Here are the wines tasted during the 2018 edition.

• SPARKLING WINES

Champagne Lancelot Pienne, Champagne, « La Table Ronde »

Our vineyard lies in Cramant, in the heart of the Champagne region. Our dedication combined with the expertise handed down over the generations and a passion for the land, the vines and the craft of the vigneron give us control and perfect mastery over the cultivation of our vines and the harvesting of our grapes. The Cuvée de la Table Ronde is made exclusively with Chardonnay grapes from our vines specially selected among our Grands Crus into the Côte des Blancs. The core of this cuvée (80%) is from the 2013 harvest, blended with older wines stored under the Solera ‘system. In this cuvée we have aimed to make use of dosage sugar (3.5g/l) as a taste enhancer bringing precision and harmony to the wine. With the winemaking being conducted in vats so as to obtain the « high definition » character of the Côte des Blancs, we bring forth our terroir’s identity and offer wine lovers the best they can expect.

Grape variety: 100% Chardonnay

Tasting notes: The pale gold colour attracts the eye. A light froth and matching bubbles. The nose is marked by the dominance of ginger bread, brioche and buttery characters yet allowing the underlying mineral aspect to show though. The mouth confirms the nose impressions with the minerality typical of the Côtes des Blancs. A fine, sweet, light length. Perfect balance yet improved by the 3.5g/l dosage.

Domaine du Chant d’Eole, Belgium, “Blanc de blanc”

The Domaine du Chant d’Éole was founded in 2010, as the result of a partnership that now combines the passion of a winemaker from Champagne with that of a large farming family in the Mons region. Filip Remue, a winegrower from Belgium who had lived in Champagne for more than 25 years, joined forces with the Ewbank family to carry on the traditions that filled his days as the boss of the Maison Remue-Gaspard, in Champagne, on Belgian soil.The Chant d’Éole estate (literally, the “Song of Aeolus”, ruler of the winds in Greek mythology) owes its name to its location at the foot of the wind turbines of Quévy, whose presence offers a real advantage when it comes to producing high-quality grapes. These turbines gently divert the mild air down towards the ground, thus keeping frost at bay. This wine is made using mainly chardonnay with a touch of Pinot Blanc according to the traditional method that includes a second fermentation in the bottle. Sophisticated, perfectly balanced, with a lovely golden colour, it is an undeniable hit.

Grape variety: Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc(<5%).

Champagne Vilmart, Champagne, « Grand Cellier »

The Champagne House Vilmart & Cie was founded in 1890 by Désiré Vilmart. Since then, the House has been leaded by passionate sons and sons-in-law who enabled this small House to become famous.

Grapes varieties: 70% Chardonnay – 30% Pinot Noir Vintages : 2011 – 2012 – 2013

Ageing process: 10 months into large oak casks and barrels with no malolactic fermentation

Tasting notes: the color is a pale yellow with golden and green highlights. On the first nose, the wine reveals white flower aromas, citrus notes as well as fresh butter and cream. After airing, as it is getting warmer, this Champagne exhales another spectrum of aromas as spicy notes of ginger, lemongrass, which were unsuspected until then. The palate is lively with a delicate effervescence. The beautiful quality of the acidity is especially remarkable. The frank vinosity of the wine gives an impression of strength and freshness. The wine appears both broad yet tight. These various sensations produce a pure, creamy and silky textured wine. The finish is clean, slightly mineral and long.

Bouvet-Ladubay, Saumur, “Trésor” 2014

The origins of Bouvet-Ladubay lie in the “Tuffeau” stone of its cellars. The legend says that Etienne Bouvet found the treasure of the Monks of the 11th Century Abbey of St Florent. In 1987, Patrice Monmousseau uncovers his treasure by creating “Trésor” , the first Cuvée of the house aged in oak barrels.

Grape Varieties: Chenin and Chardonnay

Tasting notes: This opulent Chenin Blanc & delightful Chardonnay Cuvée aged in oak barrels reveals a delicate structure : Brioche & Citrusy aromas, a creamy texture & well balanced tannins.

