Author: Thomas Wilcox

Park Place and Boardwalk. The US tends to be wary of monopolies, with various laws set up to prevent their abuse. But in Burgundy, monopolies are both rare and highly sought-after. With most plots across Burgundy divided up in the generations after Napeleon’s 1804 anti-primogeniture edict, single-owner vineyards are very uncommon.

Our favorite Burgundian monopoly is the flagship wine from the Domaine Michel Gros, the Vosne-Romanée 1er cru “Clos des Réas.” This is truly fine red Burgundy, a wine that Master of Wine Clives Coates has called “Pinot Noir at its most elegant.” Today, the Clos des Réas is the last remaining premier cru monopole in Vosne-Romanée, a town known as Mecca for those afflicted with the Burgundy bug.

  

Violets and Raspberries. Like many of the best wines from Vosne, the nose on Réas is consistently floral – we usually find dried roses or violets. The mouth is long, complex, and silky, with beautiful tension and depth. This wine has a long life ahead of it, and we’ve enjoyed bottles of Réas well into their second and third decades. But 2009 was a vintage of exceptional ripeness and balance, and the 09 Réas is an extraordinary glass of wine even today.

With the 2009 vintage, the Gros Family celebrated the 150th anniversary of their ownership of the Clos des Réas. In honor of the anniversary, the domaine labeled the wine with a replica of the 1859 label. It’s the only vineyard of its kind in this center of the Burgundian world: a special wine, from a special vintage, in an incredibly special town.

NOTE: We’re offering this wine in 3 bottle lots; shipping is free (to the East Coast) on three bottles.

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MICHEL GROS Vosne-Romanée 1er cru Mônopole “Clos des Réas” 2009
Ansonia Retail: $145
offer price: $129/bot

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AVAILABLE IN 3-  6- AND 12- BOTTLE LOTS

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Cote d’Or. “If gold were a flavor,” Matt Kramer once wrote, “it would taste like Meursault.” Though it has no Grand Cru, the wines of Meursault are some of the most sought after in the world. For most, the name recalls white Burgundies of decadence, opulence, and style.

Stretching across nearly 1000 acres, Meursault also spans a wide range of terroir, producing taught, elegant wines (like last week’s Tillets) high on the slope, and softer, richer wines nearer the town. Today’s 2013 Meursault from the Domaine Boyer-Martenot is from the lower slopes, and draws on extremely old vines for extra concentration and depth.

 

90 Years Old. Planted in 1924 by Vincent Boyer’s great grandmother Lucie, the “Ormeau” vineyard is named for the elm trees that once shared the clay-rich ground. This is classic, mouthfilling Meursault – showing peaches and citrus, with licorice and a faint nuttiness in the nose. All of Boyer’s wines are rich, elegant, and complex, but “Ormeau” is among the most classically Meursault in the lineup.

Boyer’s suggests any fish in a lemon butter sauce, and we heartily agree with his suggestion. Last week we served the 2013 Ormeau en famille with Thomas Keller’s roasted monkfish, and the match was delicious. This is a concentrated, wintertime white Burgundy, perfect for a chilly afternoon, a crackling fireplace, and a glittering Christmas tree.

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BOYER-MARTENOT Meursault “Ormeau” 2013
Ansonia Retail: $56
case, half-case: $49/bot

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AVAILABLE IN 6- AND 12- BOTTLE LOTS

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Nestled side by side just south the city of Beaune, three neighboring towns represent the crown jewels of White Burgundy: Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, and Meursault. This trio produces the finest whites in Burgundy, which most consider the greatest white wines in the world.

The three towns stretch only 6 miles from end to end, but their individual characters are distinct. Meursault produces rich, lush wines with dense mouthfeel and notes of pears and wildflowers. Puligny-Montrachet is known for its tension-filled, angular wines, showing structure and precision in their youth. The wines of Chassagne-Montrachet are the most approachable young, with baked lemon bouquets, and full, firm mouthfeel.

All three are elegant wines representing the pinnacle of chardonnay. We usually write about only one at a time, but today’s collection is a chance to pick up all three.

 

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Roger Belland and his daughter Julie are the 5th and 6th generation working the family domaine. Their flagship wine is the “Clos Pitois,” a premier cru monopole from Chassagne-Montrachet, first planted in 1421. The 2014 from this vineyard is beautiful and already drinkable, showing soft lemon, hazelnut, and a dense richness.

Vincent Boyer is the talented, thirtysomething winemaker at the Domaine Boyer-Martenot. He has had the reins of his family’s domaine for less than a decade, but the secret is getting out. We were blown away by Boyer’s 2013s, and we weren’t alone; the seldom effusive Allen Meadows (Burghound) put it flatly: “Vincent Boyer produced simply terrific wines in 2013.”

