Author: Thomas Wilcox

For the winemakers of Chablis the 2024 vintage was about as difficult as they come. Spring frosts, months of rain, summer hailstorms, and relentless humidity in the vines all combined to produce one of the smallest crops in recent memory. But handled correctly, the vintage also produced thrilling wines shot with tension and vibrant energy – a return to classical Chablis.

For years now Jasper Morris has called Cyril Gautheron “a superb producer making wines in a crisp cool classically Chablis style,” and the 2024 vintage provides a ringing affirmation of this praise. The wines are a beautiful showcase for Cyril’s skills and for the subtleties of Chablis terroir.

Gautheron’s Chablis 1er cru Vaucoupin is raised entirely in stainless steel. The south facing vineyard provides ample ripeness, even in a dreary vintage like 2024. The resulting wine is dense, laser focused, and bursting with saline freshness. Jasper Morris found it “strict on the nose with excellent energy on the palate…lively reverberations all the way through.” A Chablis for purists, and a bargain to boot.

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Gautheron Chablis 1er cru “Vaucoupin” 2024
bottle price: $48

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If you know anything about Margaux, it’s probably about the iconic Chateau Margaux. But there’s lots to the appellation besides the famous First-Growth chateau. Margaux’s sandy, gravel-filled soils produce some of the Left Bank’s most elegant red wines; Jancis Robinson cites their “haunting perfume,” and “silky texture.”

One of our favorite discoveries from Margaux is Chateau Larrieu-Terrefort. We’re not claiming it competes with its famous neighbor, but with Chateau Margaux running $750 per bottle, this sub-$50 cuvée is a comparative bargain. Margaux has exceptional terroir – don’t limit yourself to experiencing it only as a splurge.

This is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot, and offers affordable refinement and class. The terrific 2019 vintage is at work here, with perfectly structured tannins and exquisite balance. The nose is sophisticated and pretty with notes of sweet spice and oak; the mouth is fine and long with a delicate balance and very long finish.

This is beautiful today and a perfect pairing for a chill in the air.

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Chateau Larrieu-Terrefort Margaux 2019
bottle price: $48

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The Domaine Pierre André is in its last few years of existence. Jaqueline passed away a few years ago, and her son and nephew have decided not to continue the domaine. We wish it would continue, but we understand: the work of a vigneron is tireless and never-ending, even when it’s your life’s calling – someone whose heart isn’t in it just couldn’t do it.

As we enjoy the last few vintages, we can celebrate the iconic domaine. Jacqueline’s father was a pioneer in organic viticulture, having decided in 1965 that chemicals were bad for his vines and having abandoned all of them altogether. Jacqueline was proud to tend the vines she had inherited that were up to 145 years old. The domaine was certified organic in the early 1980s – among the first anywhere – and for many decades Jacqueline quietly carried on her family’s great tradition.

The 2023 vintage of her red Chateauneuf du Pape is the last that she saw all the way through to bottling, and no surprise, it is gorgeous. Like a few other great winemakers of her era, Jacqueline made a single cuvée of red wine, blending in all the wine from patches of terroir across the appellation. The nose is expressive, showing the wild strawberry fruit of the dominant Grenache, as well as floral notes of violet and maybe a touch of licorice. The weight is medium, with just enough structure and an exceptionally long finish that completes this strikingly elegant wine. André was a master of channeling rich southern grapes in wines of poise and class, and the 2023 is a remarkable achievement.

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André Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge 2023
bottle price: $68

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Weather dictates just about everything in the life of a vigneron. We often meet winemakers who can instantly recall rainfall levels and harvest dates from 30 years ago. The 2024 vintage is one many would soon rather forget – bad flowering, mildew, and endless rain dramatically reduced yields at most domaines.

At Michel Gros in Vosne Romanée, quantities were down 60% on average, a result of low yields but also aggressive sorting. The remaining wines are terrific – perhaps our favorite 2024s we tasted – but sadly quite limited in quantity. Our tiny allocation of 2024s will be in next Sunday’s November Futures release and we’re excited to tell you about them soon.

In the meantime, Pierre Gros has offered a nice selection of 2023s to fill the gaps – an abundant and terrific vintage that’s already delicious. One of our favorite 2023 cuvées is the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits rouge, and as luck would have it, it’s still available in France. We’re getting more for our own stock, and invite you to join us.

We opened this over the weekend at the Depot and it stole the show. The nose is classic Gros – silky and earthy with a dose of toast mixed with wild cherry. The mouth is smooth and pretty with beautiful energy and subtle tannin. Neal Martin of Vinous agreed, finding “fine-boned tannins…a pleasant chalky finish,” and counseled “enjoy this over three of four years.”

