Vinous (93)

Shimmering violet. High-pitched red and blue fruit, violet and exotic spice scents are complemented by a floral nuance and a building mineral overtone. Juicy and sharply focused on the palate, offering sappy raspberry, boysenberry, allspice and candied rhubarb flavors and a deeper licorice note on the back half. Closes long and precise, showing subtle tannic grip and repeating floral and mineral qualities.

Vinous (94)

Dark magenta. Assertive red and blue fruit and potpourri aromas are complicated by exotic spice, potpourri and smoky mineral accents. Finely detailed, mineral-driven raspberry, boysenberry, Asian spice and candied lavender flavors deepen with aeration while maintaining vivacity. Sappy, seamless and sharply focused on the impressively long, minerally finish, which is framed by polished, well-knit tannins.

Indulge in the true sensation of the Saar vineyards with the Hofgut Falkenstein Krettnacher Euchariusberg Riesling Spatlese 2019. Cultivated on steep, south-facing slopes in Germany's renowned Mosel region, this is a creation of father-son duo, Erich and Johannes Weber of the esteemed Hofgut Falkenstein estate. Esteemed for nurturing a vein of old vines, they employ traditional viticulture methods, paired with low-yielding, hand harvested fruit.

The meticulous winemaking processes involve cool fermentations in ancient, large wooden casks, yielding the vivacious, attention-grabbing Riesling. The wine shimmers in the glass releasing complex notes of green apple, citrus zest, and white florals with an intriguing slate-like minerality. The 2019 vintage, whilst deeply fragrant and rich, maintains a fresh and vibrant character balanced with an elegant sweetness. Truly, the Hofgut Falkenstein Krettnacher Euchariusberg Riesling Spatlese 2019 encapsulates the quintessential, exhilarating expression of Saar Riesling. Salute to a wine that dances on the palate, leaving a lasting, compelling aftertaste.

Vinous (95)

Deep, shimmering violet. Powerful, spice-tinged red and blue fruit preserve and floral pastille aromas are complemented by suggestions of musky earth and licorice. Alluringly sweet and seamless in the mouth, offering sappy, mineral-driven black raspberry, cherry liqueur, lavender and five-spice powder flavors that expand through the back half. Finishes extremely long and nervy, with harmonious tannins building steadily and adding solid grip to reverberating cherry and floral notes.

James Suckling (95)

Racy wild strawberries and raspberries with white pepper, agave and dried herbs. Fresh, medium-bodied palate with silky, refined tannins spreading evenly across the palate. Juicy and bright finish with lovely, herbal allure. Extremely drinkable now, but will hold, too.

James Suckling (95)

Racy wild strawberries and raspberries with white pepper, agave and dried herbs. Fresh, medium-bodied palate with silky, refined tannins spreading evenly across the palate. Juicy and bright finish with lovely, herbal allure. Extremely drinkable now, but will hold, too.

Vinous (93)

The 2021 Morgon Côte du Py, matured in used barrels, has a more complex bouquet than the Corcelette: a melange of red and black fruit, potpourri/lavender, and a faint hint of curry leaf that emerges with time. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins and a fine backbone considering the growing season. This is very fresh and saline with quite a strict finish. You could attempt this now though I would be intrigued to age this for another two or three years before broaching.

Vinous (93)

Vivid ruby. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes ripe red and blue fruits, potpourri, earth and smoky minerals. Supple, deeply concentrated and alluringly sweet, offering juicy, spice-kissed raspberry, boysenberry and floral pastille flavors that slowly turn livelier with air. Delivers an appealing blend of depth and energy and closes with superb clarity and strong persistence, leaving notes of juicy red berries and candied violet behind.

Wine Advocate (95)

Jean-Paul Brun's 66-year-old vines in this prime lieux-dit have yielded a superb 2018 Fleurie Grille-Midi, a striking wine that unfurls in the glass with complex aromas of black raspberries, rose petals, smoked meats and violets. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and satiny, with a bottomless core of concentrated fruit, velvety tannins and ripe acids, concluding with a long and sapid finish. This is a brilliant, age-worthy Fleurie worth special effort to track down.

