Serge and Elisabeth Laporte flank their son, Guillaume

I've had a lot of Sancerre's over the years and Serge Laporte's is really something special. All of you seem to agree because I have to keep making space for it in nearly all of my containers. I've drunk a lot of Laporte over the past twenty years, yes that's right, I've been drinking this vintage in and vintage out for twenty years!

It's not that I just stopped looking for a Sancerre after I fell for Laporte. No, I've probably had a hundred, but they never measure up. And on top of that, Laporte's Sancerre is actually reasonably priced.

The best Sancerre does not actually come from the hilltop Sancerre village. The wines with more character and complexity come from Chavignol. It's all about the exposure of the vineyards and their soil of Kimmerdgian marl.

There is a substantial silkiness to this wine - somehow more viscous than a lot of Sauvignon Blancs I taste. Laporte's Sancerre has that flavor of several different citrus fruits blended together, but this wine is also honeyed and minerally and far more pungent than the usual Sancerre.

The Laporte vineyards are located on several different beautifully exposed sites in Chavignol. Terroir is important in Sancerre. Laporte's vines are planted in parcels of caillottes, a stony limestone with little soil, and also in parcels of argile-calcaire which is clayey limestone.

Each soil type contributes to the wine: caillottes produce wines that are forwardly fruity with finesse, argile-calcaire creates wines that are structured and long-lived. It is the dream combination. Serge picks the grapes by hand and vinifies them parcel by parcel so the individual flavors and aromas are accentuated.

I like to drink this Sancerre young when its acidity is lively and fresh. Since Serge Laporte's Sancerre is richer and more intense than most, you can eat anything garlicky or Asian and grilled peppers and fennel are quite fantastic with this wine.

Bingo! That minute hand just hit the seven (okay, okay, five minutes to seven) and I am armed with my corkscrew heading toward that bottle of Sancerre. Care to join me? Cynthia Hurley

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 Owner/winemaker Jerome Coursodon with his wines

"I prefer the 2006 northern Rhone wines over the more muscular, tannic 2005s." 92 for the vintage! - Robert Parker

St Joseph has always been one of my favorite wines in the Rhone. 100% Syrah, of course. It is somehow rounder than a lot of Rhones I taste. The Coursodon wines are some of the best in the region. Everyone agrees:

"Plush, with alluring raspberry and currant paste notes woven with mocha and bittersweet ganache. The finish lets a tangy minerality take over. Drink now through 2013. 2,500 cases made. - Wine Spectator 90

The vineyards of St Joseph cling to the granite cliffs on the western bank of the Rhone River. St Joseph is just across the river from Hermitage. Just for perspective, Hermitage reds command world market attention and bottles are $150 and up.

In addition to the regular cuvee, Jerome makes a spectacular wine which will knock your socks off: Sensonne. They started making it in 1997. There are less than 350 cases made. The grapes come from the southern portion of the family Le Paradis vineyard and is made with 80% new oak. The wine sits for 15 months on the lees which makes it unbelievably concentrated and fruity.

"The lees bring out the fat in the wine" according to Jerome and I believe it. This is a fleshy and sexy wine that will stick with you for a long time after the swallow.

92 for Sensonne says Robert Parker!
"Made only in the finest vintages, the 2006 St.-Joseph La Sensonne (4,000 bottles) sees nearly 100% new oak cask aging, and represents a modern version of Le Paradis St.-Pierre. Full-bodied with fabulous extract and richness, beautiful texture, tremendous purity, and a layered, concentrated mouthfeel, it is one of the appellation's finest wines. Drink it over the next 10-15 years."

92 for Sensonne says Wine Spectator!
"Toasty up front, with mocha and cocoa powder notes leading the way for velvety-textured raspberry and fig sauce notes. The long, suave finish let's toast and spice linger. Drink now through 2013. 250 cases made."

90-93 for Sensonne says Tanzer!
"Inky purple. Highly aromatic nose of red and dark berries. Bracing strawberry and bitter cherry flavors deepen with air and finish with impressive spiced plum and creme de cassis qualities. This got 80% new oak but the effect isn't very pronounced today.

