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Cellar Favorite: 2015 Domaine Y. Clerget Meursault Les Chevalières
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Burgundy
, May 2023
Sometime in the fall of 2016, I started hearing the buzz about Thibaud Clerget taking over his family’s domaine, thanks in large part to Damien Ravion, who worked at the time at Bistro de l’Hotel before leaving to start L’Expression, his restaurant in Beaune. A few days later, there I was, in the cellar with Clerget tasting the 2015s from barrel. The quality of the wines was immediately apparent, as was Clerget’s potential.
Cellar Favorite: Taylor’s Very Very Old Tawny Port (Coronation of King Charles III Limited Bottling)
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, Portugal
, May 2023
The Coronation of King Charles III inevitably was the perfect excuse for many English sparkling wine producers to mark the occasion with limited edition cuvées, likewise, Port Houses that have deep English roots. One that I recently tasted was from Taylor’s Fladgate, who raided some of their oldest reserves to blend a limited run of 1,500 bottles of what they have called their Very Very Old Tawny Port.
Cellar Favorite: 1998 Wendouree Cabernet Sauvignon
cellar favorite, Australia, Cellar Favorites
, May 2023
If there is one Australian producer that sends a tingle down my spine more than any other, it is surely Wendouree. There…I just shuddered typing the name. Regrettably, my encounters are infrequent, yet bottles seem to have that ineffable je ne sais quoi whenever they do appear.
Cellar Favorite: 1971 Marc Brédif Vouvray Grande Année
France: Loire, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, May 2023
I cannot deny that I’ve proselytized the 1971 vintage to the point where I must sound like the most scratched record in my vinyl collection (namely, a war-torn copy of With The Beatles handed down by my nan and kept for sentimental reasons). But it is true that you can travel the globe from wine region to wine region and find marvels that continue to drink well. Case in point, this gorgeous Loire that I chanced upon in London recently. I am a big fan of mature Vouvray, and Brédif seems to have a treasure trove of mature vintages.
Cellar Favorite: 2003 Te Mata Estate Coleraine
New Zealand, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Apr 2023
Back in the day, when I used to cover New Zealand, it was clear that the country boasted a clutch of wines that could truly repay cellaring. One of those was Coleraine from Te Mata Estate in Hawkes Bay.
Cellar Favorite: 1945 Domaine Henri Lamarche Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots 1er Cru
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Burgundy
, Apr 2023
The reputation of a Burgundy domaine swings with the caliber of its wines. Certainly, under present winemaker Nicole Lamarche, the Lamarche wines are much more consistent and higher in quality than they were between the Seventies and Nineties when it is said that the aging Henri Lamarche spent insufficient time tending to his vines.
Cellar Favorite: 1971 Torres Gran Coronas Reserva
Spain, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Apr 2023
A Spanish rarity, the 1971 Gran Coronas Reserva from Torres was one of several splendid bottles proffered at a recent dinner The Harwood Arms.
Cellar Favorite: 1960, 1974 and New Releases of Château Musar
Lebanon, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Apr 2023
Château Musar is a remarkable estate that gained prominence thanks to the late Serge Hochar, a remarkable man who died tragically in 2015 after a swimming accident in Mexico.
Cellar Favorite: 2019 Ao Yun
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, China
, Mar 2023
Ao Yun presently spans 27 hectares under vine, all organically farmed, planted in four villages perched at more than 2,000 meters in elevation above the Mekong River in China’s Yunnan province. The first 14 hectares were planted on own-rooted vines by the Chinese Government as part of a plan to stem the exodus of the local population from the countryside. LVMH planted a further 13 hectares using a variety of rootstocks to form the property as it is today.
Cellar Favorite: 1986 Penfolds Shiraz Kalimna Bin 28
cellar favorite, Australia, Cellar Favorites
, Mar 2023
Back a few years ago, I was tasting a lot of Penfolds and was fortunate enough to participate in a few epic verticals of this iconic Australian producer. Sadly, commitments towards Bordeaux and Burgundy mean I taste bottles less frequently; however, I was reminded of their unerring longevity at a recent BYO at the Harwood Arms to celebrate my birthday.