Author: Thomas Wilcox

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Smooth, Velvety, Wintertime Châteauneuf. $35

With winter weather here for the foreseeable future, we’re pleased to be well stocked on rich Southern Rhône reds. We have plenty of ideas from Séguret and Gigondas, but sometimes the most obvious answer is also the best. With that in mind we’re suggesting Châteauneuf-du-Pape today: the vinous equivalent of comfort food.

At their best these are rich, smooth wines that are inky, mouthfilling, concentrated and deep. Much of the wine from Châteauneuf is built for cellaring, but Christophe Mestre’s small production cuvée requires no patience. Rich, smooth, mouthfilling Châteauneuf to be enjoyed in its youth.

Fans of the appellation used to paying well over $50 for bigger names should take note — this is intense, velvety Chateauneuf-du-Pape with a remarkably low price tag. The nose is explosive, with a wide range of notes from violets and pan drippings to strawberry jam and lavender. The mouth is smooth and soft and rich, with a dark red complexion and silky tannins. Critic Jeb Dunnuck awarded 90-92 points, finding it “medium bodied, nicely textured, and with ample character.”

Sometimes all you want for dinner is mac and cheese or chicken soup or an omelet. And sometimes all you need in your glass is a comforting, cozy Châteauneuf.

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Mestre Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2018
bottle price: $35

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Vibrant, Fresh, Unoaked 2019 Premier Cru Chablis

In the dozen years since he took over his family’s domaine, Romain Collet has elevated its reputation as fast as any new generation we’ve witnessed. We’ve noticed it ourselves, but we’re not alone — writers from Vinous, Burghound and Robert Parker have noted a “higher level of refinement” and a “significant upsurge in quality.” Jasper Morris MW writes that Romain Collet “is moving towards joining the pantheon” in Chablis.

All of Romain’s 2019 premier crus are terrific — we couldn’t decide on a favorite, so we bought all four. But today we’re focused on Montmains, the classical cuvée. Collet’s Montmains is raised entirely in stainless steel. The soils for their plot are clay-poor, which contributes to the decision to keep eschew oak.

The 2019 Montmains is truly delicious wine, and requires neither patience nor introduction – we think even the most hardened New World Chardonnay drinker couldn’t turn a glass of this down. It’s fresh and delightful, with plenty of dry lemon fruit, and hints of stones and shells on the finish. Dry, unoaked fruit dominates here, with terrific tension.

Jasper Morris and Burghound both gave 89-92 points, finding it “attractive and quite persistent,” with “intense and sleekly textured flavors… all wrapped in a bone-dry finish.” It’s broad enough to enjoy a glass on its own, but we think it’s best with sushi, oysters, scallops, or simple goat cheese. That a cuvée this complex and complete runs $35/bot is truly remarkable.

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Collet Chablis 1er cru “Montmains” 2019
bottle price: $35

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“Brilliant” 97-point Cornas: Magnificent 2019 Northern Rhône Syrah

Cornas is a tiny appellation. It covers 145 hectares (compared with Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s 3,000+), and is home to fewer than 50 vignerons. The name comes from the Celtic word for “burnt earth,” and it’s an appropriate moniker: Cornas is pure Syrah like the rest of the Northern Rhône, but the feel is of something sunnier from further South.

Today fifth generation winemaker Nicolas Serrette farms a miniscule 1.8 hectares (4 acres) in Cornas. We feel lucky to have finally gotten an audience at this address — a tiny, well-known producer in a tiny, popular appellation. Give their wines a bit of time and space, and they’re sure to impress.

Simon Field MW of Berry Brothers writes of the Dumien-Serrette wines’ “granitic splendor” and “beguiling floral elegance which sets them apart.” They draw from 80+ year old vines to produce intense, teeth-staining Syrah, with extraordinary depth but remarkable freshness.

The 2019 Cornas “Patou” is nothing short of an experience. A combination of inky black flavors with unusually refined floral finesse, the wine pumps out seemingly endless layers of flavor. Full of fine-grained tannin and perfectly ripe fruit, this is as bold and intense as Syrah gets. The nose is deep and rich, showing cherries, cocoa, anise, and pepper. On the palate it’s masculine and distilled, with notes of cherry jam, violets, and olive.

