Author: Thomas Wilcox

Champagne is one of the most dynamic winegrowing regions in France today. Interest has moved away from the unvarying products from the big houses, and towards small grower producers who follow terroir and vintage variations to craft wines of character and complexity. Prices have also risen less steeply than in Burgundy and Bordeaux, and Champagnes today often provide exceptional value.

One of our favorites is Maison Jacques Robin, a tiny family-run grower Champagne house in the Côtes des Bar. This sub region of Champagne, an hour south of the main towns of Reims and Epernay, features soils with a mix of clay and kimmeridgian marl. Pinot Noir dominates the vineyards here, and the clay rich soils produce fuller, more chewy-textured Champagnes – today’s cuvée is 100% Pinot noir.

“Cuvée Kimmerdigienne” is Robin’s finest wine, and we’re currently stocking their terrific 2012 vintage. The nose is a stunner, with notes of almonds, apricots, praline, and chalk. The mouth is delicious and refined, with notes of seashell, lemon zest, kiwi, brioche and vanilla. Having spent a decade on the lees, this shows extraordinary complexity and detail, all across a concentrated , chewy texture. Whether you’re new to Champagne or already have the bug, this will impress just about anyone.

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Robin Champagne Kimmeridgienne 2012
bottle price: $85

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The Hautes-Côtes de Nuits are a patchwork of vineyards in the hills just west of the famous Côte d’Or. The land is 100 meters higher and the grapes ripens about a week later. With rising temperatures and earlier harvests, this delay has become a real advantage, and the wines from the Hautes-Côtes get better each year.

Pierre Gros makes three excellent cuvées from the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, offering all the polish and class of the rest of the Gros lineup, but with a much friendlier pricetag. Their 2022s from the Hautes-Côtes are outstanding – beautifully balanced with ripe dark fruit and fresh, mouthfilling textures. They age with ease, but they’re already hard to put down.

Gros’s base Hautes-Côtes de Nuits cuvée is terrific in 2022. It combines an earthy, toasty palate with an effortlessly silky mouthfeel. The nose shows plum, baked strawberry, licorice, and earth. The mouth is long and elegant, but with great density and persistence. Neal Martin found “an overtly floral nose…very aromatic…quite fleshy in style with a gentle grip.”

When the moment calls for Burgundy but you don’t want to pony up for Chambolle-Musigny, here’s a great option at less than half the price.

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Michel Gros Hautes-Côtes de Nuits 2022
bottle price:  $39

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Nicolas Paget continues to produce excellent, dry, delicious Chenin Blanc from his organically farmed vineyard in the central Loire Valley. The Loire is an epicenter of natural winemaking in France, and Paget’s style is restrained, clean, and vibrant. We find chenin blanc marries particularly well with the earthy complexity that comes from organic farming, and Paget’s wines are obvious successes.

Paget’s Chinon blanc 2021 is pure Chenin blanc, this one raised in large barrels (none new). The oak is deftly handled, and you might not even notice it if you didn’t know what to look for – it adds a bit of depth and white pepper to the clean orchard fruit. It’s deeper in the nose than the most dry Chenin Blanc – think gardenia and rose – but with the same pretty pear fruit. 

The 2021 is drier than last year’s, and we think more sophisticated and impressive. There’s a savory grape-skin minerality to the wine that gives a mouthwatering texture reminiscent of Chablis. It’s a classy wine that should pair well with a range of springtime foods – a lobster roll, crab cakes, or raclette grilled cheese.

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Paget Chinon blanc 2021
bottle price:  $29

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The Northern Rhône Valley is best known for its syrahs from Côte Rôtie, Hermitage, and Cornas – magnificent wines that require diligent cellaring. In their youth they can be finicky and underwhelming, but given time they’re some of the most impressive and complex red wines made anywhere in the world. For those with a dearth of cellar space or patience (no shame) but a taste for Northern syrah, we submit Crozes-Hermitage.

Our source here is Dennis Basset, a talented organic winemaker crafting beautifully balanced pure-Syrah wines that require far less cellaring to reach maturity. Basset’s wines improve for years, but they’re delicious just about from the moment the arrive. Most of Basset’s wines are from Crozes-Hermitage, but today’s is from St-Joseph, on the other side of the Rhône river.

Denis farms just over a hectare of old vines in St-Joseph here, which produce rich, intense, very elegant syrah. The nose is deep and dark with notes of cloves, violets, and intense black pepper; the mouth is full and inky but with excellent tension and notes of roasted meat and licorice. At 13.5% alcohol this is classic Northern Rhône Syrah – dark and brooding but with tremendous lift and elegance. As grilling season returns, pair this with lamb burgers, and give this wine an hour in a carafe or decanter.

