Author: Thomas Wilcox

Riesling continues to be a highly underrated varietal. Its sweet examples can be transcendent and delicious, but it’s also capable of excellence in dry form. Pound for pound, dry Rieslings make up some of the best values in our portfolio. One of our favorite comes from Domaine Gross, a small, biodynamic family source in Alsace. It’s everything you want Riesling to be, all for under $5/glass.

Vincent Gross is a young, enthusiastic winemaker practicing biodynamic viticulture, and producing truly exciting wines. His 2020 is delicious, and the perfect antidote to a warm summer afternoon. The nose is an exotic mix of orchard fruits and wild herbal honey. The mouth is dry, quite full, and bursting with biodynamic complexity – look for honeydew melon, lime, lemon zest, apple and pear.

Serve this on its own — it’s a crisp, lively aperitif to match crackers or early evening snacks. For dinner, pair with a dish full of spices — think middle eastern or Indian. Or, if it’s been a long day — takeout sushi.

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Gross Riesling 2020
bottle price: $22

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The Languedoc is a vast winegrowing area stretching across the south of France between the Mediterranean and Bordeaux, and most of the wine made there is singularly undistinguished. But if one moves into the hills and foothills of its northern border, one can find excellent terroir.

The Clos Bagatelle is in one of these spots. They’re located St. Chinian, where good elevation and a range of soils — distinct areas of limestone, sandstone, and schist — have allowed the Deleuze family to make wines of character for many years. In fact, wine has been made at the property since 1643.

After several years away we’re excited to finally have their excellent “Fil de Soi” back in stock.

Bagatelle’s 2019 Fil de Soi is terrific. The wine is a blend of Mourvedre, Grenache, Syrah and Carignan. It is raised in a combination of large wood foudres and smaller barrels, which yields a wine that is always fleshy and rich. It opens with a nose of dark fruit and spice. In the mouth there are ripe plums mingled with a pleasant earthiness. The wine is full and round, with good persistence on the palate and a pleasant finish.

In the case of the 2019 vintage, the pandemic provided a gift. This wine often benefits from a bit of time in the cellar to let the elements fully integrate, and we find that it begins drinking particularly well about a year after it arrives. As luck would have it, Bagatelle couldn’t source enough bottles for this cuvée for over a year. So the wine got an extra year of elevage, finishing up with some months in concrete tanks, and the result this vintage is smooth, delicious, and ready for your summer table.

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Bagatelle St-Chinian “Fil de Soi” 2019
bottle price: $25

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It’s hard to discuss Burgundy these days without talking about prices. Bottles from the region’s iconic domaines can be unaffordable for all but the most well heeled collectors, and their secondary market value means that speculation is commonplace. We don’t play much at this level – even our highest end wines rarely change hands after sale – but prices among our suppliers are rising as well. The wines of Burgundy have never been better or more sought after, and simple economics is at play.

But if you know where to look – up-and-coming vignerons, less famous regions, smaller cuvées, just about anything in Chablis – there’s unmistakable value to be found in Burgundy. We pride ourselves on the size of our sub-$50 portfolio, and today we’re suggesting one of our most exciting recent discoveries.

Sebastien Giroux is a small-scale winemaker in Pouilly-Fuissé in the Maconnais. This southern Burgundian subregion has seen a resurgence of interest since it ditched the overoaked whites of thirty years ago, but the pricing has yet to catch up. Giroux has caught the eye of Jasper Morris and William Kelley, Burgundy’s top two critics, and having now visited two years in a row, we can confirm the wines live up to their considerable reputation.

Giroux’s entire lineup of exquisite Maconnais whites will be in next Sunday’s May Futures release, including his extraordinary new Pouilly-Fuissé 1er Cru – but today we’re starting with a humbler suggestion: the 2019 Pouilly-Loché.

Pouilly-Loché is the next appellation east from Pouilly-Fuissé and makes similar if less concentrated white Burgundies. Giroux’s style is one of patience and restraint – his wines are barely oaked, and he puts them back into tank for a year or more before bottling. Today’s 2019 Pouilly-Loché completed 30 months of elevage, an unheard of time for a wine of its price and status. But as you might expect, the wine delivers far more than its appellation or pricetag would suggest.