You've got to try this and now is the time when the grill is hot. We all know steaks and hamburgers need Rhone wines! Cynthia Hurley

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  Henri Boillot, the man behind this Bourgogne Blanc

Mostly Meursault grapes with a Bourgogne Blanc price tag from Henri Boillot, one of Burgundy's finest white wine producers.

Henri Boillot makes a very classy Bourgogne Blanc, using grapes from his Meursault, and neighboring St Romain, and Auxey-Duresses vineyards. Boillot's overall yields in 2007 were 18 hl/ha (hectoliters per hectare). 18!! This is nearly unheard of and certainly 100% stricter than most other growers in Burgundy. But that's not unusual for a perfectionist like Henri Boillot who would rather throw out all his grapes than make a wine that wasn't up to his exacting standards.

"Boillot describes the 2007 wines as thicker and more concentrated than the 2006s, with more coloring material and better acidity. In fact, he added, they have more punch than the 2005s. Boillot de-cuved with a significant amount of unfermented sugar remaining in 2007, allowing the wines to finish in barrel, and he believes that this measure has given the wines more volume." -Tanzer

Many of you know Henri Boillot and many of you strip my stocks every time I offer his wines, but here is a Boillot you can afford to open on occasionally versus waiting for a Christening or for the Dow to put on a 1000 points, which might be more appropriate for his premier crus.

The soil is clay-limestone, the perfect mixture to nurture those Chardonnay grapes. The grapes are, of course, hand-harvested. There is a tri, which is a strict sorting of the grapes when they arrive to the cave. The alcoholic fermentation takes place in wood vats. The juice is aged for 10 months in a judicious amount of new oak and oak that has seen one and two harvests. This is very rare for Bourgogne Blanc but this is the Boillot dedication to making the best of everything he bottles.

The purity of an Henri Boillot is an amazing part of the whole taste experience. All you taste is the agrumes (a combination of citrus flavors) and the mineral from the soil. Henri works until he gets it just right or else he doesn't put his name on it.

As usual with Boillot, the supply is very limited. Last year, it sold out almost immediately. I am already down to 10 cases. I can reliably predict that it will disappear very quickly. This is a Boillot that's ready for uncorking tonight. Now, that's something to look forward to. Cynthia Hurley

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  The wild and untamed Coteaux de Languedoc around Pezenas (photo Claes Lofgren)

I couldn't wait to get down to the Languedoc Roussillon. I spent ten days driving through large sun-drenched plains that reminded me of Chile and winding through dizzying gorges that looked like Colorado. The vines were everywhere and the wines were good. There is a quality revolution going on down here that is amazing.

Domaine Stella Nova is one of these stunning estates caught up in this tenacious effort to make great wine and earn a legitimate place in the wine world. They are doing it! It's all there in the wine.

The wines from Domaine Stella Nova are Rhone-like - made from Grenache, Syrah, and Carignan grapes - so if you like pure fruit expression, and the headiness of Cotes du Rhone, these are for you.

Guide Hachette, one of the most reliable of the French wine guides, gives Stella Nova a star and reports that, from the beginning, "they were a domaine to watch," citing the wine's intense color, toastiness, ample mouth-filling flavors and solid structure.

La Revue du Vin de France, the most respected French wine magazine, spouts similar enthusiasm, talking about a "rare fruity freshness," a "powerful mouth impression," and a "lasting chocolatey finish."

How lucky I was to stumble upon these wonders! I instantly connected with them.

The vineyards of Domaine Stella Nova are in the wine growing area of Pezenas which is in the appellation of Coteaux de Languedoc. The Coteaux de Languedoc is one of the most dynamic and interesting wine areas in France today. Its growing reputation and best wines really come from a few sub-areas (like St. Chinian and Pic St. Loup) that have been singled out with their own appellations because of the high quality and distinctiveness of their growing areas.

The exciting news is that Pezenas has just been awarded its own appellation and will join this elite group as of 2006. This designation comes with the acknowledgement of Pezenas' superior terroir, in large part due to the Pezenas growers and their passion for making great wine.

Domaine Stella Nova is a new estate and the owners have come with modern ideas and very high standards and applied them to their superior terroir. The estate is small - just under 9 hectares (a bit over 20 acres). The soil at Domaine Stella Nova is varied throughout the vineyard - stony, with some clay. The manageable size of the vineyard permits the owner and wine maker, Philippe Richy, to be totally involved in every aspect of his vineyard and winemaking. One of his first decisions was to raise his grapes biodynamically - no herbicide or chemical treatments. At the heart of Philippe's winemaking is a deep respect for nature and the environment.