• WHITE WINES

Domaine de Terres Blanches, Sancerre

The Domaine de Terres Blanches is made of a mosaic of superb terroirs : 15 hectars planted in Sancerre, on the villages of Bué en Sancerre and Amigny ; with 13,5 hectars in Sauvignon Blanc and 1,5 hectar in Pinot Noir. This wine comes from the “Le Chêne Marchand” vineyard that covers less than one hectare (68a 50ca). This exceptional terroir is made up of tufa chalk and the average age of the vines is 30 years.The hand-picked grapes are pressed in whole bunches and then half are vinified in stainless steel and the other half in barrels. The fermentations last for 3-4 weeks. The wines remain separated for ageing, with half in vats and the other half going into new barrels and barrels previously used for 1 vintage, for a minimum of 10 months.

Grape variety: Sauvignon Blanc 100%.

Tasting notes: The wine is rich and powerful: first of all on the nose, where we find a concentration of ripe fruit, vanilla and honey aromas, then on entry to the palate, where the wine is soft and full, then elegant and fine, with long lasting aromas. This Chêne Marchand is characterized by its explosion of flavours and its excellent aging potential.

Domaine Hugel, Riesling, “Grossi Laüe” 2011

Grossi Laüe signifies the finest vineyards in Alsace dialect and represents an equivalent to the German Grosses Gewächs or the Burgundian Grand Cru.Produced in a selection of the finest plots of the Hugel estate in the heart of the grand cru Schoenenbourg. This fantastic historical terroir has been almost exclusively devoted to Riesling for centuries.Keuper, marl, dolomite and gypsum, rich in fertilising agents, overlaid with fine layers of quaternary siliceous gravel, Vosges sandstone and Muschelkalk, with at its eastern extremity outcrops of Lias marl limestones.

Winemaking: The grapes are taken in small tubs to the presses, which are filled by gravity, without any pumping or other mechanical intervention. After pressing, the must is decanted for a few hours, then fermented in temperature-controlled barrels or vats (at 18 to 24°C). The wine is racked just once, before natural clarification during the course of the winter. The following spring, the wine is lightly filtered just before bottling, and the bottles are then aged extensively in our cellars until released for sale.

Grape variety: Riesling : 100%

Domaine Augustin Adéodat, Collioure, 2016

We know only one son from Saint Augustin : Adeodat. A child whom the father told us he was better than him and far more men. Towards this cuvee, the domaine Augustin wanted to represent the best of what he gave to us, Adéodat means « what God gives ». Adéodat exist in red or white wine and it is coming from the best area and also the oldest and painful to work. First come the harvest of the White Grenaches and the Gray Grenaches at the end of August. A second passage is needed to harvest the black grapes.The white grapes are softly pressed in order to extract the best of them then they are aged in barrels unti the end of Mars when the wine is put into the bottles.

Grape variety: White and Gray Grenaches

Tasting notes: Its color is an intense yellow with green reflect. The nose is very pure with notes of hay, ripe fruit and some aroms of his aging in barrels. In mouth it is a stong wine, almost with tannins but still with freshness and acidity. It will be a wonderful wine but still young. However  it will wonderfully go with a spicy meal, as with curry or a blend between sea and earth.

Dorka Homoky, Hongrie, Tokaji Furmint 2015

The most famous wine from St. Thomas are maybe the most expensive of the area except for this one which is produced by Dorka Homoky, the young winner of Tállya. She produced some wonderful wine at a friendly price. Through the years the beauty of the outside and the inside of the bottles is better and better, we can nowadays finds the Homoky’s style. Dorka Homoki began her wine since 2012 thanks to the vineyard of her parents ans try to make her own style with more organic process.

Winemaking: We are dealing with a wine which is all-cluster fermented with natural yeast. Then it spend 6 months into barrels fllowing by a decoloration and filtration to reach 6.6g/L of acide, 7.7g/L of residual sugar and 14% of alcohol

Grape variety: Furmint

Tasting notes: Due to its shyness, this wine deserved to be softly aerated. After that it reveal some fruity and spicy notes. It is a fresh wine whom the soft acidity strengthen its smoothness. We can deceal the principals aromas which are citrus, peach and white fruit which are following by almond and pistachio

• RED WINES

Edmond de Rotshchild Heritage, Argentina, Gran malbec Flechas de los Andes 2012

Located 120 kilometres south of Mendoza, Argentina, near the village of Vista Flores, the Flechas de los Andes vineyard now occupies more than 100 hectares in the Andean foothills. The first vines were planted in 1999 and they are quite dense for Argentina (5,500 vines per hectare). Flechas de los Andes only produces red wines and takes great care to ensure that each of them, in their own way, makes the most of the ruling grape of Argentina : Malbec. The malbec grapes seem to have found their ideal location on these plots of rocks, granite pebbles and alluvial gravels perched at 1,100 metres above sea level. They are joined by plots of merlot, syrah and cabernet sauvignon. The hot, dry climate is characterised as semi-arid continental and features pronounced temperature fluctuations between day and night and across seasons. These mid-altitude conditions are highly conducive to the ripening of red grapes and, more particularly, of malbec grapes.