The nose is sunny and delightful, showing baked lemon, pear fruit, and cool stony notes. The mouth is superb – long, tense, lively, and elegant. William Kelley found notes of “sweet orchard fruit, clear honey and white flowers,” calling it “satiny and lively” with a “saline finish;” he calls Giroux’s wines in general “supple, pure and charming.” We think there’s no chance Giroux isn’t better known a year from now – stock up while his wines are still affordable and available.

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Giroux Pouilly-Loché 2019
Ansonia retail: $385
May Futures: $295/case

 

After three consecutive hot, dry vintages in Burgundy, Mother Nature decided to mix in a changeup, throwing just about every possible malady at the long-suffering winemakers of the Côte d’Or. An April frost devastated much of France, with some producers losing as much as 90% of their crop in just two nights. Then the summer turned wet and humid, causing high risk of oidium, rot, and mildew. Harvest in the second half of September was soggy and small.

And yet many, if not all, of the 2021 Burgundies are lovely. They show neither the concentration nor the ripeness of the last three scorching years, but instead carry a daintiness and precision that some (including us) find a welcome relief. We’re thrilled to release our first today, the excellent 2021 Bourgogne blanc from Gérard Thomas – a throwback in style to a decade ago perhaps, but in a sleek, modern package.

Thomas’s Bourgogne blanc has long been a favorite among readers, and with many relying on it for their house white Burgundy. We’ve imported this wine for nearly 15 years, and those readers who discovered it pre-2015 will recognize an old friend in the 2021. (For those more familiar with recent vintages, picture a less intense wine with more lift — think flute rather than clarinet.)

The nose shows sweet cream butter, with a lovely sucrocité and dry fruit. The mouth is dry and savory, trading the plump, tropical ripeness of recent vintages for a cool precision and fine waxy texture. Pair this with a plate of shrimp scampi, or a fish from the grill.

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Thomas Bourgogne blanc 2021
bottle price: $29

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If we were to pick one thing we look for above all else when evaluating a wine, it would be balance. No matter the grape or region, style or price, a wine with all its elements in at the correct levels succeeds. Achieving balance between ripeness and freshness has become harder in recent hot, dry summers, particularly in the scorching south of France.

So we’re always thrilled to find classic Southern Rhône blends that manage to show energy and zip. The cooler than usual 2021 growing season gave winemakers a leg up in this effort, and we’re thrilled to release our first 2021 Rhône red today: Domaine le Souverain Séguret 2021.

Winemaker Eric Chauvin has crafted a humble, refreshing, delicious Rhône red – a screaming bargain that’s hard to put down. Made from 50/50 Grenache/Syrah raised only in stainless steel (no oak), this wine carries a beautiful energy throughout its dark, mouthfilling palate.

The nose is deep and perfumed, showing violet, cassis, and a hint of local garrigue. The mouth is dark and lush but with great freshness and a concentrated, middleweight mouthfeel. It’s the perfect wine for a weeknight burger or takeout pizza – upgrade your go-to Côtes du Rhône with a beautifully balanced everyday red.

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Souverain Séguret 2021
bottle price: $19

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The Salomon-Undhof estate dates to 1792, and is currently on its 7th and 8th generation winemakers, father and son Bert and Bert Salomon. Their terraced vines overlooking the Danube have long been an excellent source, with the country’s foremost wine guide calling them a “figurehead of Austrian wine history.”

“Austrian wine” is nearly synonymous with Grüner-Veltliner, and indeed 75% of the world’s Grüner is Austrian. The grape’s typical expression is uncomplicated and fresh, with low alcohol and blend of savory, herbal, and dry fruit notes. But the Salomons expand what’s possible from the grape, and today’s cuvée is a whole other level of Grüner.

Salomon’s 2021 Grüner Veltliner “Wachtberg” is simply delicious. It’s classified Erste Lage (similar to premier cru in Burgundy), and we think it easily earns its higher rank. It shows the same fleshy dryness as Salomon’s humble Grüner “Wieden,” but with considerably more depth and complexity.

The nose is floral and beautiful, with savory/saline elements melting into lush ripe fruit. The Wine Advocate’s reviewer found notes of “blood orange and grapefruit zest,” calling it “clear, round and elegant.” The texture is more concentrated and waxy than most Grüners, but with the grape’s signature vibrant freshness. This will easily accompany foods with a bit of kick – think Thai cuisine or sushi with a healthy dose of wasabi. As warmer weather sets in, this is just the ticket.