The yields are low (really low) and the grapes are carefully scrutinized to eliminate inferior specimens. The harvest is by hand, which protects the skins of the grapes. This is the absolute key to great winemaking - low yields for concentrated fruit and high selection so only the best grapes go into the final blend. All of these steps take time and are expensive but they are the keys to making great wine.

There are two cuvees at Stella Nova: Les Pleiades (a Gold Medal Winner in Paris) and Sirius. Les Pleiades is a more structured wine than Sirius, perhaps owing to its Syrah component and selective use of small oak barrels. The Syrah grape going into Les Pleiades is the same as the grape used for the very expensive Cote Rotie and Hermitage in the Rhone Valley. Both Stella Nova wines are quite serious, however, and the yields of 25 and 30 hectoliters per hectare are amazing considering the price of the wine. Half of Les Pleiades is raised in barrels and aged for 18 months. The wine is neither fined nor filtered. Sirius is raised 100% in-tank with a very light filtration. The Sirius is undeniably a great wine for its price. Pleiades is a serious wine that can rival far more pedigreed wines. It will last for quite a while and will benefit from aging.

So, go a little wild and think outside the Bordeaux and Burgundy box and try a little Languedoc Roussillon. You'll be amazed. Cynthia Hurley

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  Arnaud Couly, the estate's very talented winemaker and his father in the Couly-Dutheil cellars

Of course, it would be impolite to refuse and so you don't. After all, you are wooing them as much as they are wooing you because you WANT to import that Clos de l'Echo and you don't want to be uncouth. We're talking about Chinon from the Loire Valley - specifically the Touraine and Couly-Dutheil, the family who makes it. They own the best vineyards and they make the best Chinon.

So, I walked into the tasting room and the first thing I notice is they must have borrowed the table from the UN Security Council. Yes, if you sat across from me at that table I would need distance glasses. Huge! There are no less than a dozen bottles of red and white wines already open (But, I really came to just taste the red -- I whimper to myself).

And, then it happened. I dutifully hefted a glass of chilled Les Chanteaux and it completely disarmed me. That lovely Chenin Blanc - A WHITE. Dry. Crisp, floral, vibrant with lovely acidity and AGRUMES, that blend of citrus flavors like grapefruit and lemons. It was delicious.

Right there, I learned a lesson: don't be so closed-minded. You never know when you are going to stumble onto something great. AND, then, listen to this. THEY didn't want me to have it. The wine comes from only 5 hectares (12.5 acres) and the family doesn't make much of it. "Maybe we could part with a case or two - for your personal cellar," they told me. They finally let me have 35 cases, but it required some sweet-talking I assure you (and more wine tasting).

The long and the short of it is I suspect my little Chanteaux will become your Chardonnay understudy. But look out. You know the story. Suddenly, this little curvy, overachiever Chenin Blanc performs her heart out and sweeps you off your feet and your Chardonnay just doesn't seem like such a femme fatale any more - in fact a little flabby. Oh, my! And, look at the label on Chanteaux! That is some gorgeous packaging.

Les Chanteaux is fabulous in part because of its great terroir. Chalky soil and sunny exposure. The wine matures on its lees for nine months. The grapes are handpicked by trie. That means that multiple passes are made through the vineyards to pick only the ripest grapes. The Chenin Blanc grape is not an easy grape to grow and ripeness is crucial.

So, let Chanteaux sing to you. She will win you over. Cynthia Hurley

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  Hubert Lamy in his cave holding a bottle of his wine.

Few wines have the exquisite refinement of white Burgundies, with their precise dashes of citrus and honeyed layers and minerality. They float in your mouth and last on your tongue - not at all like so many of the New World wines with their big, fat dollops of oak and candy. But, how to afford them? That is always the question.

I'm always looking for a way to find a chink in the Burgundy price ramparts. I am a slave to the complex enticements of these whites - they are really singular in the world of wine and I want them on my table. This is one of the reasons I found myself in a large, cool chateau a while ago facing down fifty growers, each with six or so bottles of Burgundies. Was my wine discovery somewhere in this room?

