School of Wine & Spirits
Red Wine
92 reviews
Álvaro Palacios Les Terrasses Priorat 2021
Álvaro Palacios
Les Terrasses is Álvaro Palacios's entry into Priorat's ancient terraced vineyards — a blend that democratizes one of Spain's most revered appellations. The llicorella slate soils deliver a mineral intensity that few regions can match, and Palacios coaxes from them a wine of remarkable concentration and elegance at a price that invites regular drinking.
Domaine Marcel Lapierre Morgon 2022
Domaine Marcel Lapierre
Lapierre practically invented the modern natural wine movement in Beaujolais, but this isn't a philosophy bottle — it's just a great wine. The 2022 shows the Côte du Py terroir with transparency and verve. It tastes like Gamay at its most honest, which is exactly the point.
Château Montus Madiran 2018
Château Montus
Alain Brumont's Tannat-based Madiran is a masterclass in taming a notoriously tannic grape. The 2018 vintage shows power and polish in equal measure, with new oak integrated so thoroughly it reads as structure rather than flavor. This is a wine that hides its considerable muscle behind elegance.
Château Poujeaux Moulis-en-Médoc 2018
Château Poujeaux
Poujeaux consistently delivers Moulis's best argument for value in Bordeaux. The 2018 vintage is classic left bank — structured, dark-fruited, built for aging — but already accessible thanks to ripe, integrated tannins. This is Bordeaux where fruit and structure reach agreement early and hold it for years.
Clos de los Siete 2021
Clos de los Siete
Conceived by legendary Bordeaux consultant Michel Rolland, Clos de los Siete is a collaboration among seven families farming high-altitude vineyards in the Uco Valley. The 2021 vintage shows what Argentina's elevation — over 1,000 meters — does to Malbec-based blends: intensity of fruit with real freshness and lift. At this price, it overdelivers consistently.
Domaine Gauby Muntada Côtes du Roussillon Villages 2019
Domaine Gauby
Gérard Gauby farms biodynamically in the schist hillsides of Calce, and Muntada is his flagship red—a wine that channels the heat and wildness of the Roussillon into something structured and profound. The 2019 is concentrated without excess, and its tannin architecture suggests a decade of further evolution.
Château de Saint Cosme Gigondas 2020
Château de Saint Cosme
Louis Barruol's family has tended this estate since 1490, and the 2020 vintage captures the exceptional warmth of the year without losing the herbal lift that defines Gigondas. This over-delivers against Châteauneuf-du-Pape bottles at twice the price. The patience to wait five more years will be handsomely rewarded.
Domaine du Cayron Gigondas 2020
Domaine du Cayron
The Faravel family has worked these Gigondas vineyards by hand for generations, and their refusal to modernize yields a wine that tastes like the hillside itself. The 2020 vintage shows ripe, generous fruit tempered by the Dentelles de Montmirail's limestone influence. This is old-school Southern Rhône at its most honest.
Château Phélan Ségur Saint-Estèphe 2018
Château Phélan Ségur
Phélan Ségur consistently outperforms its classification, and the 2018 vintage is a prime example. This is Saint-Estèphe at its most approachable — structured enough to age but integrated enough to drink now. The tannins are polished rather than aggressive, and every element connects without gaps. Excellent value for left-bank Bordeaux.
Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas 2020
Domaine Auguste Clape
Clape is Cornas in its purest expression — 100% Syrah from old vines on steep granite slopes, made with minimal intervention by the family that put this appellation on the map. The 2020 vintage delivered warmth and generosity, but the wine's granitic spine keeps everything taut. Cellar-worthy, but already singing.
Château Pichon Baron Grand Cru Classé Pauillac 2018
Château Pichon Baron
The 2018 vintage was tailor-made for Pauillac, and Pichon Baron capitalized fully. The Cabernet Sauvignon dominance shows in the structure and dark fruit intensity, but what distinguishes this bottle is its patience — it's built to evolve over two decades, yet already shows remarkable composure. A wine that asks you to wait and rewards those who do.
Domaine de la Janasse Côtes du Rhône Rouge 2022
Domaine de la Janasse
Christophe Sabon treats his Côtes du Rhône with the same seriousness as his Châteauneuf cuvées, and it shows. At this price point, the wine delivers Rhône typicity — garrigue, dark fruit, sun-warmed earth — without cutting corners. An everyday bottle that consistently overdelivers.
