Author: Thomas Wilcox

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Advance Order: Small-Batch, Classic Left Bank Bordeaux from a New Source

A find.  Burgundy and Bordeaux are the two giants French wine. In nearly every aspect — style, tradition, grape varietal, scale — they are opposites. As a small père et fils enterprise, Ansonia’s model fits far better with Burgundy, and we work with more than four Burgundy sources for every one in Bordeaux.

But the wines of Bordeaux continue to intrigue us, and we’re always on the hunt for a Burgundy-scale producer from the southwestern coast. Earlier this month we struck gold — a small family domaine in Saint-Estèphe whose wines have never been exported to the US.

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Left Bank.  The catch with much of Bordeaux is its need for cellaring. The finest Bordeaux demand investment and perfect timing — the more expensive a wine is, the more you’ll want to make sure you’re opening it at peak maturity. Our new Bordeaux source provides a bit of wiggle room — for two reasons.

First, price: at $275 a case, precise timing isn’t crucial for a satisfying return on investment. The drinking window for this wine is more opinion than fact: it’s delicious now and will be even better in five years. And second, vintage: Bordeauxphiles consider 2014 the finest vintage since 2010. Particularly in the Haut Medoc towns of Paulliac and St-Estèphe, the year produced ripe, forward wines that will drink well without lengthy cellaring.

The Fleuron de Liot is a blend of equal parts Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, made from a tiny 1.5 acre plot in Saint-Estèphe. The wine is inky and dark, with plum and dark cherries in the nose. The mouth is dense and full, with solid ripe tannins and low oak, notes of cedar and licorice, and a long, velvety texture.

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Velvet. With a concentrated mouthfeel and rich, dark fruit, this wine should develop for at least another 5-7 years. But given time to breathe, it’s beautifully drinkable today — we opened a bottle around lunch, and the glass we had after dinner (8 hours later) was the tastiest. Put a case in your cellar and watch this wine develop over the next 1-2 presidential administrations. (Depending on who wins you may need an second case.)

We don’t claim to be experts on Bordeaux, but we’re pretty sure we can spot a very well-made wine that’s also a bargain. Here’s our latest find.

NOTE: This wine is part of our upcoming July Futures Issue, which offers near-wholesale pricing through advance orders. The rest of the Futures Issue will be released on Sunday July 3.

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FLEURON DE LIOT Saint-Estèphe 2014
Ansonia Retail: $420
Futures Price: $275/case    ($22.91/bot)

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AVAILABLE IN   6-   AND  12-   BOTTLE LOTS

NOTE: THIS IS AN ADVANCE ORDER. WE EXPECT THIS WINE TO ARRIVE IN LATE AUGUST.

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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.

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15-Year-Old Premier Cru Red Burgundy

Alchemy.  Time can have an extraordinary effect on a bottle of wine. Not all wines are meant to age, and indeed the world’s style continues to shift towards early maturity. But for wines that are designed to be cellared, the transformation by bottle aging is nothing short of magic.

The Domaine Pierre Bourée builds wines for the long haul. Where many Burgundian winemakers destem their grapes for softer tannins and earlier maturity, Bourée uses only ambient yeasts, and ferments whole clusters for several days, allowing tannins from the skins to soak fully into the juice. It’s an old-school style, rare in an era where patience is in short supply.

Lucky for us, Bourée has supplied the patience. Today’s wine is a 15 year old Santenay 1er cru — a wine built for aging, which also happens to be perfectly aged. It hasn’t moved from the domaine since it was bottled, save for a quick one-way trip to Boston a few months ago.

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Sous-bois.  We tasted a lot of young Pinot Noir in the last few weeks — the next few vintages from Burgundy will be excellent and relatively approachable young. But it’s nice to remember what patience and proper cellaring can achieve. Bourée’s 2001 Santenay 1er cru “Gravières” is complex and delicious after its decade-plus of quiet repose; a glimpse back into a older style from a slower time.

The 01 Gravières is elegant and beautiful, with delicate, softened tannins and an enchanting bouquet. The nose shows toasted cherries, dried roses, and a classic old-Pinot earthiness. The mouth is smooth and full, showing dried prunes, mushrooms, and underbrush. Pick a Sunday afternoon, open a bottle of this Santenay, put a fine roast in the oven, and remember that some things are worth waiting for.

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BOURÉE Santenay 1er cru “Gravières” 2001
Ansonia Retail: $50
case, half-case: $42/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.