Wine Advocate (95)

Jean-Paul Brun's 66-year-old vines in this prime lieux-dit have yielded a superb 2018 Fleurie Grille-Midi, a striking wine that unfurls in the glass with complex aromas of black raspberries, rose petals, smoked meats and violets. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and satiny, with a bottomless core of concentrated fruit, velvety tannins and ripe acids, concluding with a long and sapid finish. This is a brilliant, age-worthy Fleurie worth special effort to track down.

Wine Advocate (91)

The 2016 Brouilly Cuvee Vieilles Vignes has a perfumed, floral bouquet with delightful wilted violet and blackcurrant scents, very harmonious and cohesive. The palate is well balanced with succulent tannin; there is a fine backbone here with impressive focus toward the finish. There is just a prickle of white pepper right on the finish. Tighter, more backward than the 2015, this should nevertheless age with style.

Wine Advocate (94)

The 2018 Morgon Côte du Py derives from both higher-altitude and lower-lying parcels, and it is a great success this year, offering up a lovely bouquet of dark fruits, cherries, smoked meat and licorice. On the palate, it's full-bodied, ample and layered, with a fleshy and concentrated core, fine girdling tannins and succulent acids, concluding with a long and sapid finish.

James Suckling (97)

An inspiring Morgon Cote du Py. Smelling this is like looking down into a vast chasm filled with blackberries. Stunning mineral energy and focus on the medium-bodied palate. You can almost taste the wind that whips over this hilltop site. Then a wave of tiny, fresh blackberries washes over your palate at the wonderfully energetic finish. The production from six hectares goes into this wine. Drink or hold.

Wine Advocate (90)

The 2021 Bernkasteler Badstube Kabinett offers a clear, bright and coolish, intense and mineral nose with notes of crushed stones and lime and lemon zest. Lush and saline on the palate, this is a very elegant, fresh and juicy Kabinett with well-integrated acidity and beautiful purity on the finish. 8% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in May 2023.

Wine Advocate (96)

The 2020 Graacher Himmelreich Auslese is discreet and remarkably coolish on the dense and lemon-scented nose compared to Zeltingen and Bernkastel. White peach and nectarine aromas intertwined with coolish broken slate aromas make this a savory and irresistible Auslese, even though, or exactly because of it, this is so discreet and only subversively erotic on the nose. The palate then reveals stunning lightness and finesse based on a filigreed structure and highly refined and zesty acidity. This is almost weightless, but it has a sweet core that materializes the fruit, whereas in the transcendental Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, it's more of an idea. 7% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine from AP 19 21 in July 2022.

Wine Advocate (96+)

The 2019 Graacher Himmelreich Auslese (Gold Capsule) offers a concentrated and spicy bouquet with notes of tea and lemon chutney. Round and refined on the palate, this is a highly elegant and salty-piquant Auslese with delicate grip and very fine concentration. It tastes concentrated but not that sweet and enormously piquant and salty. Tasted at the domain in September 2020.

Wine Advocate (92)

Lemon, pineapple, and blackcurrant site-typically scent the Prum 2010 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spatlese and are then projected onto a palate underlain with wet stone. A faintly smoky, prickly aura of reduction doesn’t preclude one relishing this wine’s effusive, delectable juiciness. Indeed, like the bit of CO2 Spritz that typically characterizes Prum Rieslings, it somehow enhances the wines appealingly invigorating nervous energy. Salt and stone seem to be thoroughly deposited in a tongue-quivering finish. Expect this to – again in estate-typical fashion – reward 20-30 years’ bottle maturation.

Wine Advocate (96)

The 2020 Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese offers a remarkably coolish, very bright, precise and delicate nose of very fine Riesling fruit and flinty slate aromas. Saline, perfectly round and refined on the palate, this is a filigreed but lush and oh-so-delicate and airy, virtually celestial Himmelreich with crystalline, highly delicate acidity. This is a pristine, light yet long and saline, incredibly frisky and elegant Mosel Spätlese whose clarity and finesse is mind-blowing. An incomparable beauty. 7.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine from AP 02 22 in July 2022.

Wine & Spirit Magazine (96)

This is an archetypal Prüm Auslese, from its aristocratic poise and silky finesse to its vibrant energy and crystalline complexity. Its sleek fuselage of fruit feels succulent without needing to be overly rich, and its subtle, mineral-drenched flavors unfold in kaleidoscopic detail on the long and fragrant finish. At the same time, its youthfulness is almost painfully evident, a reminder that drinking this wine in optimum maturity is a pleasure that won't be experienced for at least another two or three decades.

