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
| Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Burgundy | 2 | 94 (WA) | HK$6,735.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (94)That site and cépage were well-adapted to this vintage is proven by the 2019 Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Clos des Monts Luisants Blanc, a striking wine evocative of citrus zest, crisp Anjou pear, freshly baked bread and almond paste. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and incisive, with a deep core of fruit and chalky structuring extract, it concludes with a long, saline finish. |
|||||||||
|
|
Burgundy | 1 | - | HK$3,420.00 | |||||
|
|
Burgundy | 1 | 91 (WA) | HK$1,355.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (91)From Ponsot's monopole Clos des Mont Luisants (virtually surrounded by grand crus, and which, he opines, represents as steep a slope as exists in the Cote de Nuits), the 2006 Morey-St.-Denis 1er Cru Cuvee des Alouettes exhibits a healthy, deep color; a nose of well-hung game, cassis, blackberry, and dark chocolate; a creamy richness rare in this vintage; and a low-toned finish in which the wine's abundance of tannins becomes evident as a fine, subtly-abrasive though relatively well fruit-covered spread. The more this opened to the air, though, the more game-like notes dominated, so one should probably treat that as an omen for the wine's future rather than a temporary manifestation of reduction which would in any case be rare at Ponsot where the wines are not sulfured. |
|||||||||
|
|
Burgundy | 1 | 91-94 (BH) | HK$1,880.00 | |||||
Burghound (91-94)A very pretty nose of discreet spice notes, red currants and damp earth nuances that continue onto the rich, powerful and impressively concentrated medium-bodied flavors blessed with an abundance of dry extract that buffers the notably firm, mineral-driven and wonderfully complex finish that seems to go on and on. This is terrific and one of the best vintages that I have ever seen for this wine. |
|||||||||
|
|
Burgundy | 2 | 89-92 (BH) | HK$4,715.00 | |||||
Burghound (89-92)This offers more aromatic complexity if not quite the same elegance with its ripe nose of plum, cassis, violets and earth nuances. There is good volume to the supple, round and wonderfully seductive flavors that possess a gorgeous mouth feel before terminating in a long balanced and equally complex finish. This is excellent and very stylish as well. |
|||||||||
|
|
Burgundy | 1 | 90-92 (WA) | HK$5,425.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (90-92)The 2012 Morey-Saint-Denis Cuvee des Allouettes, which comes from within the Mont Luisants vineyard, has a quite precocious bouquet with blackcurrant, boysenberry and light Hoi Sin scents that unfold nicely in the glass. The palate is solid and dense with firm, quite grippy tannins. There is plenty of energy and tension here with touches of spice and soy lining the ebullient finish. Excellent. |
|||||||||
|
|
Burgundy | 1 | 91-93 (BH) | HK$1,300.00 | |||||
Burghound (91-93)This is more complex still if only just with a slightly less elegant array of red and blue fruit scents that include pomegranate, plum, blue berry, earth and a hint of exotic tea. The sleekly muscular middle weight flavors exude a fine bead of minerality on the delicious, intense, well-detailed and powerful finish that delivers excellent persistence. This could accurately be described as a mini Clos de la Roche and should amply repay extended cellaring, indeed it will need at least 6 to 8 years first. |
|||||||||
|
|
Burgundy | 2 | 91-93 (BH) | HK$9,645.00 | |||||
Burghound (91-93)This is more complex still if only just with a slightly less elegant array of red and blue fruit scents that include pomegranate, plum, blue berry, earth and a hint of exotic tea. The sleekly muscular middle weight flavors exude a fine bead of minerality on the delicious, intense, well-detailed and powerful finish that delivers excellent persistence. This could accurately be described as a mini Clos de la Roche and should amply repay extended cellaring, indeed it will need at least 6 to 8 years first. |
|||||||||
|
|
Burgundy | 3 | 90-92 (WA) | HK$5,060.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (90-92)The 2014 Morey Saint Denis 1er Cru Allouettes has an introspective bouquet. There is something steely about this: cold metal, copper piping underneath the transparent red berry fruit. The palate is quite harmonious on the entry. There is a taut line of acidity here, clean and crisp, very linear with touches of bitter cherry towards the finish. There is something moody about this Morey-Saint-Denis, which may well be its way of saying that it needs to be cellared for 3-5 years. |
|||||||||
|
|
Burgundy | 1 | 92 (WA) | HK$9,700.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (92)The 2015 Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Cuvée des Alouettes is deeper and more serious than the Cuvée des Grives, wafting from the glass with a lavish bouquet of ripe plum, cherry, cinnamon, licorice, rich soil and dark chocolate. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, sappy and powerful, with a deep core of sweet fruit that conceals an ample chassis of fine-grained, chalky tannin. |
|||||||||
|
|
Burgundy | 1 | 93 (WA) | HK$6,225.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (93)The 2016 Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Cuvée des Alouettes offers up lovely aromas of red plums, rose petals and candied peel that mingle with incipient savory nuances of grilled squab and forest floor. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, deep and incisive, with excellent concentration, fine-grained and chalky tannins, and above all a bright, vibrant quality that lends this Morey fabulous definition. It will need some time, as it's much more tight-knit than the Morey village. |
