France
The vast and diverse wine regions of France, each with its own unique terroirs, grape varieties, and winemaking techniques, are a treasure trove.
In Bordeaux, the birthplace of some of the world's most iconic wines, esteemed vineyards such as Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Margaux, Château Latour, and Château Haut-Brion produce exceptional red wines, showcasing the art of blending Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. The region is also renowned for its exquisite white wines, with vineyards like Château d'Yquem and Domaine de Chevalier producing legendary sweet wines.
Moving to Burgundy, the vineyards of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Domaine Leroy, and Domaine Armand Rousseau capture the essence of the region's revered terroir, crafting exquisite red wines from the Pinot Noir grape. Meanwhile, Domaine Leflaive and Domaine Coche-Dury are celebrated for their world-class white wines, predominantly made from Chardonnay.
The Champagne region, known for its sparkling wines, boasts illustrious houses such as Krug, Dom Pérignon, and Moët & Chandon, as well as grower-producers like Pierre Péters and Jacques Selosse. These vineyards create exceptional sparkling wines using the traditional method, offering a symphony of delicate bubbles, elegant flavors, and vibrant acidity.
In the Rhône Valley, iconic vineyards like Chapoutier, E. Guigal, and Château de Beaucastel produce remarkable red wines in the northern appellations of Hermitage, Côte-Rôtie, and Cornas, showcasing the elegance and power of Syrah. Further south, Châteauneuf-du-Pape is celebrated for its rich and full-bodied red blends, with Château Rayas and Clos des Papes leading the way.
In Alsace, vineyards such as Domaine Zind-Humbrecht and omaine Trimbach craft exquisite white wines, including Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Pinot Gris, expressing the region's unique terroir and varietal character.
These are just a few highlights among the diverse array of wines that France offers. From the Loire Valley's crisp whites and elegant reds to the Languedoc-Roussillon's bold and robust wines, each region presents its own vinous treasures.
France
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Vinous (96-98)
The 2020 Vosne-Romanée Les Malconsorts 1er Cru has a pixelated bouquet that unfolds beautifully in the glass, a femme fatale of pure red and blue fruit with a hint of violet. The palate is very taut on the entry, perfectly judged acidity, silky smooth with impressive volume allied with finesse on the finish. Entrancing.HK$9,310.00 -
Vinous (93+)
Good bright, full red. Knockout musky nose offers raspberry, minerals, resin, smoke and underbrush; pure liquid pheromones for this Burgundy lover. Then spicy, surprisingly dry and distinctly adult in style, with superb precision and lift to the gripping raspberry, cherry and truffle flavors. Finishes with outstanding subtle, palate-staining persistence and great sex appeal.HK$3,440.00 -
Wine Advocate (92-94)
The 2013 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru les Suchots, which comes from the domains century-old vines on more clayey soil than the Beaumonts, has a pixilated bouquet with vibrant red currant and cranberry scents, more floral than the aforementioned premier cru. The palate is medium-bodied with supple juicy tannins, a fine line of acidity and a tangy marmalade-tinged finish that coats the mouth in spicy red fruit. There is just lovely build to this Suchots that is streets ahead of the 2012.HK$3,630.00 -
Wine Advocate (93)
The 2014 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots has a really quite lovely bouquet with bright red berry fruit, a touch of violet and a hint of wet gravel. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, quite saline in the mouth with a subtle marine influence, a touch of spice with a long, slightly earthy finish. It delivers on the promise that it demonstrated from barrel and will be drinking beautifully for 15-20 years.HK$14,760.00 -
Wine Advocate (93-95)
The 2018 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots is showing brilliantly this year, wafting from the glass with a deep-pitched bouquet of cassis, blackberries, spices and dark chocolate. On the palate, it's full-bodied, rich and enveloping, its textural attack segueing into a deep and layered core, concluding with a long and penetrating finish.HK$15,565.00 -
Burghound (92-95)
A riper and less elegant but more complex nose combines notes of black raspberry, cassis, Asian-style tea and a plethora of exotic spice nuances, especially star anise and hoisin. There is excellent mid-palate density to the suave but relatively powerful medium weight plus flavors that possess a highly attractive texture, all wrapped in a caressing, velvety and strikingly long finale. This too is terrific, and it should be a knockout in time. (92-95)/2031+HK$3,465.00 -
Vinous (94-96)
The 2020 Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots 1er Cru has a fragrant bouquet, for this writer, demonstrating a little more precision and mineralité compared to the Les Beaumonts. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, more saline than the Les Beaumonts with a very persistent finish. Superb.HK$19,340.00 -
(1x75cl) 2020Vinous (94-96)
The 2020 Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots 1er Cru has a fragrant bouquet, for this writer, demonstrating a little more precision and mineralité compared to the Les Beaumonts. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, more saline than the Les Beaumonts with a very persistent finish. Superb.HK$2,525.00 -
Vinous (94-96)
The 2020 Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots 1er Cru has a fragrant bouquet, for this writer, demonstrating a little more precision and mineralité compared to the Les Beaumonts. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, more saline than the Les Beaumonts with a very persistent finish. Superb.HK$7,365.00 -
Wine Advocate (93-95)
The 2022 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots is one of the highlights of the range this year. Wafting from the glass with aromas of plums, cassis, orange zest and exotic spices and framed by a deft application of new oak, it's medium to full-bodied, concentrated and multidimensional, with terrific depth, velvety tannins and a long, broad finish.HK$5,750.00 -
