Author: Thomas Wilcox

Like many in Burgundy, the Domaine Roger Belland isn’t flashy. There’s just a small sign next to the door on the street, and you have to enter the cellar before seeing any of their many winemaking awards. But the Bellands have made wine since 1839, and Master of Wine Clive Coates calls them “among the best sources in Santenay.”

Belland’s wines are some of the earliest drinking Burgundies in our portfolio, with a soft, approachable style and a reasonable price tag. The whites are elegant and full, with mouthfilling richness balanced by crisp lemon acidity. The reds are punchy and ripe, with juicy tannins rather than harsh ones, and lively, round mouthfeels.

We’ve put together a mixed case of whites and reds from the famille Belland. In a region whose wines often require patience and investment, the wines of Roger Belland are a welcome respite.

Santenay “Comme Dessus” 2013.  This village-level Santenay is floral and pretty, with white flowers and lemon rind in the nose. The mouth is particularly intense for its class, with impressive length and excellent tension. With Belland’s very understated use of oak, this is about purity, minerality, and fruit. Serve with hard cow’s milk cheese.

Santenay 1er cru “Beauregard” blanc 2013.  Here’s a 1er cru Santenay that one might easily mistake for a Chassagne-Montrachet. The nose shows baked apple and honey, and the mouthfeel is thick and vibrant. The oak, fruit, and acidity are all in perfect balance, resulting in a wine that bursts with life and richness. Serve with roast chicken.

Maranges 1er cru “Clos Roussot” 2013.  From the town just south of Santenay, this shows deep cherry and blackberry in a very clean, ripe nose. The mouth is mid-weight and dense, with firm tannins that are round rather than raspy. Let this breathe in a carafe or glass; serve it with a grilled steak or sautéd greens.

Santenay 1er cru “Beauregard” rouge 2013.  This 1er cru Santenay shows the more elegant side of the village. With intense red fruit and stony earth in the nose, the mouth is concentrated and long, showing excellent depth and silky notes of wild cherry. Decant this refined red Burgundy and serve it with a roast on a Sunday afternoon.

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MIXED CASE:

ROGER BELLAND SAMPLER

3x   Santenay blanc 2013:   $34
3x   Santenay 1er cru blanc 2013:   $40
3x   Maranges 1er cru 2013:   $34
3x   Santenay 1er cru rouge 2013:   $40

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Ansonia Retail: $444
mixed case price: $369/case

(free East Coast shipping)   |   save $75

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Silk and Earth. The town of Morey-St-Denis is typical of the tiny scale of Burgundy. Home to fewer than 700 souls and boasting less than half a square mile of vineyards, the town has long played second fiddle to its more famous neighbors Chambolle-Musigny and Gevrey-Chambertin. But in fact Morey holds five Grand Cru vineyards and produces excellent red Burgundies that age beautifully.

At their best, the wines of Morey-St. Denis show a beautiful lace-like minerality, and an elegance only possible in Pinot Noir from Burgundy. Our producer in Morey-St-Denis is the Domaine Pierre Amiot, which has a large range of wines from the town. Amiot’s wines often drink better after a few years in the bottle, so today we’re suggesting a Morey-St-Denis that’s just beginning to drink well.

Premier Cru. Amiot’s small plot in Millandes (just over an acre) yields only 200 cases a year; even less in a low yield vintage like 2010. But its location (adjoining the Grand Cru Clos St-Denis) and older vines (planted in the 1950s and 60s) make it a gem. With firm tannins and a concentrated mouthfeel, Millandes generally requires some cellaring to reach its peak; but recent tastings have shown this wine is well on its way to maturity.

The 2010 1er cru Millandes is a classic Morey-St-Denis — somewhere between the silkiness of Chambolle and the richness of Gevrey-Chambertin. Today the wine shows wild red cherries and raspberry jam, with hints of smoke, leather, and truffle in the mouth. The nose is expressive and enticing — just the marriage of earth and fruit for which Burgundy is so well known.

This Millandes is at the very beginning of its drinking window, and its youthful tannins have softened into a pleasant but firm structure. We find this makes for a more versatile food pairing wine, as there’s less concern a bold dish will shout down the contents of the glass. Decant this for an hour before serving, and try it with duck breasts, or even a cassoulet.

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AMIOT Morey-St-Denis 1er “Millandes” 2010
Ansonia Retail: $72
case, half-case: $64/bot

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AVAILABLE IN 6- AND 12- BOTTLE LOTS

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or call Tom: (617) 249-3657

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Spice.  If Burgundy is the heart of the Pinot Noir universe, then Vosne-Romanée is the heart of Burgundy. Celebrated for eight centuries and boasting some of the world’s most sought-after wines, Vosne-Romanée is considered Mecca for Burgundy enthusiasts and Pinotphiles around the world.

Vosne’s eight grand cru vineyards may receive the majority of the acclaim, but, as a monk wrote centuries ago, “there are no ordinary wines in Vosne.” At the premier cru and village level too, the wines show unrivaled depth and elegance. There’s a floral character to the best wines from Vosne, a blend of silky finesse with pure intensity.

