From ripe and – by the taste of it – subtly-desiccated fruit, Cazin’s subtly sweet yet persistently bright 2008 Cour-Cheverny Cuvee Renaissance smells of pineapple, lemon, hedge flowers, almond extract; offers prickly citrus zest, pungent white pepper, piquant toasted nuts, and suggestions of crushed stone to compliment its juicy palate appeal, and finishes with bittersweet, insistently tart persistence. There have been more profound exemplars of this cuvee but seldom one so likely to find immediate and exemplary employment at table. That said, you can expect this to be well worth following for at least 8-10 years. Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 334 8191

The Cazin 2004 Cour-Cheverny Cuvee Renaissance smells exotically, enticingly, and ethereally of white truffle, musk, over-ripe peaches, and rowan berry. Creamy and faintly oily on the palate, with pure white peach nectar laced with fresh lime and wreathed in musky flowers, it finishes with mouth-watering succulence, discreet sweetness, and long-lingering, luscious flavors of white peach, nectarine, fig, and nut oils. Have no fear to cellar this remarkable beauty for a decade or more!The wines of Francois Cazin were unfamiliar to me until last year, which means that I had been missing the finest of their appellations. He boasts a high average age of vines, bottles by gravity, and obviously is unafraid and able to harvest very ripe, yet with superb acid retention even in an inherently soft vintage like 2005.Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 334-8191