You’d be hard-pressed to find a better house red Burgundy, and with a futures price around $32/bot this is among the best buys we know.

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Michel Gros Hautes-Côtes de Nuits rouge 2023

Retail: $504 per case
Futures: $395/case  ($32.92/bot)

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No Ansonia winemaker has captured more readers’ attention in the last few years than Pierre Vessigaud. We get emails with comments like “the wines are so alive,” and “as good as Meursault but half the price.” We’re not surprised – we find ourselves reaching for Vessigaud’s wines more often every month.

Pierre and his wife and son are committed biodynamic vignerons whose wines are Demeter certified, the highest organic classification. In the bottle this translates to superb purity and clarity, with careful elevage and excellent balance. His finest wines are his two premier crus, and today we’re excited to offer the 2024 from “Vignes Blanches.” It’s a convincing argument for Pouilly-Fuissé’s newly elevated appellations.

Vessigaud’s 2024 Pouilly-Fuissé 1er cru “Vignes Blanche,” is rich, smooth, and vibrant, with unusual power and depth. Even at this level Vessigaud eschews new oak, opting for 5-year-old demi-muids (large 600L barrels) for a year. He’s right, of course – the wine wants for nothing, showing notes of brioche, pear, and chalk with a long, sleek, shimmering finish.

“This is achingly good – simply excellent wine,” Bill Nanson writes in his “Burgundy report.” Served alongside Meursault and Chassagne, this wine more than holds its own.

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Vessigaud Pouilly-Fuissé 1er cru “Vignes Blanches” 2024
bottle price: $59

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Regular readers will know Gautier Desvignes, the humble, friendly, thirtysomething winemaker who has transformed his modest family domaine into a top name in the region. William Kelley writes that Desvignes is “one of the leading lights in the Côte Chalonnaise,” and we wholeheartedly agree.

Gautier has refined his cellar technique considerably, using gentler extractions, and focused his barrel work through exhaustive (some might say obsessive) experimentation and tasting. The resulting wines easily rival reds from the Côte d’Or in detail and complexity, and simply blow them away on price. We had today’s bottle open over the weekend alongside reds from the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune, and the Givry was the clear winner.

The “Clos du Vernoy” is the Desvignes monopole, with vines dating back to 1960. It produces deep, woodsy wines that overperform their humble Côte Chalonnaise appellation. The 2024 shows sweet red fruits (strawberry and cherry), with a beautiful, elegant stoniness beneath. The texture is extremely fine, with a mouthwatering freshness that carries across the rich fruit. This ambitious, impressive cuvée offers soaring elegance in 2024, and provides tremendous value.

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Desvignes Givry 1er “Clos du Vernoy” 2024
bottle price: $45

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Dupré-Goujon is quietly becoming a leading domaine in the Beaujolais. Winemakers Sebastien Dupré and Guillaume Goujon are crafting outstanding wines that elevate the potential of the gamay grape. We get emails from customers with comments like “had no idea Beaujolais could be that good,” and “best Gamay I’ve ever had, by a lot.” We agree, and often find ourselves reaching for these vibrant organic wines.

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 unheard-of patience in the Beaujolais, but one that turns out exceptional wines. Next month’s Beaujolais Nouveau release is the 2026 – Dupré-Goujon is just now releasing their 2023s.

Their Côte de Brouilly “Pavé” cuvée is from 60 year old gamay vines, and the intensity from the aged vines is evident. The nose on the 2023 is deep and floral, with beautiful violet perfume; the mouth is at once chiseled and juicy, with a savory profile joining the brairy dark raspberry fruits. The tannins are fine and papery, a perfect structure for the classy fruit. Given the density we wouldn’t hesitate to age this 5 years, but it’s already a treat. Serve with grilled meats or at your next tailgate.

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Dupré-Goujon Côte de Brouilly “Pavé” 2023
bottle price: $38

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The Maconnais continues to be undefeated as a source of bang-for-buck white Burgundy. The wines here have never been better, while the secret is out about its value, the prices have yet to catch up. As evidence, we submit Sebastien Giroux, who farms a tiny 6-hectare estate essentially by himself. His disciplined, organic winemaking results in extraordinary wines – William Kelley describes them as “supple, pure and charming.”

Sebastien refuses to be rushed into bottling any of his wines on a rigid schedule, and when he believes a wine will benefit from more elevage, he waits. Many winemakers are releasing their 2025s these days; Sebastian has just released his 2023 Macon-Fuissé. Giving a $29 wine this amount of elevage is unheard of, but the results speak for themselves.

