Cave Spring Cellars Blancs de Blancs Brut 2004. Cave Spring Cellars CSV 2007. Flatrock Cellars Reserve 2007. Flatrock Cellars 2008. Lakeview Cellars Reserve 2000. Lakeview Cellars Reserve 2007. Pillitteri Estates Winery Exclamation Cellar Series 2006. Tawse Winery Beamsville Bench Reserve 2002. MORE >>

On my recent trip to the Loire, I got an excellent chance to explore this issue at the cellars of none other than Domaine Bernard Baudry in Chinon, one of my favorite producers in the Loire. The 2002 Grezeaux still had plenty of freshness and a bit of that herbal–but good herbal–character of cab franc. MORE >>

With the oysters I drank a relatively unknown but incredibly delicious and interesting wine, the 2004 Michel Loriot Pinot Meunier Vieilles Vignes Brut , $75. If you want to try it, Astor Wines has it on the shelves right now, and I hear that a few other shops are considering carrying it - in a few weeks try Uva or Slope Cellars in Brooklyn. MORE >>

Savennières wines are world-class whites from Chenin Blanc, wines with enormous cellaring potential, but they are wines that can be austere in their youth, like a barren moonscape - nothing but rocks and sand. Both the 2002 and the 2004 Bel Ouvrage seem like they will develop beautifully with cellar time. MORE >>

and reach and alley, again very eerie and quiet, to one of the cellars where we learn that the Maison employs a barrel-maker to repair 15 year old barrels instead of buying new ones. Cristian Dennis, a very affable gentlemen who knows all the secrets (yes, and secret passageways as well!). Outside Bollinger, we were met by M. dennis m. MORE >>