Drinking Old Wine Many of our favorite wines have been old bottles. While the great majority of wines are made to be consumed within a couple of years of their production, the relatively few wines that are intended to age can offer absolutely magical tasting experiences.
We are pleased to offer older wines for
The Not-So-Simple Jacquère of Savoie: Domaine des Côtes Rousses and Blard & Fils It is so easy to put your nose into Jacquère from a recently opened bottle, or take a sip three seconds after you pull it from the fridge, and assume that the wine will be pleasant, but rather neutral for the entirety of its life. Lean and bracing, but not particularly complex. This isn't
2019-Freshness and Filigree from Florian Lauer 2019 is shaping up to be an extraordinary vintage in Germany, from both a quality and scarcity standpoint. The wines we've been fortunate enough to taste combine exquisite fruit, frank minerality and an airy, lifted character to the aromatics—what lovers of Riesling want. And Florian Lauer has deliv
Thierry Valette's Clos Puy Arnaud: Two Bottles, Two Soils in Castillon Clos Puy Arnaud is located near the town of Belvès-de-Castillon, which is perched along a large plateau of limestone - a geological formation similar to the neighboring long stretch of elevated limestone belonging to the St.-Emilion AOC. Thierry Valette purchased the estate in 1999 after
Spring and New Arrivals from Champagne After a long, dark, and anxious winter, spring is finally here! The days are longer, the tariffs have been suspended, and the air is sweet (though it's certainly hard to tell from behind our masks). And with spring we are finally seeing the arrival of a passel of new wines. And of the new arrivals,
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Featured Articles
Drinking Old Wine Many of our favorite wines have been old bottles. While the great majority of wines are made to be consumed within a couple of years of their production, the relatively few wines that are intended to age can offer absolutely magical tasting experiences.
We are pleased to offer older wines for
The Not-So-Simple Jacquère of Savoie: Domaine des Côtes Rousses and Blard & Fils It is so easy to put your nose into Jacquère from a recently opened bottle, or take a sip three seconds after you pull it from the fridge, and assume that the wine will be pleasant, but rather neutral for the entirety of its life. Lean and bracing, but not particularly complex. This isn't
2019-Freshness and Filigree from Florian Lauer 2019 is shaping up to be an extraordinary vintage in Germany, from both a quality and scarcity standpoint. The wines we've been fortunate enough to taste combine exquisite fruit, frank minerality and an airy, lifted character to the aromatics—what lovers of Riesling want. And Florian Lauer has deliv
Thierry Valette's Clos Puy Arnaud: Two Bottles, Two Soils in Castillon Clos Puy Arnaud is located near the town of Belvès-de-Castillon, which is perched along a large plateau of limestone - a geological formation similar to the neighboring long stretch of elevated limestone belonging to the St.-Emilion AOC. Thierry Valette purchased the estate in 1999 after
Spring and New Arrivals from Champagne After a long, dark, and anxious winter, spring is finally here! The days are longer, the tariffs have been suspended, and the air is sweet (though it's certainly hard to tell from behind our masks). And with spring we are finally seeing the arrival of a passel of new wines. And of the new arrivals,
Hillside vines at Domaine Arretxea
Southwest Weekend: Jurançon from Camin Larredya and Coustarret; Irouleguy from Ilarria and Arretxea!
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We're happy to offer new arrivals and returning favorites from the Southwest, including some of the most wonderfully unusual and distinctive wines of France!
Jurancon!
First, from Jean-Marc Grussaute at Camin Larredya, comes an absolutely delicious new Jurançon Moelleux, "Les Grains de Copains." The 2019 is a new version of his Constat Darrer, made from 100% Petit Manseng grapes purchased from three neighbors. The ripe, dried grapes (no botrytis) were hand-harvested from Oct 25 to Nov 10, then slowly pressed to extract aroma and structure from the Manseng. Vinification and aging, partly sur-lie, happens in small barrels and foudres. "Les Grains des Copains" is a delicious candy, a pure gourmandise with a little more concentration than usual with about 60 grams per liter of residual sugar. If you like orange marmalade, membrillo paste, cinnamon and lily of the valley, you will love this nose and the sweetness seems swallowed by the acidity, leaving the palate fresh and ready for another glass. This is a beautiful aperitif or a perfect accompaniment to pates and cheeses and it's a sensational value - only 48 bottles are available for NY.
Dried grapes for the Moelleux at Camin Larredya
The beautiful 2020 Jurançon Sec "La Part Davant" from Camin Larredya has just arrived, composed of 50% Gros Manseng, 35% Petit Manseng and 15% Petit Courbu. This pale yellow-gold wine has pronounced aromas of flowers, exotic fruits, fresh grass, spices and herbs. There is an interesting interplay between the fruit character and umami, with acidity giving this dry wine a firm assertiveness allowing it to be paired with rich food: cassoulet, roasted goose, terrine, ceviche or seared scallops or lobster... or simply with goat cheese. Drink this vibrant wine over the next ten years.