Wine writer Jeb Dunnock awarded 95-97 points, calling it “another brilliant wine” with “awesome black and blue fruits,” and “full-bodied richness.” He concludes “phenomenal Cornas.”

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Dumien-Serrette Cornas “Patou” 2019
bottle price: $56

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Vibrant, Delicious, Everyday 2019 Bourgogne from Michel Gros

We like to judge a vigneron’s talent by his simplest wine. Great wines from great terroir of course involve a steady winemaker as guide, but the material undoubtedly provides a head start. With humble fruit from an unsung plot of regional-level vines, winemaking skill comes even more into play.

And nowhere is this more apparent than the Bourgogne rouge from Michel Gros. Gros makes delicious (and increasingly hard to get) red Burgundies from the most famous towns in the region – Vosne, Chambolle, Morey-St-Denis, etc. But his regional level wines are just as well made and polished as his Grand Cru, and so provide terrific value.

Many of the Gros cuvées sold out through Futures in this much-hyped and stellar 2019 vintage – but we were able to increase our allocation for the Bourgogne, and are thrilled to have some in stock. (For now.)

Michel’s 2019 Bourgogne rouge is delicious. From an outstanding vintage that provided excellent ripeness laid over well-built tannin, the wine shows both utterly pleasant youthful fruit and masterfully crafted underlying structure. The tannins are smooth and unobtrusive, but provide a perfect armature on which to display the fruit. Look for notes of red berries, earth, and chalk in the nose, with a clean, refreshing finish.

Burghound called the 2019 “fresh and bright,” “vibrant and well-detailed.” As always this requires no patience and is delicious today. But there’s extra density in this wine this vintage, and we anticipate this will also cellar nicely over a year or two. As entry level Burgundies go, they don’t get much better than this.

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Michel Gros Bourgogne Côte d’Or 2019
bottle price: $32

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Earth and Jam: Gulpable, Organic 2020 Côtes du Rhône. $19

Côtes du Rhônes are a dime a dozen. They’re cheap, reliable, and abundant — you’ll find them everywhere from a fine restaurant to your local supermarket. Most are mass produced, with low tannin and lots of fruit — they may lack flaws, but they’re short on character too.

Eric Chauvin’s wines share a region and grape varietal with these Côtes du Rhônes, but little else. Chauvin’s tiny Domaine le Souverain has no website, no road sign, and barely a phone number — his cellar is a converted garage. But his wines have more complexity and depth than nearly anything else we taste at their level, and manage to remain a bargain.

Chauvin’s wines pulsate with life and energy, a result of his low-intervention style and careful organic viticulture. We sell out of his wine every year, and are thrilled to have the 2020 back in stock at last.

Chauvin’s 2020 Séguret is vibrant and lovely. The nose is dark and inky with notes of tobacco, crushed berries, lavender, and a cool earthiness. The mouth is rich and ripe but beautifully balanced, with vibrant tannic texture, clean dark fruit, and a faint smokiness in the nose.

Class up your takeout pizza or your next plate of pasta — or just unwind with a glass on a weeknight after work. It’s a buck or two more than your drugstore Côtes-du-Rhône, but it’s worlds away in quality.

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Souverain Séguret 2020
bottle price: $19

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[Advance Order] Polished, “Super-Expressive” 2019 Chianti Classico. $250/case

Last week we wrote about how the 2019 vintage produced outstanding wines in red Burgundy, white Burgundy, and the Rhône valleys. Today we suggest that the success of this vintage stretched further still, across the Mont Blanc and into Tuscany. We were at last able to taste our sample of the 2019 Chianti Classico from Poggerino this weekend, and it didn’t disappoint.

As most of you know already, Poggerino is a top-notch producer from Chianti in Italy. Nearly all of our winemakers are French, but we carve out a small exception for Piero and Benedetta Lanza in Radda. Rajat Parr calls their pure Sangiovese wines “some of the purest expressions of [Sangiovese] in Italy.” Wine Spectator calls their wines “impeccably balanced.”

