was one of the early pioneers in Auckland, New Zealand that helped to establish its reputation as a world-class wine region.  The 2022 Estate Chardonnay is still young and tight with a hint of reduction on the nose (Think Walter Scott or a number of Meursault producers) while the palate is rich and creamy with a hint of vanilla. “The 2022 Chardonnay Estate is calm, its shoulders are down and its almost succulent in its personality as it makes it debut in your mouth. The acidity is gentle, particularly when compared with the nervosity of 2021. There's a fine textural character that could well be tannin that keeps this giving and leaves you licking your lips. Flavors of nectarine, clove and vanilla-like oak notes make for a rather festive finish (20% new oak). The nectarine-infused length persists making this one that'll slip down easily over the next 3-5 years at the very least. Drink 2023-2028” - 91 Vinous + 95 James Suckling