Wines

A blend of 90% Sangiovese with 10% Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo, and Colorino, Piemaggio’s flagship Chianti Classico ferments spontaneously in stainless steel during a 3 ½ week maceration, and spends two years aging in a combination of concrete tanks and previously used wooden casks—mainly 25-hectoliter Slavonian oak, with some 500-liter French oak employed as well. Utterly textbook in character, it combines earth, bright fruit, and tangy acidity, with notable yet unforced concentration; it is a wine of balance and egoless drinkability.

92 Points! ...the organic Pieropan 2024 Soave Classico is a favorite bottle from Northern Italy for very good reason. This simple expression of Garganega (blended with 15% Trebbiano di Soave for extra richness) offers nice freshness, mineral tones and sweet primary fruit that recalls freshly cut apple and white peach. This was not an easy vintage by any stretch, but this white wine comes out fighting. The Pieropan family does a terrific job with this entry-level release of 560,000 bottles. The grapes are sourced over 60 hectares on volcanic soils, and the wine sees a brief five to six months in cement tank. The process is simple and easy, and the wine is delicious. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

96 Points! Brilliant and worthy of comparison to top Pinot Noirs and Burgundies, the 2023 Pinot Noir offers a gorgeous array of red and black fruits intermixed with forest floor, dried flowers, baking spices, and leather. This medium to full-bodied Pinot Noir reveals a layered, elegant mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, integrated acidity, and a great finish. Made with 30% whole clusters and fermented in oak tanks before 11 months in 65% new French oak, it shows the softer, supple, incredibly charming style of the vintage and will drink beautifully over the coming 10-12 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

93 Points! Pretty orange blossom with cranberry and crab apple aromas as well as watermelon. Medium body with fine and polished tannins that shows energy and length. Very fine-textured at the end. Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Bright, dark-fruited character with hints of walnuts, spice box and dried orange peel. Savory, tense and dusty on the palate, with a medium to full body and polished, linear tannins. Shows focus and balance. Already attractive, but will age well. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

PLEASE BE AWARE, THIS IS A PRE-ARRIVAL WINE - YOU WILL NOT BE CHARGED SHIPPING FEES UNTIL THE WINE(S) ARRIVE

95 Points! The 2022 Chateau Poesia is made from 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, fragrant notes of red currant jelly and Morello cherries come bounding out of the glass, followed by hints of violets, cinnamon stick, and underbrush. The full-bodied palate is packed with expressive black and red berry preserves flavors, framed by plush tannins and wonderful tension, finishing long and perfumed. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW

93 Points! A ripe and lightly savory nose with iron, graphite, minerals, mature plums and orange rind. Juicy and structured, this has medium to full body and a tightly wound finish. Give it two more years in bottle. Try from 2027. - James Suckling

94 Points! The 2022 Poesia, which suffered minor frost damage in early April, has a more marine-tinged bouquet thanks to its clay/limestone soils. Blackberry and blueberry fruit, fine delineation, taciturn at first, but it opens well in the glass after aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with a fresh, peppery entry. The limestone comes through nicely here. But it's quite backward on the finish and therefore it will require 4-5 years in bottle. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

94 Points! The 2022 Poesia is a heady, opulent wine. Inky dark fruit, herbs, lavender and chocolate abound. In this vintage the Franc is up to 30% and that comes through in the wine’s distinctly savory profile. This exotic, flamboyant Saint-Émilion possesses tremendous aromatic presence to play off its opulent fruit. The oak needs to integrate, but then again, this is an en primeur sample. Frost lowered yields to 30 hectoliters per hectare instead of the more typical 45 or so. Drinking window : 2032-2047 - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

94 Points! The 2022 Château Poesia is 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc that's from more limestone soils brought up in a mix of barrels (50% new) and tank. It brings more elegance and finesse compared to the Château D'Arce and has beautiful black raspberry and red plum fruit intermixed with smoky tobacco, chalky minerality, and a huge floral, incense-like character. It's full-bodied, has a pure, layered, elegant mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and a beautiful finish. - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! Pure berry fruit and cedar aromas, the wine has great purity. It is a straight line of freshness as well as black-currant fruits and ripe acidity. The wine is beautifully textured and firm at its core. Drink from 2028. Organic and biodynamic. - Wine Enthusiast

95 Points! This is a very pretty 2021 with a solid, beautiful mid-palate and density. Juicy fruit, slightly chewy tannins and a savory finish. Hints of graphite. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Ripe blue fruits, spring flowers, violets, tobacco, and some graphite notes all emerge from the 2021 Château Pontet-Canet, a richer, medium to full-bodied Pauillac that has polished, building tannins, terrific overall balance, and outstanding length. It picks up more classic Pauillac lead pencil notes with time in the glass (I was able to taste this on multiple occasions) and is a fleshy, beautifully textured 2021 that will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and evolve for two decades. The 2021 is based on 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Petit Verdot that was raised 50% in new oak barrels, 35% amphora, and the balance in once-used oak. - Jeb Dunnuck