(6x75cl) 2022Wine Advocate (93-95)
The 2022 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots is one of the highlights of the range this year. Wafting from the glass with aromas of plums, cassis, orange zest and exotic spices and framed by a deft application of new oak, it's medium to full-bodied, concentrated and multidimensional, with terrific depth, velvety tannins and a long, broad finish.HK$17,390.00 -
Burghound (88-91)
A pretty and softly spicy array is composed mainly by plum and dark cherry scents. There is good energy and freshness to the well-delineated middle weight flavors that possess a succulent mid-palate while offering reasonably good complexity on the persistent finish. A quality Vosne villages.HK$1,270.00 -
Wine Advocate (91)
As I predicted from barrel, the 2017 Vosne-Romanée Village has the edge over its Chambolle counterpart this year, exhibiting a deep bouquet of wild berries, smoked duck, spices and creamy new oak. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with a textural attack and good depth at the core, built around powdery tannins and lively acids.HK$1,025.00 -
Jancis Robinson (16)
Deepish cherry red. Ripe red fruits. Less generous on the mid palate compared with the Chambolle. A bit light in the middle though the tannins are just right.HK$1,175.00 -
Vinous (88-90)
The 2020 Vosne-Romanée Village has quite a high-toned bouquet, though it maintains control, with macerated black cherries, bilberry and violet scents. The palate is medium-bodied, quite firm in the mouth, a pleasant saline touch but it feels just a little hemmed in on the finish. That should loosen-up once its has completed its élevage.HK$5,415.00 -
Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (90-92)
A bright ruby purple. Like the Chambolle the bouquet is all about a primary energy. The Vosne is if anything a tad more precise. Also shows the oak a little more and an extra tannin. Backward, needs more elevage, but very promising. Drink from 2030-2036.HK$1,090.00 -
(6x75cl) 2022Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (90-92)
A bright ruby purple. Like the Chambolle the bouquet is all about a primary energy. The Vosne is if anything a tad more precise. Also shows the oak a little more and an extra tannin. Backward, needs more elevage, but very promising. Drink from 2030-2036.HK$4,225.00 -
(6x75cl) 2023Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (90-92)
More purple than ruby, with glycerol legs. Not much nose showing. A cool pure yet ripe dark red fruit, some strawberry, fills out the middle palate much more than the Chambolle, with excellent persistence Drink from 2028-2035. Tasted Nov 2024.HK$4,910 - HK$6,000
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(6x75cl) 2013Vinous (90)
Full, deep red. Musky redcurrant, iron and dusty spices on the nose. Suppler and sweeter than the Vosne villages but without quite that wine's cut and precision. The musky red fruit and spice flavors show very good breadth and depth, with the finish revealing serious tongue-dusting tannins. Supported by solid underlying minerality but this wine is surprisingly accessible already.HK$5,565.00 -
(6x75cl) 2014Vinous (88-91)
Good bright, full red. Slightly reduced aromas of blackberry, licorice, spices and minerals. Plush and tactile in the mouth, offering a lovely combination of primary dark berry fruit and saline stony minerality. Finishes tannic and salty, with very good length. More Clos Vougeot than Chambolle-Musigny in style in 2014. From sandy soil over rock.HK$6,915.00 -
Wine Advocate (92)
The 2015 Vougeot 1er Cru Les Petits Vougeot reveals attractive aromas of Griotte cherry, rose petal, dried flowers and orange rind, with little to hint at the savory nuances to come with bottle age. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, sappy and transparent, its caressing, velvety attack segueing into a chalky mid-palate and finish. A very elegant rendition of this lovely climat below Les Amoureuses.HK$7,915.00 -
Burghound (90-92)
An exuberantly expressive and spicy nose offers up a lovely mélange of pure red and dark cherry and floral aromas. The sleek, indeed satin-textured middle weight flavors brim with minerality on the super-saline infused finish. I really like the delineation and energy here plus the mid-palate concentration is better than usual. In 2016 this is very Chambollesque in character.HK$9,495.00 -
(3x75cl) 2018Jancis Robinson (17)
Soft crimson. Juicy, sweet/sour ripe fruit and freshness. Chewy and full of fruit and avoiding over-ripeness. Deep and long. A wine to get your teeth into and should become more elegant with time.HK$3,565.00 -
Wine Advocate (92+)
Intensely yellow in color, the 2014 Vouvray Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec offers a very clear, intense and aromatic bouquet of ripe yellow fruits along with crushed stone flavors. The Demi-Sec version is even more open than the Sec, and the attack on the palate is lovely, round and fruit-intense, but also very mineral and firmly structured in the finish. This is a very elegant and mouth-filling Chenin with great finesse and a lingering salinity. It has good and grippy length. This wine is dangerously accessible already, though with an aging potential of 20-30, probably more years. The 20 grams per liter of residual sugar tastes quite sweet at the moment.HK$920.00 -
Wine Advocate (95)
The 2015 Vouvray Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec displays a well defined and complex bouquet of ripe and concentrated fruits intertwined with chalky flavors. Dense and elegant on the palate, with a mouth-filling fruit and a perfect sweetness that counterbalances the raciness and firm mineral structure, this is a finesse-full and powerful Chenin with lots of salt and tension. A gorgeous, precise and vivacious wine with great aging potential.HK$2,745.00 -
(6x150cl) 1988HK$9,055.00 -
HK$7,495.00 -
HK$2,650.00 -
(12x75cl) 1996Vinous (90+)
Aromas of honeysuckle, lime, peach and white plum. Moderately thick and sweet, but juicy and fresh, with enticing floral, peachy flavor. But I don't get the texture or complexity of noble rot. Attractive but rather one-dimensional today; perhaps time in bottle will bring greater nuance.HK$14,120.00 -
(12x75cl) 2005HK$5,955.00