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July Fourth Mixed Cases

The July Fourth weekend is just nine days away. A local beer might seem the patriotic choice, but we’ll throw our hat into the ring in case you’re moved to support your enterprising local importers. It was the struggle against import tariffs, after all, that helped kick off this whole experiment.

We’ve put together two mixed cases for your holiday wine needs. The first — July Fourth Sampler — is a mix of two crisp, refreshing whites, and two dense, delicious reds; a perfect mix for a holiday gathering. The second — the Summer Grilling Sampler — is all red; four wines with hints of smokiness to pair with steaks, burgers, and vegetables from the grill.

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Mixed Case: July Fourth Sampler

Maillet Macon-Villages 2014 ($26)
elegant, floral, unoaked, white Burgundy

Lehoul Graves blanc 2015 ($24)
crisp, refreshing Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux

Bagatelle Veillée d’Automne 13 ($24)
dark, mineral syrah-blend from the Languedoc

Saint-Clair Crozes-Hermitage 13 ($26)
peppery, balanced, pure syrah from Northern Rhône

Retail: $300
Case Price: $235/case ($19.58/bot)
FREE EAST COAST SHIPPING

Email Tom to order this case.

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Mixed Case: Summer Grilling Sampler

Goubert Sablet 2012 ($18)
classic, smooth, woodsy, delicious Côtes du Rhône

Bagatelle Veillée d’Automne 13 ($24)
dark, mineral syrah-blend from the Languedoc

Saint-Clair Crozes-Hermitage 13 ($26)
peppery, balanced, pure syrah from Northern Rhône

Lehoul Graves rouge 2012 ($30)
classic blend of Merlot and Cabernet from Bordeaux

Retail: $294
Case Price: $235/case ($19.58/bot)
FREE EAST COAST SHIPPING

Email Tom to order this case.

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Cool, Dark Syrah for a Summer Barbecue. $18

Balance.  For winemakers in Burgundy, finding enough sun is a perennial concern, and an unusually rainy year like 2016 can make life difficult. In the Languedoc, France’s southernmost region, the concern is just the opposite: how to harvest grapes with enough acidity to preserve freshness.

It’s no surprise, then, that our favorite Languedoc wines often come from high-elevation zones, where cool breezes encourage balance. Located high in the schist-laden hills of St-Chinian, the Clos Bagatelle is a centuries old domaine that makes delicious, refreshing syrah-based reds.

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Crisp.  Today’s offer is for Clos Bagatelle’s “Veillée d’Automne,” a majority syrah wine that also includes carignan and cinsault. The nose shows plums and dark fruits; the mouth is chewy and dense, with a hint of toast and a crisp mineral line that balances the ripe fruit.

This wine works well on its own at a cocktail party, but our favorite pairing is with something grilled. With July Fourth around the corner we have hamburgers and hotdogs in mind, but grilled vegetables and shish kabobs will also pair nicely.

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BAGATELLE “Veillée d’Automne” 13
Ansonia Retail: $24
case, half-case: $18/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.

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09 Red Burgundy from a Master Winemaker.

Le weekend.  We spent some fine days with winemaker Michel Gros this weekend. On Friday afternoon we toured his vines with some friends from Boston, then returned to his cellar for a vertical tasting of his family’s monopole. Then last night he and his wife joined us (and 600 others) for a grand dinner in the cave of the Chateau de Clos de Vougeot.

Gros is as modest as his wines are extraordinary – he regularly wins international awards for the wines he makes in “the greatest Pinot Noir village on earth.” (Clive Coates MW) And yet he’s happiest working in his vines, reminding us that great wines come first from vineyard work. More often than not he’s washing dirt from his hands as we arrive for a tasting.

This week we tasted Gros’s exceptional 2014s from cuve — (they will be bottled next month and available in November Futures). But we’ve already got quite a bit of Gros at the warehouse – and today we’re offering one of our favorites.

 

Silk and Earth.  The 2009 vintage was a banner year in Burgundy – perfectly healthy, ripe grapes, and plenty of them. Today we’re offering Gros’s 2009 Morey-St-Denis, a plot from which Michel makes fewer than 1000 bottles each year. Michel’s vines in Morey are exceptionally well-situated, in a vineyard adjoining the Clos des Lambrays, the Clos de Tart, and Bonnes Mares, three of the region’s most famous Grand Crus.