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St-Clair Saint-Joseph 2022
bottle price:  $35

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If, as the saying goes, for wine collectors “all roads lead to Burgundy,” then among Burgundy lovers “all roads lead to Vosne-Romanée.” No where else in the region – or for that matter the world – does one find so perfect a combination of limestone, marl and clay. Vosne is Pinot Noir’s ideal environment, and its expressions of the grape are unmatched.

The Gros family has lived and made wine in Vosne-Romanée for centuries – they’re as much a part of the town’s history as the church tower and the sloping vineyards. Our source here is the Domaine Michel Gros, where today seventh generation winemaker Pierre Gros runs the domaine which has operated from the same house in the center of town since 1830.

Pierre farms vines all across the Côte de Nuits, but of course their vines in Vosne-Romanée are special. They own Vosne’s only premier cru monopole, the Clos des Réas, but also a collection of village-level plots they blend into a terrific appellation-wide cuvée. Pierre’s 2022 Vosne-Romanée offers an excellent example of the village’s signature aromatic profile of spice and violets. 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, and a wine that should repay up to a decade of keeping.”

In short, special wine from a special place.

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Michel Gros Vosne-Romanée 2022
bottle price:  $129

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Though it has no Grand Cru vineyards, Meursault’s white Burgundies are some of the most sought after in the world. Classical Meursault is opulent, almost decadent white Burgundy, but always with enough lift and tension to keep it balanced and graceful.

Vincent and Sylvie Boyer are brother and sister winemakers with a mouthwatering collection of vines in and around Meursault and Puligny. One of our favorites of their many gems is a small plot just in back of their domaine called “Ormeau.” It was Vincent and Sylvie’s great grandmother Lucie who planted the vines here in 1924, and for over a century they’ve produced rich, gorgeous Meursault from their clay-rich soils.

This is prototypical, sophisticated Meursault. The nose shows white peaches and citrus, with pear and a faint note of hazelnut. The mouth shows mouthfilling concentration and superb energy across a long, lingering finish. As always with the Boyers the balance is impeccable – Burghound cites “underlying tension” and “a subtle bead of minerality” with a “clean and nicely dry finale,” concluding “delicious.”

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Boyer-Martenot Meursault “Ormeau” 2022
bottle price:  $95

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For centuries the Ravaut family has made traditional red and white Burgundies from their small domaine just north of Beaune. Their little-known hamlet of Ladoix sits at the junction between the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits. It’s one of the corners of Burgundy where winemakers will somewhat sheepishly admit that, aside from frosts and hailstorms (a big aside), climate change has improved their wines.

Vincent Ravaut and his sons have taken this opportunity and run with it – they’ll be certified EU organic as of this vintage, they’ve dialed back oak, and, crucially, have abandoned “pigeage” (punching down) to extract their wines. Once necessary to pull color and flavor from grapes in vintages on the margins of ripeness, their crop now arrives at harvest with enough concentration to ferment more gently. The resulting wines are smoother, beautifully balanced, and simply delicious young.

No wine has improved more than their humble Bourgogne Côte d’Or rouge 2022. The nose is dark and plummy with juicy notes of wild cherries and earth. The Ravauts elected not to filter this wine this year, and the result is a juicy and effortlessly enjoyable glass of red Burgundy. It’s straightforward, polished, and extremely well-priced everyday red Burgundy – a shrinking category these days to which we’re delighted to add.

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Ravaut Bourgogne rouge 2022
bottle price:  $29

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Biodynamic and organic agriculture is everywhere in France these days. Nearly every one of our producers is certified or in conversion, and even few those who aren’t use the lunar calendar to schedule dates for racking and bottling. It’s an encouraging trend: better soils, better environment, and better wines.

But some winemakers have been on the train for decades. The Maconnais domaine that produces Forces Telluriques has been certified biodynamic for over 30 years, and they’re true believers: minimal vineyard intervention in the vines, meticulous and hands-off winemaking. William Kelley calls them “one of the best producers in the Mâconnais “ producing “ honeyed, concentrated wines that are imbued with remarkable concentration and energy.”

The Forces Telluriques vines are between 30 and 100 years old, producing gorgeous, concentrated juice. The wine is raised in enameled vats without any oak. The 2022 vintage is superb, round and full in the mouth yet offering memorable lemony freshness (the alcohol level is just 13%). There is plenty of complexity, as mineral notes join the fruit; and the wine persists on the palate beautifully. Jasper Morris writes: “deliciously floral…amazing how such a luxurious style of chardonnay can retain elegance.”