I subjected my gullet to stream after stream of indifferent juice until I came upon Hubert Lamy. Why had I not made an immediate bee-line right to his barrel? Wasn't I always reading about his wines coming out on top of this tasting and that tasting? I had to be a bit pushy to work my way within striking distance of the wine bottles on the upturned barrel behind which Olivier and his attractive wife were pouring. There was a crowd, which is always a good sign and speaks to the quality, but a bad sign if you're interested in importing - the competition is lurking out there.

Olivier Lamy poured some of his wine in my glass and I knew right off something very good was going on and the very good was going to be affordable because it was a wine from St Aubin. This is a wine village that rubs shoulders with famous Chassagne Montrachet, but the haute prix of that neighbor hasn't rubbed off yet.

Lamy's cuvee La Princee 2005 has a pretty, delicate nose with white fruits and spices. In the mouth, the wine offers the same complexity that you would find in a Premier Cru of much higher pedigree. You will find a charming roundness and fatness that will make you reach for a second glass. The French press loves Olivier Lamy and the wine he is producing. He is now often rated one of the best producers in Burgundy and always touted as the Burgundy new guard and a top producer in St Aubin.

St Aubin is a small hamlet of 300 residents backed into a limestone slope high in the hills west of Chassagne Montrachet. The village is very old with origins back to 1000. The soil in these sites is nearly pure limestone and the wines produced are a very succinct expression of their terroir with some almond nuances thrown in. These are wines that have some ageing capability just like Meursault, Chassagne Montrachet and Puligny Montrachet with their $60 -$100 and up per bottle price tags.

Domaine Lamy is an estate you should know about if you're trying to bring high quality Burgundy to the table at about half the expected price. The Lamys have lived in St Aubin since the 1600s. It's a father and son operation, but mostly Olivier is in charge now. He took over the Domaine from his father in 1996. Olivier worked for some of the most famous names in Burgundy for several years and then return to his family estate. Olivier keeps his yields very low, uses a sorting table to select only the ripest grapes for the vat and uses a judicious amount of new oak so the fruit is not overwhelmed. He hardly ever fines or filters.

Lamy's wines represent the work of a Domaine that is absolutely dedicated to bringing you the highest expression of terroir at the quality level of a much more expensive white Burgundy. Cynthia Hurley

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Domaine des Jougla is located in Prades-sur-Vernazobre, a village of 200 people. The famille Jougla who has worked their property for many generations, makes a red St Chinian cuvee Ancestrale from a vineyard that is very close to the Mediterranean Sea.

St Chinian was awarded its own appellation back in the early eighties because of its superior soil (schist, clay, and limestone) and the passion of the winemakers there. If you talk to anyone about Domaine des Jougla, they will tell you the wines are a reference for the area.

Here's what Paul Strang (Languedoc Roussillon: The Wines and Winemakers) says:

"This is a typicité house, but by no means stick-in-the-mud; benchmark Saint Chinian, in fact. Spend a little time in the tasting room and you will find that most of the Jougla customers are relieved to find that Alain is not trying to achieve fifteen degrees of alcohol, that he is not over-oaking the wines, or aspiring to membership of the avant-garde. Rather, they have come to buy wines which flatter rather than kill food."

Cuvee Ancestrale comes from a vineyard that is very close to the Mediterranean Sea and right on the dividing line between the schist soils of the mountains and the limestone soil that was raised from the sea when the Pyrenees were forming.

This means the wines have the benefit of two soil types: the schist which produces wines with mineral notes, some coffee and smoky aromas and scents of the garrique (those rocky outcropping laced with lavender and herbs) and the calcaire (limestone) which makes a wine with bouquets of fresh black currants, raspberries, and cherries. The Jougla St Chinian Ancestrale is made from Mourvedre (40%), Grenache (30%), and Syrah (30%).

