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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Rhone | 1 | 94 (VN) | HK$3,075.00 | |||||
Vinous (94)Deep ruby. An expansive bouquet evokes ripe black and blue fruit, floral and spice qualities, along with smoky mineral and botanical herb nuances. Sweet and seamless in texture, offering intense cherry-cola, blueberry and violet pastille flavors that are braced by a spine of juicy acidity. Supple, fine-grained tannins build steadily on an impressively long, focused finish that echoes the floral and mineral notes. The average age of these vines is approaching 75 years now. |
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Rhone | 1 | 92 (VN) | HK$2,250.00 | |||||
Vinous (92)Deep, brilliant magenta. An expressive bouquet displays mineral-accented red and blue fruits, along with subtle white pepper, peony and allspice flourishes. Juicy and penetrating in the mouth, offering lively cherry, boysenberry and spicecake flavors that turn sweeter with air. Closes with subtle tannins and persistent red berry and mineral notes. Raised in large, neutral oak barrels. |
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Bordeaux | 6 | - | HK$1,880.00 | |||||
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Bordeaux | 45 | 88.0 | HK$2,150.00 | |||||
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Bordeaux | 6 | - | HK$1,615.00 | |||||
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Bordeaux | 6 | 95 (JD) | HK$1,725.00 | |||||
Jeb Dunnuck (95)The 2022 Château Coutet is more deep gold-hued and has a ripe, powerful style in its brioche, toasted bread, honeyed orange, and marmalade-like aromas and flavors. It's a rich, unctuous, full-bodied effort that has serious density and depth. |
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Bordeaux | 1 | 95 (WS) | HK$4,760.00 | |||||
Wine Spectator (95)Offers fascinating aromas of cooked apple, clove and honey that follow through to a full body, with superlively acidity and spicy blanched almond and honey character on the palate. Long and powerful, showing amazing botrytis character, with so much spice and richness, yet also freshness. Even better than the superb 2006. Best after 2015. -JS |
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Bordeaux | 1 | 92 (WA) | HK$3,640.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (92)Tasted single blind against its peers. This has a very floral, exuberant bouquet with white peach and grapefruit soaring from the glass. It is very pure and vivacious. The palate is harmonious with what feels like more sucrosity than on previous occasions. It is not viscous in texture, suggesting high acidity to slice through all that sweetness (a typical Coutet trait, as it turns out.) The finish displays touches of ginger and dried orange rind that linger nicely in the mouth, although the general impression is that it needs several years to “calm down.” Tasted January 2012. |
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Bordeaux | 1 | 95 (VN (NM)) | HK$4,598.00 | |||||
Vinous - Neal Martin (95)The 2010 Coutet has quite an intense bouquet with linseed oil and wax resin infusing the dried honey aromas, then orange pith and a touch of saffron. The palate is very well balanced with a fine bead of acidity. Harmonious and extremely well focused, this conveys a sense of energy on the finish that makes you want to return for another sip. Excellent. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal. |
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Bordeaux | 1 | 95 (VN (NM)) | HK$775.00 | |||||
Vinous - Neal Martin (95)The 2014 Coutet has a slightly muddled nose, evident on two bottles that were opened. It eventually sorts itself out, scents of wild honey, dandelion, nettle, quince and melted wax. The palate is very well balanced and showed much more composure than the nose. This displays Coutet’s trademark crisp acidity, quite tensile, very pure with a long and tender viscous finish. There is a very good wine here but I just don’t think it showed on the day. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. |
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Bordeaux | 1 | 95 (WA) | HK$4,378.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (95)With coaxing, the pale lemon colored 2016 Coutet slowly unfurls to give a myriad of preserved lemons, pineapple pastry, almond croissant, fresh ginger and lime blossoms scents with nuances of chalk dust, white pepper, star anise and cedar. Rich, seductive and yet exquisitely balanced, the satiny-textured palate has layer upon layer of citrus and savory notions, finishing very long and spicy. |
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Bordeaux | 3 | 95-97 (WA) | HK$2,155.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (95-97)The 2017 Coutet has lovely notions of spice cake, fresh ginger and honeysuckle over a core of lemon curd, beeswax and preserved peaches. Rich, spicy and quite decadent in the mouth, it has wonderful freshness and depth, finishing very long. |
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Bordeaux | 1 | 96 (DC) | HK$1,710.00 | |||||
Decanter (96)Gorgeous nose full of exotic spices, candied fruit, orange, apricot and honeyed brioche. Lovely unctuous texture here, it's fat but smooth - like thick smooth fruity caramel, quite defined and straight but with a roundness and generosity with pineapple, mango, violet even giving an appealing florality, and these lovely almost bitter orange edges. It's still a bit young but with great vibrancy right now, acidity which gives energy and life all the way through. Lifted and bright. |
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Bordeaux | 1 | 17+ (JR) | HK$2,440.00 | |||||
Jancis Robinson (17+)Full bottle all of 1,405 g. 95% Sémillon, 4% Sauvignon Blanc, 1% Muscadelle. Cask sample. 18 months in oak envisaged. No information on yield. Greenish hint to the golden hue. Very classic with a botrytis note and some real freshness. Weight and integrity here with a savoury, even bacon-fat, finish. Not one of the sweetest wines, or what I probably mean is that the acidity is more pronounced than in many of its peers. Sleek and fresh. But probably for relatively early drinking. 13.5% Drink 2024 – 2038 |
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Bordeaux | 1 | 17+ (JR) | HK$1,500.00 | |||||
Jancis Robinson (17+)Full bottle all of 1,405 g. 95% Sémillon, 4% Sauvignon Blanc, 1% Muscadelle. Cask sample. 18 months in oak envisaged. No information on yield. Greenish hint to the golden hue. Very classic with a botrytis note and some real freshness. Weight and integrity here with a savoury, even bacon-fat, finish. Not one of the sweetest wines, or what I probably mean is that the acidity is more pronounced than in many of its peers. Sleek and fresh. But probably for relatively early drinking. 13.5% Drink 2024 – 2038 |
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