The Puligny-Montrachet “Reuchaux” 13 is a beautiful, elegant wine laden with minerals and delicate white flowers. The mouth is dense and precise, showing clean fruit and excellent tension; with a bit of time in a carafe this opens beatuifully. The Meursault “Ormeau” 13 is drawn from 90 year-old-vines, and has the stuffing to prove it. This intensely rich, concentrated wine is remarkably easy to drink, with enough acidity to stand up to food, but ample roundness to invite enjoyment on its own.

 

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MIXED CASE: CROWN JEWELS OF WHITE BURGUNDY

 

4x   ROGER BELLAND Chassagne-Montrachet
1er cru Monopole “Clos Pitois” 2014:   $68

4x  BOYER-MARTENOT
Puligny-Montrachet “Reuchaux” 2013:   $56

4x  BOYER-MARTENOT
Meursault “Ormeau” 2013:   $56

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Ansonia Retail: $720
Notebook price: $595/case

(free East Coast shipping)   |   save $125

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Know your winemaker. In Burgundy, it’s important to know your geography. Tiny changes in location can have large effects on the wine in the bottle. But because almost all vineyards are divided among several growers, it’s even more important to know your winemaker.

Michel Gros of Vosne-Romanée is perhaps the most famous in our lineup of Burgundian winemakers. Most of his wine is priced for a weekend dinner or a special occasion — (look for a top notch Vosne next week) — but Gros also produces a delicious “petit vin” made for everyday drinking: his Bourgogne.

 

Entry-level red. If you’re new to red Burgundy, this is a perfect introduction. (If you’ve already got the bug – as we do – this is the best Bourgogne-level wine we know.) It is Gros’s simplest wine, but is as good a value as any of his higher priced bottles. We’re expecting the 2013 next month, but we recently bought the rest of the excellent 2012, and we suggest that wine today.

Gros’s Bourgogne 2012 has a clean, elegant nose, with notes of raspberries and violets, and a whisper of smokiness. The mouth is cool and silky, very long, and simply delicious; the fruit is ripe but not juicy, nicely mouth coating, and tremendously elegant for its level.

This is a great way to learn about this elite winemaker’s work without breaking the bank. With the entertaining season now full upon us, it’s always nice to have an affordable, reliable red Burgundy on hand. Pair this with a pork loin with garlic and rosemary, or a holiday cocktail party.

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MICHEL GROS Bourgogne 2012
Ansonia Retail: $30
case, half-case: $24/bot

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AVAILABLE IN 6- AND 12- BOTTLE LOTS

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A Thousand Bottles. Of the 12,000 acres of vineyards planted in Chablis, only 250 qualify as Grand Cru. This highest tier includes seven distinct vineyards, each famous in its own right. But among the seven, the Grand Cru “Les Clos” is generally considered the finest. And it is from these hallowed 68 acres — just one tenth of a square mile — that today’s wine hails.

As Master of Wine Clive Coates puts it, Les Clos is “Chablis at its very, very finest… combining depth, intensity, and great elegance.” Our tasting chez Collet usually ends with their excellent Grand Cru “Valmur;” but in June, Romain concluded with a bottle of 2013 Les Clos, explaining that a tiny plot of 65-year-old vines (less than half and acre — enough for about 1,000 bottles) has found its way into the family lineup. Our delight at the new addition was surpassed only by the contents of the glass.

 

As good as it gets. One whiff of the Collet’s 2013 Les Clos, and you’ll understand the hype — it may be the finest wine we’ve tasted from Collet’s impressive lineup. The nose shows exquisite lemon, pear, and mineral aromas, and follows with an extraordinarily long, rich, tension-filled mouth. It’s hard to imagine more concentration or density in white wine, particularly one with nearly imperceptible use of oak.

This wine is yet another example of the Chablis discount — the product of a brand name still suffering from barely drinkable California knockoffs of decades ago. Where Grand Cru White Burgundy from the Côte d’Or is hard to find for less than $100/bottle (and often exceeds $350), the very finest Chablis has to offer can be had for less than $60.

Les Clos is famously long lived wine, with aging potential stretching out a decade or more; and the longer you can keep your hands off of it, the better it will be. We opened a bottle last week, we’d suggest decanting it (yes, decanting), for an hour or so before serving, at least for the next 6-8 months. Give it a year, and you’ll wish you had bought more; but even in its youth, Les Clos is unmistakably in a class of its own.

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COLLET Chablis Grand Cru “Les Clos” 2013
Ansonia Retail: $66
case, half-case: $59/bot

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AVAILABLE IN 6- AND 12- BOTTLE LOTS

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One size fits. For the next four weeks, most lives are filled with gift exchanges, holiday parties, and large family meals. Whether you’re a host or a guest, everyone’s just a bit happier to see you with sparkling wine in hand. Here’s a bottle of affordable, versatile bubbles that fits as well in a secret Santa or office cocktail party as on your family’s holiday table.