It's dinner time! Get the steaks grilling and the chicken barbecuing and don't forget the Jougla Ancestrale! Cynthia Hurley

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  Domaine Cheysson in the Chiroubles hills

"Great Beaujolais comes in many shapes and sizes. Domaine Cheysson in Chiroubles makes pretty, seductive wines, enticing for their lithe, floral grace." -Eric Asimov The New York Times

Do you want to have a really good time? Drive around in Beaujolais for a day, nipping thimblefuls of wine from each of the eight or so village cooperatives throughout the morning, pull in for lunch at Le Cep in the village of Fleurie, and then head back out, fortified, for some more rollercoastering on those windy, beautiful roads. I've never been there when the sun wasn't shining. I remember finishing up the day a while back in a parking lot singing old-Steely-Dan songs along with the car's CD player at the top of my lungs. Ah, yes, those were my more reckless days...

Anyway, Beaujolais is somewhere you can cut loose a bit. I don't do my old-goldies medley in Bordeaux or even just north of Beaujolais in Burgundy, but Beaujolais is just different - in a very great way.

My spirits pick up on a chilly Saturday when Bob surfaces from the cellar with his hand around the neck of some Chiroubles, but not just any Chiroubles. Clos les Farges from Domaine Cheysson is not just any Chiroubles.

You may think you know Beaujolais, but odds say you're wrong.

I'm not writing here about Beaujolais Nouveau or just plain Beaujolais or even BeaujolaisVillages. I am writing here about Cru Beaujolais. This is a wine that can send a lot of Bourgogne Rouge from the Cote d'Or packing.

There are 10 villages in Beaujolais (which, by the way, is considered part of Burgundy - just not the Cote d'Or) that are allowed to put their names on the labels because of their superior terroir. You may have heard of some of these special villages: Moulin-a-Vent, Brouilly, St Amour, Julienas, Fleurie, Regnie, Cote de Brouilly, Chenas, Morgan, and Chiroubles.

Some people still have their minds set twenty years back when the Beaujolais Nouveau hype was sweeping the world. It did its magic, of course, putting Beaujolais on the map and increasing sales, but ultimately it has taken a lot of explaining since then to tell folks that Cru Beaujolais is closer to red Burgundy than to the jolly juice they call Nouveau.

There are serious winemakers in Beaujolais making what Eric Asimov, the Wednesday wine columnist for the New York Times refers to as "ambitious Beaujolais". The great thing about this Beaujolais, Asimov goes on to say, "is that it retains its joyous character while augmenting its depth and structure." A joyous wine. Doesn't that sound good in the abysm of winter?

Beaujolais is 100% Gamay. Gamay is vinified in small, closed vats using a technique known as carbonic maceration which means that whole grape clusters with their stalks are thrown into a vat and the weight of the bunches naturally frees some of the juice which is then pumped over the top of the grapes.

The fermentation process takes place creating a blanket of carbon dioxide over the grapes, which enhances the color, but prevents the build-up of strong tannins. Eventually when half of the vat is juice, it is drained off and the rest pressed to release more juice, which is added to the original. Very few Beaujolais are aged in oak.

Chiroubles is grown high in the hills in Beaujolais and is known for its definition and pure fruit. It is also structured which makes it a serious wine. Domaine Cheysson is a 36-hectare estate. It is considered one of the best sources for Chiroubles and certainly the number of bottles I've emptied over the years supports that.

So put aside every preconceived notion you've ever had about Beaujolais and take the plunge into its pungence. You'll discover it's a long way from Nouveau. Cynthia Hurley

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  Jean-Luc Baldes in his vineyard during the harvest

Great Cahors is one of the richest and inkiest wines you'll ever put in your mouth. It is a strapping, hearty red. Oh, don't worry, there is nothing coarse about Cahors, it is just big-boned - lots of flesh in the right places.

"It is impossible to separate Clos Triguedina from the name Cahors. Jean-Luc Baldès is a passionate grower possessed by true know-how and the determination to produce wines of great distinction." -La Revue du Vin de France

Etienne Baldès planted Clos Triguedina in 1830. Today, Jean-Luc is the eighth generation to be in charge of the winery. Jean-Luc Baldès took over this Domaine in 1990 and has put this estate in the elite of Cahors growers. The name Clos Triguedina means "longing to dine" in Occitane, and I can relate to that. There are few things better than a duck breast sizzling and a glass of Clos Triguedina.

The Lot River gets very curvy as it runs through Cahors. There are places where you feel like you're on an island because you can see the river running on both sides of you. Cahors is a very old wine town to the east of Bordeaux. With vines planted by the Romans, the people of Cahors were making wine when the Bordelais were still drinking beer.

