Author: Thomas Wilcox

The 2022 red Burgundies are shaping up to be an extraordinary vintage. Expectations were high from the start: “beautiful and bountiful… very good wines and plenty of them” wrote Jasper Morris. William Kelley called them on release “succulent, suave and charming.” And everything from the last two years of tasting them has confirmed — this is a flat out terrific year.

The fruit is modern and ripe, the result of a very hot, very dry growing season. And yet the wines show impeccable balance, with low alcohols and excellent freshness. Roger Belland’s 2022 reds are some of the best he’s made, coinciding with a shift in winemaking style: they’ve dialed back the oak, extended elevage, added whole clusters. They’re more serious than a few years ago – more polished, but just as charming.

The Santenay 1er cru “Beauregard” 2022 is simply delicious, and just getting started. Tasting just after bottling, Burghound noted “fine richness…suave and succulent flavors…could be enjoyed young but has the stuffing to replay up to a decade of keeping.” Over the past 24 months in the bottle its youthful red fruits have mellowed a tad, and the palate has deepened and softened a beat or two. It’s still youthful and fresh, and we think it’s entering a terrific window.

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Belland Santenay 1er rouge “Beauregard” 2022
bottle price: $54

Bottle Price: $54

3+ Bottle Price: $49

6+ Bottle Price: $45

 

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 $50/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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Philippe Cheron and his son Paul farm a portfolio of vineyards in Burgundy that would make even the most seasoned vigneron envious. Their Domaine du Couvent includes vines in every town from Nuits-St-Georges to Marsannay, including village, premier cru and grand cru plots. Their style is sleek and modern but with restrained oak, careful but firm extraction, and gorgeous density of fruit.

Chambolle-Musigny is known for its elegance and silky texture, and indeed the Cherons’ cuvées here show exquisite polish. But they trend more than some other producers’ towards deepness and intensity, making them terrific candidates for aging. Today’s wine is from the outstanding 2019 vintage, now six years on from harvest. Chambolle is usually delicious right from the barrel, but it’s only with a few years’ age that the town’s magic really shines through.

Couvent’s Chambolle-Musigny “Clos de l’Orme” is from a village plot bordering the strip of premier crus, a vineyard rich in minerals with excellent drainage. Cheron bottles the rest of his village Chambolle plots together, but holds this one out for its refined intensity. Jasper Morris found the 2019 “attractive, balanced and long,” and Neal Martin writes of its “succulent black cherry and blueberry fruit, smooth and harmonious.”

In short, this is a Burgundy lover’s treat: six-year-old Chambolle-Musigny from an extraordinary vintage, with a two-digit pricetag.

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Couvent Chambolle-Musigny
“Clos de l’Orme” 2019

bottle price: $115
3+ bottle price (15% off): $97.75      (use code SILK)

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Together with his son Remi, Christophe Mestre continues to make delicious, old-school Châteauneuf-du-Pape year in and year out. We have trouble keeping this wine in stock – it hits the perfect sweet spot for value, accessibility, food matching ability and crowd-pleasing popularity.

Lots of Chateauneuf-du-Pape is built for the long haul, and somewhat inaccessible young – not Mestre’s. It’s middleweight and delicious with gorgeous young fruit and friendly tannins. It ages for 5-8 years with ease, but drinks well from the moment it is in the bottle. The 2023 Châteauneuf-du-Pape is terrific – 50% grenache, 25% mourvèdre, 20% syrah, and 5% cinsault. The nose is focused and beautiful, with lovely deep sappy fruit bursting from the glass.

Grenache makes up only half this wine, but it’s the star of the show this year – luxurious red fruit of wild cherries, raspberries and hints of provencal thyme combine to make an explosive and seductive palate. This is accessible, popular, cozy wine that will perfectly match the season as fall weather returns.

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Mestre Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2023
bottle price: $36

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Look up “Thomas Morey” in the proverbial Ansonia winemaker dictionary, and you’ll find words like “deliberate,” “thoughtful,” “minimalist,” “precise.” You won’t find “opulent,” “generous” or “showy.” Morey’s cellar style is as clean and detailed as his wire rimmed glasses and his Zalto stemware. He’ll only agree to tasting appointments in the morning, and our visits are full of long contemplative silences.

Morey’s white Burgundies are quietly extraordinary. They’re concentrated but perfectly channeled, long but refined – immaculate fruit and stones join the merest whisper of oak. Morey makes terrific wine at every level, but today we’re focused on his simplest: Bourgogne blanc.

This cuvée shows all of the meticulous concentration of all of Morey’s wines, but without the site-specific terroir shining through. It’s not about the chiseled stoniness of Puligny, or the shimmering golden energy of Chassagne; this is about winemaker style. And boy, what a style it is.

Morey’s Bourgogne blanc usually evaporates in Futures, but this year we’ve got a bit extra. Open last night alongside a roast chicken and fall weather, this was simply delicious. The nose shows lime zest and white flowers, the mouth shows yellow plum and earth. Burghound called this “lovely,” and we think you will too.

