Author: Thomas Wilcox

We first met Arnaud Baillot where many great relationships have started – at a bar. This spring, as we enjoyed a terrific meal at La Superbe, a delicious new restaurant in Beaune, we struck up a conversation with the young couple a few seats down the counter. They explained they were local winemakers, we told them about our import business, and by the end of the night we had exchanged Instagram follows, with promises to remain in touch.

Baillot is a bit of an anomaly in Burgundy – he has no family connection to wine or the region, and has only been making wine for six years. His wife Laure is of a storied Burgundian family (Hudelot-Noëllat), but they have short winemaking experience and almost zero reviews. Still, since a hidden gem is the perpetual pursuit of all importers, we squeezed an appointment in late in the afternoon of our final tasting day this spring.

We’re certainly glad we did. Baillot is a talented, thoughtful winemaker with excellent instincts and impressive resources. He makes wine from a wide array of plots around the Côte d’Or, some farmed himself, some from carefully purchased grapes. We’re including three of his delicious 2022 reds in next week’s September Futures release – as well as an exciting collaboration between Baillot and his friend Theo Dancer of Chassagne-Montrachet fame – but we’re singling out his Bourgogne rouge for attention today.

Baillot’s 2022 Bourgogne Côte d’Or is lively, delicious, and eager to be drunk. The strawberry/cherry fruit is perfectly extracted, giving floral notes of violets and roses. It’s fully destemmed, from vines near Pommard and Volnay, and shows persistence and depth without sacrificing elegance. At just 10% new oak, this is a lithe, modern red Burgundy bursting with vibrancy and real style.

In short, we think Baillot has the makings of a star. But beyond his prominent spot on the wine list at Ma Cuisine and his inclusion in the Berry Brothers portfolio, you’ll have to take our word for it. Whether or not he gets famous some day, we are sure you’ll enjoy every bottle of this terrific sub-$30 Bourgogne rouge.

__________________________________
Arnaud Baillot Bourgogne Côte d’Or 2022
Ansonia Retail: $468/case
September Futures: $350/case ($29.16/bot)

To order this wine, email Tom

Gigondas continues to produce some of the best value southern reds around. At their best they match the complexity and depth of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but at a noticeable discount. Our producer here, the Clos du Joncuas, is described by Josh Raynolds of Vinous as an “insiders’ producer…true, old-school renditions of Gigondas.”

Winemaker Dany Chastan is the granddaughter of the founder, and she’s successfully raised the quality without abandoning the style. Organic for over 40 years, she uses 100% whole clusters, ambient yeasts, and not even mention of new oak – this is pure, unrestrained expression of magnificent terroir.

Chastan’s 2019 Gigondas is a triumph – we’ve bought it now three times, and each time it gets better. We poured it for a tasting last night and it was easily the crowd favorite – smooth, generous, expansive and flat out delicious. The nose explodes with black raspberry, plum, spice, earth and cedar; the mouth is rich and palate-coating but with excellent definition and exceptional length. Raynolds found “silky texture” with an “energetic, long, sappy finish” with “supple tannins that add shape and subtle grip.”

Just the wine to stock for your autumn cellar.

____________________________

Joncuas Gigondas 2019
bottle price: $42

Add to Cart

 

Vincent Boyer lost nearly 90% of his Meursault crop in a single cold night in April 2021. The resulting wines were tremendously successful, but exceedingly rare – indeed we’ve almost sold every bottle already. But for some reason the frost spared Vincent’s regional-level wines: Bourgogne Côte d’Or, and Aligoté. They’re delicious and we’re delighted to be well stocked.

Sourced from old vines, crafted by a masterful winemaker, and given (like his Meursaults) an exceptionally long 22 months of elevage before bottling, Boyer’s 2021 Bourgogne Côte d’Or is a triumph – far closer to a village Meursault than a humble regional-level wine.

We found Vincent’s 2021 Bourgogne his best yet, and we weren’t alone in our enthusiasm. Burghound gave it his “outstanding” distinction, finding “white orchard fruit and orange peel,” with “excellent punch and delineation,” from “delicious medium weight flavors” and a “sneaky long finish.” He concluded, simply, “Lovely.” We agree – the nose shows Boyer’s signature blend of golden fruit and focused minerals. The mouth is rich and smooth, with terrific concentration for its level. Every bottle we open gets better.