The 2017 Camin Larredya "L'Iranja" is the most profound and delicious orange wine I've ever tasted. We have 3 btls...
Vineyards of Camin Larredya in Jurancon
Another beautiful dry Jurançon has just arrived, the Jurançon Sec "Renaissance" from Domaine Coustarret, made by Sébastien Bordenave Coustarret, seventh-generation winemaker at this 6 ha domaine located on the highest point of the Jurançon appellation at 400 meters above sea level. The blend features mostly Petit Manseng (80%) with 10% Petit Courbu and 10% Camaralet.
Irouleguy!
Thérèse, Michel, Iban & Teo Riouspeyrous
Assisted by their two sons Iban (since 2018) and Teo (since 2019), Michel and Thérès Riouspeyrous at Domaine Arretxea produce undoubtedly some of the most impressive wines of Irouléguy (and of France), thanks to their remarkable vineyard work and true respect for their terroirs. After travelling the world as an agronomist and realizing the catastrophic consequences of industrial farming, Michel returned to Irouléguy. Starting from zero, he worked for a couple of years alongside Peio Espil at Ilarria (another hero of CSW) before producing in 1993 his first red under the label Arretxea (“The Stone House”). The first white came in 1997, and took the name Hegoxuri, “White from the South.” Dedicated to organic farming from the very beginning of the domain and very influenced by the work of geologist and agronomist Yves Hérody, the Riouspeyrous received organic certification for their vineyard in 1998 and use biodynamic methods as well. They currently farm 8.5 hectares: 4 ha of Tannat, 1.1 ha of Cabernet Franc, .6 ha of Cabernet Sauvignon, 1.4 ha de Gros Manseng, a little less than 1 ha of Petit and the rest is Courbu.
Irouleguy and Jurançon, the Pyrennes
We're proud to offer today two vintages of the extraordinary Arretxea "Haitza" - this is the flagship cuvée of the Riouspeyrous, a gorgeous blend dominated by Tannat, with a touch of Cabernets Franc & Sauvignon which can vary depending on the vintage. This rare and unusual wine combines intensity of flavor with lightness and bright acidity, perhaps in the style of Bordeaux from long ago. Organically grown on a diversity of soils - sandstones, schists, ophites - with very little clay, it is a great terroir to tame the natural power of Tannat: its acidity and tannins are softened up without losing their personality. Grapes are hand-harvested, destemmed, vinified separately, with a gentle maceration lasting for 3 weeks or so. Fermentations are spontaneous. The wine is then aged for 18 months minimum in foudres, then in bottle and sold when ready to drink - they don’t necessarily release them in chronological order. The nose is an explosion of violet, fresh red and black currant, and liquorice, with a touch of bitter chocolate. Once again, the palate is more savory with a lot of mountain herbs, smoked tobacco and potting soil. The 2017 and 2018 Haitza can be enjoyed now if decanted, or kept in your cellar for 10 to 20 years! Serve in a large Bordeaux glass, you need a little bit of fat and texture : think rack of lamb, beef briskets with confit red pepper or a slow roasted hen-of-the-wood with Bordelaise sauce. 80% Tannat, 20% Cabernet Franc.
Michel tasting from dolia
2019 Domaine Arretxea Rosé Arretxea Rosé is a true gastronomic rosé mostly made with Tannat and a little Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon using saignée and direct press. Darker and deeper than your summer rosé, this is perfect for the seasons and the weather, and allows great pairings. The wine is aged for 6 months in tanks - stainless or epoxy - to keep the aromatics Without a doubt, this a great, serious rosé, you want to serve in large glasses, and not too cold. You pick up on the nose the fainted notes of tannant - this typical black currant aromas - but here enhanced with citrus, rhubarb and strawberry. The palate is velvety and gourmand, and the expected acidity is present: all in all, it is both highly drinkable with a satisfying complexity. Enjoy it now with some serious charcuterie like a rabbit terrine with pistachio, a monkfish liver pâté but you can play with spicier food, especially with pimenton like pepper stew with paprika, and of course aged goat or ewe cheese. 70% Tannat, 15% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cab Sauv.
2019s From Peio Espil at Domaine Ilarria in Irouleguy
Peio Espil
We love the wines of Peio Espil at Domaine Ilarria - his 2019 Rouge and Blanc are superb! (And lookout for his 2021 Rosé which will arrive in June.) Interested very early on by his reading of Masanobu Fukuoka, Peio Espil implanted this philosophy, observing nature and its powers in order to farm with as little human intervention as possible. The whole 10 ha are farmed this way, and were also certified organic in 1999: no tilling, the spontaneous vegetation is mowed, in the winter ewes are coming to graze, their manure used as compost to enrich the microbiological life, which is for Peio the most important part of the health of the soils. Underground bacterias working in non-tilled soils are key partners to the vigneron to guarantee the health of the vines. The 2019 Irouleguy Rouge and Blanc have just returned - these are truly special wines that deserve your attention - and you'll be fighting global warming while drinking them...
