Deutz is a Champagne house with German origins, founded in 1838 by two Prussian immigrants, William Deutz and Pierre-Hubert Geldermann. Acquired by Louis Roederer in 1993, the house now owns 42 hectares of vineyard and has an extensive sourcing network for grapes. With the financial assistance from the Roederer powerhouse, Deutz has become one of the largest Champagne houses nowadays.  According to Champagne specialist and writer Tom Stevenson, the house's style is "firm, flavor-packed yet full of character”. Apart from the Amour de Deutz, the William Deutz is a vintage cuvee which combines the energy of Pinot Noir and stands out the most for its powerful and distinctive...

In Vosne-Romanee, there is a 0.30ha parcel of Les Gaudichots 1er Cru which borders the world-famous La Tache Grand Cru. Due to its exceptional terroir being in close proximity to La Tache and its much lower price point, Les Gaudichots has gained a lot of attention in recent years. The vineyard's history is rather complicated having many owners over the years which each have fought to get ownership of the neighbouring La Tache, and in 1932, a compromise was found and some of the original Gaudichots vineyards was annexed to La Tache. Therefore, there are only three small sections of Les...

Maison Louis Jadot is one of the largest maisons in Bourgogne and owns over 60 hectares of vineyard, many of them Grand Cru and Premier Crus. Founded in 1859, the house ran in the family until it was passed to long-time manager Andre Gagey when the last male member in the family passed away. The maison was then subsequently purchased by Kobrand, the US importer of Jadot, and is now run by Pierre-Henri Gagey, assisted by head winemaker Jacques Lardière who has been responsible for the company’s wines since 1970.  Both reds and whites from the house offer impeccable quality and reflect each of the terroirs...

Comte Armand is among the list of top Burgundy domaines and the best in Pommard, and Clos des Epeneaux is their monopole dating back to 1826. The domaine moved to a new stage when Pascal Marchand took over the ruin and was succeeded by Benjamin Leroux. Nowadays it is managed by Paul Zinetti and it has also been accredited with organic farming since then. Domaine Comte Armand also acquired a few vineyards in Auxey-Duresses and Volnay in 1994. We opened a bottle of Domaine Comte Armand Auxey-Duresses 2017 yesterday and found it full with joy. Obviously, it contains lots of characters of the...

A benchmark in New Zealand, Cloudy Bay has been the main player in Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir in the country who are able to extract full potential of the grapes and terroir from Marlborough’s region. They started producing Pinot Noir in 1989 which was one of the earliest estates who started producing Pinots. After that, they have acquired some excellent vineyards in Marlborough and are able to produce two Pinot Noirs nowadays. Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir has been regarded as a house style Pinot with classic characters that a great New Zealand Pinot contains, and Te Wahi is in...