____________________________

Boyer-Martenot Bourgogne Côte d’Or 2021
bottle price: $45

Add to Cart

 

Stephane Robert of the Domaine du Tunnel is one of the brightest stars in Cornas. He’s humble and quiet in person, but his wines are bold, assertive, and charming. Robert farms an envious collection of old Syrah vines around the tiny appellation, and his wines are well worthy of their hype. Vinous calls Tunnel “among the top producers of Cornas.”

Stephane also produces an excellent cuvée from St-Joseph, a large appellation that stretches from Cornas in the south to Côte Rôtie in the north. This enormous span covers a wide range of terroirs, and makes the character of St-Joseph hard to pin down. Tunnels vines are all in the south, and we think it’s best considered a JV version of his iconic Cornas.

Drawn from 40+ year old vines and clocking in at a cool 13% alcohol, this is vibrant, intense, Syrah with Tunnel’s signature polish and class. There is a pleasant nose of dark fruit supported by exceedingly fine-grained tannins, and also excellent length. Vinous’s reviewer reported that “Vivid red and black cherry, violets and leafy subtleties rise up from the glass….polished and concentrated.”

Pour this characterful, perfectly-balanced Syrah as autumn arrives.

____________________________

Tunnel St-Joseph 2022
bottle price: $59

Add to Cart

 

With the summer heat now (mostly) behind us, we’re delighted to announce the restart of our monthly wine club! We’ve made a few changes, and have added to the membership offering. Join the wine club and, like last year, you can expect:

• 3 bottles delivered monthly; white or red
• 10-20% off retail value of the trio
• tasting notes, recipe ideas, winemaker background
• video recordings of Tom or Mark discussing the wines
• followup coupon: purchase any full case of the club wines at 20% off

but this season we’re adding for club members:

• early access to website sales
• exclusive access to limited-release wines not found on our site
• site-wide discount coupons
• monthly 4th bottle giveaways

We’ve also added a second tier called “Wine Club Plus” focused on premier crus and back vintages. As always, there’s no commitment — cancel anytime.

_______________________

Click below to subscribe!

Wine Club (Reds): $98/mo
Wine Club (Whites): $98/mo

Wine Club Plus (Reds): $195/mo
Wine Club Plus (Whites): $195/mo

 

Christophe Mestre is from an old Châteauneuf-du-Pape family. Together with his wife and son they craft a single delicious, traditional, early drinking cuvée. In a town where luxury cuvées and single-varietal bottlings have become in vogue, the Mestres stick with the original formula – a single, appellation-wide cuvée.

Christophe farms plots more than a dozen plots around the appellation, blending Mourvèdre, Grenache, Syrah, and a touch of Cinsault. The elevage is 18 months, mostly in foudres and large oak, with some in cement eggs and vats. The resulting wine is accessible, crowd pleasing, and the perfect bottle to welcome fall.

The 2022 vintage is particularly pretty. It offers an expressive nose of youthful fruit with attractive floral notes. It’s rich and supple of course, but with noticeable freshness that prevents heaviness and keeps it juicy. The bigger the glass you have, the more you’ll appreciate the nose. Serve with an autumn stew.

____________________________

Mestre Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2022
bottle price: $35

Add to Cart

 

Sancerre remains among the world’s best known white wines. Sauvignon blanc, a naturally high acid grape, is well positioned to weather today’s hot summers without losing pep and energy. Our source here is the Domaine de la Garenne, an old family domaine of the highest quality, practicing organic viticulture and on track for EU certification next year.

Garenne’s cuvées aren’t showy or innovative – they’re honest, punchy, simply delicious Sancerre. We have four cuvées from them in stock, but our best seller has always been “Bouffants.” This unoaked sauvignon blanc comes from 40+ year old vines in a limestone-rich plot with excellent drainage. It’s a perfectly located single vineyard cuvée, and from one of the best plots in the appellation.

The 2023 is as good as ever. There’s no oak, and the old vines contribute loads of dry concentration cut by a chiseled, stony backbone. The nose shows grapefruit zest and herbal honey, and the mouth bursts with white flowers, lime, and stone. Serve this with fish from the grill, or a hearty shrimp pasta with herbs and parm.

____________________________

Garenne Sancerre “Bouffants” 2023
bottle price: $32

Add to Cart

 

Romain Collet is an innovator. Each time we visit he has a new project – bold new French labels, more clay amphora, a gin (yes, gin!) collaboration with a local friend. And yet his lineup of Chablis remains classical and delicious. In the face of blazing hot recent summers, Romain continues to fashion cuvées that show their terroir with clarity and focus.