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Salomon-Undhof Grüner Veltliner “Wachberg” 2021
bottle price: $32

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Back in 2018, winemaker Pierro Lanza of the Fattoria Poggerino said goodbye to his “Labirinto” cuvée. The young vines used for this cuvée had finally grown up, gone to college, and moved out of the house. (More accurately they became old enough for inclusion in his base Chianti Classico cuvée.) We were sad to see Labirinto disappear, but happy to see our Classico allocation increase.

This year we’re thrilled to welcome Labirinto back into the lineup. New vines planted in the last decade have become old enough to help out around the house, and Lanza has dusted off the old labels and restarted the cuvée. In the past five years Poggerino has certainly gotten more famous, but the quality has undoubtedly risen to match.

Poggerino’s Labirinto cuvée is 90% sangiovese, with a splash of local organic Merlot blended in from a neighbor. You can’t taste the Merlot at all, but the addition perfectly rounds out the energetic young sangiovese juice. The resulting cuvée is dangerously drinkable – fresh, silky smooth and delicious on its own.

We opened the Labirinto and the Chianti Classico side by side yesterday, and they’re both terrific. Labirinto’s fruits are redder – think wild cherries – with a smooth mouthfeel and very subtle tannin. The Classico is darker and woodsier (blackberries, cassis) with slightly firmer tannins and a longer mouthfeel.

The extremely well-priced Chianti Classico is among our best selling wines, and we predict the 2021 Labirinto won’t be far behind: friendly, fresh, gulpable sangiovese with no pretense at an even better price.

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Poggerino Labirinto 2021
bottle price: $22

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Some wine writers will tell you that we’re living in the golden age of Loire Valley Cabernet Franc. Twenty years ago winemakers would struggle to ripen their grapes, and as anyone who’s had one will agree, underripe Cabernet Franc is a particular sort of unappealing. Twenty years from now, if warmer summers and earlier harvests continue, the wines may become unrecognizable. Rejoice, they say, in this window of perfect weather.

The size of the window and speed at which it closes remain to be seen, but, as far as the present goes, we wholeheartedly agree. The reds coming out of the central Loire are irresistibly good – the best match juicy ripeness with a precision and freshness. Our source here is Domaine des Sanzay, an organic producer making humble, delicious, affordable wines.

The 2021 cuvée is a return to the classic expression — delicate red fruit, excellent freshness, and perfectly extracted middle-weight tannin. The fruits are dark and pretty, with violets and cassis; the mouth is crackling and fresh with excellent density and a cool finish.

With low alcohol, a vibrant and fresh mouthfeel, and a friendly pricetag, this is a perfect wine for the arrival of spring. Pair with anything light from grill, a spring salad, or goat cheese on crackers. Serve it slightly cool, and, if possible, enjoy a glass outside.

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Sanzay Saumur-Champigny 2021
bottle price: $22

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Over the weekend we celebrated Oysterfest at our warehouse in Newton. It was a smashing success: our diligent visitors put away over 600 oysters in just four hours, not to mention polishing off a few cases of Champagne, Chablis, Muscadet, Sancerre and more.

The most impressive wine of the tasting by near unanimous vote was the 2011 Champagne “Kimmeridgienne” from Jacques Robin. It elicited more than a few audible “woah!”s from tasters, and we can’t blame them. Made from pure Pinot Noir grown in chalk/limestone/clay soils, this wine sat on its lees for eight years, gaining complexity and exceptional depth.

The result is a tiny volume (a few thousand bottles) cuvée that we’d put up against just about any bubbles from a fancier name.

Made from 100% pinot noir, the 2011 Kimmeridgienne’s eight years on the lees is immediately evident. A gorgeous and refined nose bursts from the glass, showing notes of cream, brioche, creme brulee, coffee, and hazelnut; the mouth is dry but rich and very long, with notes of candied fruit, chalk, and butter.

Vintage grower champagne of this caliber can easily cost $300-$500 a bottle, and frankly much of it isn’t half this interesting or complex. Whether you serve a bottle at your next family gathering, or just split one with a friend or two and a plate of oysters, we’re confident this will induce a “woah” from you too.

