Ganevat is one of the most intriguing and skilled winemakers working today. This is not an exaggeration.

He pulls out all the stops, spares no expense, treats his vines in a marginal region of the wine world with a level of dedication and reverence usually reserved for the most exalted terroirs.

Now that Bea is onto his third vintage from these ancient vines, we can say confidently that the wine takes Trebbiano to a very impressive place. Bea's Arboreus deserves a place with the structural Trebbianos of Valentini and Pepe.

When I sat down last September with Giampiero Bea and tasted through the entire range of the wines, the 2006 "Arboreus" emerged as my surprise favorite.  As soon as the 2007 landed, I made an appointment to taste it.Now that Bea is onto his third vintage from these ancient vines, we can say confidently that the wine takes Trebbiano to a very impressive place. Bea's Arboreus deserves a place with the structural Trebbianos of Valentini and Pepe.

When I sat down last September with Giampiero Bea and tasted through the entire range of the wines, the 2006 "Arboreus" emerged as my surprise favorite.  As soon as the 2007 landed, I made an appointment to taste it.

Pascal Lachaux, the winemaker at Arnoux, seems to have the touch with this site. Arnoux's RSV combines the site's finesse with a stunning weightless intensity. In the great 2002 vintage, this reaches a very high level. (See the Burghound review below.)

Guillaume's Pinot Noir has the lightness of body and briskness to be perfect for the warmer weather ahead of us - whether it's an inspired pairing with spring's bounty of vegetables or with a slight chill in the summer.

You're strongly advised to stock up - you'll notice the special 6-pack pricing for that very reason.

Within the obsessive (neurotic?) and detail-obsessed world of the fine wine fanatic, the "gold capsule" has to hold a special, almost poetic place.

The gold capsule is one of the more aesthetically suggestive and creative ways that German winemakers denote extra-special bottles, wines that were harvested later, came from older-vine parcels, were more fanatically selected or whatever the case may be.

La Bota's #31 Amontillado is an incredibly elegant wine; it possesses a thrilling knife-like cut, showing roasted nuts and caramel richness with spice and umami-like savory tones. The combination of nuanced depth of flavor with incisive intensity is mind-bending. This is very special wine.tk

The 08 Kastanienbusch is fierce, ungodly fresh, combining serious thrust with a bewildering vocabulary that only Rebholz's great wines have access to (the list would include an herbal complexity that puts to shame anyone's spice box, exotic smoky, earthy and truffled notes, sweet vanilla, gooseberry, peach, apricot, pear, green apple, red apple, melon, grapefruit, orange, clementine, ginger and well... much more).

Drouhin's Clos des Mouches is a compelling reminder of the wisdom of the detailed carving up of Burgundy's slopes: Things really can change in just a few meters. This means that there's such a vast and complicated network of vineyards that delightful surprises pop up and with them, every so often, serious value.

If there is an heir to the throne of Noël Verset, it is Theirry Allemand. There is simply no better Cornas being made (Clape may be seen as a qualitative equal, yet the style is different - rawer, meatier) and today we present what is likely to be a savage Cornas free-for-all, inspired by a small parcel of the 2005 Cornas Chaillots.

When back-vintage Allemand comes up - in any vintage at basically any price - well, it is normally sold quickly. When it's a great vintage at the only price in the nation, expect it to sell out very, very quickly.

Ganevat is simply a force of nature; he is uncompromising. Here's a person who's against computers and doesn't own one. He handles all business over the phone or fax machine. 

It goes without saying that the strength of his personality spills over into his vineyard and cellar work. Ganevat works only 8.5ha and yet makes between thirty-five to forty different wines in a vintage. The yields from his biodynamically tended vines are insanely low - often in the teens or even single digits.