Author: Thomas Wilcox

We’re often apprehensive when a new generation takes over a domaine. Young winemakers often implement needed modernization, but sometimes get caught chasing trendiness. No winemaker in our portfolio has more expertly balanced these impulses than Gautier Desvignes.

The transformation chez Desvignes has not gone unnoticed. Vinous’s Neal Martin recently found Gautier’s wines “really quite superb.” And the Wine Advocate’s William Kelley named Gautier one of the region’s “five rising stars,” advising “importers looking for a potential future star should beat a path to his door.”

Most of Gautier’s 2019s sold out through futures, but his excellent village-level Givry is still available in small quantities.

The 2019 Givry from Desvignes shows bright red fruit with precision and focus worthy of a Côte d’Or red Burgundy. There’s berries in the nose with subtle hints of toast chalk. The mouth is clean and pure with beautiful tension slicing through the bursting ripe fruit.

William Kelly awarded 90 points calling it “already hard to resist,” “lively and charming,” concluding “it has turned out beautifully.” In short, this is among the best red Burgundy values in our cellar. We only wish there was more of it to go around.

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Desvignes Givry 2019
bottle price: $32

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French winemakers have spent centuries perfecting the ideal marriages of grape and land. Each region has its own match: Pinot Noir in Burgundy, Sauvignon blanc in Sancerre, Merlot in Bordeaux, Grenache in the Rhône, etc.

One particularly happy union is that Viognier and Condrieu, perched on the steep slopes of the Northern Rhône valley. Grown elsewhere, Viognier can be heavy and flat — in Condrieu, it reaches magnificence. Condrieu is a tiny appellation — just over half a square mile of vines. But it produces one of the world’s great white wines, as complex aromatically as it is elegant and mouthfilling on the palate.

We’ve now source two Condrieus (look in Sunday’s March Futures for a third), and while they’ll never be among our top selling wines, we’re always glad to have them around.

Patrick and Christophe Bonnefond’s 2020 Condrieu is a masterpiece, achieving soaring balance between minerals, fruit, freshness, aromas and texture. Look for a vibrant mouthfeel with plush notes of nectarine, pear, and orange blossom. This finishes dry but is bursting with delicious ripe fruit. This is explosively expressive, you’ll smell it from a glass that’s 10 feet away.

Domaine de Boisseyt’s 2018 Condrieu is less exuberant, but no less charming. With two extra years in the bottle this shows a drier, more savory side of the grape, with more intensity and a refined, serious mouthfeel. Look for restrained oak alongside notes of peaches and white flowers. This is delicious and tightly wound, middle-weight rather than huge, and with excellent concentration and focus.

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Bonnefond Condrieu 2020
bottle price: $62

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De Boisseyt Condrieu 2018
bottle price: $58

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Some wines are esoteric: subtly funky Burgundies, oxidative Jura whites, skin-contact orange wines, etc. Like a Rothko canvas or a Philip Glass composition, these wines are best understood with some context, and they’re not for everyone.

Other wines offer more straightforward enjoyment: uncomplicated hedonistic pleasure. And today’s wine is firmly in the second camp. The Domaine les Goubert is among our most popular producers, and the special Gigondas “Cuvée Florence” is their finest wine. It’s not subtle or traditional, but it’s pure, cozy delight — and sometimes, after a long day, that’s just what we need.

The 2018 growing season was hotter and drier than anything in recent memory, and making wine under the scorching provencal sun was even toastier than usual. But Gigondas has some advantages amid ever warming seasons: it’s on the slope of a hill with excellent drainage, and the tall mountains (Dentelles de Montmirail) behind it foster continuous airflow. Harvest is often a week or two later than Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Goubert has just released the 2018 Gigondas “Florence,” after its two year elevage before bottling. It’s rich and bold and smooth, offering easy enjoyment and a perfect match for wintery weather. Jeb Dunnuck awarded 92-94 points, calling it “beautiful” and finding “focused texture.. and a great finish.”

This wine perfectly embodies the term “layers.” It changes the moment the bottle is opened — we suggest a half hour in a carafe to help it along. When it’s open and firing on all cylinders, it’s a symphony of taste: lavender, boysenberry, black pepper, chocolate, raspberry jam, earth, and toast.

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Goubert Gigondas “Florence” 2018
bottle price: $54

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Red Burgundies aren’t known for their heartiness. Pinot Noir is a delicate, thin-skinned varietal — and typically tends towards subtlety over strength. But what red Burgundies may lack in weight they more than make up in elegance. The finest examples are unmatched in their ability to convey complexity, subtlety, and grace. In the Côte de Nuits it’s hard to pick a favorite town, but in the Côte de Beaune one name stands above the rest.

