Author: Thomas Wilcox

Hidden.  Much of the white Burgundy we import comes from the three usual suspects — Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, and Chassagne-Montrachet. These classic wines usually start at around $60 a bottle, and while they’re delicious (see current Futures), we try to find a wide range of character and price. Some of our favorites come from the towns just over the border from these three.

Located on Chassagne-Montrachet’s southern border, Santenay produces well-priced white wines with some of the richness of its northerly neighbors. Our source here is Roger Belland, a domaine Clive Coates calls “one of the best sources in Santenay.” The Bellands have used no herbicides for more than 20 years, and their wines are all careful, pure expressions of their origin.

It’s not a flashy domaine — there’s a small sign next to the door on the street, and you have to enter their cellar before seeing any of their many winemaking awards. But the quality is excellent, and the value is nearly impossible to match.

Richness.  The 2014s from Belland have just arrived in the warehouse, and so far they have lived up to the considerable hype surrounding the vintage. Belland’s 2014 Santenay 1er cru “Beauregard” blanc is a powerful white Burgundy, with the density and fullness you’d expect from Chassagne. The nose shows pretty white flowers, honey, lime, and autumn apples. The mouth is explosively rich, with a golden fleshiness, very subtle use of oak, and an electric tension that keeps the wine on the palate for an impressively long finish.

This mouthfilling wine is nearly a meal in itself. But for pairing, we’d serve this beside a roast chicken with lemon, rosemary, and garlic on a Sunday afternoon. A friendly warning, though: if the bottle is opened when the chicken goes into the oven, you may need a second by the time it’s done.

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BELLAND Santenay 1er “Beauregard” blanc 14
Ansonia Retail: $42
case, half-case: $36/bot

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AVAILABLE IN   6-    AND   12-  BOTTLE LOTS

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Email Tom to place an order.

or call Tom: (617) 249-3657

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Terms of sale. Ansonia Wines MA sells wine to individual consumers who are 21 or more years of age, for personal consumption and not for resale.  All sales are completed and title passes to purchasers in Massachusetts.  Ansonia Wines MA arranges for shipping on behalf of its customers upon request and where applicable laws permit.

Complexity.  Nicolas Maillet is our favorite new source for chardonnay from southern Burgundy. His wines are classic examples of white Maconnais — cool, round chardonnay with excellent balance and little or no oak. If the Côte d’Or is home to Burgundies of pedigree and refinement, then the Maconnais is home to Burgundies of vibrancy and joy.

Maillet takes this idea one step further, using biodynamic viticulture; vinifying his wines with indigenous yeasts and a slow, months-long fermentation. The result is wine of remarkable complexity and purity. Maillet is a man full of passion — for his vineyards, for his rootstocks, for biodynamics, and for the purity of his harvest. And he manages to translate all of this energy into truly impressive wines.

Passion.  Maillet doesn’t lack confidence in his techniques, and after a sip of his wine, you won’t either. His 2014 Macon-Verzé is among the best he’s made, from an exceptional vintage. The nose is astonishingly complex, with a range of notes from white flowers and green tea to tangerine and apricot. The mouth is classic Maillet — rich and long and pure, but with striking freshness and a beautiful baked lemon core.

Vinous writer Stephen Tanzer highlighted this wine’s perfect balance, calling it “densely packed, juicy and concentrated, with attractive sucrocité leavened by brisk acidity.” With no oak to overshadow the wine’s clarity, this is Maconnais at its best, showing beautiful, unadulterated ripe chardonnay fruit.

So complete is the palate of this wine that it requires no accompaniment from food — it’s lush and delightful on its own. But should hunger or houseguests force your hand, we suggest cow’s milk cheeses like Comté or Beaufort, or bowl of steamed mussels.

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MAILLET Macon-Verzé 2014
Ansonia Retail: $30
case, half-case: $25/bot

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AVAILABLE IN   6-    AND   12-  BOTTLE LOTS

_

Email Tom to place an order.

or call Tom: (617) 249-3657

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Terms of sale. Ansonia Wines MA sells wine to individual consumers who are 21 or more years of age, for personal consumption and not for resale.  All sales are completed and title passes to purchasers in Massachusetts.  Ansonia Wines MA arranges for shipping on behalf of its customers upon request and where applicable laws permit.

