Wine Reviews

99

Maxime Blin NV Le Présent Extra Brut Trigny, Champagne, France ($100)

Baked orchard fruit of apple and pear, with a kind of salted quince character that becomes the resolution of the two crisp fruits, melding into a creamy palate expression supported by an ultra-frothy, superfine mousse, resolving with the kind of mineral tension that comes from the best Champagnes in the world. It’s like wet river stones or slate, crushed up, and pulled from a river fed by mountain spring water. So fresh, so energetic and invigorating. That a Champagne can elicit such a visceral reaction is a testament to its brilliance.

97

Philippe Clerget NV Cuvée Prestigieuse Brut, Champagne, France ($80)

This longtime grower, with approximately 12 acres of vines, began producing Champagne under its own label in 2008. Beautifully fine-boned, it offers citrus and orchard fruit framed by an ultra-fine, persistent bead. Expressive salinity and wet-stone minerality run throughout, with an undercurrent of hazelnut and stone fruit carrying the long, mineral-driven finish.

94

Tenute Fusi 2025 Vermentino Toscana IGT, Italy ($30)

This Vermentino is explosively aromatic, bursting out of the glass with lemon-lime fruit, lime blossoms, a touch of honeysuckle, and salty sea-spray minerality. Medium-bodied, with a luscious fruit core of orchard and stone fruit, and a long, saline-acid finish. At 12.5% alcohol, it’s a fabulous lunchtime wine and pairs well with hard cheeses and charcuterie.

91

Une Femme NV The Callie Sparkling Rosé, California ($29)

This blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Mourvèdre comes from grapes sourced from the Napa and Sonoma AVAs. Sweet berry fruit, redolent of candied watermelon and salty sea spray notes, with a bright, frothy mousse through to a medium-bodied, fruit-driven finish.

98

Alphonse Mellot 2018 Sancerre, En Grands Champs Rouge, France ($175)

En Grands Champs is a Sancerre rouge drawn from one hectare—about 2.5 acres—of Pinot Noir planted in 1948 at the highest point of Domaine de La Moussière. Its organically and biodynamically farmed vines grow in Buzançais limestone; the fruit is harvested by hand and sorted twice—first by cluster, then berry by berry. Having tasted this wine in August of 2026, this 2018 vintage is remarkably fresh and deeply flavorful, with ripe mixed berry fruit notes, beautifully loamy earth, underbrush and graphite, wet river stones, and elegant cedarwood notes perfectly integrated, with a perfect medium-bodied richness and long, long fresh finish that is full of elegant mineral character. Such a beautiful, harmonious wine. 100% Pinot Noir. Abv. 14.5%

100

Alphonse Mellot 2018 Sancerre, Génération XIX Rouge, France ($225)

One of the most beautiful Sancerre Rouge wines you will taste this decade. This wine is refined and elegant, with pristine fruit flavors and polished tannins that create a harmonious palate expression. Deeply layered and satisfying, with expressive loamy earth richness, ripe and fresh dark berry fruits even at eight years of age (because the wines are made in a reductive style), but here the reduction is not as evident, though the freshness is. Red apple-skin tannins and brown spices, with notes of black truffle charcuterie only begin to hint at the complexity in this royally noble red wine. If you can get your hands on bottles, you’ll be blown away. Génération Dix-Neuf Rouge comes from one hectare (about 2.5 acres) of Pinot Noir planted in 1931, making it the older-vine sibling to En Grands Champs. The parcel lies at the heart of the estate on Saint-Doulchard Kimmeridgian marl and limestone; it is organically and biodynamically farmed, hand-harvested and sorted twice. The name honors the Mellot family’s 19th generation.100% Pinot Noir. Abv. 14.5%

97

Alphonse Mellot 2023 Sancerre, Edmond, France ($125)

Cuvée Edmond is selected from six hectares—about 15 acres—of La Moussière’s oldest Sauvignon Blanc vines, ranging from 40 to 87 years old. The densely planted, south-southwest-facing parcel lies on Saint-Doulchard marl over upper Kimmeridgian limestone and is farmed organically and biodynamically, with the fruit harvested by hand. This is one of the most focused, polished, and structured of the wines, with fragrant stony and flinty mineral notes mingling with ripe orchard and stone fruits, a hint of vanilla, and rich, satiny textures, unfurling with creamy acidity and inching into underripe peach and quince paste, notes of slivered almonds and candied minerality on the lengthy, medium-bodied finish. 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Abv. 14.5%

95

Alphonse Mellot 2024 Pouilly-Fumé, France ($60)

This Pouilly-Fumé is focused, mineral-rich, with tension and energy. The wines are made in a reductive style, so give them a good decanting. Slivered almonds, flint, wet stones, and elegant citrus and fruit mingle with apple and pear notes. The wine has great texture, good fruit weight, and finishes long and mineral-accented. Now in its 19th generation, Alphonse Mellot is a benchmark Sancerre estate, producing biodynamically farmed Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir of uncommon depth, precision, and character. Alphonse Mellot farms approximately 60 hectares, equivalent to about 148 acres. His flagship La Moussière vineyard accounts for more than 30 hectares—roughly 74 acres. 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Abv. 13.0%