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 | 96 (VN) | HK$3,499.00 | |||||
Vinous (96)Inky ruby. Powerful, spice- and smoke-accented aromas of fresh black and blue fruits, candied violet, licorice and cola, along with a hint of exotic spices that builds in the glass. Sweet, palate-staining cassis, boysenberry, floral pastille and licorice flavors turn livelier with air. Impressively concentrated but surprisingly energetic, courtesy of its spine of smoky minerality. Finishes sappy, youthfully chewy and extremely long, with steadily mounting tannins and lingering florality. 25% new oak. |
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Rhone | 1 | 96 (VN) | HK$2,700.00 | |||||
Vinous (96)Inky ruby. Powerful, spice- and smoke-accented aromas of fresh black and blue fruits, candied violet, licorice and cola, along with a hint of exotic spices that builds in the glass. Sweet, palate-staining cassis, boysenberry, floral pastille and licorice flavors turn livelier with air. Impressively concentrated but surprisingly energetic, courtesy of its spine of smoky minerality. Finishes sappy, youthfully chewy and extremely long, with steadily mounting tannins and lingering florality. 25% new oak. |
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Rhone | 1 | 93 (VN) | HK$1,070.00 | |||||
Vinous (93)Inky purple. Black and blue fruits, vanilla and potpourri on the seductively perfumed nose. Offers intense cassis and boysenberry flavors lifted by gentle acidity, gaining in spiciness with air. Very rich and expansive but there's good energy here as well. The finish clings with superb tenacity, the spice and blue fruit notes repeating. |
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Rhone | 1 | 95 (VN) | HK$3,000.00 | |||||
Vinous (95)Saturated ruby. An expansive bouquet evokes ripe black and blue fruits, baking spices, candied flowers and licorice, and a smoky mineral quality builds in the glass. Seamless, sweet and broad on the palate, offering deeply concentrated black currant, boysenberry and fruitcake flavors that spread out and take on a spicy nuance with aeration. Manages to be rich and powerful but elegant as well, showing superb balance and velvety, even tannins that shape an extremely long, floral- and dark-fruit-driven finish. 20% new oak. |
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Burgundy | 2 | - | HK$1,605.00 | |||||
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Burgundy | 1 | 94 (VN (ST)) | HK$15,565.00 | |||||
Vinous - Stephen Tanzer (94)Bright yellow. Cool aromas of underripe peach, lichee and cinnamon. Penetrating on entry, then intensely flavored and tactile in the middle palate, with a captivating sweetness to its gripping lemon and stone flavors. Really reverberates on the back end. Offers a lovely acid/sugar balance but this very promising Corton-Charlemagne, like the Meursault Tete de Murgey, will be better for five or six years of bottle aging. (Javillier's single barrel of Meursault Charmes was in the middle of its malolactic fermentation.) |
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Burgundy | 1 | 92 (BH) | HK$1,720.00 | |||||
Burghound (92)A more elegant and slightly more complex broad-ranging nose reflects an assortment of green apple, white flower, pear, mineral reduction and a wisp of oak. The overtly rich, full-bodied and powerful flavors coat the palate with sappy dry extract that also serves to buffer the moderately firm acid spine shaping the stony and saline-inflected finale. This too will need at least a few years of patience. |
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Burgundy | 1 | 90-92 (VN) | HK$8,620.00 | |||||
Vinous (90-92)Pale yellow-straw. Aromas of lemon, lime, nutmeg and clove. Rich but dry and tight, showing little easy sweetness to its slightly aggressive flavors of stone fruits, spices and crushed-stone minerality. Shows a penetrating quality but this baby is still youthfully disjointed, even a touch sour on the end. Very difficult to assess with confidence today but the tight finish displays very good length. |
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Burgundy | 2 | - | HK$7,670.00 | |||||
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Burgundy | 1 | 93 (VN) | HK$1,270.00 | |||||
Vinous (93)(the yield here was a very low 25 hectoliters per hectare owing to hail; no new oak): Inviting high-pitched scents of orange juice, white flowers, ginger and gunflint. Fine-grained and sharply delineated, saturating the palate with youthful flavors of soft citrus fruits, spices and stone. Impeccably balanced but backward today. A lovely essence of Meursault, and an outstanding village wine. |
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Burgundy | 1 | - | HK$1,055.00 | |||||
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Burgundy | 1 | - | HK$1,070.00 | |||||
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Burgundy | 1 | 92-93 (IB) | HK$1,025.00 | |||||
Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (92-93)Not yet in bottle. This is significantly more backward. The nose in particular. But then this blend of Casse Tete and Murger de Monthelie is always the most profound. It shows in the density of ripe orchard fruit on the palate, and the energy of the fruit at the finish. The vin de garde among the Meursaults. Drink from 2029-2035. Tasted Dec 2024. |
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Burgundy | 1 | 91 (IB) | HK$785.00 | |||||
Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (91)In bottle. An attractive mid lemon yellow. Not as immediately forthcoming as Les Tillets, though still showing a compact white orchard fruit. Fresh apples, quite intense. With a certain crunchiness. Laid back but with plenty in reserve. Drink from 2028-2032. Tasted Dec 2024. |
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Burgundy | 1 | 89-92 (VN) | HK$4,160.00 | |||||
Vinous (89-92)(aging in one-third new oak): Sexy, restrained aromas of yellow peach and spices, with a note of lime emerging with air. Then juicy and sharply chiseled on the palate, showing more citrus than yellow fruits and a repeating spicy character. A firm spine of acidity and minerality gives this leanish wine clarity and lift and draws out the finish. Production here was around 50 hectoliters per hectare, or close to normal, according to Marion Javillier. I like this style. |
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Burgundy | 1 | 92 (IB) | HK$995.00 | |||||
Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (92)Mid lemon yellow, with a most attractive ripe fruit nose, still with its characteristic hint of lime blossom. Splendid energy on the palate, with a hillside thread providing limestone clarity, and just a little fresh pepper at the finish. In bottle. Drink from 2027-2031. Tasted Dec 2024. |
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