Author: Thomas Wilcox

You don’t have to be a vigneron to notice Guillaume Goujon and Sebastien Dupré are farming organically. Their vineyards appear almost abandoned – vines share the ground with herbs, flowers, grasses, and wildlife, all in the name of fostering biodiversity and soil health. In the cellar Dupré and Goujon have a similarly light touch – their cuvées are made with whole clusters, ambient yeasts, limited oak, very low sulfites, and a long, slow elevage.

The resulting wines are remarkably complex, and yet immaculately crafted. The wine press agrees – William Kelley calls the wines “supple and charming” and labels them “an estate to watch.” WA reviewer Kenna Wells writes, “The domaine encapsulates the Beaujolais spirit, showcasing a blend of humility, intentional farming and a cellar brimming with character.”

One of our favorites this year is their “631” Côte de Brouilly, a blend of three plots that’s readily drinkable but deceptively sophisticated. The 2022 is terrific, with an expressive nose of dark, ripe fruit – violets and cassis with a croquant (crackling) texture. The profile is almost somewhere between a Pinot and a Syrah. James Suckling praised its “striking elegance” and “fine tannins.” It’s the perfect bottle to grace your patio as the earth wakes up this spring.

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Dupré-Goujon Côte de Brouilly “631” 2022
bottle price: $35

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Frederic Michot is a friendly, energetic winemaker who crafts refreshing, user-friendly, flat out delicious Sauvignon Blanc in Pouilly-Fumé. Forever in the shadow of its more famous neighbor Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé is often a source of excellent value.

Michot’s style is straightforward – no oak, old vines producing fresh, dry, low-alcohol wine. It’s rarely the fanciest wine on a table, but it’s often the first bottle empty. Its brisk texture and lovely dry fruit make it pairable with a long list of foods, from cheese (goat is best), to oysters, to chicken, to paté, to nothing at all.

Michot’s 2024 is everything you want in an everyday Loire white – dry, refreshing, low alcohol (12.5%), smooth, and inexpensive. Made from 40-70 year old vines in a cool growing season, there’s excellent dry concentration and great length. The nose shows lime, stones and grapefruit; the mouth is clear and crisp, with an easygoing, dry finish. This pairs with everything and nothing.

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Michot Pouilly-Fumé Vieilles Vignes 2023
bottle price: $25

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Romain Collet is a mad scientist in the cellar. He’s matched each of his Chablis terroirs with a specific recipe of elevage vessels – a combination of stainless steel tank, concrete egg, clay amphora, and wooden barrels of various ages. Each is designed to bring out the unique character of every plot of vines.

The most clay-rich of Collet’s terroirs is “Butteaux,” a south-east facing sector of the Montmains vineyard on Chablis’s left bank. For this cuvée, Romain ages the wine in a combination of old oak barrels (5 to 10 years). The resulting wine has a concentration and layered complexity somewhere between premier cru and grand cru.

The 2023 Butteaux is terrific, with a serious stony intensity that’s somehow both rich and bone dry. The nose shows faint pears and salt air; the mouth is vibrant and shot through with minerals and dried flower petals. The oak is essentially imperceptible. It’s long and polished, but never verges into opulence or lushness. Think of it as a particularly stony Puligny-Montrachet, at a roughly 50% discount…

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Collet Chablis 1er cru “Butteaux” 2023
bottle price: $45

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Gautier Desvignes is beloved among our readers for his well-priced, excellent red Burgundies from Givry. In a world where Bourgogne rouge cuvées from the Côte de Nuits are pushing $60/bot, and more than a few are into three digits, Desvignes Givrys are beautifully crafted, sophisticated, and highly affordable. Gautier continues to get better each year, and it’s been a delight to watch his star rise so dramatically over the last decade.

He’s also turned into a serious white Burgundy producer as well. William Kelley describes his chardonnays as “chiseled,” “crisp,” and “vibrant,” and we’ve begun to enjoy them more frequently in recent years. His just-arrived 2023s are accessible, delicious, and under $8/glass. Consider this a more floral Chablis, or a racier Pouilly-Fuissé.

The 2023 Desvignes Givry “En Cheneves” is carefree and delicious, with low oak and a vibrant, fresh mouthfeel. From a north facing vineyard that’s well positioned to weather today’s hot, dry summers, this is an overperforming spot in a town on the rise. It’s more polished than most wine of this level, but doesn’t take itself too seriously. Look for notes of white flowers and apple skins, and serve with a simple creamy pasta.