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Robin Champagne Kimmeridgienne 2011
bottle price: $75

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There’s something irresistible about the combination of a well-browned, juicy cut of meat and a glass of red wine. For subtler meats like duck or tenderloin, we love Burgundy; for lamb or anything spiced, send us Côte Rôtie. But for something hearty – a ribeye perhaps – our favorite is Bordeaux.

Red Bordeaux can be astronomically pricey, but it needn’t always be. We love finding under-the-radar gems from lesser-known Chateaux, and today’s is a great example: a five-year-old Pauillac that’s simply delicious. And at $32 it leaves plenty of room to go top shelf on your steak.

If Pauillac is classic Bordeaux, then Chateau Artigues is classic Pauillac. It’s equal parts cabernet sauvignon and merlot, and aged a year in a mix of tank and 25% new oak. Pauillac is known for its powerful wines that are mouthfilling and ageworthy – this should continue to improve for another year or two, but after 30 min in a decanter it’s awfully hard to put down today.

The nose is attractive and very dark, with oak melting carefully into the cassis and cherry fruit. The mouth is rich and concentrated, but not exuberant or showy – there’s plenty of definition and stony structure to keep this in line. The tannins are full and smoothed, with a long, careful finish.

Serve this at your first patio dinner of the season – your guests won’t know the name, but after a few sips they won’t care.

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Chateau Artigues Pauillac 2018
bottle price: $32

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We spent a lovely morning tasting with Sofie Bohrmann last month in Meursault. She’s warm and welcoming, quick with a smile, and very friendly – by the end of the tasting she was talking us into staying for a beer (she is Belgian, after all).

Her wines also happen to be outstanding. Together with her cellar master Dimitri Blanc, they craft some of the most exciting wines in our portfolio. Our favorite cuvées are usually the whites – her collection of terroirs in Puligny, Meursault and St-Aubin is enviable – but her reds are just as good.

We’re pleased to have some of her delicious 2020 Bourgogne rouge left, and it’s everything an entry level Bourgogne is meant to be: low oak, lovely red fruit, excellent energy, and a perfect Burgundian blend of earth and berries.

Borhmann’s Bourgogne vines are across the RN-74 from Pommard. At 35 years old, they’re more mature than many Bourgogne-level vines, and their fruit produces a wine of real complexity. She uses 70% whole clusters, giving the wines excellent definition and exquisite tension.

The nose shows seductive, crushed ripe red fruits, overlaid with a soft floral character. The mouth is perfectly ripe, smooth, and delicious, with fine chalky tannin supporting the bursting fruit. The 2020 shows a remarkably density, but also excellent acidity — some 2020 cuvées are destined for future greatness, but this one requires no patience.

Drink this all spring as the world wakes up.

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Bohrmann Bourgogne rouge 2020
bottle price: $36

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We’d bet that many readers have garages bigger than the Domaine Malmont’s winemaking space. We work with some small-production winemakers, but even by our standards Malmont’s winery is tiny. The space attached to winemaker Nicolas Haeni’s house in Séguret looks more like a large tool shed than a winemaking operation.

But from this tiny place Nicolas crafts some of the most exciting wines in our portfolio. His red Côtes du Rhône and Séguret have gained acclaim from the international wine press; his quantities in white Séguret are too small for us to import, but trust us, it’s exceptional. And today we’re excited to release his terrific 2021 rosé.

Malmont’s vines are high in the hills to the east of Séguret, a series of terraced vineyards that he farms with minimal intervention. His winemaking is similarly restrained, where he uses only ambient wild yeasts, and allows the fermentation to proceed at its own pace. The result is honest wines full of precision and complexity.

Malmont’s 2021 rosé is a blend of Grenache and Syrah (66/33) and a blend of direct pressing and saigné. The nose shows light strawberries, lemon rind, tangerine, and minerals. At 13% alcohol, the mouth is perfectly balanced, totally dry with excellent freshness and pleasant notes of herbs, lavender, and honey and a splash of salinity.

This week’s heat has our minds turning to summer, and we’re delighted to have this in stock and ready to refresh.

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Malmont Séguret Rosé 2021
bottle price: $22

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New winemakers in Burgundy are hard to come by. It’s a tiny region, and between small harvests, ever increasing demand, and well-established importers, it can seem there’s nothing new to discover.