All four Poggerino wines (as well as offers from Couvent, Gautheron, Thomas, Lestimé, Picamelot, Gross, Foulaquier and more) will be in next Sunday’s 2022 January Futures release. But as usual we’ve singled out one wine for which there will be much demand to preview today.

Poggerino’s 2019 Chianti Classico is simply delicious. The wine bursts from the glass in dark floral notes that somehow also carry tremendous lift and elegance. Look for red cherries, roses, plums, licorice and cocoa. In the mouth it’s focused and sleek, with impressive intensity and perfectly coated tannin. The texture is fine grained and polished – in fact, a remarkably polished wine for its price point.

Antonio Galloni of Vinous found it “fleshy and super-expressive,” adding “all the elements come together so well,” and concluding by calling it “especially inviting.” We plan to keep our portfolio’s focus on French wines, but wines like this make us want to expand. Poggerino’s 2019 Classico is a no-brainer addition to your cellar.

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Poggerino Chianti Classico 2019
January Futures price: $250/case

 

To reserve this wine, email Tom.

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“Unusually Refined” New 2019 White Burgundy. $24

Aligoté is having a moment in Burgundy. Vignerons have grown the grape here for centuries, but for most of that time it’s been considered an afterthought – a high-acid grape producing humble, refreshing, unserious wines.

But as summers grow ever hotter and growing seasons shorten, Burgundian growers perennially in search of freshness have begun to rethink the grape’s potential. There’s even a movement to consider allowing blending with Chardonnay for major appellations, should the trend of ever warmer and drier summers continue.

Vincent Boyer’s Bourgogne-Aligoté makes a powerful case for the grape’s potential. It’s not in the same class as his magnificent cuvées from Meursault and Puligny, of course; but it’s the classiest Aligoté we know, and a startling bargain.

Boyer’s 2019 Bourgogne-Aligoté has just arrived. The nose is floral and gorgeous, with notes of white flowers, pear, and chalk. The mouth is smooth and round, with far more weight than the grape typically offers. The finish is clean and compact, with precise freshness and a lovely dollop of stones.

This is Aligoté that would beat out many a Bourgogne blanc in a head to head. There’s a regal character to the wine that would have been unthinkable for the grape a decade or two ago. Burghound found it “wonderfully fresh,” citing its “vibrant middle weight flavors” and “unusually refined texture.” Forget what you know about Aligoté; Boyer’s refines the genre.

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Boyer-Martenot Bourgogne Aligoté 2019
bottle price: $24

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Sleek, Inky New 2019 Gigondas from Goubert. $29

Readers of these posts will know of our enthusiasm for the 2019 reds from Burgundy and the Northern Rhône Valley – a hot, dry growing season produced wines with excellent concentration and gorgeous fruit. Provided growers could manage to achieve balance through harvest timing and vineyard techniques, the wines are some of the most exciting we’ve tasted in years.

And as the 2019s from the Southern Rhône finally begin to arrive on the market, it’s clear the vintage was good to just about everyone in France. Even amid record breaking heat and drought, the vines performed beautifully, producing wines of terrific intensity and depth.

Wine writer Jeb Dunnock calls the vintage “a beautiful, possibly exceptional, vintage for the Southern Rhône.” And the 2019 Gigondas from our longtime friends at the Domaine les Goubert is a perfect place to start.

Goubert is one of the best known names in Gigondas, referred to as a “reference point” by both Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson. Their wines aren’t showy or modern – they’re classic, well made, and exceptionally consistent. Their 2019 Gigondas has just arrived, and it’s among the best vintages of the wine we can remember.

The nose shows dark cherry, garrigue, and violets, with a clean, floral profile that will remind you of a Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The mouth shows beautiful depth and concentration, with briary notes of blackberry, plum, lavender and cassis. There’s impressive energy and the wine finishes with beautiful lift. The tannins provide perfect backdrop for the sleek, inky fruit – just enough structure to keep the wine in balance.

The depth of this wine means it should drink well for many years to come. But the energy and balance make it really tasty today. It’s an outstanding value at under $30, and one we hope to keep in stock for a long time.