NOTE: For Boston area readers, Forces Telluriques winemaker Gautier Roussille will be pouring at the Depot on Saturday 4/26.

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Forces Telluriques Viré-Clessé 2022
bottle price:  $42

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The red wines of the Loire Valley always play second fiddle to the region’s whites. But it’s a mistake to ignore them – they’re well balanced, low-alcohol, usually organic, and often exceptional values. Our favorites these days are the unblended, unoaked Cabernet Francs from the central Loire.

We visited winemakers Celine and Didier Sanzay last week at their domaine in the central Loire Valley. They’re fifth generation growers in Saumur-Champigny producing fresh, pure Cabernet Franc in the modern Loire style — small batch, organic, wild yeasts, no fining or filtering. Their 2023s in particular are “Loire classique” Didier told us last week – a return to the refreshing, low-alcohol.

Their 2023 Saumur-Champigny is exactly what you want Loire Cab Franc to be: pure, joyful, unoaked, and fresh. Clean, juicy fruit bursts from the glass on the nose — think wild cherries and graphite. The mouth is fresh, fruit forward, inky, and intense, with a bold and vibrant attack and a quick clean finish. Picture a juicy Beaujolais with more serious texture and darker fruit.

Consider it an alternative to your everyday, catch-all Côtes-du-Rhône red. As spring weather arrives, this is the perfect patio red.

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Sanzay Saumur-Champigny 2023
bottle price:  $22

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On Wednesday we visited 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. His care and precision in the vineyards and the cellar was on display this week, and the results speak for themselves.

Gautier’s 2022s show a talented winemaker firing on all cylinders. He has refined his cellar technique considerably, using gentler extractions, and focused his barrel work through exhaustive 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.

Givry 1er cru “Clos Charlé” is detailed and sophisticated – higher toned and with more chiseled detail than his other premier crus. It’s particularly good in 2022, a vintage that provided a bit of extra fruit to cover the fine mineral backbone. The nose shows peony, wild cherries, and a delicate stoniness. The mouth is darker but retains a vibrant minerality alongside the inky fruit. Serve with a roast chicken on a spring Sunday afternoon.

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Desvignes Givry 1er “Clos Charlé” 2022
bottle price:  $42

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We tasted yesterday at the Domaine Gautheron in Chablis. A winemaker’s first task these days – in Burgundy, but particularly in Chablis – is to achieve freshness, and there’s nobody we know better than Cyril. Jasper Morris agrees, writing “Cyril Gautheron is a superb producer making wines in a crisp cool classically Chablis style, which is now really quite hard to achieve in these warmer seasons.”

Gautheron’s 2023s are magnificent, and we can’t wait to bring them back to the states, but the 2022s are gorgeous and already in stock. Montée de Tonnerre is the best Premier Cru in Chablis – some consider it a would-be Grand Cru, and indeed it abuts the hill of Grand Crus directly. Gautheron’s 2022 is a triumph, a regal wine bursting with fruit and stones and remarkable length. He ages this cuvée half in concrete and half in old 500L barrels, which give a whisper of spice amid the dry golden fruit and bursting minerals.

This has the length and complexity of a Côte d’Or premier cru white Burgundy, but the zip of stony, chiseled minerals that could only be Chablis. Jasper Morris found it “typical…Montée de Tonnerre,” with a “succulence” and a “long generous finish.” This is serious wine from a remarkably successful producer – and at a third what it’d cost you in Puligny.

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Gautheron Chablis 1er “Montée de Tonnerre” 2022
bottle price:  $48

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On Monday we tasted with Pierre Gros, winemaker at the domaine Michel Gros in Vosne-Romanée. The baton has passed gradually and smoothly at this domaine, and while his father Michel and his 45 years of experience are always available, Pierre has unmistakably taken the reins. Neal Martin writes “I detect a change in tack rather than charting a totally different course,” and we tend to agree. If his first few vintages at the helm are any indication, the future at Gros may be even brighter than the past.

Gros’s 2023s – still in barrel through the spring and summer – are magnificent: lush and ripe but with exceptional tension and fresh, crackling mouthfeels. (As usual they’ll be on offer in November.) But the 2022s have just begun to drink beautifully – it’s a similar vintage to 2023 in style, but with a dose more intensity, and a softer patina from the year in the bottle.