Which makes us even gladder of our most recent Burgundian find: the Domaine Boursot in Chambolle-Musigny. Neal Martin of Vinous writes of a “foundation for a promising future,” and describes Boursot’s wines as “superb,” “excellent,” “very fine,” and “worth seeking out.” Having tasted our fourth and fifth Boursot vintages last month at the domaine, we’re pleased to report our (and Neal’s) initial enthusiasm was well founded.

Boursot is best known for their excellent Chambolle-Musignys, which are excellent and come highly recommended. But their hidden gem is their Côte de Nuits-Villages. Made from vines immediately on the other side of the wall from Chambolle royalty Frédy Mugnier’s famous Nuits-St-Georges 1er cru “Clos de la Maréchale,” this greatly overperforms its class.

The 2019 is as good as you’d expect from an outstanding vintage and supremely well-located terroir. It’s classic Boursot style: the nose is dark and briary, with Côte de Nuits cassis and hints of black pepper and toast. The mouth is punchy and juicy, with a woodsy mouthfeel laid over lots of beefy extraction. The tannins are approachable and youthful, full of energy and texture without an ounce of harshness.

Neal Martin found “plenty of energy and charm,” with a “fleshy” palate and “quite a sensual finish.” Bill Nanson wrote simply “a great CDNV! Bravo!” Is it as good as the $175 Premier Cru Nuit-St-Georges next door? Nope. But at a quarter of the price it’s easily a better buy — loaded with character, presence, and depth.

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Boursot Côte de Nuits-Villages 2019
bottle price: $42

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With baseball here, the thermometer pushing 70, and the Marathon around the corner, it’s finally starting to feel like spring here in Boston. (This is New England, of course, and even typing those words probably risks an April snow storm.) But we’ve turned over the season in our minds and cellars, and eventually Mother Nature will catch up.

We’re preparing our warehouse for our Oysterfest celebration (this Saturday, April 15 – come by if you’re local!) and one wine is sure to be on the menu: Muscadet. This is a crisp, precise, perennially underrated dry white wine that is the essence of freshness. It’s also abundant and inexpensive.

Made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape, the best examples are raised “sur lie” (on the lees) to add complexity. In recent years Muscadet has undergone a reinvention of sorts with the elevation of three of the region’s best towns to a new “Cru Communal” status.

Today’s wine comes from one of these leaders in the new wave of Muscadet. Martin-Luneau is a family domaine farming old vines on the plains south of Nantes. Today we’re pleased to release the 2018 “Gorges” Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine. Combining exceptional terroir with extended years on the lees, this is an unusually complex take on a classic.

The 2018 Gorges is a perfect companion to the arrival of Spring. It’s pure and clean, showing melon, dried spring flowers, and lemon zest. The mouth is smooth and very dry, with notes of salt air, stones, and green apple skins. It’s refreshing and full of energy. Maybe don’t put your sweaters away just yet, but grab a case of this to be ready.

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Martin-Luneau Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine
Sur Lie “Gorges” 2018
bottle price: $22

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Burgundian harvest dates in August were unthinkable only decades ago, but they’re quickly becoming common. In many locations, early harvests make it far more difficult to produce balanced wines; but in parts of Burgundy, at least, there are silver linings.

In areas like the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits and Côte Chalonnaise, where ripening malady-prone Pinot Noir fully was once a perennial struggle, winemakers now often achieve ripeness with ease. Indeed the quality of wine from these “lesser” regions has improved dramatically in recent decades, but (in most places) prices have yet to catch up.

It was over 40 years ago that Michel Gros’s father Jean began buying up land in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits. The terrain is 100 meters higher in elevation than the Côte d’Or, and the grapes typically ripen a week later. This prescient investment has begun to pay real dividends, now rewarding a new generation: Michel’s son Pierre, now the principal winemaker.

Gros’s 2020 Hautes-Côtes de Nuits is a lovely, dense wine with dark red fruits and a nice mineral line. As with all 2020 red Burgundies, the color resembles something closer to Syrah, and the fruit is dark and brooding, packed with dark intensity and excellent tension. Burghound found “very good density,” with “vibrant flavors” and a “lingering finish.”

Entry level red Burgundy is seldom better than this.

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Gros Hautes-Côtes de Nuits 2020
bottle price: $35

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