Lapuyade 2019 Jurançon Moelleux Petit Manseng

(Arrives Tuesday Feb 21) Clos Marie-Louise/Château Lapuyade is a beautiful biodynamic estate deep in the hills of Jurançon, south of Pau. Their wines are harvested by hand, fermented with wild yeasts and aged in old barrels purchased from Yquem and Haut-Brion. Their 2019 Petit Manseng is a gorgeous wine and a sensational value. The wine needs a bit of air to open up, then shows deep floral honeyed apricot, candied citrus, stone, spice and caramel aromas with sweet fruit on the palate—lemon oil, exotic fruit and brown spice lifted by very  firm acidity. Terrific length. With a few days open, more exotic fruit, pineapple and lychee emerge and the wine softens into something wonderful. An outstanding Jurançon moelleux that will accompany fois gras, patés, cheeses, fruit desserts and is fabulous on its own. (About 70 gr/liter RS)

Orfeuilles 2019 Vouvray "Les Coudraies"

(Arrives Feb 21) Domaine D'Orfeuilles is known for the high concentration of flint in their clay/limestone soils, which one finds in the parcel of "Les Coudraies." The 2019 is a lovely "sec-tendre" somewhat in the style of the Pinon "Silex" or "Trois Argiles" having a bit of residual sugar to offset the wine's firm acidity. At a very modest 12% abv, the 2019 shows acidity in spades alongside it's hallmark flinty minerality and herbaceous nose rendering the RS as more of a juicy lemonade profile. Absolutely lip smacking and poundable in the best sense: at this price, an excellent party wine! Giselle Hamburg

Orfeuilles 2020 Vouvray "Silex"

(Arrives Feb 21) The 2020 Domaine d'Orfeuilles Vouvray "Silex" was vinified dry, highlighting the intense mineral flavors and chalky texture of Chenin Blanc in clay/limestone soils with a high content of silex. It's a pale straw in the glass with a nose that's delicate at first but hints at some hidden power layered beneath the surface. At 14% abv it's certainly robust and assertive with a sleek minerality coupled with firm acidity that suggests aging potential, while it doesn't feel overly hot. There's balance and texture and it would be great with seafood or lighter chicken dishes and provides phenomenal value at the price point! Jeff DiLorenzo

Orfeuilles NV Touraine Brut Rosé

 The Domaine D'Orfeuilles Touraine Brut Rosé is made primarily from Cot (Malbec) grown in sandy clay soils over limestone. This quite elegant rosé is a refreshing Champagne-method Brut, with a lovely deep rose color and complex flavors of red and black fruits - it's a sensational value!

Lapuyade 2020 Jurançon Sec

 Clos Marie-Louise/Château Lapuyade is a beautiful Biodynamic estate deep in the hills of Jurançon, south of Pau. Their wines are harvested by hand, fermented with wild yeasts and aged in old barrels purchased from Yquem and Haut-Brion. Château Lapuyade produces a complex, ripe, exotic style of "Sec" and the lovely 2020 is no exception. Produced from Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng, the wine shows a bright gold color; ripe aromas of exotic fruit, lemon zest, almond, honeysuckle and hay; the palate is ripe and round with spiced pear,  buttery lemon, earth and mineral flavors; very bright citrusy acidity in the finish with hay and minerals. This will evolve nicely re-corked in your fridge or with five to ten years of cellaring. Not for everyone perhaps,  this is really a unique and intense bottle of Jurançon! Serve with chicken or fish in sauce, full-flavored cheeses, patés and Asian foods.

Lapuyade 2019 Jurançon Sec Cuvée Dentelle

(Arrives Fri 3/10) The Cuvée Dentelle from our biodynamic friends at Chateau Lapuyade in Jurançon is one of the rare dry Jurançon that is made from 100% Petit Manseng, in this case from 45 year-old vines always tended in organic and biodynamic farming, it's a tiny special production in the best vintages - we're fortunate to get 5 cases. The 2019 shows a bright gold color and beautiful aromas of lemon confit, apricot, almond, exotic fruit and brown spice. The palate is dense and round with dried pear, citrus, apricot, hay and mineral flavors with perhaps a bit of residual sugar. The finish is very long with firm acidity under ripe white fruits, citrus and stone. Lovely wine! Serve with foie gras, fish in sauce, Asian foods, goat chesses and patés. Sensational now and should be very interesting in ten years.  David Lillie

