We’ve just received our small allocation of this Chateauneuf blue blood! The white is a rarity made from Clairette, Grenache Blanc and Roussanne. While a lot of Chateauneuf Blancs can be quite low in acid and lacking in great structure,...
Olga does Rose???? There are lots and lots of Raffaults along the Loire Valley of France but there was only one Olga Raffault. In her many years growing and making wine in Chinon, she secured for herself a particularly rarified place in the wine...
Like the Côte d’Or, the Maconnais was blessed with near ideal conditions in 2023. Yields, for the first time in a while, were higher than normal and that provided ample counter weight to q warm growing season. The resulting wines...
Is Chateau Latour the noblest of the Premier Grand Cru properties in Pauillac? Hard to quantify, perhaps, but its near-mythic reputation for class and longevity helps it stand out from even Lafite and Mouton in that regard. Even...
Our search for great white Burgundy from everyday drinking has once again taken us deep in the Maconnais, Burgundy’s southernmost outpost. It is here, in these rolling granitic hills west of the city of Macon, where the last vestiges of true...
The iconic Bandol Rosé from Château Pradeaux is a cornerstone of our portfolio, comprising 70% Mourvèdre, 25% Cinsault, and 5% Grenache, from vines up to 80 years old. Fermented spontaneously and aged on its fine lees in a combination...
Way back in 2000, Jean-Luc Thunevin and Murielle Andraud, the founders of Valandraud, the pioneers of the Garagiste movement in Saint Emilion (their first vintages were literally made in their garage), planted a small parcel of vines sitting on clay and...
Location, location, location, they say. How can this property, sitting as it does at the southern border of Chateau Lynch-Bages and contiguous to six other Classified Growth Pauillacs including Chateau Latour remain under everyone’s...
I often say that the first duty of Rosé wine is to be French and, secondly, to be from Provence. If I were to add a third requirement, it would be that it’s comfortably affordable. Well, I’m happy to report that the...
Good Sancerre is such an important staple in any wine fridge and we love to drink it with so many kinds of food. But Mother Nature dictates how much good Sancerre there can be out there, and she’s been very parsimonious over the past...
So you want something a little different and the Basque Region isn’t strange enough? How about one of Tavel’s most famous wines? Even in an appellation more famous for Rose than anything else, Manissy’s Tete de Cuvee truly...
We are big fans of this small, family-owned domaine, nestled in the hills of the Macon region of southern Burgundy, in the notable village of Pierreclos. Domaine Coteaux des Margot is owned by Jean-Luc Durossay, and their wines are imported and...
Cassis sits with Bandol on one side of Marseilles on the Mediterranean coast but its production is a mere fraction of their much-better known neighbor. And, what, say, Domaine Tempier, is to Bandol is what Domaine du Bagnol is to Cassis- the...
Summer is coming back! We promise. Cassis sits with Bandol on one side of Marseilles on the Mediterranean coast but its production is a mere fraction of their much-better known neighbor. And, what, say, Domaine Tempier, is to Bandol is what...
The bluest of Bandol blue chips have also arrived. Can you believe Bastide Blanche, one of the most venerable of all producers in Bandol is half the price of Domaine Tempier? That probably won’t stop you from getting some Tempier, though...
The bluest of Bandol blue chips have also arrived. Can you believe Bastide Blanche, one of the most venerable of all producers in Bandol is half the price of Domaine Tempier? That probably won’t stop you from getting some Tempier, though...
The bluest of Bandol blue chips have also arrived. Can you believe Bastide Blanche, one of the most venerable of all producers in Bandol is half the price of Domaine Tempier? That probably won’t stop you from getting some Tempier, though...
The bluest of Bandol blue chips have also arrived. Can you believe Bastide Blanche, one of the most venerable of all producers in Bandol is half the price of Domaine Tempier? That probably won’t stop you from getting some Tempier, though...
At last the Clos La Folie drought is over and we couldn’t be more excited! To the uninitiated, Rully, near the regional city of Chalon-sur-Soane and just three miles south of Chassagne-Montrachet as the Burgundian crow flies, has long been the...
This juicy, floral Cabernet Franc Rose from the Loire Valley was a huge hit last year and we regretted not ordering more than we did. We're not making the same mistake twice! Not only will this be one of the best Roses you'll enjoy this spring,...
When I saw that the name ‘Paul Hobb’s was associated with the Crocus Cahors, I sat up and took notice. When I noticed the incredibly low price, I just had to learn more. After all, Paul Hobbs is a near-legendary winemaker, famous for his...
No overview of French wine can ignore the Loire Valley because of its sheer size and the staggering numbers of appellations found along its meandering river banks. Another one of my pipe dreams is to explore the entire Loire River Valley, from Muscadet...
Planning a party this summer? MAGNUMS(!) and LARGER FORMATS are available Cassis sits with Bandol on one side of Marseilles on the Mediterranean coast but its production is a mere fraction of their much-better known neighbor. And, what, say,...
Great Bandol Rose is one of life’s great pleasures. This totally unique appellation at the very south of France near Marseilles is as coastal as it gets yet the heat-loving Mourvedre grape thrives under the Provencal sunshine too, creating a...
These are two stupendous efforts from Luc Prieur’s Loire Valley estate that encompasses almost all of the many microclimates that comprise the Sancerre appellation. All three of the most important soil types are represented in his village Sancerre...
For the first time in five years, we’ve been able to get a small allocation of Luc’s Monts Damnés. If Sancerre had a Grand Cru, this would be its most important! Affectionately called ‘damned mountain’ for its...
