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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Champagne | 1 | 97+ (WA) | HK$5,505.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (97+)Ulysse Collin’s NV Blanc de Blancs Les Enfers (2018 base) 72 months, complemented by 25% reserve wines from 2017 and 2016 and matured for 72 months in the cellar, was disgorged in February 2025 with a dosage of 2.4 grams per liter. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of citrus oil, pear, blanched almonds and beeswax mingled with notes of freshly baked bread and smoke, it is medium- to full-bodied, ample and muscular, with a layered core of fruit, ripe yet vibrant acidity and a long, saline finish. The wine exhibits a distinctly vinous profile and almost surgical precision, the latter attributable in part to the introduction of a new press in 2018, which permits more selective extraction and greater control. While the gap between Les Enfers and Les Roises is often narrow, this year the latter stands as the undisputed king of the cellar. As ever, Les Enfers derives from an east-facing site in the Coteaux du Petit Morin, a stone’s throw from Les Roises. |
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Champagne | 3 | 98+ (WA) | HK$17,620.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (98+)Revisiting the NV Blanc de Blancs Les Pierrières (2019 base), I was struck by just how remarkably well it is evolving post disgorgement and felt that my earlier assessment now appears almost conservative. As I have written before, it is the most chiseled and nakedly chalky of Ulysse Collin's mono-cépage bottlings, yet on this occasion, those attributes are complemented by huge concentration, enlivened by structuring dry extract and a pretty pinpoint mousse. Disgorged in February 2024 with a dosage of 1.7 grams per liter, it unfurls from the glass with a deep bouquet of citrus oil, blanched almonds and freshly baked bread mingled with smoke and struck flint. Full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, the palate combines crystalline purity with the texture and plenitude that only fully mature fruit can impart, culminating in a persistent, searingly saline finish. This is the finest release of this cuvée to date. It is not to be missed. |
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Champagne | 1 | 100 (WA) | HK$5,055.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (100)One of the greatest wines of the year is Ulysse Collin’s NV Blanc de Blancs Les Roises (2018 base) 72 months, largely based on the 2018 vintage and incorporating some 20% reserve wines from 2017 and 2016. Originating from a south-facing site, it was disgorged in February 2025 with a dosage of 2.4 grams per liter and bursts from the glass with a flamboyant bouquet of orange oil, peach and blanched almonds mingled with notes of struck flint, pine resin and linden blossoms. Full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, with a textural attack and a compelling sense of completeness, it culminates in a long, sapid finish. Simultaneously expressive and incisive, it exhibits a harmonious balance between all its components and an uncommon degree of concentration for the vintage. That is hardly surprising, though, given the old-vine, massal-selection Chardonnay planted in 1949, which produces small-berried clusters weighing just 70 to 95 grams—hardly an abundance of fruit and an advantage of no small significance in a year such as this. Tasted blind, one would be inclined to associate this wine with the quality attained with the 2015- or 2016-based renditions than with any of the stereotypes of the 2018 vintage, a reminder of just how misleading generalizations in wine can be. |
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Champagne | 1 | 100 (WA) | HK$23,650.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (100)Disgorged in March 2020 with 2.4 grams dosage, the NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Enfers (2014) 60 months is based on the 2014 vintage. Indeed, it's the same tirage that was released last year after 48 months on lees, but its additional year sur lattes has transformed it into an altogether different wine, one that attains new levels of texture, sapid nuance and quite simply excitement. Unwinding in the glass with scents of freshly baked bread, honeyed pears, pomelo, blanched almonds, praline and white flowers, it's full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, with a textural attack segueing into a deep and concentrated mid-palate that's pure and precise, girdled by racy acids and complemented by an elegantly pillowy mousse, concluding with a long, intensely mineral finish. It is testimony to Olivier Collin's immense ambition and relentless work ethic that he has achieved such results not in the celebrated terroirs of the Côte de Blancs or the Montagne de Reims, but rather in the little-known Val du Petit Morin, and in the process, he is expanding the parameters of the possible in Champagne. |
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Champagne | 1 | 99 (WA) | HK$38,700.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (99)Disgorged after 60 months on the lees, which will now be the standard for this cuvée, Collin's NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Enfers (2016) unwinds in the glass with complex aromas of crisp Anjou pear and stone fruits mingled with pastry cream, toasted almonds and white flowers. Full-bodied, satiny and seamless, it's deep and complete, with racy acids, terrific texture and unerring precision. While my allegiance varies between Les Enfers and Les Roises, depending on the year and the disgorgement, in 2016 it's impossible to choose: both wines are benchmarks for contemporary Champagne. |
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Champagne | 1 | 98 (WA) | HK$19,590.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (98)Among the strongest releases of this cuvée, the NV Blanc de Noirs Les Maillons (2016 base), built on the 2016 vintage and incorporating a notable proportion of reserve wines—mostly from 2015—is particularly compelling. Disgorged in March 2020 with a dosage of 2.4 grams per liter, it emerges from the glass with aromas of mirabelle plum, almond paste and apricot mingled with mandarin and freshly baked bread. Medium- to full-bodied and elegantly muscular, the palate is structured around a deep, concentrated core of fruit and racy acidity, concluding with a long, persistent finish. One of the most elegant and precise renditions of Les Maillons to date, it stylistically recalls the superb 2013-based release that forever changed how this estate is perceived. |
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Champagne | 1 | 97 (WA) | HK$9,590.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (97)Disgorged this year after 36 months in tirage, the NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Noirs Les Maillons (2018) is based on the 2018 vintage, incorporating fully 60% reserve wines from the 2017 vintage. Opening in the glass with scents of sweet mirabelle plum, honeycomb, orange oil, bee pollen and spices, it's full-bodied fleshy and seamless, with a satiny attack that segues into a vinous, enveloping mid-palate that's complemented by a fine, pillowy mousse. Concluding with a sapid, penetrating finish, 2018 was the first vintage in which Collin employed his new Coquard press, and it doesn't seem fanciful to imagine that this contributes to the notable finesse of this release. |