Lapuyade 2019 Jurançon Cuvée Marie-Louise

Régine and Jean-Joseph Aurisset of Chateau Lapuyade/Clos Marie-Louise produce sensational dry, moelleux and dessert wines from Gros Manseng and Petit Manseng on their Biodynamic estate deep in the hills of Jurançon, southeast of Pau. The soils are primarily "poudingue," a conglomeration of calcareous stones and gravel deposited during the formation of the Pyrenees, with sandy clay topsoil. The Aurissets prefer a very full-bodied style of Jurançon - all their wines are aged in used barriques which gives amazing complexity  and phenomenal richness to the  100% Petit Manseng Cuvée Marie-Louise. This is a superb Jurançon Moelleux, harvested in late December, about 90 grams/liter of residual sugar. Wonderfully complex aromas of apricot, candied citrus, flowers and exotic fruit with a hint of vanillin. Lemon confit, apricot, brown spice and chalky acids on the palate. A young wine that is gorgeous now but perhaps best in five to ten years. With more acidity than Sauternes, this is a great match for foie gras, lemon tarts and strong cheeses, and for apple and mince pies on Thanksgiving! Absolutely superb! (The wine drinks beautifully for weeks, re-corked in the fridge.)

Parentière 2020 Vin de France Fraîcheur Iodée L'Atlantique

(Arrives Tues Feb 21) The Parentière Fraîcheur Iodée de L'Atlantique, which roughly translates as "Atlantic sea-spray" is made from Gros Plant (aka Folle Blanche) grown on gabbro soils near Vallet in the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine region. Domaine de la Parentière is a tiny estate which has been practicing organic agriculture for more than 30 years—the grapes are hand-harvested and fermented with wild yeasts and the wines are never chaptalized, remaining light, mineral and refreshing. This is the most "Insane in the Membrane " wine I can remember trying in ages. Not only does it's name translate to the Iodized Freshness from the Atlantic, but that's exactly what it evokes upon tasting...there you are standing on the jetty in some god forsaken coastal French Atlantic town in Bretagne where the seafood boats are docked, slurping down oysters freshly shucked in the early morning light while being SLAPPED in the face by the "Atlantic Sea Spray"....exhilarating!  Giselle Hamburg

Parentière 2020 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Vieilles Vignes (Organic)

(Arrives Tues Feb 21) Michel and Guilhaume Ménager produce this lovely Musacdet on their tiny estate near Vallet, which they have tended organically for more than 30 years. The sub-soil is gabbro, a type of basalt, that gives a unique aromatic quality to the wine, quite different from wines produced on the normal granite or gneiss/schiste soils of Muscadet. The Ménagers have always harvested by hand and never chaptalize, producing wines that are light, refreshing and very "mineral" in character. The 2020 has everything we want from a young, affordable Muscadet: stones and a mineral core, with just enough weight to balance the crisp acidity. This is a beautiful Muscadet to enjoy with shellfish, seafood, poultry and mild cheeses. Bravo to the Ménagers for producing this delightful wine at such a low cost!

Orfeuilles NV Vouvray Brut "Atemporelle"

(Arrives Feb 21)  Domaine D"Orfeuilles Vouvray Brut "Atemporelle" - "At the start, a bead of fine bubbles and a delicate nose centered on fresh butter, brioche and citrus fruits. More floral notes invite themselves into an expressive palate that offers a fair compromise between roundness and freshness. The lemony finish puts the final touch to this brut without an ounce of austerity." Guide Hachette

Gut Hermannsberg 2020 Nahe 'Just Riesling!' Riesling Trocken

Germany's 2023 Vinum Wineguide just awarded our newest German producer from the Nahe, Karsten Peter, "Winemaker of the Year". As per the winery's website: "The stony, mostly volcanic soils, in our vineyards give our wines a pronounced raciness, spice and minerality." The entry level "Just Riesling " shows that in spades whilst maintaining an ethereal 11.5% abv and juicy fruit salad profile underscored by a dry finish. An excellent pairing for all manner of sushi, spicy Asian dishes, barbecued pork, Buffalo chicken wings...Game Day WIne! Giselle Hamburg

Kühn, Peter Jakob 2020 Rheingau Hallgarten Riesling Alte Reben

As per the distributor: "Sourced from the single vineyards Jungfer, Schönhell and Würzgarten on grey and dark slate soils, the 2020 Hallgarten Riesling trocken Alte Reben combines the higher location of the vineyards with the 40+-year-old, narrowly planted vines that give a particular coolish micro-climate, according to Peter Bernhard. Vinified in 60% stainless steel and 40% large oak casks, the nose is clear, bright, intense and complex in its sexy purity that combines yellow fruit aromas and uplifting, almost floral and ethereal terroir notes. Medium to full-bodied, this is a crystalline and silky, enormously pure and elegant, salty, vital and frisky Riesling with remarkable finesse and piquancy." Tasted at the winery, the wine displays crisp cool herbaceousness that is high toned, bright and mineral with an ethereal body, elegant and feminine. Giselle Hamburg

