Stones | France

"An extraordinary perfume of crushed black currants, licorice, wet stones, and subtle background oak. ...are found in this tannic, dense, masculine-styled 2006. Backward and extraordinarily pure, it is built like a Manhattan skyscraper with exceptional focus, depth, texture, and length." Reviewed by Robert Parker.

"This has a slightly sweet core of plum, cherry and raspberry, with hints of lilac, tar and warm stone. There's a somewhat sinewy feel on the finish, as a sanguine edge emerges."

"The 2005 presents a purple colour with hints of ruby. The nose reveals a powerful bouquet of firm-textured fruit (gooseberries, blackcurrants) complemented by sweet spices. The full-bodied, flavourful attack is followed by plump tannins; very harmonious finish with lingering aromas of stone fruit. A wine for laying down that suggests very enjoyable future drinking."

"Tawny color like an old Burgundy. Bouquet is vinegary and tart, with nuances of pine, underripe grapes and fruit stone. Fresh and clean on palate; thin flavor displays tastes of tart cranberry. Try it with some club soda and a slice of orange." 80-84 pts.

"The 2011 Cotes du Rhone Blanc is a kitchen sink blend with plenty of Grenache Blanc mixed with other white varietals. Revealing a perfumed bouquet of flowers, quince, white currants and wet stones, it is a fresh, medium-bodied, excellent example of how far high quality white winemaking has come in the southern Rhone. Enjoy it over the next year." -Robert Parker

"Aromas of menthol, crushed stone and toasted baguette. At once thick and penetrating, with lovely acidity accentuating the wine's intensity. Not a particularly fruity style but finishes dense, dusty and quite long. A very impressive village wine." -Stephen Tanzer

"Aromas of apple, lime and ginger. A step up in intensity and minerality from the premier crus; quite ripe and pliant but rather unforthcoming. Best today on the subtle, rising whiplash of a finish, which coats the palate with powdered stone. Very long and gripping wine: am I underestimating it today?"-Stephen Tanzer

"Bursts from the glass in an exuberant bouquet of buddleia and apple blossom; quince and intimations of wet stone. This transcends the poise and clarity exhibited by several immediately preceding Clos du Papillon bottlings and suggests that – chronologically speaking – we have moved up into a new echelon of expressiveness. The bitter, piquant notes of toasted nut, quinine, white pepper, and fruit pit here are extremely subtle and integrated into a matrix of lusciously juicy pear, white peach, and quince. A salvia-inducing salinity and scallop-like sweetness ally themselves to the stony mineral elements in this wine’s long finishing colloquy with flowers and fruits, and there is a levity and refreshment – a sheer drinkability – that I have not noticed in previous Baumard Savennieres – particularly pre-2007. Yet there is still ample sense of glycerin-richness and subtle oiliness. The combination of roughly a half percent less alcohol and more expressive acidity renders this drier-tasting than its 2006 and 2007 counterparts. Florent Baumard admits that a lesser percentage of his 2008s went through malo-lactic transformation than in most vintages, though I did not have chance to check precise analytical data on that. This sensational value is a delight to drink now. Whether it will “suffer” on that account a reduced “life span” must remain to be seen, although if anything my intuition is that this will be lovely for a decade, but that you would be foolish to deprive yourself of its short-term pleasure."

"Straw-yellow, deeper than the 2011. A fusel nuance complicates bright stone fruit and floral aromas. Very fresh and saline, offering excellent chewy extract and noteworthy length. An excellent entry-level wine, especially for those who like their rieslings bigger and chewier. Remarkable quality considering that nearly 30,000 cases of this wine are made."

"Bright straw. White stone fruits and flowers on the nose and palate. Displays lively acid lift for such a hot hear, with the zesty, persistent finish featuring a lingering note of lime. From 33-year-old vines in the Clos."