Legacy.  Winemaker Michel Gros has lived his entire life in Vosne-Romanée — for a time his mother was the mayor, and his family has made wine there for nearly 200 years. Today Michel’s domaine is world famous as a top source for red Burgundy, and the wines from Vosne are at the heart of his lineup.

Last month we picked up the last few cases of Gros’s village level 2011 Vosne-Romanée. Though the wine has a bright future, the bottle we opened at the Newton Depot in December was already terrific. The nose already shows the unique, extraordinary spice and floral notes specific to the hallowed town. The mouth was dense and pure, with firm young tannins that mellowed out after an hour or so.

This is a wine to sit with and contemplate on a Sunday afternoon — decant a bottle as you put a roast into the oven, and then pour yourself a glass at the one hour mark. You’ll understand the 800 years of fame and praise.

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GROS Vosne-Romanée 2011
Ansonia Retail: $70
case, half-case: $59/bot

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AVAILABLE IN 6- AND 12- BOTTLE LOTS

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or call Tom: (617) 249-3657

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Micro. It’s easy to forget just how small the scale of winemaking is in Burgundy. The entire town of Chambolle-Musigny, for instance, has a population of 320 and covers about 430 acres, less than a square mile. But the wines from this tiny town have been highly sought after since the 15th century.

Just outside the town’s most famous vineyard “Le Musigny,” Michel Gros cultivates a small collection of village-level vines. From this plot and three other smaller parcels, Gros crafts what may be the silkiest wine in his lineup: the village-level Chambolle-Musigny.

Superstar. A few years ago Clive Coates MW named the Domaine Michel Gros in the top 17 domaines in all of Burgundy — a list that included Romanée-Conti, Leroy, and Comtes Lafon — highlighting the “nobility and elegance” of his wines. Many readers picked up his entry level Bourgogne and Hautes-Côtes de Nuits last month, which are affordable, everyday looks at the domaine’s style. The Chambolle is classic Gros — beautiful balance and exceptional elegance.

Gros’s 2011 Chambolle is starting to drink beautifully these days. Allen Meadows called the 2011 “highly refined” and “utterly delicious;” we suggest decanting for an hour before serving. The wine shows intense wild cherry aromas, with notes of earth and smoke; the mouth is long and elegant, showing silky tannins and enormous depth.

Gros is a master craftsman, and his wines remind us of why this tiny region’s reputation is so well deserved.

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MICHEL GROS Chambolle-Musigny 2011
Ansonia Retail: $72
case, half-case: $64/bot

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AVAILABLE IN 6- AND 12- BOTTLE LOTS

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Experiences vs Things.  In the debate about the value of material goods vs. experience, most assume that goods create greater satisfaction because they’re less fleeting. Science suggests, however, that experiences actually provide longer-lasting happiness. We like to think that wine is a perfect mix of the two.

Wine as a material good is obvious: the dusty bottle in the back of your cellar was once a purchase, hopefully at a moment when the Dollar was strong against the Euro (or the Franc). But consider too the experiential value of the moment you finally pull the cork: friends or family there to enjoy it with you, food on the table, music in the background. To our mind there’s no better accompaniment to a great moment than a great bottle of wine.

And if the moment is unusually grand, it calls for a similarly great wine. Grand Cru wines, you’ll remember, represent just 1.3% of Burgundy’s production. They’re the finest Burgundy has to offer – at home on the tables of kings and heads of state for centuries. And though most involve several hundred dollars of investment and decades of patience, today we suggest a Grand Cru that’s mature and less than $80 a bottle.

From the back of the cellar. As we finished our tasting at the Domaine Ravaut in June, Mr. Ravaut suggested trying something from a little deeper the cellar. He disappeared for a few minutes and returned with an unmarked bottle. Without telling us what it was, he pulled the cork and offered us each a taste.

From the moment it hit our glasses, the wine was extraordinary. The nose was beautiful and perfumed, with notes of flowers and graham crackers; the mouth was dense and velvety, showing raspberry confit, cinnamon, and hints of sous-bois. We marveled at how much of the core structure remained, though softened beautifully over nine years. It seemed likely to weather the next nine with similar grace.

The wine was a 2006 Grand Cru Corton-Bressandes, perhaps the finest wine we’ve tasted from Ravaut, and we quickly asked him to set aside a handful of cases. Our offer to this list back in June sold out in half a day, and we’ve heard enthusiastic reports from readers who were able to pick some up. We managed to convince Mr. Ravaut to part with a second batch, which arrived in the States a few days ago.

It’s unusual to have the opportunity to buy Grand Cru red Burgundy with nine years under its belt. But it’s even rarer to find it with perfect provenance — until three weeks ago, this hadn’t left the vingeron’s cellar since the day it was bottled. A bottle of this wine is of course a material good, and an exceptional one at that; but the wine inside it nothing short of an experience.

NOTE: For this wine, we’re relaxing our normal half-case minimum to 3 bottles.

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RAVAUT Corton-Bressandes Grand Cru 2006
Ansonia Retail: $88
case, half-case: $75/bot

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AVAILABLE IN 6- AND 12- BOTTLE LOTS

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