When the original lines of the Pouilly-Fuissé appellation were drawn last century, the Vers Chanes plot was forest. Today most locals agree the since-cleared land would rank inside the appellation if the lines were redrawn. Lucky for us – today it remains a Macon-Fuissé, an overperforming terroir with a less famous name.

The wine itself is exquisite – unoaked Chardonnay with precise, linear focus amid a fleshy, delicious palate. The nose calls to mind the golden lushness of Pouilly-Fuissé, but without the oak to obscure the gorgeous fruit. The mouth is lithe and precise, with chiseled minerality beneath the apple blossom and apricot notes. Sub-$30 white Burgundy is on its way to becoming a thing of the past. Giroux’s Macon-Fuissé is proof the genre remains.

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Giroux Mâcon-Fuissé “Vers Chanes” 2023
bottle price: $29

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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 just-arrived 2024 Morgon is everything you want in an autumn red: clear and crisp fruit, excellent freshness, earthy undertones. It caught Neal Martin’s eye (a notoriously exacting grader), who found it “nicely focused” with a “simple but clean bouquet of wild strawberry and raspberry.” Serve this with roast chicken, sautéed mushrooms, and crispy potatoes.

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Berne Morgon 2024
bottle price: $32

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There’s not much wine grown in Normandy, the starkly beautiful region along the English Channel in northern France. But along with scallops, oysters, butter, and some magnificent cheeses, Normandy is renowned for its cider. Apples and pears have been grown, pressed and fermented here for more than a thousand years.

Cyprien Lireux is a thirtysomething artisan cidermaker who returned home after business school to work his ancestral land. Having learned the art of cidermaking from his father and grandfather, he purchased several small abandoned orchards nearby and set up shop as a cidrerie. His delicious ciders have just arrived, and they’re the perfect companions to fall.

Norman ciders and American craft ciders differ in several important ways, starting with the apples. Thousands of ancient apple varieties grow across France – most are inedible raw, but perfect for hard cider. Norman ciders are less about sweetness and more about tension and texture: crisp, very dry, and relatively low in alcohol.

Lireux’s house cider is “Soixante.Quarante,” named for the 60/40 proportion of sharp vs. bitter apples. It’s dry, pleasantly herbal and savory in the nose, with great tension in the mouth. There’s a delicate salinity alongside notes of lemon peel and quince with a hint of bitterness. A faint tannin underlies the mouthfeel, and at 6.5% abv it’s lively and easy to enjoy. Serve this with grilled fish, mussels, or roasted chicken.

Lireux Cidre “Soixante.Quarante”
bottle price: $25

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His other cuvée is called “Premises” and is a perry – made from seven different heritage varieties of pear, and even drier than the Soixante.Quarante cider. It’s brighter and prettier, with notes of lime, grapefruit, dried flowers, and a pleasant minerality. It’s more wine-like than the cider, and the match of zesty fruit and brinyness calls to mind a Muscadet. At 4.5% it’s light and refreshing. Pair with sushi, tuna tartare, steamer clams, or fresh goat cheese.

Lireux Poiré “Prémices”
bottle price: $25

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Burgundy is a comparatively small region in size of production, but it covers an enormous range of terroirs. From Chablis in the north to Beaujolais in the south, Burgundy stretches over 150 miles – from just a few unblended grape varietals, the Burgundians produce an extraordinary range of wine.

Today’s wine will be just about the southernmost Burgundy you’ve ever had. This white Beaujolais is 100% chardonnay, and from organically farmed vines at 300m elevation near Brouilly. Winemaker Guillaume Goujon raises this ⅔ in 600L barrels and ⅓ in tank, fermenting with ambient yeasts and giving a year of elevage before bottling.

The resulting wine is sunny and ripe as expected from its latitude, but with low alcohol (13%) and exquisite freshness and detail. It bears the hallmarks of it’s sunny southern hillside – lush fruit and a cheerful, zesty palate – but stays crisp and dry on account of its elevation.

James Suckling’s reviewer effuses: “Not only is this the first great chardonnay from Beaujolais we’ve encountered, but it is also an incredibly joyful expression of the grape, brimming with stone-fruit, lemon-curd and white-flower aromas. The super-elegant, medium-bodied palate has breathtaking purity and precision. Great energy in the very long, chalky finish.”