Please allow 5 - 7 business days before pick-up or shipping
Formerly called Costat Darrèr, "Les Grains des Copains" is a great introduction to the style of the domaine and how Jean-Marc Grussaute is capturing the concentration of the sugar with remarkable elegance. In 2020 this wine is 100% Petit Manseng grown by his neighbors (Pedeflus, Lacazette and Vignau) - they have another job and are tending their small plots for pleasure. The goal of this wine is to offer a delicious, refreshing moelleux in the way it was done last century at a fantastic price for value. Hand-harvested, picking was done of the ripe, dried grapes (no botrytis) from Oct 25 to Nov 10, the grapes are slowly pressed to extract aroma and structure from the Manseng. Vinification and aging, partly sur-lie, happens in small barrels and foudres. Volcanic sulfur is used with parsimony and the wine is sterile filtered. "Les Grains des Copains" is a delicious candy, a pure gourmandise with a little more concentration than usual. If you like orange marmalade, membrillo paste, cinnamon and lily of the valley, you will love this nose. Once again, the sweetness seems swallowed by the acidity, leaving the palate fresh and ready for another glass. Enjoy it today or keep it 5 years. A pan-sautéed foie gras with apple-cider reduction, a passion fruit panna cotta or a mild blue-cheese would make some great pairing. 100% Petit Manseng, 60 g RS.
Camin Larredya by Jean -Marc Grussaute comes from a small vineyard in Chapelle de Rousse area of Jurançon, in the Pyrenees where the climate is mild, southern with Atlantic influence. The vineyard situated in the Chapelle Rousse area of Jurançon owned by Jean-Marc and his mother is organic. This south-facing vineyard with a view of the peaks in the Pyrenees is also Demeter certified Biodynamic. Camin Larredya Jurancon Sec La Part Devant is composed of 50% Gros Manseng, 35% Petit Manseng and 15% Petit Courbu. It is fermented in wood (2500 L foudres plus some 225 L barrels) The wine is then matured ‘sur lie’ for six months. This pale yellow-gold wine has pronounced aromas of flowers, exotic fruits, fresh grass, spices and herbs. There is an interesting interplay between the fruit character and umami, with acidity giving the wine a firm assertiveness allowing it to be paired with rich food: cassoulet, roasted goose, terrine, to lobster. OR, simply with goat cheese. Mariko Kobayashi
(One bottle limit!) The 2017 Camin Larredya "Iranja" is a truly astonishing late-harvest orange wine produced from the estate's oldest Petit Manseng vines, from grapes left to over-ripen late into the fall. The whole bunches were fermented slowly with zero extraction in terra cotta amphora, followwed by further aging in old barrels. 600 bottles were made. The wine is magnificent. Tobacco leaf, caraway, a shade of curry and cinnamon, dried flowers, smoked tea, candied lemon and mandarin peels, scents of undergrowth and mychorized roots, dried fruits, honey, pine resin, but also some notes evoking dates, prunes, apricot peel and dried mango, we dive here into unique olfactory lands, bewitching and constantly renewed as the wine is aerated.Same long and incredible journey in the mouth, where the wine never ceases to surprise you, sometimes powerful and full-bodied, then incisive and tracing, sometimes velvety, its sweetness caressing the palate with pleasure, before an invigorating salinity and bitter powerful and well integrated, evoking bitter orange and quinchona, once again excite your taste buds. What about the length in the mouth: quite simply endless. The overripe Petit Manseng ferments slowly with the skin of its berries. Terracotta civilizes it. The path of balance and exuberance that he traces here renews his unique link to the original land. It is rooted, it is telluric, it is timeless, it is Pyrenean. 20/20 in the latest RVF guide.
(Arrives 3/15) The Jurançon Sec "Renaissance" from Domaine Coustarret is made by Sébastien Bordenave Coustarret, seventh-generation winemaker at this 6 ha domaine located on the highest point of the Jurançon appellation at 400 meters above sea level. The blend features 80% Petit Manseng with 10% Petit Courbu and 10% Camaralet. This beautiful dry Jurançon shows lively aromas of yellow fruits, peach, pineapple and passionfruit, the palate is round and vibrant with exotic fruits and with great freshness and length in the finish. Serve this versatile wine as an aperitif or with fish in sauce, shellfish, patés and cheeses.
