Please note that our reviews are based on a variety of sources: samples sent to our team, those we purchase in store, tasting events, those tasted in restaurants and while traveling domestically and internationally.
Red Wine
Roberto Voerzio Il Cerreto Barbera D'alba 2022, Piedmont D.O.C., Italy: Roberto Voerzio Il Cerreto Barbera d'Alba D.O.C. from Piedmont is a dry, full-bodied red of striking purity and precision, born from a west-facing hillside site below the winery in La Morra where yields are restricted to just one kilogram per plant, producing a wine that punches well above its everyday Barbera classification with a vivid, aromatic nose of sour wild cherry, crushed dried sage, warm cedar shavings, toasted hazelnut and a thread of black sea salt minerality that carries through to a long, soaring finish driven by the variety's signature electric acidity. Winemaker Roberto Voerzio founded his estate in 1986 with just two hectares in La Morra and has since built one of Piedmont's most revered domaines, with parcels across grand cru sites including Brunate, Cerequio and Rocche dell'Annunziata, all farmed using sustainable practices, natural fermentation with ambient yeasts and minimal sulfite additions, with wines bottled entirely unfiltered. Il Cerreto first appeared in 2003 as a deliberate statement that even Voerzio's most accessible wine deserves the same meticulous attention as his legendary Baroli, spending 12 months in French oak barriques followed by a further eight months in stainless steel before release. Serve it slightly below room temperature alongside roast duck with cherry and orange sauce, where the wine's vivid acidity and dark fruit cut through the richness with brilliant precision; it is equally compelling with veal Parmigiana, the wine's savory minerality weaving through the tomato and cheese with effortless grace. Cellar through 2032. Barbera D'alba food pairings: roast duck, veal Parmesan, roast pheasant. Drink: 2026 - 2032 13544 14% XD 750 mL $60.45 Score: 92/100. April 2026. Full Review Add to Shopping Cart
White Wine
Jeff Carrel Chatgris, France: Jeff Carrel Chatgris is a compelling, full-bodied orange wine from the Languedoc made entirely from ripe Grenache Gris sourced from schist terroirs near Maury and Corbières in the south of France, where the sun-baked Mediterranean landscape lends this extraordinary wine its rich, amber-tinged depth. The nose is complex and opulent, layering candied citrus rind, toasted walnut, dried apricot, warm spice, and a seductive wisp of coffee and woodsmoke, while the palate is supple and almost tactile in its texture, finishing with a bracing saline lift and a long, spiced, dried-fruit persistence. At 15% alcohol this is a wine of real weight and presence, best served lightly chilled and capable of ageing through 2030 and well beyond. Winemaker and oenologist Jeff Carrel, who trained in the Loire and Alsace before dedicating himself to revealing the best of Languedoc-Roussillon terroirs, ages this wine oxidatively for 18 to 40 months in old unfilled oak barrels in the tradition of the great dry Rancio wines of the region. Fascinatingly, Chatgris is blended across three consecutive vintages rather than being a single-year wine, giving it a depth and consistency that sets it apart from almost anything else in the world of orange wine. Food pairings: aged hard cheese with fig jam and toasted walnuts, slow-roasted duck leg with a spiced orange glaze, Thai green curry with jasmine rice. Drink: 2026 - 2030 47347 15% XD 750 mL $34.95 Score: 93/100. April 2026. Full Review Add to Shopping Cart