His newest cuvée is a village level Chablis called “Valée de Valvan.” It’s from vines that have achieved their years-long EU organic certification, perched on a hillside facing his “Montmains” plot. We were quite taken with this new bottling in the spring during our visit, and are delighted to have it in stock at last.

We weren’t the only ones to pick up on this new cuvée. Jasper Morris MW found it “generous yet classic…good stuff;” Neal Martin of Vinous writes “palate is well balanced with commendable weight and fruit concentration…focused.” We loved the notes of pear and lemon zest, mixing with oyster shells and limestone.

With a 100% stainless steel elevage and 12.5% alcohol, this is vibrant, pure, exquisite everyday Chablis. Serve with anything and nothing.

____________________________

Collet Chablis “Valvan” 2022
bottle price: $35

Add to Cart

 

After several years of patiently waiting for an allocation, we’re delighted to introduce our newest Champagne source: RH Coutier. The Coutiers are an old family in Ambonnay (there since 1619), and today produce small-batch Champagnes exclusively from their own organic Grand Cru vineyards.

Antonio Galloni of Vinous calls the Coutier wines “gorgeous…all showing the natural richness of Ambonnay,” and writing they “have been favorites of mine for years, because of their quality, personality, and exceedingly fair prices.” Ambonnay is known as Pinot Noir country, where extra clay and warm southern exposure lend themselves well to the red grape.

Courtier’s base “Cuvée Tradition” is simply exquisite grower Champagne at a remarkable price. It’s super expressive exploding from the glass with notes of spring flowers, pear, raspberries, herbs and brioche. At 6g dosage and a blend of 70% pinot noir and 30% chardonnay it’s dry but full of fruit, and the texture is at once lush and crisp. This is accessible, affordable, downright tasty Champagne – full of character, flavor, and life.

____________________________

Coutier Champagne “Tradition” NV
bottle price: $52

Add to Cart

 

Vouvray is a hard wine to pin down – it ranges from very sweet to bone dry and from sparkling to still. The most famous cuvées from top names will improve for decades, and are among the world’s longest lived wines. We enjoy almost any expression of Vouvray, but our favorite is the simplest – still, fresh, early-drinking, and dry.

Our source in Vouvray is the Domaine de la Fontainerie. Catherine Dhoye-Deruet has run her small 6-hectare estate for the last 30 years, and it’s been in her family for centuries. We introduced her refreshing, affordable Vouvray Sec (dry) cuvée last year, and it was an easy hit. This is Chenin blanc in its purest form – classic, refreshing, and vibrant, raised in steel (no oak) and fermented fully dry.

Fontainerie’s just-arrived 2022 Vouvray Sec is a delight – perfect for late summer and early fall. The nose is lush and beautiful with exotic fruits alongside notes of chalk, apple, quince and pear. The mouth is rich, smooth and delicious with a bursting apple attack and a crunchy, stony dry finish. Serve with crumbly goat cheese, garlic-ginger shrimp from the grill, or pre-season football.

____________________________

Fontainerie Vouvray 2022
bottle price: $25

Add to Cart

 

The pursuit of freshness is a perennial struggle for white Burgundy vignerons these days. They’ve adapted to warmer, drier summers by delaying pruning, harvesting earlier, and tweaking their cellar work. But Chardonnay loves the sun, and inattentive growers can end up with overripe, high alcohol wines.

Aligoté has always been Chardonnay’s distant understudy. It’s been part of Burgundian winemaking for centuries, but has never been responsible for the region’s famous white wines. But warmer drier summers have meant that this naturally bright grape varietal has taken on added depth and complexity. Winemakers are now taking the grape more seriously, and the results are really exciting.

Our favorite so far is Vincent Boyer’s, a superstar winemaker crafting classic white Burgundies in Meursault and Puligny. He gives his Aligoté the same extended elevage (nearly two years in old barrels and concrete eggs) as his Chardonnays, and the resulting wine is simply exquisite. Burghound found the 2021 “exceptionally fresh” and “very well-detailed” with notes of “lemon rind, green apple, and spice.” He awarded it his “outstanding” designation, and concluded simply, “good stuff.”

