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Marc Ollivier at Domaine de la Pepiere makes subtle, delicious wines from the Melon de Bourgogne grape. Although not yet an organic grower (he will be working organicaly as of the 2007 vintage), he uses no herbicides and a minimum of other applications. He has old vines, all massale selection - chosen from existing vines in his plots, not modern clones. His yields are kept low by rigorous pruning, he harvests by hand and the grapes ferment on only their natural yeasts. In short natural winemaking at it's finest and a unique terroir of thin topsoils on granit and gneiss. The resulting wine has hints of herbal and citric flavors on a very dry, stony palette with lively acidity. A great complement to any shellfish or mildly flavored fish or chicken and an astounding value at $11.99! DL

A dozen growers in the Muscadet who have vines on the granit of the Massive Armoricain have created the Granite de Clisson label to create a "Grand Cru" of Muscadet. This is Marc Ollivier's first release from this group, which comes from a 1.2 hectare (2 acre) parcel of vines 60 to 90 years old at the Domaine Pépière. The grapes were hand-harvested, (as always for Marc) and fermented with wild yeasts; the wine was aged on the lees for 24 months. The wine is currently quite austere, with subtle hints of exotic fruits, fennel and flowers, the palate is mineral, almost salty, and quite intense. Drink now with a grilled sole or wait a few months for it to open up, after which it should develop nicely for another 15 to 20 years. DL

Wow! Beautiful aromas of ripe melon, mango, lemon and honeysuckle followed by a honeyed palate with citrus, anis and mineral flavors that linger, with good acidity in the finish. Drinking beautifully now, it would be interesting to put some of this great wine away for 5 or 10 more years....

This slightly off-dry Vouvray has delicate honeyed aromas of quince and exotic fruits with nice minerality and length. Pinon farms organically and has become one of the finest winemakers in Vouvray. Although delicious now, it should develop additional complexity over the next 10 to 15 years.

Made with Gamay and Pinot Noir, this medium bodied Cheverny rouge has a spicy nose and nice cherry fruit. Serve slightly chilled and pair with game or chicken with rich sauces. NB

From 110 year-old Cot vines, the 2006 shows the high acidity normal of this wine, with lovely pure ripe cherry and blackberry fruit. This wine is alive and vibratory and 10 years from now it should bring harmony and happiness to anyone who drinks it...

An exuberantly fruity Cabernet Franc from the Bretons, showing lush, ripe raspberry and strawberry fruit with refreshing acidity. Serve cool and watch it disappear...!

Ungrafted vines on a sandy soil in Bourgueil produce this lovely and elegant wine. It has slightly lower alcohol then normal, and bright acidity bracing the pure, dark blackraspberry fruit. Drink over the next 2 - 3 years - bravo to the Bretons! (synthetic cork). DL

This had a rustic nose of red and black fruits with some sweet earth scents. The tannins were rough and rugged but the fruit was sweet and the tannins spread nicely on the finish. Not the most elegant wine but stuffed with fruit, earth and tannin only in the way a Bourgueil could be stuffed. Lovely wine and a great sipper. LF

This was showing tight, earthy and minerally but had a lovely core of dark fruit. There was a long detailed finish and astonishing purity to this wine. Great sweet, ripe tannin. Love '04 in Chinon. LF

I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the 2005 Catherine & Pierre Breton Bourgueil Perrieres as everything they have made in 2005 has been nothing short of brilliant. I opened a bottle on a Monday, and I will confess, this thing was clamped shut, but still had an uncanny freshness and you could tell there was a lot there but it was going to take major coaxing to get something from this wine. Five hours open and this thing budged like a centimeter. But I knew if I waited I would be rewarded. So next night opened it up and it was getting there. More fruit was coming through on the palate and there was a lovely raspberry coulis note on the nose. The purity was really shining on this day but there was still a tannin/fruit battle and the tannins were still winning but you could tell as we move onto the third and fourth quarter that the fruit would win with the tannin playing a supporting role. A ripe supporting role mind you. Day three I was injured so could not taste it but day four is where the fireworks started to happen. We have reached perfect harmony. Yin/Yang and this was approaching a quality level I rarely see in Bourgeuil. It still had that burly Bourgeuil quality to it but the fruit/tannin balance was astonishing and the refinement was nothing short of breathtaking. Every sip was just amazing. Chewy, sweet ripe tannins with a lovely herbal tint at the edges and in the midpalate. Complexity was off the charts as was the length. I don’t wanna pontificate like other famous wine critics bit this wine had at least a thirty-nine second finish. Amazing! Stupendous! Based on this four day experience I would say this will be a long ager and every self-respecting Loire fanatic should have a good stash of this in their cellar. I think this might be the best Breton Bourgeuil Perrieres of the last ten years. Truly amazing stuff. LF

This is from Baudry's gravel and clay vineyard, the vines average about 50 years old. Always a very supple and pretty wine, the 2005 will need a few years to soften and should drink well for 10 to 15 years. (The 1989, for example, is a fabulous wine today) The berry fruit is very ripe and concentrated with some notes of cocoa, but a bit disjointed at the moment. Give it time, this will be very good....