Classic.  The Grand Cru of Corton is massive. Stretching across a prominent hill just north of Beaune, the vineyard covers 236 acres, just 40 less than the entire appellation of Morey-St-Denis. The terroirs vary widely across the giant vineyard, and so it’s further divided into dozens of smaller “climats.” The finest of these are the three farthest north in the middle of the slope: Bressandes, Clos du Roi, and Renardes.

The humble family domaine of Gaston and Pierre Ravaut has made wine from the hill of Corton for generations. Longtime local customers account for the majority of their business, and there’s barely a sign on the front door. The Ravauts make excellent whites and reds from the towns surrounding the hill, but the jewel of their collection is their plot of Grand Cru Corton-Bressandes.

Concentrated.  Today’s offer is for the Ravaut’s Corton-Bressandes Grand Cru from 2012. The 2012 vintage brought headaches in the vines for most of the year, but a pleasant month of September saved the crop. (Here’s hoping history repeats.) The 2012s, when you can find them, have turned out remarkably well — the reduced yields let to tiny quantities of dense concentrated wine, and Ravaut’s Corton 2012 is a perfect example.

Today this wine shows the classic notes of a young Grand Cru Burgundy — the nose is deep and woodsy, showing charcoal and cherry jam. The mouth is rich, dense, fine, and very smooth — you can almost taste the tiny, concentrated fruits packed into each sip. This is mouthfilling, intense Pinot Noir that nonetheless retains the silky delicacy found only in Burgundy.

Open today, this wine should decant for an hour or so. But for those with a bit of patience, a Burgundy habit, and some cellar space, this is an enticing wine that should be stunning in a few years.

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RAVAUT Corton-Bressandes Grand Cru 2012
Ansonia Retail: $100
quater-case: $85/bot

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AVAILABLE IN   3-   6-    AND   12-  BOTTLE LOTS

_

Email Tom to place an order.

or call Tom: (617) 249-3657

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Terms of sale. Ansonia Wines MA sells wine to individual consumers who are 21 or more years of age, for personal consumption and not for resale.  All sales are completed and title passes to purchasers in Massachusetts.  Ansonia Wines MA arranges for shipping on behalf of its customers upon request and where applicable laws permit.

Forgotten.  Aligoté is Burgundy’s other white grape. Forever in the shadow of the finest Chardonnays in the world, Aligoté is rarely profound and never expensive. We’ve searched for years for one to add to our lineup, and have usually come up empty — most are too acidic, unbalanced, or thin.

But in June, we at last discovered the wine we had been seeking. Boyer-Martenot’s Aligoté is unlike any other we’ve had. Vincent Boyer, a highly skilled craftsman of rich, elegant Meursault, has managed to add a bit of his magic to this grape. Forget what you know about Aligoté — Boyer’s is real white Burgundy.

Smooth.  Drawing from vines with an average age of over 40 years, and from the ripest vintage (2015) in over a decade, Boyer’s Aligoté is smoother and rounder than any we’ve had. The secret is his use of 5- and 7-year-old barrels to age the wine — barrels too old to impart much oak flavor, but which aid in microoxygenation and add softness and depth.

In the nose Boyer’s 2015 Aligoté shows wild honey and herbs, with white flowers and classic green apple. The mouth is bright and lively, with a dry, chalky richness that’s nearly unheard of for Aligoté. For readers interested in making kir, in just 5 days we’re introducing an extraordinary source for crème de cassis — a glass of this wine joined by a splash of cassis will be a fantastic match.

But, for once, the cassis isn’t mandatory — this is a crisp, pleasant glass of white Burgundy on its own.

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BOYER-MARTENOT Aligoté 2015
Ansonia Retail: $24
offer price: $19/bot

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AVAILABLE IN   6-    AND   12-BOTTLE LOTS

_

Email Tom to place an order.

or call Tom: (617) 249-3657

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Terms of sale. Ansonia Wines MA sells wine to individual consumers who are 21 or more years of age, for personal consumption and not for resale.  All sales are completed and title passes to purchasers in Massachusetts.  Ansonia Wines MA arranges for shipping on behalf of its customers upon request and where applicable laws permit.