____________________________

Boyer-Martenot Aligoté 2021
bottle price: $29

Add to Cart

 

In the last few years Michel Gros’s son Pierre has taken over as principal winemaker at the family domaine. His winemaking style is so far indistinguishable from his father’s, and we can’t blame him. Given Michel’s stellar reputation and 45 vintages of experience, we’ll give Pierre credit for seeking wise counsel.

Whoever’s calling the shots, the 2021s from Gros are an unmitigated triumph, and even more impressive given the difficult vintage. Abundant rain and a cooler summer produced wines with less concentration than the last few scorching hot years – a welcome relief from the chewy, syrah-like Pinots of recent memory. Across the board Gros’s 2021s are elegant, refined, and middle weight, with subtly extracted tannins and beautiful length.

Their lighter touch has meant they’re more charming young than we expected. We opened this village level Chambolle a few months ago at the warehouse and it was strikingly good. Drawn mostly from a plot abutting Musigny Grand Cru, this overperforms it’s village-level billing by a mile.

Neal Martin of Vinous found “an enticing nose with pressed violet and iris,” with “supple tannins, velvety smooth, and fine depth.” This is always a top cuvée at Gros and the 2021 is no different. It’s elegant and classy, full of tension, precision, and the domaine’s signature smoky polish. We think the 2021s will age a decade with ease, but it’s already a tremendous glass of red Burgundy today.

____________________________

Gros Chambolle-Musigny 2021
bottle price: $135

Add to Cart

 

Master of Wine Jasper Morris is an eloquent, experienced, extremely British wine writer, who doesn’t throw the word “superb” around lightly. And so while we at Ansonia have held this opinion of Cyril Gautheron for years, we took note when earlier this year he called him “a superb producer making wines in a crisp cool classically Chablis style, which is now really quite hard to achieve in these warmer seasons.”

Among the best wines from Gautheron’s exquisite lineup of 2022s is his village-level old-vine Chablis. The 2022 is a bundle of fleshy energy – everything you want from Chablis. The wood is nearly impossible to detect, adding depth, sophistication, and unusual refinement for its level. We found notes of oyster shells, lemon pulp, and chalk.

Morris gave this wine his 5-star distinction, awarded to less than 10% of the wines he tastes, and signifying “outstanding wine in its category.” He found old-vine “flesh apparent even on the nose” with “excellent tension behind” and “a searing chiseled white fruit.” We’d struggle to find a more impressive white Burgundy at this price point.

____________________________

Gautheron Chablis VV 2022
bottle price: $32

Add to Cart

 

The lone Austrian source in our catalog is the Weingut Salomon-Undof, a centuries old domaine overlooking the Danube river. They’re best known for their Grüner Veltliner, a humble grape that’s synonymous with Austrian winemaking. But we’re very fond of their Rieslings – dry, stony, piercing interpretations of the grape that are the perfect defense against a hot muggy summer evening.

Salomon Undhof’s Riesling “Terrassen” is simply beautiful this year. The nose is bright and clean with notes of white stone fruits, lime zest, and a hint of slate. The mouth is pretty and concentrated with dried apple fruits and a lemon-saline finish. There’s an electric, vibrant quality to the wine that makes it refreshing and awfully hard to put down.

Serve with a cool goat cheese salad.

____________________________

Salomon-Undhof Riesling “Terrassen” 2022
bottle price: $25

Add to Cart

 

Climate change has made most winemakers’ jobs more difficult, but in some sectors it’s brought more good than harm. One area basking in the abundant sun these days is the Côte Chalonnaise, a sub-region of Burgundy just south of the Côte d’Or. Vignerons here do have to manage drought, powerful storms, and other new challenges, but the struggle for ripeness is largely a thing of the past.

One of the most exciting towns in the Côte Chalonnaise is Givry, where we’ve worked for many years with the terrifically talented Gautier Desvignes. His excellent 2022s are in our July Futures pre-order, scheduled to arrive this fall. But for those who can’t wait, our new Givry producer’s wines are already in stock. Nicolas Ragot’s wines have made many friends since their introduction earlier this year, and we’re delighted to introduce a third wine today.

Ragot’s Givry 1er cru “Grand Berge” is seriously classy red Burgundy at a remarkably friendly price. It shows refined tannins and a dusty, beautiful fruit profile. The nose is more serious than his village level Givry, and the mouth is fleshier and more complex. Look for notes of violets, cassis, and bursting dark red cherries.

____________________________

Ragot Giry 1er “Grand Berge” 2022
bottle price: $45

Add to Cart