Strong words. But certainly on the short list - only time will tell. Even Dom Pérignon’s Chef de Cave Richard Geoffroy himself pulls out all the stops with comparisons to the exemplary 1982, 1990 and 96 Dom Pérignon.

Back in the day, before he became Robert Parker's go-to guy for Germany and Austria, David Schildknecht worked in retail, and Lauer was one of the few estates Schildknecht imported himself, for his own stock of course, but also for a few private customers.

And for good reason: These are some of the most compelling, ethereal Rieslings we've ever tasted - even in the Saar, a valley of delicate, butterfly Riesling (think Zilliken, Egon Müller, Von Othegraven, etc). Here, Lauer sculpts dry-tasting Rieslings of awesome focus and precision.

I may have already found my winter savior! Fresh off the boat, just, just arrived in the U.S., the Bosca family’s Cardamaro is here!

This could be it: the precious beverage that will help me stay warm and happy through the desperately dark days and nights to come. At the risk of sounding utterly alcoholic, I am very much looking forward to having a glass of this as a reward when I get home from a long, freezing walk from the subway.

This “wine-based Amaro” digestivo from Piedmont is an infusion of cardoon, Blessed Thistle (err, think something along artichoke lines) and other botanicals in the Bosca estate wine. To me, it smells like midnight mass, all pine-and-holly Christmas cheer and puffs of incense with undertones of holiday-time cranberry-orange breads and spiced nuts. On the palate, this is less bitter than many Amaros (especially Cynar, with its signature artichoke elements), silkier on the palate, smoother on the way down, with a candied orange element followed by a crazy twist of Sherry and Madeira notes, distinctly nutty and smoky on the finish.

It is happy winter in a glass. But I may just get the party started and have happy autumn in a glass, too. Now, where's my fleece?

If you haven’t yet had an opportunity to worship at the altar of Giuseppe Quintarelli, this is your chance. Be sure to genuflect on your way in - Quintarelli is the master of Valpolicella, and his wines are transcendent.

Getting this offer together has not been easy.

I've been trying to get enough wine together for this email since May, when the Gahier was, quite literally, fresh off the boat. To be honest, if I didn't really, really like this wine, I would have done the sensible thing and pursued other interests.

But I wanted to get this into as many of your hands as possible. So, through sheer stubbornness (and, yes, some begging), I've finally got enough wine together for this small offering - this is going out only to those who have purchased wines from the Jura and other byroads of the wine world.

I'll try and be short here - both because the holiday weekend is almost upon us but also because we have only a few cases of this available, and at this price, well, once again we are reminded of the profound values to be found in German Riesling.

Labor Day is here, and before waking up to the realities of back to school/back to work without summer Fridays/back to sweaters and not-white pants, if you’re anything like us, all you want this weekend is a boat or a big backyard and lots of cold, delicious beverages.

If you're at all interested in experiencing Pinot Noir at its most nervy, ethereal, and resolutely mineral form, Bara's is certainly the one to try.

Simply put, Paul Bara rules the category of red Coteaux Champenois, his name looming large in experts' writings on this unique non-sparkler from Champagne. 

My initiation came, at last, Thursday night at Gramercy Tavern: 1999 Monprivato on the list for $195! Screw tasting menu pairings – I had to have this.

I mean, sure, the trout with pickled onions was weird without Kabinett, but in the end it was worth it: Alongside fettucine with guinea hen and summer beans and a veal loin smothered in shiitakes, the Monprivato was drop-dead sexy, like spending a Sunday afternoon lying naked in silk sheets tossed with rose petals, gorging on ripe raspberries and the highest quality bittersweet chocolate. So pure, so captivating, so bad-ass… I wish I was in a position to have blithely ordered another bottle on the spot. When my boyfriend offered our server a small glass to sample, I may have audibly snarled.

He's right: Vincent Dauvissat’s 2008 Les Clos is certainly an utterly brilliant bottle in the making, a grand-scaled tribute to Chablis in top form.

Today we offer one of the only tranches in the nation, at $129.95 a bottle.

Though I forgot to ask Marcel Tyrell why the estate decided to change their classification system this year, I can make some pretty good guesses.

First of all, 2009 is a profound vintage for dry wines, especially in the Saar and Ruwer where the deep, pure ripeness of 2009 is countered more forcefully by the vigorous acidity the regions are famous for. Second, the "Grosses Gewächs" name is really beginning to catch on. It translates, literally, to "Great Growth" and in the VDP-inspired system, this moniker can only be given to the greatest dry wine from the region's top sites.

People are catching on, quickly: Duhart-Milon offers a fantastic quality to value ratio, the chateau's 2009 an exemplary Medoc for the vintage... and at a miniscule fraction of the price of its supermodel siblings (read: Lafite and that maison's Carruades).

Today we continue our 2009 Bordeaux futures campaign with the vintage's Duhart-Milon at $77.95 a bottle.

A few quick things to remember...

TODAY WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO ORDER OVER THE PHONE:

WE WILL NOT BE CHECKING THE EMAIL BOX!!! We just are not able to answer and return emails quickly enough!