Bargain Bourgogne. White Burgundy is a near-perfect food wine. With the possible exception of Riesling, no wine goes so well with so many different dishes. Bottles from famous producers can run well past $100 per bottle, but you don’t have to spend top dollar for delicious, classic white Burgundy.

Most Burgundy winemakers produce an entry-level “Bourgogne” wine from lower classified vineyards. These bottles are often great values, priced so you can enjoy them with weeknight meals or as a glass after work. Gérard Thomas, who makes the St-Aubin 1er cru we wrote about two weeks ago, also happens to make an excellent Bourgogne blanc.

Versatile. Gérard Thomas’s Bourgogne blanc has been the house Chardonnay at several renowned restaurants we’ve worked with, as well as at the homes of friends and extended family. There’s just a touch of oak to round out the palate, but a brisk freshness to keep the wine lively. It’s proof that good white Burgundy doesn’t have to be expensive.

This is a perfect backyard barbecue white — great as a glass on its own, versatile enough to pair with pastas, shish kabobs, seafood, vegetables, etc. A favorite family pairing is grilled chicken breasts, marinated at least over night. At the Wilcox house, our simple marinade — canola oil, white wine, Franks Red Hot, soy sauce, garlic, and salt — combined with a glass of Thomas Bourgogne, is the very essence of summer.

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THOMAS Bourgogne blanc 2013
Ansonia Retail: $24
case, half-case: $19.95/bot

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AVAILABLE IN   6-   AND  12-   BOTTLE LOTS

_

Email Tom to place an order.

or call Tom: (617) 249-3657

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Terms of sale. Ansonia Wines MA sells wine to individual consumers who are 21 or more years of age, for personal consumption and not for resale.  All sales are completed and title passes to purchasers in Massachusetts.  Ansonia Wines MA arranges for shipping on behalf of its customers upon request and where applicable laws permit.

Careful aging does fascinating things to a bottle of wine. Tannins soften, ripe fruits turn to cooked, and the palate adds fascinating secondary notes: mushrooms, underbrush, nuts, and tobacco. Not all wines require aging to reach their potential, but for those that do, there’s no substitute for time.

Today’s wine is a perfectly aged, 15-year-old premier cru red Burgundy. From the perennially overlooked town of Morey-St-Denis, this wine is emblematic of its tiny village — humble, honest, and elegant. A Morey-St-Denis will never be the loudest wine in a lineup. But for elegance and ageworthiness, we’d happily put them next to any other red Burgundy.

Pierre Bourée is an old-school winemaker based next door in Gevrey-Chambertin. The Bourées build wines for the long haul, and then age many themselves. This Morey-St-Denis sat in the Bourée cellar from the time it was bottle until this spring. Bourée’s low intervention style involves wild yeasts, whole cluster fermentation, and a long maceration.

Their wines can be tannic and dense in their youth, but with patience transform into bottles of elegance and beauty. The 2001 MSD 1er cru “Baulets” is deep, intense, and woodsy in the nose, showing stewed prunes, barnyard, mineral, and spices. The mouth is velvety and smooth showing mid-weight fruits that have perfectly melted into the structure and toast.

This is a red Burgundy to sit with and contemplate. It has reached our warehouse after 15 years and 3500 miles, and we invite you to share in its delicious final act.

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BOURÉE Morey-St-Denis 1er cru “Baulets” 2001
Ansonia Retail: $78
quarter-case: $66/bot

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AVAILABLE IN   3-   6-   AND  12-   BOTTLE LOTS

_

Email Tom to place an order.

or call Tom: (617) 249-3657

_

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________________________

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Terms of sale. Ansonia Wines MA sells wine to individual consumers who are 21 or more years of age, for personal consumption and not for resale.  All sales are completed and title passes to purchasers in Massachusetts.  Ansonia Wines MA arranges for shipping on behalf of its customers upon request and where applicable laws permit.