Grapes variety: 100% Malbec

Tasting notes: In a purple, very dark and deep robe, Flechas Gran Malbec opens with a palette of aromas associating blackcurrant, plum or gooseberry with fine vanilla notes. The attack is particularly ample and round with dense and well melted tannins.

Château Phélan Ségur, St Estèphe, 2011

The vineyard of Château Phélan Ségur covers 70 hectares of magnificent clayey gravels on the plateau of Saint-Estèphe. The great wine of Château Phélan Ségur comes from this magnificent terroir of Saint Estèphe where power dominates. With its origins, Château Phélan Ségur has created its identity on elegance and finesse. With a certain restraint and great precision, it reveals the purity of the fruit, the truth of its structure with silky tannins, all with a natural freshness. After a long breeding, it reveals a bouquet of rare complexity like harmonious melted wood. This subtle and authentic balance creates an intense emotion. Château Phélan Ségur is known for its ageing capacity of several decades. An old vintage opens new aromatic horizons of unsuspected wealth : heat of spices, generosity of ripe fruit or nobility of leather. Its texture is refined, its power is controlled. This fullness is a testimony of time and this flowering is the reward of wise patience.

Grapes Varieties: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot

Tasting notes: In its beautiful, full ruby robe, this wine expresses a complex bouquet made up of notes of red fruits (strawberry, blackcurrant) and raising of the wine (vanilla and toasted hints). On the palate, this wine has beautiful structure with tannins which give robustness to the wine and bring it fully during the development of tastes.  Freshness is given by the acidity and astringence tends to accentuate tartness at the end.

Alphonse Melot, Sancerre, “Génération XIX” 2014

As far back as the XVI century, in 1513 to be exact, the local records mention the MELLOT family, whose life even at that time was governed by the seasons of the vine and the production of wines of excellent quality.

 They pursued their patient labours and continued to gain recognition because César Mellot was appointed as Wine Advisor to Louis XIV in 1698.

At the beginning of the XIX century, ALPHONSE MELLOT founded a tavern in Sancerre where one could savour the local wines and so began a flourishing trade that was to continue. In 1881 he was granted a licence to ship his wine throughout France and all over the World. This marked the beginning of a pacific conquest which has been pursued and developed by the family business from father to son ever since, with the eldest son continuing to bear the name of the Founder Alphonse.

Grape variety: 100% pinot noir

Tasting notes: Beautiful ruby red colour, firm and deep – ripe appearance. Its nose is rich and complex. This wine is seductive, packed with culture and very distinctive, plucking for our pleasure mulberries, bilberries and morello cherries and offers us Eastern spices – pink peppercorns, vanilla and cinnamon on a crisp background. The fruit and spices go with a fine woody with ripe tannins.

M. Chapoutier, Crozes-Hermitage,  “Les Meysonniers” 2016

The name Chapoutier is familiar to the Rhone Valley since 1808. The distant grandfather Polydor Chapoutier first started buying vines, and after becoming a winegrower, he was also a vintner. The pioneering spirit was already part of the family. Michel Chapoutier, in his forties, is at the head of an exceptional vineyard. His land is marked by rich history and traditions. Passionated about soil expression, Michel gives his convictions the ability to flourish. Humility and will are the best words to define the Maison M. Chapoutier. His choices of rupture brought this vineyard to succeed the synthesis of the past with the daring that one must have in this job. From there were born all the wealth and generosity of the Maison M. Chapoutier. This House cultivates its vines in the greatest respect of natural balances and terroirs and the wine is the expression of this alchemy. This red Crozes-Hermitage “Les Meysonniers” comes from the vines which are at least 25 years old. The soil is made up of a blending of shingles and gravels. This Crozes-Hermitage is vinified in a traditional way with pumping-over and treadings in concrete tanks.

Grape variety: 100 % Syrah

Tasting notes: This wine is very intense with dark purple reflections. The nose is marked by notes of red fruits, blackcurrant and raspberry, followed by violet aromas. The mouth is round and ample with a finale of stewed fruits and vanilla.