Last week we released our first grower Champagne, and within a few hours we sold out entirely. (We have more on its way, arriving next month). Until it arrives, we’re browsing through our stock of crémant, Champagne’s less glamorous but more affordable cousin. Today’s crémant comes from Burgundy, and at $25 is an exceptional value. A glass of bubbly may always say “celebration,” but it doesn’t have to say “extravagance.”

Pure Pinot. The Champenois often mix uncolored Pinot Noir juice into their cuvées of Champagne, and today’s example from Burgundy borrows this idea. Made from a select plot of 100% Pinot Noir grown in the hills above the Côte d’Or, the Maison Picamelot’s “Terroir de Chazot” is an complex and unusual example of terroir-based sparkling wine.

Most crémant in Burgundy and Alsace is a blend of several varietals from different locations. For this wine, Picamelot decided to isolate a single grape from a single plot and bottle it unblended – the result is a finer, more intense and earthy sparkling wine, with notes of roasted apples and herbs.

Sparkling wines provide the answer to dozens of food-pairing puzzles that might otherwise remain unsolved. Anything from asparagus to strong cheese to dessert will work nicely with this crémant; but our pick today is Delice de Bourgogne, a triple cream cows’ milk cheese that will deftly eliminate the need for butter on your bread.

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PICAMELOT Crémant “Terroir de Chazot”
Ansonia Retail: $30
case, half-case: $25/bot

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AVAILABLE IN 6- AND 12- BOTTLE LOTS

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Geology. Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault are neighboring small towns in Burgundy. From end to end they cover just under five miles, and their combined populations number less than 2000 souls. Both towns have made wine for a thousand years, and today are world famous as sources of the finest white Burgundy.

Yet beneath the vineyard surface their differences are stark. In Puligny-Montrachet, the water table is so high that most domaines have no underground cellars, and flooding is a frequent concern. Just a stone’s throw away in Meursault, the water table is unusually low, and the vines must stretch deep into the earth to find their nutrients.

These invisible differences contribute enormously to the character of each village’s wines. We love the delicate precision of Puligny-Montrachet, but today’s wine is from Meursault, and has the persistence and firm structure hard won by roots struggling below.

A New Star.  Vincent Boyer, the thirtysomething winemaker at the Domaine Boyer-Martenot, has had the reins of his family’s domaine for less than a decade, but the secret is getting out. We were blown away by Boyer’s 2013s, and we weren’t alone; the seldom effusive Allen Meadows (Burghound) put it flatly: “Vincent Boyer produced simply terrific wines in 2013.”

Today we’re releasing the first of four 2013 Meursaults from Boyer. “Tillets” is from the slope above the village, where the wines show particularly brisk minerality and energy. Named for a type of medicinal lime tree found here centuries ago, Tillets shows white flowers, pear, hazelnut, and a beautiful chalky core. Vincent counsels serving this with fish like salmon or sea bass; we would agree, adding (as we often do) lobster in butter to the list of pairing ideas.

 

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BOYER-MARTENOT Meursault “Tillets” 2013
Ansonia Retail: $56
case, half-case: $48/bot

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AVAILABLE IN 6- AND 12- BOTTLE LOTS

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Adversity.  It is often said that good wines are made in the vineyards. That may be true, but they can also be saved in the winery. When we visited the Domaine Collet in Chablis in the midst of the 2013 harvest, it seemed a scene of tragedy. Rot-laden grapes and malfunctioning machinery had kept the young winemaker Romain Collet up all night with worry, and we made a mental note to exercise caution before buying the finished product.

Imagine our surprise, then, when this past June Romain presented us with a lineup of elegant, beautiful wines from 2013 — so much so that many of our normal allocations had been severely reduced. Bottle after bottle showed excellent balance and precision, a testament to both technology and considerable winemaking skill.

Clearly Romain eliminated all the bad grapes, sacrificing quantity but preserving quality. We commend Romain on his success in a very difficult year — we only wish there were more of his excellent results.

 

Value.  Chablis has always been a favorite source for value in White Burgundy. The Chablis brand, sullied long ago by California jug-wine, has yet to recover; but that’s all the better for buyers. In our opinion, Collet’s 2013 Chablis 1er cru “Forets” approaches a very fine Puligny-Montrachet in style and quality — and it can be had for less than $35.

The 2013 “Forets” is just a bit atypical for Chablis — with slightly lower acidity and a careful note of oak, this could easily be mistaken for something from the Côte de Beaune. But beneath a beautiful golden mouthfeel lies an elegant strain of minerality whose origin could only be the rocky hillsides of Chablis.

The balance in this wine is striking. Every note — lemon, mineral, pear, straw, oak — hits in perfect harmony. Well suited for whole roasted fish or a classic risotto, this wine will elevate a weekday meal, or lend grace to a weekend feast. Save a bit for Thanksgiving, but don’t expect it to survive much of a crowd.

 

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COLLET Chablis 1er cru “Forets” 2013
Ansonia Retail: $38
case, half-case: $32/bot

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AVAILABLE IN 6- AND 12- BOTTLE LOTS

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