(Arrives 3/18) Arretxea "Haitza" - this is the flagship cuvée of the Riouspeyrous, a gorgeous blend dominated by Tannat, with a touch of Cabernets Franc & Sauvignon which can vary depending on the vintage. Organically grown on a diversity of soils - sandstones, schists, ophites - with very little clay, it is a great terroir to tame the natural power of Tannat: its acidity and tannins are softened up without losing their personality. The 2017 and 2018 Haitza can be enjoyed now if decanted, or kept in your cellar for 10 to 20 years! Served in large Bordeaux glass, you need a little bit of fat and texture : think rack of lamb, beef briskets with confit red pepper or a slow roasted hen-of-the-wood with Bordelaise sauce. 80% Tannat, 20% Cabernet Franc.
Arretxea "Haitza" - this is the flagship cuvée of the Riouspeyrous, a gorgeous blend dominated by Tannat, with a touch of Cabernets Franc & Sauvignon which can vary depending on the vintage. Organically grown on a diversity of soils - sandstones, schists, ophites - with very little clay, it is a great terroir to tame the natural power of Tannat: its acidity and tannins are softened up without losing their personality. The 2017 and 2018 Haitza can be enjoyed now if decanted, or kept in your cellar for 10 to 20 years! Served in large Bordeaux glass, you need a little bit of fat and texture : think rack of lamb, beef briskets with confit red pepper or a slow roasted hen-of-the-wood with Bordelaise sauce. 80% Tannat, 20% Cabernet Franc.
(Arrives 3/18) Arretxea Rosé is a true gastronomic rosé mostly made with Tannat and a little Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon using saignée and direct press. Darker and deeper than your summer rosé, this is perfect for the seasons and the weather, and allows great pairings. The wine is aged for 6 months in tanks - stainless or epoxy - to keep the aromatics Without a doubt, this a great, serious rosé, you want to serve in large glasses, and not too cold. You pick up on the nose the fainted notes of tannant - this typical black currant aromas - but here enhanced with citrus, rhubarb and strawberry. The palate is velvety and gourmand, and the expected acidity is present: all in all, it is both highly drinkable with a satisfying complexity. Enjoy it now with some serious charcuterie like a rabbit terrine with pistachio, a monkfish liver pâté but you can play with spicier food, especially with pimenton like pepper stew with paprika, and of course aged goat or ewe cheese. 70% Tannat, 15% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cab Sauv.
This is an oustanding, totally unique and delicious wine! From organically certified vineyards, 1 ha dedicated to Petit Manseng and 1 ha to Petit Courbu, permaculture-pioneer Peio Espil offers a very unique interpretation of Irouléguy Blanc as he is one of the few growing grapes on Trias limestone. No tilling, use of ewes to graze the spontaneous vegetation and compost the soils leads to balanced yields of very concentrated grapes which see some skin maceration (6 hours or so for the Petit Courbu, 12-14 hours for the Petit Manseng) in order to extract aromatic compounds and structure. Long fermentations are preferred for texture. Then the wine stays untouched on its fine lees with racking if needed for up to 18 months, and doesn’t need to be filtered before bottling. As in 2018, the 2019 has a bit more depth and roundness than usual for this wine, but retains the intense mineral/herbal backbone that makes it so unique. It has a surprising density with so many layers: a very complex nose of passion fruit, chamomile, yellow plum, marsipan and smoked salt, the palate is very savory with a saline quality, with ripe pear and quince, roasted lemon and intense anise seed and chalky mineral flavors. It is a salivating wine with so much to give, that you want to sip on it little by little. Enjoy it today in large Burgundy glass or keep it for 10 years. For pairing, a rabbit agnolotti with dried sage or a cauliflower panna cotta with crab meat flesh and grapefruit segment.
In the French Basque hills, enveloped by Spain, Peio Espil tends his family’s estate with impressive care. Peio, after careers in both Sauternes and Jurancon, returned to Irouleguy to work sustainably, and received complete organic certification in 2008. Here he strictly adheres to a Fukuoka-inspired way of organic farming, with biodiversity in the vineyards and no plowing, with the overall health of the soil being his number one concern. The 2019 Rouge is 55% Tannat, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 30% Cabernet Franc and it's a sensational vintage for this unique wine, being a bit rounder than usual and quite delicious for current drinking. Deep black/red color with bright rim. The nose seems dominated by the Cabernet Franc, with deep black raspberry fruit, chocolate and herbal flavors, echoing the Chinon Clos Guillot of Baudry, but with a backbone of stony black fruits from the Tannat. The palate is dense and mineral showing ripe, intense black fruits framed in perfect firm acidity and stone flavors that continue in the tight, elegant finish. Enjoy now with grilled lamb, pork or hearty stews, best to wait 5 years when this wine should really sing. PL/DL