We have tasted a lot of wine over the past few weeks, and more than a little red Burgundy – but Gros’s wines continue to stand out. This Morey-St-Denis is pinot noir at its very finest – ripe, round fruit from the famous vintage, now slightly softened six years on from the harvest, a silky and smooth mouthfeel with notes of cherries and toast, and a delicate, lace-like minerality.

We wish all of our readers could have joined us at the Clos Vougeot last night, but in its place we can offer an exceptional wine from one of Burgundy’s finest citizens. Decant this for a half hour and use your biggest Burgundy glasses – you might even hear some singing below the rim.

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GROS Morey-St-Denis 2009
Ansonia Retail: $76
quarter-case: $68/bot

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AVAILABLE IN   3-    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.

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Tasting Blog: Day Twelve

DAY TWELVE  |  Beaune, Vosne-Romanée | 6.17.16

 

No new tastings today, but a full day of events. We spent the morning with the visiting Boston Chapter of the Chevaliers du Tastevin — we visited domaine in Beaune whose vines are in Pommard, and did a fascinating 10 year vertical of the Pommard, stretching back to 2005.

In the afternoon we met up with the Chevaliers again, this time in Vosne-Romanée, where Michel Gros took us on a tour of his vines at the Clos Vougeot. After explaining the history of the Clos and the effect of the subtle variations in soil content, slope, and exposition, we headed back to the domaine for a tasting. We began with a sample of 2015 en fut, and then continued on with a horizontal tasting of Vosne and Nuits 1er crus in 2012, and then a vertical of the Monopole Vosne 1er cru Clos des Réas. For a finale, a 2005 Clos Vougeot, from the plot we stood in an hour before: an personal and enjoyable tasting for all.

For dinner we visited “La Buisonnière,” and had one of the best meals of the trip. Chorizo boudin noir, ris de veau, and souris d’agneau. Jura tomorrow.

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Floral, Alsatian Blend for a Summer Picnic. $16

The French have a long tradition of eating outdoors. From harvest tables in Burgundy to breezy rooftops in Paris, a French meal en plein air is full of beguiling aromas, clinking glasses, and hearty laughter. We’ve enjoyed more than half of our meals this trip sur terrace, and we find that wine (and really food in general) tastes better outside, with room to breathe and open.

A Spring-Summer favorite of ours is “Les Anémones,” a delightful blend from our friend Francis Muré in the Alsace. It’s a perfect picnic wine, matching nicely with a wide range of foods, from sharp cheeses to crusty bread. We poured it as an aperitif at a graduation party last month, and it was a refreshing antidote to the muggy summer afternoon.

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Anémones is a blend of Riesling, Muscat, and Pinot Gris. It’s soft rather than sweet, with less sharpness than Riesling, but enough acidity to keep it lively. There are notes of apricot, orange and pear, with a lovely round mouthfeel and good length. Like curry, Muscat sometimes takes over things that it’s a part of; but here it is nicely balanced and not at all overwhelming.

Speaking of curry, Anémones pairs beautifully with food of Indian or Asian style, particularly with a bit of spice. But its best accompaniment is an afternoon outside. This is a simple but delightful and tasty wine with a beautiful bouquet – you’ll be surprised how fast the bottle disappears.

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MURÉ Anèmones 2015
Ansonia Retail: $20
case, half-case: $16/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.

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Travel Blog: Day Eleven

DAY ELEVEN  |  Chassagne-Montrachet, Santenay, Nuits-St-Georges, Auxey-Duresses, Beaune | 6.16.16

 

 

We started the morning in Chassagne-Montrachet, home to rich, beautiful, elegant wines with silky golden texture and balancing freshness. As it has often this week, the conversation centered around the dismal outlook for 2016. With warm sun and cool rain going punch for punch all day long this week, the specter of mildew is ever present. Happily, the 2014s in the bottle and 2015s in the barrel are as good as ever.

Our second tasting was just five minutes south in Santenay — more bad news about 2016, and more delicious reds and whites from 2014. Juicy, punchy tannins for the reds, and crisp, refreshing mouthfeels in the whites. We stopped by a truck selling charcuterie and cheese in the town square in Santenay, then headed north back to Beaune for lunch. Over saucisson, chèvre, Beaufort, and crusty baguettes, we tasted through samples from a new producer in the Rheingau.