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Goubert Gigondas 2019
bottle price: $29

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Terrific Everyday 2019 Red Burgundy. $25

Even by Burgundy standards, the Boursot family has been around awhile. They began making wine in Chambolle-Musigny back in 1550, and nearly five centuries later they’re still farming many of the same soils. The most recent generation has upgraded the facilities and the focus, and their wines have begun to gain substantial critical interest.

Boursot’s most impressive cuvées are from Chambolle-Musigny, and their village and premier cru vines produce red Burgundies of the highest degree. But their two regional level wines from humbler terroir show off their winemaking prowess. Particularly in 2019, the wines are vibrant and refined, pulsing with clean, beautifully channeled fruit.

Boursot’s simplest wine, their Bourgogne rouge, comes from vines near Vosne-Romanée and Chambolle-Musigny, and this origin helps explain the wines unusual refinement. Inexpensive regional level Burgundy can lack complexity or freshness, and in recent hot summers many have devolved into “fruit bombs.” Boursot’s avoids both traps, emerging as a wine with unparalleled subtlety for its level.

Clocking in at 13% alcohol, with fine grained but subtle tannins, the Boursot 2019 Bourgogne rouge is like the Bourgogne rouge of a decade ago. (The pricing may remind you of the aughts as well.) The nose shows wild cherry, chalk, and earth, bursting with unoaked freshness. The mouth is fine-boned and dry with just enough tannin to support the delicate fruit, and a classic Burgundian minerality. It’s charming and delicious, and a welcome respite from modern ripeness explosions.

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Boursot Bourgogne rouge 2019
bottle price: $25

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Punchy, Delicious Old-Vine Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc. $22

If a good Pouily-Fumé bursts from the glass with energy and life, winemaker Frederic Michot is a perfect embodiment of his wines. He talks and drives fast, and sports the same no-nonsense attitude found in a glass of his Pouilly-Fumé: pure Sauvignon blanc, no oak, clean and crisp.

Michot’s side of the river may be less famous than his neighbor Sancerre, but he isn’t willing to concede it any advantage. His wines are exceptional Sauvignon blancs, full of precision, focus, clean dry fruit, and beautiful tension. Sancerre deserves its fame and acclaim; but Pouilly-Fumé is its scrappy underdog cousin, with just as much to offer, and at a better price.

Michot’s Pouilly-Fumé Vieilles Vignes is refreshing, unoaked, mouthfilling and utterly delicious. His 2020 old vine cuvée is terrific – we served it at a large family party last month to universal acclaim. Michot combines a ripe, sunny vintage with bursting tension underneath the gorgeous fruit. There’s lots of inexpensive Sauvignon Blanc around — most of it isn’t half this good.

The nose shows mango, grapefruit rind, and straw; the mouth shows ripe grapefruit, lime rind, and honey. The wine is at once mouthfilling and electric, with the persistence of richness and freshness found in finest Sancerre.

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Michot Pouilly-Fumé VV 2020
bottle price: $22

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Superb New 2019 Premier Cru from Saint-Aubin’s Best Vineyard

The changing climate has caused dramatic shifts amid the tiny microclimates of Burgundy’s Côte d’Or. In a region where a few meters makes the difference between four-figure Grand Cru and $60 village, a couple degrees of warmer weather can have profound effect. And as with the rest of the world, there are winners and losers in this new reality.

Among the undisputed winners is the side valley of St-Aubin. With some of the highest elevation vines in the Côte d’Or, this appellation once on the margins of ripeness is increasingly right in the middle. We imagine vignerons roasting in August on the flat plains of Chassagne and Puligny might gaze longingly at the breezy St-Aubin vineyards a few hundred meters up the slope.

We’ve long loved the terroirs of St-Aubin, and are pleased to see them increasingly receiving their due – even if it’s meant they’re scarcer and pricier. We have several producers who farm here; our most recent addition is the Domaine Bohrmann.

Bohrmann’s style is low oak, pure fruit, and exquisitely balanced texture: richness, depth and energy all at once. Raised in only 15% new oak for a year, their St-Aubin 1er cru comes from “En Remilly,” considered one of the town’s top vineyards.