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Desvignes Givry blanc “En Cheneves” 2023
bottle price: $39

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Some wines are an intellectual exercise. To enjoy them is to contemplate their meaning, the philosophy behind their creation, and the nuances of their character. Other wines are just tasty and fun – they’re about drinking rather than tasting. Today’s wine is in the latter category.

Florence Cartier continues to steer her family’s Southern Rhône domaine with a calm, thoughtful hand, producing traditional southern Rhône cuvées in the best sense of the term. They’re distinct in style from many of our low-intervention Southern Rhône sources – Joncuas, André, Malmont, to name a few. Goubert’s wines are clean and consistent, comfortingly old-school in character and taste.

Goubert’s 2023 Côtes du Rhône is delightful. It’s unoaked, low-alcohol, middleweight, and very refreshing, with the spirit of a Cru Beaujolais or a Loire Valley cab franc. It’s a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, and an unusual local grape called Brun Argenté or Vaccarèse. In some vintages it’s of a rugged character – this year it’s summerweight, with less extraction and gentler tannin. Look for notes of strawberry and garrigue, and serve outdoors with pizza as the spring weather returns – a useful, tasty vin de soif.

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Goubert Côtes-du-Rhône 2023
bottle price: $22

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There’s no more exciting corner of Burgundy today than the Beaujolais. Long looked down upon by winemakers further north, the wines made here today are as dynamic and delicious as anything in the Côte d’Or – and at a fraction of the price. Wine writer Stuart Piggott calls Beaujolais “the best value reds in the world,” and it’s easy to see why.

A new wave of exciting winemakers priced out of the land market in the north of Burgundy has landed in the Beaujolais, bringing energy and enthusiasm for the region’s diverse terroirs. Frederic Berne is a leader in this new Beaujolais. He’s passionate about agroforestry, planting trees among the vines to enrich the organic material of the soil and enhancing biodiversity in the vineyard. And his wines are more than proof of concept.

Berne’s Morgon “Corcellette” 2023 is a serious, impressive wine. The fruit is dark and lush with depth and intensity worthy of something from a fancier zip code. The nose explodes with roses and wild cherries; the mouth is fresh and long. Suckling’s reviewer writes “Ripe and powerful but also elegant, this has excellent mineral freshness and a graceful personality that’s hard not to like.” Pour this with something from the grill.

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Berne Morgon “Corcelette” 2023
bottle price: $32

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If the Côte Chalonnaise has become a bastion of red Burgundy value, then the Maconnais is its counterpart in white. At their best the whites of the Maconnais are sunny and fresh, with vibrant acidity woven into ample fleshy fruit – not to mention exceptional pricing. Organic and biodynamic viticulture go a long way towards keeping these wines fresh, and indeed all of our sources here are one or both.

Sebastien Giroux is a quiet and meticulous winemaker making superb wines of understatement and precision. If some Maconnais whites can verge into overripeness in warm years, Sebastien’s are entirely devoid of heaviness. His careful winemaking – low sulfur, minimal oak, extremely long elevage – results in minimalist wines of precision and grace. Think Thomas Morey Puligny an hour south.

The Pouilly-Fuissé Vieilles Vignes 2022 is outstanding. It’s entirely barrel raised, from vines planted mostly in the 1940s. They’re at 250m altitude, so offer intensity from their age but fineness from their elevation. South facing and just next to the premier cru “Vers Cras,” this is a special plot of vines, and so is the wine it produces. The nose is gorgeous and deep, with floral intensity and savory spice. The mouth continues the theme with and adds a dollop of ripe yellow fruit and a burst of acidity. This is a delicious mouthful, and if it said premier cru on the label, nobody would raise an eyebrow.

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Giroux Pouilly-Fuissé VV 2022
bottle price: $39

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The “Michel” of Gros fame is now fully retired – or, at least, as fully retired as a winemaker can be with 45 vintages under his belt, a house nearby, and his name on the label. His son Pierre has taken the reins, representing, in Neal Martin’s words, “a change in tack rather than charting a totally different course.” Like many of his peer group Pierre has moved the domaine toward organics, and if his first few vintages at the helm are any indication, the future at Gros may be even brighter than the past.

Pierre represents the seventh generation of Gros winemakers to run the domaine, and the Gros family has lived in the same house in the center of Vosne-Romanée since 1830. Plenty has changed since then – phylloxera, war, occupation, market swings – but for centuries the Gros vignerons have tended their vines and each year produced excellent wine. Pierre now commands what Neal Martin describes as “a portfolio to be reckoned with.”

