New Arrivals

94 Points! A blockbuster in a showy, rich style, with bolts of iron grounding a lush stream of chocolate, cherry and blackberry. Mesquite and sandalwood smoke notes linger through the smooth finish, which is flecked with spices, herbs and salt. A long bolt of graphite adds to the well-built feel. Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre. - Wine Spectator

93+ Points! Aged in demi-muids, the 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Etienne Gonnet is drawn exclusively from la Crau, a blend of 70% Grenache and 15% each Mourvèdre and Syrah. The nose is toasty and cedary but balanced by scents of red raspberries and strawberries, while the mouth is full-bodied and supple, finishing smooth, sexy and long. It's already approachable, but the wood should integrate nicely over the next several years. - Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

A flurry of fruit and spice, the 2020 Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon is a wonderful snapshot of what Paso Robles has to offer. Before diving into the glass, you will notice the rich color this wine exudes, then aromas of blueberry, cocoa, and toasted coconut. Bright, red cherry-like acidity awakes the palate and transitions to a juicy and elegantly tannic mid body. Flavors of blackberry and blueberry carry all the way through to a lingering finish of toasty oak and cocoa powder. A Cab lover’s dream!

95+ Points! The depth of the nose of the 2020 El Veneno already talks about a much better vintage with very complete and full wines that are floral, expressive and ripe but delicate, what they always look for: delicate wines with power, the proverbial iron fist in the velvet glove. It's varietal, Mediterranean, fresh, expressive, rich and complex, with abundant, chalky tannins that coat your mouth and give it a dry sensation, earthy and mineral. It has more of everything. The finest vintage of El Veneno to date. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

95 Points! The effusive sliced-pear and white-peach aromas introduce you to this extraordinary, contemporary interpretation of this grape, which is so often dismissed as old-fashioned. The abundant fine tannins remind me of natural wines, but there’s a level of brightness here that’s totally Alpine and gives it remarkable drive at the very long wet-stone finish. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! Aromas of black berries, brambleberries, floral, orange peel, and wet earth. Medium body, creamy and round tannins and a refined finish. Delicious. Just yummy. 52% merlot, 30% cabernet sauvignon, 10% cabernet franc, and 8% petit verdot. - JamesSuckling.com

From 50+ Year-Old Vines, 7 months aging in concrete...

Following vicious hailstorms in 2016 and 2017 that destroyed much of their harvest, Jean-Louis created the Famille Dutraive label with his three children: Justin, Ophélie, and Lucas. In addition to providing much-needed bottles to sell through these leaner years, the Famille Dutraive label was a way to integrate the next generation into the domaine.

The Famille Dutraive wines are made from purchased grapes sourced from carefully selected parcels that follow the spirit of organics...

98 Points! Fresh and deep nose, full of blueberries, minty cassis, mussels, cigars, dark spice and roasted sesame oak, which will need a year or two to fully integrate. A medium-to full-bodied Almaviva with supple, silky tannins and a wealth of black and blue fruit that provides a lot of charm now. Voluptuous and flattering on the palate, hallmarked by its tension and taut texture. Very long. This is the 25th anniversary bottling. 68% cabernet sauvignon, 24% carmenere, 6% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot - James Suckling

96 Points! 2020 was exceptionally dry, with 75% less rain than usual in the period between May and September, which resulted in an earlier harvest to produce a 2020 Almaviva with 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Carmenère (from Peumo), 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, so with no Merlot this time. The process was as careful as possible, without using any bombs, doing manual and optical sorting of the grapes, pressing in small vertical presses and aging of 20 months in French oak barrels, 73% of them new and the rest second use. The wine reached good ripeness with 14.9% alcohol. It still shows the effect of the élevage a bit, with abundant notes of sweet spices, a creamy touch and some smoke. I tasted it next to the 2019, and the wines have a very similar aromatic palette with a clear note of baked peppers. What was amazing in 2020 was that they harvested the Carmenere almost five weeks earlier than they normally would, and the result is not a green wine at all. As in all dry years, the wines show a little more tannic, a little in the style of the 2017—but the 2020 has more tension than the 2017, and the 2017 was more powerful and with a bigger tannic structure. The 2019 had more volume than the 2018, and the 2020 is closer to the 2019 than the 2018. - Luis Guiterrez, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Groovy, clean, precise Pet-Nat sparkler from the Czech Republic!

40% Chardonnay, 40% Poulsard and 20% Savagnin co-planted in the Val de Vallière gorge, on a slope facing the village of Montaigu. Vineyard tended biodynamically, Demeter inspection and certification since 2003: applications of horn manure, silica and herbal teas. Hand-harvested with sorting in the vineyard. The three varieties are slowly pressed together. Fermentation and ageing in oak barrels without any added SO2, with regular topping-up. No addition of yeast, sugar, or any other additives. Aged 7 months in barrel over winter, bottling takes according to the the lunar calendar, still without the addition of any SO2.