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Dupré-Goujon Beaujolais blanc “Muriers” 2023
bottle price: $35

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Organic viticulture is the future of winemaking — the majority of our winemakers are organic or in conversion. But at some domaines, it’s also the past. The Domaine du Joncuas in Gigondas turned 100 years old a few years ago, and they’ve practiced organic winemaking, as they put it, “depuis toujours” (“since forever”). Writer Jon Bonné cites them as a benchmark producer for the region, and labels them “essential defenders of grenache’s good name.”

Joncuas wines prove at least one thing about organic winemaking: it works. Sisters Dany and Carole Chastan are third generation vigneronnes practicing old-school winemaking — whole clusters, limited sulfur, all wild yeasts. They use no new oak, and neither fine nor filter. Their wines are juicy and deep and very expressive, with gorgeous fruit.

Their 2019 Gigondas would beat the socks off many a Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Grown from ancient Grenache vines and crafted with technology that their grandfather who founded the domaine would recognize, this is old-school winemaking at its best. Vinous’s Josh Raynolds awarded 92 points, finding “sweet raspberry and bitter cherry…excellent clarity…silky texture…energetic, long, sappy finish.”

As autumn finally arrives, this is rich, cozy, profound wine that’s not to be missed.

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Joncuas Gigondas 2019
bottle price: $42

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We’re a two-generation business, so we have been particularly interested to watch the generations change at our French producers over the years. France pushes its seniors into retirement about five years earlier than does the US, but otherwise it’s much as it is here – smoother or bumpier depending on history and personalities. Michel Gros took the reins at his family’s famous domaine as a very young man after his father Jean suffered a stroke, so he had 45 years to acquire vines and refine his techniques.

The transition to his son Pierre has been smooth, and because Michel is always happiest when he is in the vines, he has not disappeared from the scene. But it’s Pierre steering the ship now, and he’s had too much success to chalk up to beginner’s luck. In easy vintages and hard ones, Pierre has produced stellar wines, maintaining and even elevating his family domaine’s sterling reputation.

The Gros family has lived in Vosne-Romanée for centuries, and so their plots in the town hold special significance. There’s the flagship Vosne premier cru “Clos des Réas” of course, but their other holdings also carry the domaine’s signature polish and grace. Over the years both Michel and his father Jean added parcels at the Vosne village level, and today the Domaine’s Vosne-Romanée offers an excellent example of the village’s signature aromatic profile of spice and violets.

The subsoils range from hard limestone to salmon colored marl like the marl that underlies the family’s 1er cru monopole Clos des Réas. Their combined effect is to produce a soft and elegant wine that suits the family’s 100% destemmed style like a glove. Their 2022 village-level Vosne is a masterpiece – sleek, detailed and ethereal but with excellent density and tremendous length. Burghound found notes of “plum, violet, pomegranate, sandalwood, and Asian-style tea” in the nose of the 2022. He also praised its “subtle minerality” and its “chalky, lingering and well-balanced finale,” concluding: “Lovely.”

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Gros Vosne-Romanée 2022
bottle price: $129

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“It’s going to be a quicker tasting than usual,” Romain Collet chuckled as he welcomed us into his tasting room this spring. As with most addresses in Burgundy, 2024 was not an easy one at the Domaine Collet. The weather gods were particularly tough on Chablis, and Romain lost two cuvées (Forêts and Butteaux) entirely, amid losses everywhere.

But the surviving wine is delicious, and, as usual in Chablis, a terrific value. Romain’s best wine this year was his Chablis 1er Cru “Vaillons” – it’s always been a reader favorite and this vintage makes it easy to see why. Romain raises this left bank cuvée in three different vessels, one third each: stainless steel tank, barrel, and huge foudre. There’s no hint of oak, but the three methods blended together round the wine beautifully into a complex cuvée with a very long finish.

It has a bit more weight than classical Chablis, but avoids being flat or overly tropical. There’s a pleasant stoniness amid the fleshy dry-fruited mouthfeel. Burghound found “citrus and apple” with “voluminous middle weight flavors that flash a subtle bead of minerality.” This is unusually good on its own this year – pair with anything or nothing.

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Collet Chablis 1er Cru “Vaillons” 2024
bottle price: $45

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Everyone knows Sancerre, the popular, easy-to-pronounce, well-priced white Loire wine. But fewer people know its less famous neighbor across the river: Pouilly-Fumé. Same grape, similar soils, slightly harder to pronounce, but even better pricing. Our producer here is Frederic Michot, a friendly, energetic winemaker who crafts refreshing, user-friendly, flat out delicious Sauvignon Blanc.

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 2025 has just arrived and it’s 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 2025
bottle price: $25

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