We began the afternoon in Nuit-St-Georges, tasting 2014 reds from the bottle and 2015s from the barrel. The 14s are lovely and croquant, as elegant as ever for this source; the 2015s are exceptionally dense and beautiful. We picked up some more German wines sent to us at the local post office, and then headed south to Auxey-Duresses. Our producer here fell in like with the trend of the day: more bad news, more delicious whites, and more juicy reds. “Qu’est-ce que on peut faire?” they say.

After another 6 samples from Germany, we headed out to dinner at Levernois, a one-star to the east of Beaune. This was one of the nicest meals in recent memory, beginning with a coup de champagne on the terrace, and continuing through an exceptional meal — a 2008 premier cru Chassagne-Montrachet was a highlight.

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Tasting Blog: Day Ten

DAY TEN  |  Morey-St-Denis, Beaune, Rully, Meursault | 6.15.16

 

The sun was out before breakfast this morning, an odd sight of late. We drove north to our first appointment in Morey-St-Denis, as clusters of sunlight chased each other among the rows of vines. Our producer in Morey-St-Denis made excellent wine this year — the 2014s are juicy and croquant, with attractive mouthfeels and great refinement. We caught up on the news of the day, nearly all of which concerns the catastrophic damage from the late April frost.

We headed back to Beaune for lunch, and decided to eat at home while working through some samples. We collected provisions — Brillat Savarin, nicely affiné Brie de Maux, Serrano ham, and a baguette — and enjoyed a meal chez nous. After lunch we tasted through a half-dozen Muscadet samples and some Châteauneuf-du-Pape, then drove south to Rully.

Our Rully producer is our source for delicious sparkling wine at excellent prices, and their 2013 collection of wines is exceptionally good. The final wine — a blanc de blancs raised in barrels and aged on lees for three years — was extraordinary, and one we’d happily put next to several Champagnes. We took a quick tour of the degorging / bottling production, and then headed north to Meursault.

The standout wines from the day were the 2014s from Meursault. Perhaps the finest wines we’ve had from our producer here, these were perfectly balanced, rich, golden, vibrant glasses that were frankly hard to spit out. We began with what must have been the most delicious, drinkable Aligoté we’ve ever tasted, and finished with Meursault 1er cru “Perrières,” an extraordinarily complex and delicious glass of wine. These are some of the finest white Burgundies we’ve tasted, and we’ll be bringing back as much as we can get our hands on.

After the tasting we climbed up to the hills above the town of Meursault, for a lovely view of the countryside. The Côte d’Or stretched out leisurely in either direction, punctuated by tiny hills and slow-moving rainstorms in the distance. For a week with very little consistent sun, this was a pleasant half-hour spend among the vines.

Dinner back in Beaune — a few excellent dishes: stewed beef shoulder with black rice and lemon, escargots in creamy crushed potatoes. Four more tastings tomorrow.

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Crisp, Golden, Everday White Burgundy. $22

Chance.  Yesterday morning Vincent Ravaut began our tasting at the domaine with a simple glass of white from an unmarked bottle — “just to arrange the palate,” he explained. The wine was a very pretty chardonnay, with a lovely nose of white flowers and almonds and a rich but lively mouthfeel. Noting our interest, Vincent explained it was the domaine’s entry-level Bourgogne blanc from 2013; he then smiled and broke the news that it was “épuisé” (sold out) for some time.

We’re happy to report we still have a little of the Bourgogne 2013 in our warehouse. We usually don’t cellar Bourgogne blancs for all that long — they’re generally best in the year or two after harvest. But Ravaut’s 2013 Bourgogne began with robust acidity, which has helped it weather the past few years beautifully. Today’s it’s as pleasant and balanced a glass of Chardonnay as we’ve had all month.

 

Undiscovered.  The Ravaut family continues to be the ultimate local wine source. A generation ago the family developed a clientele among the workers in the quarries next door, and today they continue to sell more than half of their wine to local customers — the cellar was crowded yesterday with visitors from Paris and elsewhere in France. The Ravauts fly mostly below the radar of the international wine press, and we feel lucky to have found them.

Vincent has put together some fantastic wines of late — his 2015 whites and 2014 reds will appear in Futures later this fall, and they are both exceptional vintages. But in the meantime, the last few cases of the Bourgogne 2013 are sure to find many friends. With a rich mouthfeel and beautiful balance, this is a wine for gourmands :generous, fresh, easy to drink, and it pairs beautifully with food. There are faint notes of fennel next to the traditional lemon and toast. Try this with a mushroom risotto.

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RAVAUT Bourgogne blanc 2013
Ansonia Retail: $26
case, half-case: $22/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.