Albert Boxler is, of course, one of Alsace’s most exclusive and famous producers. The venerable Boxler name has been a fixture on the landscape of Niedermorschwihr in the Haut-Rhin area of Alsace since 1673 when Jean Boxler’s ancestors...
We hadn’t heard of this very small property either until we were presented the wine this morning. New to us or not, what was in the bottle really impressed even the most hard-boiled of this lot of truly spoiled wine merchants! Coming from...
One of the best we’ve had in years is from the iconic La Bastide Saint Dominique, one of the top properties taking advantage of the amazing terroir of Pignan in Chateauneuf’s northeastern most quadrant. Located adjacent to the iconic...
As you know, there haven’t been many great deals in Sancerre since the great Sancerre famine of the past two vintages, but this new arrival 2022 got our attention not only for its classicism but for its price! This very small micro-negoce is...
As every lover of the crisp, mineral driven Sauvignons of the Loire Valley already all-too-well knows, the 2020 and, especially, the 2021 harvests were nearly decimated by nature’s vagaries. Frost, in particular, claimed...
As every lover of the crisp, mineral driven Sauvignons of the Loire Valley already all-too-well knows, the 2020 and, especially, the 2021 harvests were nearly decimated by nature’s vagaries. Frost, in particular, claimed over half of the...
Shipping included on 6 bottles If they needed a set for a movie about Burgundy in the 1950s, they wouldn’t have to look any further than this eight-generation old cellar in Savigny-Les-Beaune. Here is a spot steeped in tradition with...
Shipping included on 6 bottles
If they needed a set for a movie about Burgundy in the 1950s, they wouldn’t have to look any further than this eight-generation old cellar in Savigny-Les-Beaune. Here is a spot steeped in tradition...
If they needed a set for a movie about
Burgundy in the 1950s, they wouldn’t have to look any further than this eight-generation old cellar in Savigny-Les-Beaune. Here is a spot steeped in tradition with none of the...
With all the Johnny-come-lately Roses in the market this year (yes, regrettably, Rose has definitely become a thing) it’s important, I think, to recognize the old timers- those producers who have long spent the time and effort necessary to make...
There’s Chablis and there there’s Chablis, and Regnard’s Grand Regnard has long been one of the best! Calling this producer ‘venerable’ is an understatement, and their wines, dating back to the nineteenth century, are...
Wine Country: France Wine Subregion: Rhone Valley While one ordinarily thinks of the Cotes du Rhone, one thinks of the Grenache-based wines of the southern Rhone Valley. This is not one of those. Iconic winemaker Jean-Louis Chave, instead,...
No one, outside of the growers who have long resided in the village itself, has deeper roots (as it were) in the Cote Chalonnaise village of Mercurey than Domaine Faiveley. The family’s holdings in the appellation go back centuries are...
Affordable but tasty white Burgundy is an essential- like the little black dress of your wine fridge. The successful candidate should be inexpensive enough to open any night of the week, go well with any sort of food, taste great by all itself and,...
New to PRIMA (and to the United States!), this is one of the most exciting young Chablis producers we’ve seen in years! Orion was created by the intrepid Léa Schaller, who decided to trade a career in the music business in Paris for a...
Wine Country: France Wine Subregion: Bordeaux Man, this is our kinda wine! Rich, characterful, lovely to drink and affordable! Even Frank, PRIMA’s ‘Minister of Value’ agrees, Chateau La Chapelle’s certified...
Historically one never turned to the Macon for rich, character-filled white Burgundies. They looked further up the Cotes to find them. But a new generation of vintner and a little help from a changing climate has turned appellations like...
At last the Clos La Folie drought is over and we couldn’t be more excited! To the uninitiated, Rully, near the regional city of Chalon-sur-Soane and just three miles south of Chassagne-Montrachet as the Burgundian crow flies, has long been the...
In what’s officially (in my mind) the coolest wine evv-vahh, we present the 2020 Vin de la Solitude from Domaine de la Solitude; Chateauneuf du Pape as it once was, or, maybe, how it may be again. The grapes are fermented as whole clusters...
Wine Country: France Wine Subregion: Champagne It’s not every day that such a terrific Champagne value drops in my lap but when it does, I am quick to scoop it up and share it with our valued PRIMA customers. This isn’t just any...
I am not going to tell you this is the second coming of Chateau Haut Brion for $20, but this is a very authentic, savory and quite delicious taste of what makes Graves one of the most distinctive appellations of the Left Bank of the Gironde. This...
97 points James Suckling Lots of blackcurrants and blueberries on the nose, together with walnuts and chocolate. Full-bodied and very layered, with super depth and plushness, offering currant, crushed-stone and bitter-chocolate flavors. Very lush...
98 points James Suckling Aromas of blackcurrants and black cherries with hints of crushed walnuts, grilled thyme, cocoa powder and graphite. It’s full-bodied with layers of ultra-fine, silky tannins that elegantly coat your palate,...
97-99 points Jeb Dunnuck Ranking with the top wines of the vintage, the dense purple-hued 2020 Château Pape Clement offers a sensational bouquet of pure crème de cassis interwoven with notes of liquid violets and classy oak...
99 points James Suckling :A beautifully layered red with blackcurrant, hazelnut and lead-pencil character and fine, velvety tannins. Full-bodied and reserved. It’s like a tightly knit ball of polished tannins that are cashmere in texture. So very...