A very concentrated, but round and supple wine with ripe strawberry/raspberry fruit and a long finish. Serve cool.

This wine floored me and changed the way I look at Chiroubles. It blew me away. None of that light insipid Chiroubles that most people are used to. This wine had so much nuance and soul it was unconscious. Vivid flavors of red, blue and pink fruits but so soft iy had a Donnhoff-like dissolve on the palate. The purity was wonderful and this wine was just so damn drinkable. LF

Darker and ripe than the previous wines. The palate was more tannic but there was stunning purity and freshness. The density here was the most so far and there were dazzling inner mouth aromas. Very floral. Like a red berry explosion inside your mouth with that crunchy texture I am starting to notice as a theme in the Descombes VV bottlings. LF

It is uncanny the quality, transparencey and pure brilliance of this wine. This has grippy tannins but they are so suave, sweet and ripe you notice them but the way you notice sea salt on Wylie's foie gras terrine at WD-50. Kind of like..."Oh yeah this has salt...cool. And it's really really good salt." This is genius wine and in the running for one of the best wines I have had all year. Jean-Paul Brun is my idol. LF

Taut, structured and very rich this wine has serious minerality from the volcanic soils that are comprised of mainly granite and schist. There is also a deep concentrated core of black fruits that is expressive now but will ideally benefit from a few years in the cellar to flesh out. Just great stuff and it sells for a song. LF

The ’06 Brun Morgon has vivid raspberry and cherry fruit with crackling acidity. There is an understated elegance to the wine with a crunchy (acid, fruit) finish that really fleshes out once the wine is properly aerated. The soils are mainly schist and broken granite. There is a nice minerality to the wine but Morgon is more about fruit and mouthfeel than minerality. LF

How’s your French accent? FRV 100 = “Eff Arr Vay Saunt…” = Effervescent, get it? And the fun doesn’t stop there- who wouldn’t like a sparkling off-dry Gamay? Before the meal, after the meal, at your next party, whenever. Lively berry flavors, a bit o’ honey, and lotsa bubbles. SH

A nice mouthful of bright red fruit with crisp acidity and soft mouthfeel. This is the ultimate summer rose sipper and has a very cool frosted glass bottle. LF

Today it had wonderfully pure palate-staining red fruit. Concentrated with lovely elegance and a long finish. Really stays with you. LF

The fruit is stunning on this wine and really stains the palate. All red fruit all the time. Tannic . . .yes . . .but ripe tannins definetly! The acid is nice but the texture is almost Burgundian and has that super balance that the great '05 burgs have. LF

Enjoy this wine now for the subtle, pure fruit aromas and tight but elegant palate. Put it away for 5 to 10 years, serve with andouillettes and be happpy...

Little bit of barnyard, some red fruits and great acidity. Focused and lean with structure to age for a while. My favorite Morgon of the vintage against some stiff comepetition. LF

This was maybe the best bottle of Radikon white wine I have ever had. Had a apricot skin color in the glass and celestial, I kid you not, celestial aromas of brown sugar, red-Pinot-like fruit, minerals and stone fruit skins. The palate has dazzling babbling brook-like minerality along with stellar concentration, great delineation and a long fruit-soaked finish. Exceptional wine that kept getting better and better as the night went on. Came in those very cute 500 ml bottles with the most adorable little cork.