|||||||||
|
|
Burgundy | 1 | 92+ (WA) | HK$5,795.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (92+)The 2017 Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Cuvée des Alouettes is also performing well from bottle, unfurling to reveal aromas of raspberries, cherries and sweet berries mingled with hints of orange rind, dark chocolate and licorice. Medium to full-bodied, supple and enveloping, it's fleshier and more concentrated than its communal sibling. Built around powdery tannins and succulent acids, it concludes with a longer, more mineral finish. |
|||||||||
|
|
Burgundy | 1 | - | HK$4,760.00 | |||||
|
|
Burgundy | 1 | 91-93+ (WA) | HK$6,735.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (91-93+)The 2019 Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Cuvée des Alouettes opens in the glass with notes of plums, cherries, raw cocoa, cinnamon and licorice. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and fleshy, it's layered and elegantly gourmand, with lively acids and a precise, mineral finish. As usual, this hails entirely from the Clos de Monts Luisants, but the domaine opts not to mention the lieu-dit on the label to avoid confusion with their emblematic white wine from the same vineyard. |
|||||||||
|
|
Burgundy | 4 | 92-94 (VN) | HK$3,155.00 | |||||
Vinous (92-94)The 2021 Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Cuvée Allouettes was cropped at just 8hL/ha and had only finished its malo before my visit. Nevertheless, this has a harmonious and engaging bouquet, very pure with black cherries, raspberry confit and sous-bois. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, fine acidity, cohesive and gently gripping in the mouth. Maybe another vintage would have bestowed more tension and precision on the finish? Yet it remains an engaging and classy Morey. |
|||||||||
|
|
Burgundy | 1 | 90-92 (VN) | HK$3,335.00 | |||||
Vinous (90-92)The 2017 Morey-Saint-Denis Village Cuvée des Grives comes from just below the woods above the village. It has a clean, precise bouquet of pastille-like blackberry and bilberry fruit, tightly wound at the moment. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, quite focused and very well balanced. This is an unassuming but effective Morey Village with a wonderful saline finish. Superb. |
|||||||||
|
|
Burgundy | 1 | 89-91 (VN) | HK$2,650.00 | |||||
Vinous (89-91)The 2021 Morey-Saint-Denis Cuvée des Grives comes from shallow soils, the vines here are 16 years old. This possesses much more complexity and terroir expression on the nose than the Gevrey, sous-bois and truffle permeate the red fruit, with good vigour. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, fresh and smooth with lightly spiced dark cherry and orange zest notes on the finish. Lovely. |
|||||||||
|
|
Burgundy | 2 | 90 (BH) | HK$4,465.00 | |||||
Burghound (90)(from vines replanted in 2005 in the villages portion of Monts Luisants). A ripe but fresh and elegant nose combines notes of black raspberry, cassis, anise and violet. The lilting and delicious medium-bodied flavors possess excellent delineation and a subtle minerality that adds a sense of lift to the youthfully austere, sneaky long and well-balanced finale. Lovely and very Monts Luisants in character. |
|||||||||
|
|
Burgundy | 1 | - | HK$2,925.00 | |||||
|
|
Burgundy | 5 | - | HK$2,470.00 | |||||
|
|
Burgundy | 1 | - | HK$845.00 | |||||
|
|
Bordeaux | 16 | - | HK$1,355.00 | |||||
|
Discover the exquisite Pontac Montplaisir 2018, a testament to Château Pontac's enduring legacy in the heart of Bordeaux's renowned appellations. Crafted from meticulously selected Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes cultivated in the esteemed vineyards of Pomerol, this vintage showcases the terroir's unique character. The 2018 harvest benefited from optimal weather conditions, allowing for perfect ripeness and balanced acidity. Employing traditional vinification methods, the wine undergoes gentle fermentation in stainless steel vats, followed by a maturation period of 18 months in French oak barrels, imparting subtle vanilla and spice nuances. On the palate, Pontac Montplaisir 2018 reveals a harmonious blend of dark fruit flavours, velvety tannins, and a lingering, elegant finish. Ideal for discerning connoisseurs, this exceptional wine embodies the sophistication and quality synonymous with Château Pontac, making it a distinguished addition to any fine wine collection. |
|||||||||
|
|
Bordeaux | 10 | - | HK$1,355.00 | |||||
|
Pontac Montplaisir 2019 epitomises the exquisite craftsmanship of this renowned Bordeaux estate. Nestled in the prestigious Haut-Médoc region, the vineyards benefit from well-drained gravel soils and a favourable maritime climate, ensuring optimal grape maturation. Hand-selected Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot grapes undergo meticulous fermentation in stainless steel tanks, preserving their vibrant fruit characteristics. Following fermentation, the wine is aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, imparting subtle vanilla and spice nuances while maintaining its elegant structure. This vintage presents a deep ruby hue, unveiling complex aromas of blackcurrant, cedar, and earthy undertones. On the palate, Pontac Montplaisir 2019 delivers a harmonious balance of refined tannins and bright acidity, culminating in a long, sophisticated finish. Produced by the esteemed Pontac family, whose dedication to quality is unwavering, this wine stands as a testament to their legacy of excellence. Ideal for immediate enjoyment or further ageing, it promises to delight discerning connoisseurs. |
|||||||||