Domaine de la Côte Pinot Noir Memorious 2021
Domaine de la Côte
Rajat Parr and Sashi Moorman's coastal Pinot Noirs are some of California's most Burgundian, and Memorious from the wind-hammered Sta. Rita Hills captures a tension between fruit and earth that most New World producers can't achieve. The maritime influence — cold Pacific fog funneled directly through the transverse valley — keeps acidity razor-sharp. This is site-specific winemaking at its most transparent.
Château Haut-Bailly Grand Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan 2018
Château Haut-Bailly
Haut-Bailly has always been one of Pessac-Léognan's most restrained estates, and the 2018 vintage — warm and generous in Bordeaux — could have easily pushed this wine into overripeness. Instead, the gravelly soils and Véronique Sanders' meticulous stewardship held everything in check. The result is a wine that already shows remarkable harmony but will reward another decade of cellar patience.
Occhipinti SP68 Rosso 2022
Occhipinti
Arianna Occhipinti's SP68 is named for the provincial road connecting her vineyards in Vittoria. It's natural winemaking at its most precise—no additions, no filtering, no fining—yet it tastes controlled and deliberate. A wine of place that delivers far beyond its price.
Domaine de Villeneuve Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Vieilles Vignes 2020
Domaine de Villeneuve
Domaine de Villeneuve flies under the radar in an appellation crowded with famous names. That relative obscurity is the drinker's advantage. The 2020 vintage delivered generous fruit without losing the structure that defines great Châteauneuf. This is serious Southern Rhône wine at a fair price.
Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes 2019
Domaine de la Janasse
The Vieilles Vignes cuvée from Janasse is the estate's crown jewel — sourced from Grenache vines averaging 80+ years old. The 2019 vintage gave Southern Rhône producers a near-perfect growing season, and Janasse capitalized fully. This is a wine that will evolve for two decades, but it's already showing extraordinary poise. A benchmark Châteauneuf.
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Échézeaux Grand Cru 2019
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
Échézeaux is often called the 'accessible' wine in the DRC stable, which says more about the company it keeps than any lack of seriousness. The 2019 vintage captures Burgundy at a moment of warmth tempered by classical structure. It's a wine that embodies restraint not as absence but as the deliberate choice to let terroir do the heavy lifting.
Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge 2019
Château Rayas
Château Rayas defies everything you think you know about Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Made entirely from Grenache grown on sandy, north-facing plots, it achieves an elegance more commonly associated with Burgundy. This is one of the most singular red wines in the world — rare, expensive, and genuinely irreplaceable.
Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge 2020
Clos des Papes
Paul-Vincent Avril's Clos des Papes is routinely among the top wines of the southern Rhône, and the 2020 vintage is a benchmark. The blend of all thirteen permitted varieties creates a wine where no single grape dominates — the vanishing point made literal. Built for decades of cellaring but already captivating.
E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône Rouge 2021
E. Guigal
Guigal's Côtes du Rhône Rouge remains one of the great benchmarks for southern Rhône value wine. The 2021 vintage delivers generous fruit concentration while maintaining the savory, slightly wild character that makes this blend so food-friendly. At this price, there's no excuse not to have a case.
Elvio Cogno Barolo Ravera DOCG 2019
Elvio Cogno
The Ravera vineyard in Novello sits on marl and sandstone soils that tend to produce Barolos of elegance rather than raw power. Elvio Cogno's 2019 captures the warmth of the vintage without sacrificing the tension that makes great Nebbiolo so compelling. This will reward cellaring through 2035, but it is approachable now with a proper decant.
Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage 2019
Domaine Jean-Louis Chave
Chave Hermitage is the quietest of the great Northern Rhône wines — no marketing machine, no celebrity winemaker narrative. Just six centuries of one family working the same granite hillside. The 2019 vintage offered ideal conditions, and this wine captures the hill's full voice: power, elegance, and a sense of place that transcends vintage variation.
Tenuta San Guido Guidalberto 2021
Tenuta San Guido
Guidalberto is Sassicaia's second wine, and it consistently overdelivers for its price. The 2021 vintage shows the Bolgheri warmth but retains enough structure and aromatic complexity to stand on its own. It is a study in how French oak — applied with restraint — can elevate Tuscan Cabernet and Merlot without overwhelming the fruit.