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Thomas Morey Bourgogne blanc 2023
bottle price: $48

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Our newest Champagne source is RH Coutier, and it’s quickly become a reader favorite. The Coutiers are an old family in Ambonnay (there since 1619), and today produce small-batch Champagnes exclusively from their own organic Grand Cru vineyards.

Antonio Galloni of Vinous calls the Coutier wines “gorgeous…all showing the natural richness of Ambonnay,” and writing they “have been favorites of mine for years, because of their quality, personality, and exceedingly fair prices.” Ambonnay is known as Pinot Noir country, where extra clay and warm southern exposure lend themselves well to the red grape.

Courtier’s base “Cuvée Tradition” is simply exquisite grower Champagne at a remarkable price – every time we open it at the Depot it steals the show. It’s super expressive exploding from the glass with notes of spring flowers, pear, raspberries, herbs and brioche. At 6g dosage and a blend of 70% pinot noir and 30% chardonnay it’s dry but full of fruit, and the texture is at once lush and crisp.

This is accessible, affordable, downright tasty Champagne, with seriously good pricing – full of character, flavor, and life.

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Coutier Champagne “Tradition” NV
bottle price: $54

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The 2022 red Burgundies are quickly becoming one our favorite recent vintages. From the warmest, driest year in recent memory, winemakers managed to craft vibrant and beautifully balanced wines, sporting low alcohol and classic Burgundian finesse. They’re modern in their sunny polish, but traditional in their middleweight, elegant textures. If this is the future of Burgundy, sign us up.

Philippe Cheron’s had some of his 2022 Bourgogne left when we made our purchase from him this year, and we snapped up more of this terrific entry-level wine. This is even better than a year ago, and easily the most impressive Bourgogne rouge we stock. From vines near Gevrey-Chambertin, this wine transcends the genre in a way few other Bourgognes do: humble in appellation, but striking in taste. Cheron used 100% whole clusters, adding definition to the dark fruit.

Don’t think of this like a regional wine – picture an extremely well-priced village level red. The nose is deep and beautiful with intense dark fruit but excellent lift – there’s a stony earthiness behind the plums that’s balanced and enticing. The mouth is clear, long, and nimble, bouncing from wild cherries to anise to black pepper and back to cassis. Burghound praised its “racy, delicious, well detailed flavors.” After a year in the bottle this is flat out delicious.

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Couvent Bourgogne Côte d’Or 2022
bottle price: $45

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Cyril Gautheron makes a wide range of wines from his family domaine in Chablis. They’re all from the same grape of course (Chardonnay), and all from the same town (Chablis). But the range from Petit Chablis up to Grand Cru covers an enormous range of terroir and expression. Each is carefully and beautifully crafted, leading Jasper Morris MW to call him “a superb producer.”

Among our favorites in 2023 was his Montmains Premier Cru – it’s an exceptional plot, with vines high on a southeast facing hill planted in the 1940s. The balance is just beautiful, with good roundness in the mouth, plenty of freshness at the same time, and extraordinary persistence on the palate.

The 80+ year age of these vines has something to do with the exceptional results, but vinification also plays a part. For a part of this wine Cyril has used a 3500 liter wooden cuve tronconique (a cone lopped off at the top to make a truncated cone). It delivers micro-oxygenation without much movement of the lees, retaining freshness and focus while adding depth. This is superb white Burgundy, available for half the cost of Meursault.

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Gautheron Chablis 1er Montmains VV 2023
bottle price: $52

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Most Burgundy drinkers are familiar with the Clos Vougeot, a 12th century castle surrounded by an enormous Grand Cru vineyard. It’s a cultural and viticultural landmark of Burgundy – impeccably preserved, and worth a stop on your next visit to the region. But even seasoned collectors are usually less familiar with the rest of the appellation of Vougeot.

Indeed about 80% of the vines in the town of Vougeot are part of the enormous Clos Vougeot Grand Cru, but the other 20% covers some exceptional premier crus, including “Petits Vougeots,” which borders both Clos Vougeot and Le Musigny over the border. Justine Clerget’s plot here produces impressive wines, bolder than her tasty village Chambolles and approaching the concentration of the nearby Grand Crus. Broad, sturdy and delicious, this is not a wine you’ll soon forget.

This wine has many years of cellar potential ahead of it – we’ve got some tucked away with a 10-year timeframe. But even today it’s concentrated and delicious, and with a flavorful meal – BBQ pork shoulder or this eggplant pasta – it will wow your guests. Give it an hour in a decanter and you’ll too feel surrounded by Grand Cru energy.

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Clerget Vougeot 1er “Petits Vougeots” 2022
bottle price:$125
3+ price: $106.25 (use code PASPETIT)

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Alsace is a gorgeous winegrowing region – bucolic hillsides of vines surround fairytale villages on a sunny, east-facing ridge. 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. Or this spicy grilled shrimp.

