The 2021 Louis-Benjamin Dagueneau Vin De France XXI is one-off wine from a challenging vintage. This unique blend, the only wine produced by Dagueneau from the 2021 harvest, brings together parcels usually destined for Pur Sang, Buisson-Renard, Les Monts-Damnés, and Silex, with a touch from the legendary Clos du Calvaire. The result is a racy, vibrant wine with cool fruit and the signature rapier-like intensity that this Domaine is known for. Aged on lees for 10 months in a variety of oak vessels, this wine is immediately captivating with its citrus, fresh herbs, and characteristic salty, chalky minerality. The texture is compact and svelte, reminiscent of Dagueneau's earlier vintages before the climate began to warm. Despite the vintage’s challenges, including a significant crop loss and high levels of rot, the 2021 XXI is a compelling drink. Its bracing freshness and mineral complexity make it a fascinating interpretation of the vintage. Whether you're a longtime fan of Dagueneau or new to his wines, this is a great way to get to know this renowned producer. Just a handful of bottles available. 94 points"After a solar vintage with exotic notes in 2020, which is in top form today, 2021 returns to a fresher balance, with noble herbal notes that have become rare in recent years. Nevertheless, this XXI draws on an extremely tasty richness, well nourished by meticulous wood aging (barrels, demi-muids). A delicate texture, supported by beautiful bitters. Patience [required]. As usual, this Sauvignon will be very restrained in its youth. It will need five to six years to relax and loosen up. No doubt, it will evolve serenely for more than fifteen years."- Rebecca Gibb MW (Vinous)

Biodynamic. The standard of Weinbach’s Pinot has gone through the roof. There are now five single-vineyard Pinots in the range. The Clos des Capucins bottling leans towards early-ish drinking, with quality pitched towards the village-level wines of Burgundy. Stylistically, it can equally resemble the high-grown Pinots from the Jura or even the best German Pinots as much as those of the Côte d’Or. The fruit fermented spontaneously with 20% bunches and spent about 20 days on skins. It was raised in mature Burgundy barrels for 14 months before being bottled unfiltered. The result is a beautiful expression of Pinot Noir, combining subtle tannins, refreshing texture and a mouth-watering, powdery close. This is very, very good—a unique and terrific alternative to Burgundy.

Biodynamic. Dry. In Alsace, the term Pinot Blanc is used to describe varietal wines or blends containing any percentage of Auxerrois. Weinbach’s Pinot Blanc is a blend of 70% Auxerrois and 30% Pinot Blanc. For fellow nerds, recent DNA studies indicate Auxerrois is a cross between Gouais Blanc and Pinot Noir. Weinbach’s blend comes from Clos des Capucins (with 45-year-old vines) and a plot from the limestone/clay soils at the foot of the Altenbourg vineyard. As with the dry Rieslings, the Pinot Blanc was pressed as whole bunches and raised over eight months in large-format wood (previous vintages were raised in tank). It's a far more layered and complex wine than you might expect from these varieties. It’s fleshy and mouth-filling with orchard fruits, white blossom and chamomile flavours and a textural core threaded through with punchy freshness. As with all these 2022s, it’s very hard to drink slowly!

Biodynamic. Eddy Faller explains that his Altenbourg Pinot Noir exhibits a more velvety structure than the Schlossberg-raised wine (below). To highlight each wine’s origins, the winemaking is almost identical, with a 10-day cold soak, followed by up to two weeks on skins, partial whole-bunch fermentation and extended aging in predominantly old oak. Plantings are 10,000 vines per hectare using mass selections from the Clos des Epeneaux in Pommard. To recycle Pigott’s line for the 2020 release, ‘In a blind tasting you could easily mistake this for a top 1er Cru wine from Beaune in Burgundy!’

This wine is named after this Schlossberg lieu-dit’s cadastral name, Au Château. The building referenced in the name is the iconic Château de Kaysersberg, whose ruins preside over the town and lie a stone’s throw from the western boundary of the Schlossberg Grand Cru. With precious few bottles, we have yet to taste this release. However, Eddy Faller explains that the granitic soils give this bottling a more linear and ‘smoky’ mineral style compared to the rounder, more supple limestone-raised Altenbourg. Cropped from steeply terraced, pre-clonal era 1960s vines, it was fermented with 20% bunches and aged for two years in Burgundian barrels (20% new); Pigott’s note below reflects a terrific year for Alsace Pinot and the great strides Weinbach has made under the current generation

The entry-level pinot noir by Vigne Comte de Chapelle is a rousing Bourgogne Rouge. The nose is delicate, with cherry, strawberry and red fruit sweetness, while the palate is lively, and well structured with silky tannins and juicy fruit flavour. Bass Phillip’s Burgundian outpost, Vigne Comte de Chapelle, produces 14 wines that complement, and challenge, their acclaimed portfolio of Australian pinot noir and chardonnay. Owner, and chief winemaker, Jean-Marie Fourrier envisions Vigne Comte de Chapelle ‘sitting alongside Bass Phillip as a distinguished yet approachable option, offering a unique yet familiar quality that resonates with both new and seasoned wine enthusiasts.’

Fabien Coche—fourth generation with over 20 years experience—steers the enviable family domaine that, as William Kelley (Wine Advocate) says, ‘is one of the most underrated sources of high-quality white Burgundy in the Côte de Beaune.’ Fabien Coche's Auxey-Duresses Blanc showcases the potential of this often overlooked appellation neighboring Meursault. Sourced from the limestone-rich lieu-dit of Les Clous, this wine offers a fresh and mineral-driven expression of Chardonnay. The vines, averaging 30 years old, are south-facing and situated between the village of Auxey and its neighboring hamlet of Petit Auxey. Coche employs a gentle winemaking approach, using just 20% new oak and bottling in December after 16 months on lees. The result is a wine with fine, fresh aromas of citrus and white flowers, underscored by a distinct chalky minerality. On the palate, it presents a balance of crisp acidity and subtle richness, with a lingering, elegant finish.