Gros’s 2023s are terrific, and like many wines from the vintage, astonishingly accessible young. Gros’s Bourgogne Côte d’Or comes from vines outside Vosne-Romanée and dramatically outperforms its humble appellation. It’s middleweight and veyr pretty, with red currants and violets in the nose; the mouth has mild tannins and a pleasant earthy and floral finish. Burghound found it “quite aromatically pretty,” with a mouthfeel that’s “supple, succulent, and round.” It drinks effortlessly from the start, and however much we set aside for ourselves, we always wish it were more.

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Michel Gros Bourgogne Côte d’Or 2023
bottle price: $39

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Alsace is a gorgeous winegrowing region – bucolic hillsides of vines surround fairytale villages on a sunny, east-facing ridge near the French-German border. Its wines can be similarly charming: expressive and delicate with beautiful fruit and vibrant textures. Our source here, the Domaine Charles Frey, is a family of committed biodynamic vingerons, producing wines of freshness and balance.

Lots of people are scared of Riesling, burned by too-sweet or unbalanced versions of the grape. But fermented fully dry, Riesling can be a revelation – no grape more deftly communicates its stony terroir, and most sommeliers or wine professionals put it at the top of their list of favorite varietals.

Frey’s Riesling “Granite” 2023 is everything you want in a Riesling. It is brisk and stony, with just hints of petrol over a core of lean yellow fruit. It’s lightweight, crisp, and full of life. The food pairings are endless – aim for anything that particularly matches unoaked wine, from sushi or sashimi to oysters on the half shell to fresh goat cheese.

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Frey Riesling 2023
bottle price: $22

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Sandwiched between the city of Beaune and Hill of Corton wrapped in a patchwork blanket of Grand Cru lies the somewhat forgotten town of Savigny-les-Beaune. Its gravel- and sand-laden soils produce bright wines with excellent definition and delicate structure. In lean years they can be a bit angular for many tastes – but lean years may be a thing of the past.

The 2023 vintage produced wines of tremendous concentration, and the Domaine Boursot’s reds are beautiful, fresh, and packed with flavor. Their 2023 Savigny-les-Beaune perfectly combines the crisp delicacy of the terroir with the rich intensity of the vintage. The nose shows wild cherries, cassis, and toast. The mouth is a punch blend of dark modern fruit with chalky precision.

Boursot’s Chambolles will always be their stars, but this cuvée is proof that their winemaking prowess isn’t limited to their hometown appellation. This is punchy, delicious red Burgundy that needs no cellaring – it’s also half the price of most village wines nearby. Serve with a Sunday afternoon roasted chicken.

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Boursot Savigny-les-Beaune 2023
bottle price: $58

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Sofie Bohrmann is a cheerful, dynamic winemaker in Meursault. Her Burgundies are refined and terrific – she harvests early and uses barrels made from very old Austrian oak, a very fine-grained wood that allows for a slow, luxurious elevage. The resulting wines are floral and classy, showing generous textures framed with careful poise.

And her 2023s are simply irresistible. A hot, dry vintage with perfectly timed rain produced exceptional white Burgundies and plenty of them. Her everyday Bourgogne blanc is rich and easygoing; her St-Romain is an overperforming gem. Her St-Aubin 1er En Remilly is compact, sophisticated and powerful. But (as usual) her Puligny-Montrachet “Grands Champs” is our favorite white.

Most Burgundy aficionados consider Puligny the pinnacle of white Burgundy – a perfect blend of fruit and stone and wood. Sofie’s “Les Grands Champs” is unmistakable Puligny, and is certainly her most elegant wine. Like all good Puligny it will continue to improve for years; but the 2023 is precocious for the appellation, and already a masterpiece. Look for white flowers, lime zest, and stones on a very long, classy finish.

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Bohrmann Puligny-Montrachet “Grands Champs” 2023
bottle price: $99

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The Loire Valley continues to be one of the most exciting corners of winemaking in France. Organic viticulture, balanced wines, and affordable prices are the rule here rather than the exception. We find ourselves reaching for Loire reds often these days, whatever the occasion – they’re characterful, refreshing, complex and downright tasty.

Our favorite source for these delicious reds is the Domaine des Sanzay, an organic fixture of Saumur-Champigny in the central Loire. Their unblended Cabernet Franc wines have become highly popular in our warehouse, with their simple Saumur red and old-vine cuvée opening tasters’ eyes to a new expression of the grape. But today we’re focused on their most impressive wine, an old-vine single parcel cuvée – a Cab Franc with real presence.