Volnay embodies the velvety silkiness of red Burgundy as well as any town in the region. Our producer here is the Domaine Roger Belland, who marries Volnay’s elegance with the domaine’s approachable style. The result is exceptionally fine red Burgundy, that’s also drinkable young.

Volnay has no Grand Cru vineyards, so Santenots Premier Cru is among the appellation’s finest plots. Its location on the southern border with Meursault signals the elegance and charming aromatics often found in the wine.

Belland’s 2019 Volnay 1er cru is a deft balance act of channeling subtle terroir in a very ripe year. Belland used 80% whole clusters in this cuvée, giving a backbone to the abundant fruit. Resulting wine is gorgeous, easily their most elegant red, with lively aromatics and plenty of substance. Its structure is hidden in the beautiful fruit and its very fine-grained tannins support a wine that will be perfumed, silky, and lacy when it matures.

Burghound awarded 92 points, calling it “Outstanding,” and finding it both “exceptionally rich” and “velvet-textured,” with a “built-to-age finish.” Belland’s wines always drink young, but there’s no rush on this one, and it’s a terrific candidate for the back of the cellar.

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Belland Volnay 1er “Santenots” 2019
bottle price: $75

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For years we used to visit the Domaine Desvignes in Givry for humble, straightforward red Burgundies with excellent pricing. But in the years since Gautier Desvignes has taken over, the domaine has transformed into one of the leading lights in the Côte Chalonnaise. In a remarkably short time, Gautier has upgraded the winemaking facilities, bottling practices, and viticulture, with truly exciting results.

We’re not the only ones to notice – both Vinous’s Neal Martin and the Wine Advocate’s William Kelley MW have identified Gautier as a rising star, and the results of his work are more impressive every year. Last fall Kelley reported: “The young Gautier Desvignes continues his rapid ascent at the 11-hectare estate, and I was delighted by these new releases. … Elegant, sumptuous reds and bright, chiseled whites are the order of the day, and everything reviewed here comes warmly recommended.”

The only thing wrong with wines’ rise in popularity is their sudden scarcity. Nearly all of our allocation for the Desvignes reds sold out through Futures last year, and the only red cuvée left in stock is his excellent 2019 Givry. But in recent years Gautier has also turned his considerable skill to his whites wines, and we’re pleased to release one today: the Givry blanc “En Cheneves.”

This is terrific white Burgundy, which actually features 10% of pinot blanc alongside the 90% chardonnay. The wine is crisp and focused: pure Chardonnay fruit with a chalky intensity. The pinot blanc offers a splash of floral notes, and Gautier has oaked it minimally and masterfully. It offers a completeness and complexity that recalls the famous whites of the Côte d’Or to the north, far overperforming its humble origin.

Kelley found “crisp yellow orchard fruit, white flowers and hazelnuts” calling it “bright and precise.” If you missed out on Gautier’s 2019 reds, keep your eye out for September Futures later this year. But in the meantime, we can’t recommend this delicious white enough.

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Desvignes Givry blanc “En Cheneves” 2019
bottle price: $32

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Denis Basset is best known for his rich pure Syrahs from Crozes-Hermitage. They’re delicious, well priced, and pulsing with energy and life. For years our only look at his lone white cuvée was in his barrel room – just a splash “to set the palate” before moving on to the reds. The white was always lovely — floral and fresh, beautifully expressive, and a perfect way to start a tasting.

But it was so popular in Parisian restaurants that it was years before he offered us any; now we thirstily buy all of our small allocation each year. It’s the only wine of its kind in our portfolio – rounder and more tropical than white Burgundy; more tension than Condrieu; more softness than our Loire whites. An usual and charming aperitif white.

Denis Basset runs the Domaine Saint-Clair, which he started several years ago after spending the first decade of his working life in the family’s flower business. He has rapidly gained confidence and acclaim; both Decanter and the Guide Hachette have listed him in a dynamic new generation of Crozes-Hermitage winemakers.

Basset’s white is a Rousanne-Marsanne blend (70/30), in the style of a classic northern Rhône. The nose is soft and enveloping, with tropical notes of mango, pineapple, and green tea. The mouth is rich and round, but well balanced, showing nectarine and honey notes. There’s so much exotic fruit in the nose you almost expect this to be sweet, but the mouth finishes cool and soft and dry.

This is a perfect winter white wine, with bright citrus to match rich foods, but a cozy, mouthcoating softness that makes it hard to put down. Serve some with a salty triple cream cheese and crusty bread.

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Saint-Clair Crozes-Hermitage blanc 2020
bottle price: $25

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