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Cellar Favorite: 2020 Domaine Bernard-Bonin Meursault La Rencontre
France: Burgundy, Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite
, Feb 2024
Domaine Bernard-Bonin is a Meursault-based producer that I would dearly love to visit. For reasons I will not go into here, so far, that has not been possible. This has not prevented me from enjoying the occasional bottle that has come my way.
Cellar Favorite: 1981 & 1992 Le Pin
France: Bordeaux, Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite
, Jan 2024
I have been fortunate to taste every vintage, though it is over a decade since I encountered one of the early ones. Visiting the estate in December, Thienpont served a bottle blind, a bottle that drew gasps from the audience…even from his better half.
Cellar Favorite: 1983 & 1967 Domaine J.L. Chave L’Hermitage
Cellar Favorites, France: Rhône & Beaujolais, cellar favorite
, Jan 2024
Last year was such a treasure trove of amazing bottles that I completely forgot a dinner in February that finished with a pair of outstanding wines from Jean-Louis Chave.
Cellar Favorite: 1985 Ridge Vineyards Zinfandel Canyon Road & 1985 Monte Bello
Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite, United States: California
, Jan 2024
I am not familiar with Californian wines like some of my Vinous colleagues. However, during 2023, I enjoyed several mature bottles from Ridge Vineyards, which is certainly one of my favorite producers.
Cellar Favorite: 1969 Bodegas Vega Sicilia Unico
Spain, Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite
, Jan 2024
Unico is Spain’s most iconic and historical wine. You don’t need me to tell you that. Though Unico has been bottled for many decades, the consensus is that the 1960s is the decade during which its reputation was really consolidated through a string of outstanding vintages bookended by the brilliant 1962 and 1970.
Cellar Favorite: 2010 Château Canon
France: Bordeaux, Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite
, Jan 2024
The 2010 Château Canon is interesting to revisit today, especially considering the vintages that have come after it, some of which will take their place among the greatest ever made here.
Cellar Favorite: 1899, 1947 & 1970 Yquem
France: Bordeaux, Cellar Favorites
, Dec 2023
This Cellar Favorite comes from a private dinner held at Château Yquem last April. In-house chef Olivier Brulard, who worked with Michel Guérard at his fabled restaurant in Eugénie-les-Bains for many years, cooked a sublime array of dishes to accompany the wines. I understand some who say that an evening devoted to Sauternes is too much. I guess it depends on the Sauternes.
Cellar Favorite: 2017 Domaine des Miroirs (Kenjiro Kagami) Vin de France Entre Deux Bleus
France, Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite
, Dec 2023
Earlier this year, I dined at a small but well-respected restaurant whose wine list was so saturated with below-market-price gems that I decided it was not in anyone’s interest to write it up as a Vinous Table. You just need to look at the “wastelands” that are wine lists around Beaune to see what happens. I want people to discover the restaurant like I did.
Cellar Favorite: 1974 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve Georges de Latour
Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite
, Dec 2023
The 1974 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve Georges de Latour was served blind at a restaurant in Beaune, from a vintage where California excelled.
Cellar Favorite: 2016 Domaine J-F Mugnier Musigny Vieilles Vignes
France: Burgundy, Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite
, Dec 2023
Frédéric Mugnier caused a few ripples when, tired of witnessing his Grand Crus martyred not long after bottling in restaurants around Beaune, he decided to withhold his Musigny Vieilles Vignes until he deemed it had several years’ bottle age. I wish more growers would follow his lead.