With 60+ year old vines and giving small yields and very intense fruit, Sanzay’s 2018 “Dares” cuvée has taken a few years to settle down. But today it’s magnificent. Vinous’s Loire Valley reviewer Rebecca Gibb MW found “masses of well-handled tannins, fruit depth…powerful and well-made.” The nose shows dried rose petals, wild cherries and stones; the mouth is a gorgeous blend of cool earth and blackberries, with a subtle, delicious texture structure that recalls Nuits-St-Georges.

Well-aged Cabernet Franc can rival Burgundy for subtlety and depth, and this is a perfect example. It’s not  quite to the level of its iconic neighbor Clos Rougeard, but at $32 (rather than $320), it’s almost certainly a better value.

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Sanzay Saumur-Champigny “les Dares” 2018
bottle price: $32

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Sancerre remains among the world’s best known white wines. Sauvignon blanc, a naturally high acid grape, is well positioned to weather today’s hot summers without losing pep and energy. Our source here is the Domaine de la Garenne, an old family domaine of the highest quality, certified organic and practicing many biodynamic techniques.

Garenne’s cuvées aren’t showy or innovative – they’re honest, punchy, simply delicious Sancerre. We import four cuvées from them in stock, but our best seller has always been “Bouffants.” This unoaked sauvignon blanc comes from 40+ year old vines in a limestone-rich plot with excellent drainage. It’s a perfectly located single vineyard cuvée, and from one of the best plots in the appellation.

The 2023 is everything you want from Sancerre. There’s no oak, and the old vines contribute loads of dry concentration cut by a chiseled, stony backbone. The nose shows grapefruit zest and herbal honey, and the mouth bursts with white flowers, lime, and stone. Serve this with a hearty shrimp pasta with herbs and parm.

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Garenne Sancerre “Bouffants” 2023
bottle price: $34

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It doesn’t take an expert to notice that Guillaume Goujon and Sebastien Dupré are farming organically. Their vines (pictured), located in the Côte de Brouilly, share the earth with an impressive array of herbs, flowers, grasses, and wildlife – all in the name of fostering biodiversity and soil health. In the cellar Dupré and Goujon have a similarly light touch – their cuvées are made with whole clusters, ambient yeasts, limited oak and almost no sulfites.

Part of the Dupré-Goujon recipe is an extended elevage for their reds of over two years, first in barrels, and then in tanks. This is nearly unheard-of patience in the Beaujolais, but one that turns out exceptional wines. These are every bit as complex and well built as Pinots from further north, and they’ve quickly gained a loyal following among our readers. Critic William Kelley calls the wines “supple and charming” and labeling them “an estate to watch.”

Their Cote de Brouilly “Héronde” cuvée is exquisite in 2022. Sebastien explained to us that it is a delicate business to use barrels to raise Gamay, and that they employ them to enrobe the tannins, not to add to their prominence. In the glass, Heronde 2022 is serious and seductive, with gorgeous floral aromas of violets and cassis framed by papery tannins and hints of graphite and rose petals. Give this a half hour decant, and marvel at the new world of possibilities in the Beaujolais.

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Dupré-Goujon Côte de Brouilly “Heronde” 2022
bottle price: $39

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The 2023 red Burgundies are still quite young, but they’ve already begun to reveal themselves as a tremendous vintage. From a growing season full of extreme heat and drought but with perfectly timed rains, the best wines are perfectly balanced – with modest alcohol, excellent density, and vibrant textures. We heard more than a few winemakers describe them as “digeste” (roughly, digestible), and it’s an excellent characterization.

Nobody was more successful than Gautier Desvignes, a humble thirtysomething winemaker with a near limitless attention to detail. Gautier landed back at his family’s domaine a decade ago, and has since transformed it into one of the region’s superstars. We find ourselves saying this almost every year, but his 2023s are the best he’s made – ripe and sleek with perfect extraction and maturity, vibrant textures, and elegant, lifting finishes.

At the northern end of town lies Gautier’s Givry 1er cru “Clos Charlé.” It’s a plot that produces elegant, chiseled wines, with beautiful detail and loads of dark fresh fruit. The tannins are fine grained and seamless, with pretty notes of rose petals and cool berries. It has the weight of a Beaune 1er cru, with a stony freshness amid the perfectly detailed fruit. Now six months after arriving this has just begun to open up; serve with refined dishes like duck or mushroom risotto.

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Desvignes Givry 1er “Clos Charlé” 2023
bottle price: $45

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