This was a wine all about nuance and finesse. It had classic Scharzhofberger aromas of lime, grapefruit (pink?), chalk, minerals and some stone pit fruit flesh. The palate was wonderfully elegant and finessed with lovely citrus and pit fruits. Very mineral though. There was sap and an uncanny precision. Beautifully focused wine that you need to pay attention to or it will pass you by. Really needs a day to open up but is worth the wait. LF

Another one of the great Kesselstat dry wines that I tasted on my summer visit there. This had a great nose out of the gates with tangerine, minerals, slate, peach flesh and lots of other nuance. Very prickly nose. The palate was full and lush with a vevlety mouthfeel and very pure dark orange citrus fruits. Then it closed down on the palate every so slowly throughout the night. There was great acidity and so much stuffing to this wine. This really seems like it has a long life ahead of it. The nose did get dazzlingly complex towards the end of the night and the palate did show some warmth as it warmed up. That seems to be common trend in the 2006 GG and EG's. We'll see if age can tame that. LF

The aromas jump out of the glass and grab you with their poignancy and purity. Licorice, black fruits, spice, earth, herbs de provence, lavender, mint, balsam and soy. The nose is layered and very complex already at this young age. Definetly a Rhone wine to drink out of a Burgundy stem. The palate has dazzling purity and richness along with intense flavors of black, blue, red and purple fruits. The whole spectrum of winey fruits here. The tannins are fine and grainy and the balance is extraordinary. There is serious structure under all that fruit along with a precise backbone of minerality. This is a wow wine and has all the hallmarks of the great 2005 vintage in the Southern Rhone. Density, freshness, structure, minerality and purity. This will age a very long time as when it had been open at the ten hour point it shut down hard. LF

From my discoveries in Germany last summer this is the ideal wine for spring sipping. Called literally "green"� Silvaner, this is a delightful wine. Crisp and clean with a creamy, silky texture. Not as intense or floral as Wirsching or as dirty and real as Furst but lovely in its own very refined crunchy mineral way. LF

I ordered 20 cases of this my first week working here and now is when the intelligence of the decision comes to fruition. It has always been a great wine but right now it is entering its peak drinking window. This had a bit of age on it which is evident by the slightly darkening yellow color commonly found in older Riesling. The nose needed some coaxing but once it got going it was glorious. Yellow fruits, white flowers, minerals, sea salt, peach skin and apricot skin on the very complex nose. Great breadth of aromas. It was very pretty and not in your face. Delicate would be the word I was looking for. Not to take anything away from the nose, the palate was the real story of this wine. It had an outrageous texture and perfect balance. The palate was like the silkiest bean curd you can imagine. Concentrated as it was delicate, this wine truly showed the heights great dry Riesling can achieve from a noble site. The finish echoed with lemon, slight dried confectionary sugar, chamomile and salty minerals. What a wine. LF

Burgundy has just gotten so expensive these days that to find quality Pinot Noir in Europe you gotta go looking in some not so traditional places and some of the most lovely Pinot Noirs in Europe are coming out of the Jura. The Puffeney 2004 Pinot Noir takes a while to open up but once it does it is lovely. Layered red fruits, creamy/tart texture and ripe tannins. Lovely quality here and has the structure for mid term aging. I was so impressed I just had to put it in my case. LF

Catherine Roussel and Didier Barrouillet have done it again - another great Touraine Cabernet! In 2005, the deep blackberry fruit has complex hints of smoke and musk in the nose and is framed by bright acidity. The synthetic closure eliminates corky bottles and should allow for the 2 to 3 years of cellaring that will mellow this beautiful wine. A steal at the price and highly recommended! DL

I rarely drink Cabernet Sauvignon. Too big, chunky and most of them taste the same. Just my opinion. Thank goodness for Clos Roche Blanche as this is infused with minerals, red fruits and earth. Grippy ripe tannins and a long finish with structure that suggests mid-term aging. Oh yeah . . .the kicker . . .this is an astonishing value. Maybe there is not that much Cabernet Sauvignon in it but the stuff that is in it is killer! LF

Great reasonabley priced wine from Slovenia. Unctuous, floral, with flavors of almonds and intense minerality. Great length here too. LF

This wine floored me and changed the way I look at Chiroubles. It blew me away. None of that light insipid Chiroubles that most people are used to. This wine had so much nuance and soul it was unconscious. Vivid flavors of red, blue and pink fruits but so soft iy had a Donnhoff-like dissolve on the palate. The purity was wonderful and this wine was just so damn drinkable. LF

Lovely wine and of Kunstler's two Erstes Gewachs this is the more achingly elegant with lost of citrus fruits, stone fruits and pungent minerality. Really floats on the palate with great concentration and purity. Needs time. LF

The more sleek and silky of Rebholz's two great Grosses Gewachs bottlings. Creamy, ripe and elegant with lovely stony minerality and a wonderful mouthfeel. Again, a better effort than the 2005 as it is less fat and more classic. LF

Definetly the more powerful and structured of Hansjorg's two great dry Grosses Gewachs sites. Powerfully minerally and amazingly concentrated this is more classic than the 2005 and seems to have a longer aging curve. LF