93 Points! Made by Geneviève and Luc Janssens, the 2016 Proprietary Red is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc that spent 30 months in French oak. Revealing a dense purple color as well as Old World notes of dark currants, tobacco, chocolate, and spring flowers, this rich, medium to full-bodied effort has ripe tannins, a rounded, elegant texture, and a great finish. It shows the classic, balanced style of this vintage nicely. It's terrific today yet should evolve for 15-20 years as well. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! Bright, with crushed-stone and floral character on the nose. Medium body with a firm core, expanding through the palate. Vivid and bright. Lots of good energy. Crushed-stone and lightly chalky character at the end. Needs two or three years to come around. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

92 Points! The 2019 Potensac is fabulous. Bright and focused, the 2019 impresses with its energy, balance and total class. Crushed flowers, mint, cinnamon, crushed rocks and blood orange all open in the glass. The 2019 is class personified I love the purity here. The 2019 is a standout, and should be a terrific value, too. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

#BordeauxBlowout

95 Points Vinous! From the winery:The Loechel Eden Valley Shiraz is sourced from a single vineyard at the Southern tip of the Eden Valley township. It was planted half a century ago by the Loechel family to granitic loam, at 400 metres altitude.

The vineyard is planted on a steep Easterly aspect with high drainage and low yields, resulting in concentrated fruit and rich, complex wines. The vineyard is picked in three seperate components which are kept seperate throughout vinification. One third of the vineyard’s fruit is retained to produce the Loechel Shiraz which is determined at blending prior to bottling

93 Points! A vivid blend of wildflowers, yellow apples and ground ginger forms a captivating bouquet as the 2021 Soave Classico Monte Grande blossoms in the glass. This is round and supple, with cooling minerality and fresh acidity, adding wonderful lift as ripe pit-fruits and minty herbal tones resonate. A tinge of lime and a salty flourish add lovely punctuation as the 2021 finishes long and staining yet graceful and floral. What a darling. - Eric Guido, Vinous

93 Points! A restrained wine with complex, layered aromas of smoke, minerals and peat with touches of Mirabelle plums and lemon leaves. Medium- to full-bodied on the palate, with sweet fruit, zesty acidity and a vibrant, savory finish. - JamesSuckling.com

91 Points! The 2024 Soave Classico Otto impresses with its fresh mix of vividly ripe orchard fruit. It’s airy and lifted with notes of minty herbs, sweet spices and white smoke. A burst of vibrant acidity invigorates the palate as salty minerals saturate. Crisp and clean, the Otto closes with a long, citrus-inflected finish. - Eric Guido, Vinous

92 Points! A very fresh style of gruner veltliner with crisp pear, lemon balm and chamomile aromas, plus very lively acidity for this grape on the medium-bodied palate. Long, crisp finish with stacks of lemon zest freshness. Sustainable. Drink now. Screw cap. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! This unusual gruner veltliner is brimming with floral aromas and has a wonderful interplay of restrained creaminess, bright yellow apple and pear fruit and elegant acidity on the medium-bodied palate. Long, precise finish. Sustainable. Drink or hold. Screw cap. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Chopped apples, honey and lemon pith on the nose, with an earthy minerality too. It’s medium-bodied, creamy and layered, with a long and delicious finish. Sustainable. Drink or hold. Screw cap. - JamesSuckling.com

99 Points! The 2018 Pym-Rae can be thought of as a hypothetical mix of the 2016 and 2017, with more sexiness and opulence than the 2017 and a touch more elegance and precision than the 2016. Wonderful cassis, violets, tobacco, lead pencil, and chocolate notes define this beauty, and it's full-bodied, with a gorgeous sense of elegance and purity, perfect tannins, and an incredible finish. This stunningly majestic, flawlessly balanced Mountain Cabernet already offers pleasure yet will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age, and it should be a 50-year wine. Bravo! - Jeb Dunnuck

96 Points! The 2020 Pinot Noir Earth Smoke is a massively different wine from its stablemate Angel Flower, giving a more expansive wine that blossoms in the mouth without any sense of weight. There's elegance and sense of precision. And do you know what? It feels special. If I were tasting blind, aromatically, I'd think it were a cool climate Syrah with sandalwood, fennel, agave and white pepper characters in abundance alongside pure cherry fruit. The finish is fresh and precise. - Rebecca Gibb, MW, Vinous Media

100 Points! The head-turning 2022 Quilceda Creek ‘Columbia Valley’ Cabernet Sauvignon has 10% Mach One Vineyard fruit blended in, with the remainder coming from the famed Champoux Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. The nose is beyond alluring with toasted walnut and gorgeous purple rose petals that combine with boysenberry cordial, Turkish coffee and shades of dark licorice. The crazy complex aromatics bring you back to the glass for more enjoyment. Pillowy and opulent on the mouth, the seamless texture leads alongside outstanding weight and finesse.  This is a perfect wine in a vintage that shows what can be accomplished in a slightly cooler year. Savor this remarkable achievement over the next twenty plus years to come. - Owen Bargreen

95 Points! The brightness and transparency of the aromas are impressive, with fresh flowers, blue fruit, crushed stones, lavender and orange blossoms. Medium-bodied, with a tight and focused palate of linear and integrated tannins. Fresh and tangy. Vivid at the end. A unique expression of the vintage and St. Emilion, with so much crunchy fruit. 68.2% merlot, 31.3% cabernet franc and 0.5% malbec. - James Suckling