For me, these are the wines you come upon after swilling a tsunami of humdrum juice and you set down your glass and say, "Okay, thank God, I'm done. I've found what I'm after." This was pretty much what happened to me a few years ago at a tasting in the south of France.

The Cahors vineyards are where Malbec has had its greatest success. The Malbec grape ripens perfectly here in the area's hot sunny summers. But the wonderful thing about Cahors is that growers pick it at peak maturity and never allow for over-ripening which can raise alcohol levels to a heady 15% or more. Here you can count on a flavorful and refreshing 13 to 13.5%.

Two of my favorite reds from the Domaine are: Clos Triguedina and Petit Clos. Clos Triguedina is a blend of 80% Malbec (known locally and historically as Auxerrois), 15% Merlot, 5% Tannat which is a relative of Malbec. This wine comes from a prized plot in the appellation. The soil is clay-limestone. There is severe selection to eliminate inferior grapes. The wine is raised in one-third new oak with the rest aged in one and two-year-old barrels.

But there is another wine as well which is very easy on your wine budget: Petit Clos. Every time I serve Petit Clos at a tasting, it comes out way ahead of far more expensive wines. It's a big wine for the price; Jean-Luc suggests a half hour of decanting before drinking. The cepage is 80% Malbec and 20% Merlot. Petit Clos is aged partially in oak. There is severe selection and a green harvest in the vineyard. You will taste red fruits and some licorice.

Black and red fruits will dance from the glass and the tannins will be lithe with these Cahors. They are some of the finest expressions of Malbec in the world! -Cynthia Hurley

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  Sorting grapes at Chateau Croix Mouton.
Jean-Philippe is at the far left.

Don't let this wine get underneath something in your cellar. Just leave it right on top of the stack. Take my word for it, you will go after it time and time again and then you'll want more.

Jean-Philippe Janoueix is the winemaking genius in his winemaking family that has been in the business for 100 years. I think he must have wine running in his veins instead of blood. He is such a natural when it comes to making wine.

His name is on La Confession (95 Parker rating in 2005), La Croix St-Georges (another 95 in 2006), de Chambrun, and Croix Mouton. They all get the 90s. Yes, these are all his wines and they are some of the best out there. But, the great thing about Chateau Croix Mouton is getting "garagiste" perfection in a bottle for a Cru Bourgeois price.

Garagiste perfection means such strict selection that no green, unripe grapes are allowed into the final mix. It means throwing out grapes that are flawed, which is tantamount to taking euros and tossing them into the wind. For some growers the thought is just too painful, but for the great growers, there is no hesitation - it is the only way. That's why year after year, garagistes coax great wines from their terroirs. That is why Jean-Philippe has the reputation he has.

Chateau Croix Mouton is a wine that will give you immense pleasure, the more so for not having emptied your wallet. It will give you immense pleasure because it is not a wine you will see on anyone else's table and when it's obvious your guests want you to open another one, you can afford to be generous.

Jean-Philippe snagged the title of Wine Grower of the Year a few years back, which is not an achievement to be dismissed lightly in Bordeaux where the standards of winemaking are the highest in the world.

Chateau Croix Mouton comes from a vineyard west of Saint-Emilion, on the right bank in Bordeaux. The cepage is 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc with a small amount of Petit Verdot thrown in for elegance. There are only about 2000 cases of this wine made.

Chateau Croix Mouton has the rounded texture I adore in a red wine. This comes from well-integrated wood that does not obscure the delicious red and black, curranty fruit.

Croix Mouton is a wine you do not have to stare at as it sits dormant in your cellar waiting to become something. Chateau Croix Mouton already is something! Get that corkscrew out and twist away. It's ready. Okay, sure, if you can summon the self-discipline, save a bottle or two to savor several years down the road. This wine is not a short-hitter either. It will easily close down the first decade of the century.

So, if you're in the market for a great petit chateau (and could you ever complain about having too much of that in your cellar?), this is one of those wines that you can buy with your eyes...er, mouth closed. Jean-Philippe is brilliant and if you need more evidence - he rarely has any wine to sell. I can tell you. This will go fast. Don't miss it! Cynthia Hurley