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Frey Riesling 2023
bottle price: $22

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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 2022 from “Vignes Blanches.” It’s a convincing argument for Pouilly-Fuissé’s newly elevated appellations.

Vessigaud’s 2022 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,” writes Nanson. We’ve served this alongside premier crus from the Côte d’Or and it has more than held its own.

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Vessigaud Pouilly-Fuissé 1er “Vignes Blanches” 2022
bottle price: $54

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Chateau Cantemerle is an extremely old Bordeaux property dating back to the 12th century, and recognized as a “fifth growth” in the 1855 classification. Today they produce a serious, well-priced Left Bank Bordeaux that hits a terrific balance of value, polish, and drinkability. The blend is roughly ⅔ Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

This year we’ve sourced the 2020 Cantemerle, and now five years after harvest it’s just beginning to drink beautifully – there are many happy years ahead, but it’s a delight already. The nose is outstanding, gorgeous, and deep, showing wild cherries, tobacco, and just a hint of spice. The mouth is sturdy and extremely well built, with tremendous concentration and a long impeccably balanced finish. There’s dark, rich fruit, solid structure, and impressive freshness.

The critics were fond of this bottling as well. James Suckling found “layers of well-integrated, finely polished tannins…with a fresh and lively fruit-forward palate.” William Kelley found “aromas of rich black fruits, plums, pencil shavings and forest floor…broad and fleshy, with ripe, powdery structuring tannins and a nicely defined finish.” It’s a classical, impressive Cabernet blend that drinks well above its price point.

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Chateau Cantemerle Haut Medoc 2020
bottle price: $52

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Vincent Boyer continues to steer his family’s Meursault domaine with tact and style. His sister Sylvie joined him a few years ago – her passion is viticulture, and her focus on the vineyards has freed Vincent up to focus on cellar work. Today the frère-et-soeur team is at the top of their game, turning out magnificent wines year and year out.

The Boyers’ village-level Meursault “Ormeau” cuvée comes from vines in clay rich soil planted by the siblings’ grandmother in 1924 – celebrating their centenary last year. Ormeau is prototypical Meursault: rich, opulent, shimmering white Burgundy that fills out the mouth. As always with Boyer the balance is impeccable – Burghound cites “underlying tension” and “a subtle bead of minerality” with a “clean and nicely dry finale,” concluding “delicious.”

If you’ve heard white Burgundy described as “weight without heaviness,” then you know what this wine is like. It’s packed full of fruit and flavor, but carries tremendous lift. Serve this with something impressive – lobster risotto, for instance – or use as an aperitif to set the mood for a grand meal.

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Boyer-Martenot Meursault “Ormeau” 2022
bottle price:$99
3+ bottle price: $85.15   (use code 1924)

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Sablet is a classic Southern Rhône town. Its 9th century streets are home to 1400 residents, a couple of boulangeries, and a handful of restaurants and wineries. Winemaker Eric Chauvin is a Sablet resident (also a volunteer firefighter), and it’s also the location of his tiny excellent Domaine le Souverain. We usually purchase Eric’s terrific Séguret, made from vines in the next town over, and indeed the 2023 Séguret is in stock and terrific.

But this year his homegrown Sablet caught our eye. Like the Seguret, this wine is entirely vat-raised. It is made from 55% Grenache and 30% Syrah, with the balance from Mourvedre. The Sablet 2022 offers the same rich and round mouthfeel, but the Mourvedre adds a dark cherry tone to the fruit. Eric said that the Mourvedre “helps to hold the fruit,” and indeed the added complexity made the wine even more attractive.

We’re not alone in being attracted to this wine — it was selected by the Guide Hachette, whose blind-tasting panels review thousands of wines every year. Serve this on a weeknight with a dressed up burger.

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Souverain Sablet 2022
bottle price: $25

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Pierre Gros, winemaker at the domaine Michel Gros, makes 15 cuvées of red Burgundy, and a single cuvée of white. Pierre’s grandfather Jean first planted vines here 50 years ago, and identified a single plot as well-suited to Chardonnay. (It turned out later he was proven right when a geological survey showed the vineyard contained a soil composition very similar to nearby Grand Cru Corton-Charlemagne.)

Pierre lets his white grapes sit on the skins for a few hours before pressing, and the resulting wine is full of length and texture. It’s always aromatic and floral, like something between a St-Aubin and a Maconnais white. It’s barrel-raised with has plenty of concentration to support the wood.

The 2022 is fleshy and lively, showing the rich fruit of the warm summer, but the cool minerality of high-elevation chardonnay. There’s gardenia and magno in the nose, and the mouth shows grapeskin and chalk, with an unusually vibrant and gourmand texture this year. Pair with a lobster or asparagus risotto.

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Gros Hautes-Côtes de Nuits blanc
“Fontaine St-Martin” 2022
bottle price:$42
3+ bottle price: $35.70   (use code FSM)

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