Gros’s Hautes Côtes de Nuits “Au Vallon” comes from south-facing vines and with extra sun always achieves a bit more ripeness – it’s regional level burgundy but with unusually fine character. Burghound awarded his “ outstanding” designation to this wine, finding “sleek, vibrant and utterly delicious flavors.” Neal Martin of Vinous found “a lovely nose with rose-petal-tinged red cherry and crushed strawberry fruit.” Anyone searching for everyday Burgundy value of the highest caliber should take note.

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Gros Hautes-Côtes de Nuits “Au Vallon” 2022
bottle price:  $42

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Chambolle Musigny’s three most famous terroirs are the Grand Crus Musigny and Bonnes-Mares, and Premier Cru Amoureuses. All three fetch prices north of $500/bot (some well into four figures), and are among Burgundy’s most iconic and long lived wines.

If you had to pick a fourth best terroir, it’d be Les Fuées, a premier cru immediately next to Grand Cru Bonnes-Mares. And it’s here that today’s wine originates. The Domaine Boursot farms an exceptional collection of 75+ year old vines in Fuées, and the wine is extraordinary. We spent yesterday morning tasting with the Boursot brothers, and they’re an exciting domaine that gets better each year.

Vinous’s Neal Martin describes Boursot’s wines as “superb,” “excellent,” “very fine,” and “worth seeking out,” finding the 2020 Fuées “velvety smooth with impressive depth” and a “long, persistent finish.” Indeed Fuées marries power and gracefulness in a way only a Chambolle vineyard can. The nose is dark and brooding, with cassis, violets, and gingerbread. The mouth is huge and intense — today it’s bold and impressive; in a few years it will be refined, elegant, ethereal, and smooth.

JF Mugnier’s Chambolle Fuées goes for around $900/bot, we’re certainly not saying Boursot’s would win in a prizefight. But pound for pound, at 1/9 the cost, it more than holds its own.

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Boursot Chambolle-Musigny 1er “Fuées” 2020
bottle price:  $135  $99

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Yesterday we visited Pierre Vessigaud in Pouilly-Fuissé. He’s relatively new to our portfolio, but the tasting confirmed what we already knew — this is a tremendous find. The Vessigaud domaine is Demeter certified biodynamic vigneron (the highest organic classification), and their wines are simply extraordinary in their complexity and sophistication. The 2023s we’ll be offering later this year are outstanding, but the 2022s remaining in Newton are already delicious.

Vessigaud’s commitment to organic viticulture translates to chardonnay of superb purity and clarity, with vibrant texture and perfect balance. His winemaking style is understated and regal – he uses no new oak in any of his cuvées, opting instead to give the wines long, careful elevages in steel tank and older barrels. As William Kelley puts it, “succulent but serious, any bottle bearing Vessigaud’s label is worth seeking out.”

His Pouilly-Fuissé Vieilles Vignes cuvée is a combination of twenty plots around the appellation with an average age of 60 years. The wine sees 18 months of elevage (20% in tank, 80% in oak between 7 and 15 years old), and shows terrific balance of fruit, stones, and wood. The nose is expressive and pure, with a hint of exotic fruit joining the classical Chardonnay notes. It’s a remarkable amount of flavor and style packed into a sub-$40 bottle.

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Vessigaud Pouilly-Fuissé VV 2022
bottle price: $39

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We’ve spent the last few days tasting across the Southern Rhône Valley. In this era of hot, dry summers and abundant ripeness, a winemaker’s primary task is divining freshness. Across the dozens of Rhône reds we’ve tasted this week, it’s clear that some are more successful than others.

One winemaker with a clear knack for this is Eric Chauvin of the Domaine le Souverain. His red Séguret is always vibrant and full of energy, a blend of grenache and syrah with no oak. Chauvin’s Chauvin’s tiny Domaine le Souverain has no website, and (until this year!) no road signs — his cellar is a converted garage. But his wines have more complexity and depth than nearly anything else we taste at their level, and manage to remain a bargain.

We’ve already imported Souverain’s 2023 Séguret, but Eric poured it for us again yesterday, and it’s as good as ever. Dark, inky berry fruit explodes from the glass, and on the palate the wine pulsates with life and energy. Eric credits careful organic viticulture with his success and we don’t doubt him. The nose both fresh and intense,  with notes of crushed berries, lavender, and a cool earthiness. The mouth is smooth, friendly, and refreshing – clean dark fruit, just the right amount of tannin, and a smooth, easy finish.

This was outstanding yesterday, and thanks to a good sized crop there are a few cases left already available in Newton – and we plan to add more shortly. Pour this to welcome the arrival of spring.

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Souverain Séguret 2023
bottle price: $22

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