Wine Advocate (98)

The 2020 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese is intense and complex on the still introverted but complex nose that shows clear, bright fruit aromas (baby pineapple) intermingled with fine, flinty slate notes. What an aristocratic appearance! Round, crystalline and saline on the palate, this 2020 Auslese is much more openhearted and fruity as well as frisky and frivolous than it pretends to be on the nose. This is a really Catholic Riesling or a picture-book Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese. Its finish, however, is Protestant: rigorously linear, straight and with serious structure and grip. All in all, this is the world's most ecumenical Sonnenuhr. Pure fascination. 7% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine from AP 38 21 in July 2022.

Wine Advocate (98)

The 2020 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese is intense and complex on the still introverted but complex nose that shows clear, bright fruit aromas (baby pineapple) intermingled with fine, flinty slate notes. What an aristocratic appearance! Round, crystalline and saline on the palate, this 2020 Auslese is much more openhearted and fruity as well as frisky and frivolous than it pretends to be on the nose. This is a really Catholic Riesling or a picture-book Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese. Its finish, however, is Protestant: rigorously linear, straight and with serious structure and grip. All in all, this is the world's most ecumenical Sonnenuhr. Pure fascination. 7% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine from AP 38 21 in July 2022.

Wine Advocate (97)

The 2019 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese (Gold Capsule) is very clear and fine on the floral and highly delicate nose. Piquant and fresh on the palate, this is a concentrated, fresh and salty, straight and precise Auslese with concise acidity and lemon chutney notes on the piquant and grippy finish. Far too young but with the finesse and irresistible charm of the Sonnenuhr. Tasted at the domain in September 2020.

Wine Advocate (95)

The 2020 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett offers a discreet and sublime, complex and very elegant and slightly flinty nose with a coolish and very delicate expression of stewed apricots but also some greenish berries, whereas the first stony character remains. This irresistible and noble bouquet leads to a round and lush yet also refined and savory palate, with coolish apricot flavors on the long and sustainably salty finish that is firmly structured but elegant and highly stimulating. This is a superb, very elegant and complex, sustainably structured Sonnenuhr. This is already a great pleasure to drink, but you can keep this Kabinett for more than three decades easily. 8% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine from AP 05 22 in July 2022.

James Suckling (96)

This Spatlese beams you up to Cloud 9, from where you have a wonderful view over the beautiful Mosel Valley. In spite of the considerable concentration, this is super-delicate and precise on the barely medium-bodied palate. Enormously long finish, where you barely feel the natural grape sweetness. Drink or hold.

James Suckling (94)

The jasmine, honeysuckle and white-thorn aromas are augmented by a touch of wild-herb character that adds special tension. Succulent, medium-bodied palate with caramelized white-peach character, then a very clean and stony finish that is impressively long. Drink or hold.

Discover the elegant sophistication of Jules Desjourneys Moulin-a-Vent Styx 2016. Hailing from Burgundy, France, this cherished red wine exemplifies the fine craft of winemaker Fabien Duperray, known for his meticulous old-world techniques and measures to guarantee quality. Drawing from the vineyard's rich granitic soils, Jules Desjourneys Moulin-a-Vent Styx 2016 displays an exquisite synergy of intense berry flavours and a robust mineral structure.

This wine is a sublime result of 100% hand-harvested Gamay grapes, whole-cluster fermented to elegantly preserve the unique character of each bunch. The aging process involves 20 months in well-seasoned oak barrels which contributes to the layers of complexity, adding notes of spice that meld perfectly with the velvety tannins and rich fruit backdrop. The Jules Desjourneys Moulin-a-Vent Styx 2016 promises a wine of great longevity and evolving depth, perfect for enthusiasts of a truly refined vintage.

Wine Advocate (94)

Deep and complete, the 2018 Morgon opens in the glass with notes of cassis, plums, smoked meats and cracked pepper. Medium to full-bodied, supple and layered, it's seamless and beautifully balanced, with powdery tannins and succulent acids. This is another terrific wine from Julien Sunier.