Six-Pack · No Expense Spared · Virtual Pop-Up Shop 2026
The Dinner Party
For when the guest list justifies the wine list
This is a Southern Rhône dinner party — and Cristal and Taylor Fladgate are very much invited.
Six bottles with a clear purpose: to build a meal from the first pop of Champagne through a Gigondas that has had thirteen years to find itself, two of Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s finest expressions — one white, one from a legendary old-vine producer — and close on a Taylor Fladgate 2009 that is drinking magnificently right now. This is not a random collection of great bottles. This is a menu.
The Bottles — Open in Order
Roederer Cristal 2012 Brut
Champagne · Chardonnay & Pinot Noir · 2012 · Louis Roederer · Aperitif
The opening act. Created for a Tsar, still fit for one.
The 2012 vintage gave Cristal extraordinary precision — citrus, white flowers and brioche with a minerality that simply doesn’t exist at lesser addresses. Pour it before anyone sits down. Let the room settle. Let the evening begin properly.
Sabon 2017 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Renaissance Blanc
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc · Roussanne & Grenache Blanc · 2017 · Domaine Roger Sabon · First course
The pivot that surprises everyone — white Châteauneuf at its most serious.
White Châteauneuf is one of the wine world’s great undersung pleasures, and Sabon’s Renaissance is a benchmark — rich, textured, honeyed and complex with white peach, beeswax, roasted nuts and a depth that continues to develop beautifully with age. The 2017 has had time to knit together into something genuinely magnificent. Pour it with the first course and watch every guest lean forward. Most will have never tasted anything quite like it.
Domaine des Bosquets 2013 Gigondas
Gigondas · Grenache blend · 2013 · Domaine des Bosquets · Second course
Thirteen years old and exactly where it should be — mountain Grenache at its most composed.
Gigondas sits in the shadow of the Dentelles de Montmirail, and Domaine des Bosquets farms those dramatic slopes with quiet conviction. The 2013 has had over a decade to settle into itself: the tannins have integrated beautifully, the fruit has deepened and darkened from vivid cherry to dried plum and warm spice, and the garrigue and iron notes that define great Gigondas are right at the fore. This is the wine that earns its place between the white Châteauneuf and the VJ Hauts Lieux — a bridge of genuine quality, not a filler. Decant half an hour before serving and let it finish the job itself.
Domaine de la Vieille Julienne 2019 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Hauts Lieux
Châteauneuf-du-Pape · Old Vine Grenache · 2019 · Jean-Paul Daumen · Main course
The main event. Jean-Paul Daumen’s finest expression — and that is saying something.
Les Hauts Lieux sits at the very top of Jean-Paul Daumen’s hierarchy at Vieille Julienne — a single-vineyard Châteauneuf from old Grenache vines on the highest, most exposed parcels of the domaine. The 2019 vintage gave it everything: extraordinary concentration, perfumed complexity, iron minerality and a length that simply does not stop. Serve it alongside the finest thing on the table. It will hold up its end of the conversation without any assistance whatsoever.
Olivier Hillaire 2010 CdP Les Petites Pieds d’Armand
Châteauneuf-du-Pape · Grenache · 2010 · Olivier Hillaire · Cheese course
Fifteen years old and still building. The wine that makes everyone go quiet.
If the 2019 Les Hauts Lieux is the main event, the Hillaire 2010 is the quiet revelation that follows it. The legendary 2010 Châteauneuf vintage produced wines of extraordinary depth and longevity, and Olivier Hillaire’s Les Petites Pieds d’Armand is among the finest of them — iron-fisted and velvet-lined, with a complexity that fifteen years of bottle age has only deepened. Serve it with the cheese course, or simply on its own with the table’s full attention. It has earned both.
Taylor Fladgate Vintage Porto 2009
Douro · Vintage Port · 2009 · Taylor Fladgate · Dessert & beyond
The perfect full stop. In its prime and showing magnificently.
After an evening of extraordinary southern Rhône, the Taylor Fladgate 2009 arrives as a glorious change of register — rich, luscious dark berry, fig and mocha with the structural elegance that is the Taylor house signature. Seventeen years in bottle and the fruit is still singing. Pour it slowly. Linger. The evening has more than earned this ending.
What’s included
Roederer Cristal 2012 Brut
Sabon 2017 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Renaissance Blanc
Domaine des Bosquets 2013 Gigondas
Dom. de la Vieille Julienne 2019 CdP Les Hauts Lieux
Olivier Hillaire 2010 CdP Les Petites Pieds d’Armand
Taylor Fladgate Vintage Porto 2009
Pick-up available Fri–Sun · Decant the Gigondas and Hillaire 30–60 mins before serving
Six bottles. One evening. A love letter to the Southern Rhône.