Koehler-Ruprecht 2021 Pfalz Weisser Burgunder Kabinett Trocken

Mostly from 12-25 year old vines from the limestone soils of the  Steinacker and some Saumagen; this is lithe, bracing Weissburgunder with the layers and complexity we've come to enjoy so much from Koehler-Ruprecht. Roasted nuts and saline minerality with terrific, citrusy acidity. Vinified in the same way as their other wines, more 19th-century than 21st, everything is fermented spontaneously and raised in very old wood. For people looking for producers making complex, lively Pinot Blanc, look no further. For under $25 it's even more remarkable. Bring on the Coq au Vin blanc! Giselle Hamburg

Gunderloch 2021 Rheinhessen Nackenheim Riesling Roten Schiefer

Gunderloch hails from the Rheinhessen's historical "Roter Hang" (Red Slope) area along the Rhine river just south of Mainz. This historical estate from the mid nineteenth century is now in the hands of the latest generation Johannes Hasselbach, who has converted to organic viticulture, native yeast fermentations and minimal handling and sulfur. The wines now have lower alcohol levels, no deacidification, less RS and are less baroque compared to his forefather's wines.  In Nackenheim, they own the dominant portion of the grand cru Rothenberg (sixty-five percent of the estate’s holdings) which is planted completely to Riesling. Their GG from here is the flagship of the estate; 5 kilometers down the road in Nierstein, they also have the GGs Pattenthal and Hipping. The "Roten Schiefer" (red slate) is sourced from all 3 GGs,. Very dry with the red slate coating the tongue and adding spice and herbaceousness to the palate whilst the 12 hours of skin contact adds tannins and tension. Fruit salad and minty nose with explosive, spicy limeade on the palate. Bring on the spicy Thai papaya salad and jungle curried pork! Giselle Hamburg

Kögl 2020 Southern Styria Morillon

A lively, mineral expression of Morillon as the local Chardonnay is called hailing from the southernmost reaches of Styria right on the Slovenian border.  From extremely steep slopes composed of sandy limestone, the cool nights and terrain is very similar to Burgundy and excellent for Morillon.  From 35 year old vines showing good concentration, the wine spends 20 months on the lees in old barrels before bottling. Bright acidity and a faint whisp of smoky stones reveal citrus and green apple flavors. At an extremely elegant 12% abv, this is an excellent food wine and affordable alternative for Chablis lovers!. Giselle Hamburg

Frischengruber 2020 Wachau Riesling Federspiel

From Rossatz – directly across the Danube from Dürnstein –- where the mighty river tapers to its narrowest span as it makes an ancient bend. Vineyards here slope gently upwards from the riverbank to meet the undulating edge of the Dunkelstein forest. The microclimate combines some of the world’s starkest diurnal shifts with a growing season that can stretch well into November. This produces Rieslings, grown on Urgestein (primary rock)  in cooler sites, with body, yet remain focused and fine-boned. Above all, they are wines of purity, precision, and clarity of vineyard expression. An ethereal Wachau riesling with faint petrol wafting on the minty evergreen peachy nose. The palate pops with a light prickle of spritz underlying the herbaceous wet rocks. Wunderbar! Giselle Hamburg

Tsikrikonis 2020 Kavala Macedonia Malagousia

Tsikrikonis lies at the feet of Mount Symbolo in Kavala, Macedonia, at an altitude of up to 350 meters and just 3 kilometers from the Aegean Sea. Malagousia was a nearly extinct variety, saved from extinction and  revived in the 1970s in Macedonia.  Grown all over Greece today, it stands out for its finesse, balance and aromatic qualities. Whether used in blends or as a single varietal, the grape produces wines of medium alcohol content, with an exceptionally expressive nose and aromas of flowers (rose), white-flesh fruits (pears, peach), herbs (thyme, sage) and citrus fruits (lemon, orange, grapefruit). Fuller bodied and round, it's frequently blended with Assyrtiko to tame it. A mountain meadow nose of white flowers and grass; peaches and melon with a juicy citrus salad palate. An excellent winter white to pair with cheeses, creamy pastas, roast pork and chicken. Giselle Hamburg