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Champagne | 1 | 97+ (WA) | HK$20,920.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (97+)Disgorged with 1.7 grams per liter dosage after 48 months sur lattes, Collin's NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Pierrières (2016) 48 months bursts with aromas of green apple, blanched almonds, confit citrus and pastry cream. Full-bodied, layered and muscular, it's deep and concentrated, with racy acids and this site's telltale chiseled, incisive profile; it's long and penetrating, concluding with chalky grip. With this late-disgorged version, Les Pierrières takes another step. |
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Champagne | 1 | 100 (WA) | HK$23,650.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (100)Collin's NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Roises (2015) 60 months is an arresting, thrilling wine that bursts with aromas of peach, confit lemon, mandarin oil, buttery pastry, almonds and white flowers. Full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, with huge concentration and mid-palate amplitude, it's vibrant and precise, with a pillowy mousse and an immensely long and intensely saline finish. Despite my best intentions, as soon as I tasted this Les Roises, I knew that my self-imposed embargo on any further 100-point scores for Champagne in 2021 would have to be broken. And the frightening thing is that Collin shows no signs of relenting in his quest to expand the parameters of the possible in Champagne! While bottles of this tiny disgorgement won't be easy to find, anyone eager to taste one of the region's contemporary benchmarks should make every effort to seek one out. |
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Champagne | 1 | 99 (WA) | HK$38,700.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (99)Disgorged this year after 60 months on the lees, the NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Roises (2016) is brilliant, offering up complex aromas of confit orange, peach, citrus blossom, nutmeg and freshly baked bread, followed by a full-bodied, satiny and layered palate that's broader and more textural than Les Enfers, its deep core of fruit underpinned by racy acids and chalky structure. As I remarked on the wine's palpable levels of dry extract, Collin observed that due to the smaller size of the grapes Les Roises produces (due to fan leaf virus, or court-noué), he's obliged to press harder to liberate the juice, delivering simultaneously more dry extract and a slightly higher pH than adjacent Les Enfers. In addition to the supplemental concentration those smaller berries provide, this surely helps to explain some of the wine's texture and body. |
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Loire | 18 | - | HK$1,720.00 | |||||
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Loire | 8 | - | HK$2,430.00 | |||||
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Loire | 12 | 95 (VN) | HK$3,249.00 | |||||
Vinous (95)The 2022 Guigne-Chèvres is sophisticated and suave and made with very smart use of oak. This wine is all about its texture rather than its aromatics, which, while ripe and offering substance, is elegant and effortless. A wine that has been allowed to do its thing. |
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Loire | 10 | - | HK$2,570.00 | |||||
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Loire | 5 | - | HK$2,289.00 | |||||
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Loire | 7 | - | HK$3,645.00 | |||||
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Loire | 10 | 92 (VN) | HK$2,065.00 | |||||
Vinous (92)Usually the Vacheron reds spend a year in bottle before release, but the 2020 Sancerre Rouge tasted so good early on that Jean-Laurent Vacheron released it without the extra age. It's very pale ruby and rather seductive, offering a round, silken and incredibly elegant style. Undeniably Pinot Noir with its attractive floral and red fruited perfume, alongside savory notes and tea leaf characters. It has a lovely chalky coating and finely textured tannins that will leave you licking the inside of your mouth. Unforced and charming but my only quibble is the rather warming dab of alcohol right at the finish. |
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Bordeaux | 4 | - | HK$2,635.00 | |||||
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Valade 2010 epitomises the artistry of meticulous winemaking, hailing from the esteemed vineyards of Bordeaux's Médoc region. Crafted by the venerable Maison Valade, renowned for their commitment to excellence, this vintage showcases a harmonious blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes hand-selected from prime terroirs. Fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats, the wine undergoes a delicate aging process in French oak barrels for eighteen months, imparting subtle vanilla and spice notes. The 2010 harvest benefited from a perfect growing season, allowing the grapes to achieve optimal ripeness and balance. On the palate, Valade 2010 delivers a rich tapestry of dark cherry, blackcurrant, and cedar, supported by refined tannins and a lingering finish. This exceptional wine not only reflects the pinnacle of Valade’s craftsmanship but also offers a remarkable expression of its distinguished origin. Valade 2010 is a quintessential choice for connoisseurs seeking depth, complexity, and timeless elegance. |
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Bordeaux | 1 | 95 (VN (ST)) | HK$55,290.00 | |||||
Vinous - Stephen Tanzer (95)Superb, saturated dark ruby color. Knockout aromas of black raspberry, smoked duck and suave, smoky oak. Thick, sweet and velvety in the mouth; the fruit explodes with aeration, saturating those hard-to-reach places in the mouth. Really fabulous sweetness. A slightly roasted note suggests great ripeness (though I recall Thunevin telling me two years ago that this wine could have been even greater had he waited another few days to harvest!). Ultrasuave tannins are buried in a wave of fruit. One of the longest finishes of the vintage. Purists may argue that a wine like this cannot possible match such '95s as Latour or Margaux or Petrus for terroir character or class, but few wines can match the '95 Valandraud for sheer hedonistic pleasure. |
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Bordeaux | 1 | 91-94 (WS) | HK$6,055.00 | |||||
Wine Spectator (91-94)A very, very pretty wine, with lovely fruit and berry character and hints of tobacco. Full-bodied, with well-integrated tannins and a fresh finish. Solid core of fruit. Score range: 91-94 |
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