This wine is lively and generous at the same time: thick and full of a rippling intensity, combining perfectly ripe golden fruit with structure and minerality. There’s precision capable of enhancing your most refined dishes — sole meuniere, for example. The use of oak is perfect: support for the minerals and fruit, but without too much spice or toast.

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Bohrmann St-Aubin 1er “En Remilly” 2019
bottle price: $59

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“Quintessential” 2019 Grand Cru Red Burgundy

We like to talk about wines that are just off the beaten path. Particularly in Burgundy, the best values can be lesser known wines just a few meters from the famous vineyards. But in most instances, famous vineyards are famous for a reason.

And such is the case with the Clos de la Roche, a Grand Cru vineyard in Burgundy’s Morey-St-Denis. Named for the elevated bedrock beneath a shallow layer of soil, Clos de la Roche is Morey’s largest and best known vineyard. Jasper Morris describes it as “quintessential Morey,” finding a “slight aromatic wildness” with “sinews, structure, and density.”

Our friends at the Domaine Amiot in Morey-St-Denis produce truly delicious wines at all levels – their terrific (and increasingly scarce) premier crus are among the best-value Burgundies in our cellar. But it’s no mystery why their Clos de la Roche is at the top of their price.

Amiot is the fourth largest landholder in Clos de la Roche, behind Ponsot, Dujac and Rousseau. A bottle of Clos de la Roche from these three illustrious domaines will set you back $500-$850 on release, and a good deal more at auction. And while we’re not claiming Amiot’s would win blind next to those, we think their $195 bottle offers terrific value.

A superb vintage like 2019 is a good one for buying Grand Cru, even if that’s not your usual neighborhood. The Clos de la Roche 2019 is big and dense, with extraordinary length on the palate. There is dark, sweet fruit and great density, so it’s not for drinking for a few years. But Burghound thought it “one of the best recent vintages that I have seen for this wine,” one that “should amply reward extended keeping.”

If you’ve got a Burgundy lover on your Christmas list, this would make quite the splash.

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Amiot Clos de la Roche Grand Cru 2019
bottle price: $195

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“Excellent” New Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru from 2019

Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet produce the world’s finest dry white wines. In production for nearly two thousand years, the vineyards surrounding these villages produce wines of different characters — Puligny a bit more serious, Chassagne a bit friendlier.

Today’s suggestion comes from Roger Belland, a fifth generation Burgundian winemaker. Belland’s style is intensity without harshness – his wines of both colors are welcoming and smooth. But given time they often surprise with their complexity. Today we’re suggesting Belland’s flagship wine: the monopole Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru “Clos Pitois” blanc from 2019.

First planted in 1421, the “Clos Pitois” is a monopole of the Belland family. Owning an entire vineyard is rare in Burgundy, and the Bellands treat it like a member of the family. Located in the clay-rich “Morgeot” sector of the appellation, the 2019 blanc is classic Chassagne — rich, mouthfilling, and gorgeous, pulsating with lively golden fruit.

As with the best of Belland’s whites, this combines an intense richness with linear focus. There is more minerality and stoniness mixed in with the fruit here, and the nose includes floral notes of white peach flower. This white wine is focused and serious, and while approachable young, should amply reward cellaring.

Jasper Morris MW agreed, awarding 93 points and finding “really significant weight to this, and in balance,” concluding “substantial and very long.” Burghound called it “outstanding,” finding “excellent volume to the dense and solidly powerful flavors that exhibit very good length on the bitter lemon-inflected finale.” Whether enjoyed young or old, this wine is unlikely to disappoint.

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Belland Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru
“Clos Pitois” blanc 2019
bottle price: $88

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Terrific Small-Batch Grower Champagne under $50

Since its early days Champagne has been synonymous with glamor and marketing. It can be easy to lose track of quality and distinctiveness amid the glossy promotional haze. But Pascal Bardoux, our tiny grower Champagne producer, cuts through the fluff. His tasting room is his small untidy office, where we taste slowly and thoughtfully from an old beat-up leather sofa.

And his wines, humble and delicious, are comparative bargains. Much mass-market Champagne that gets to the US fetches between $75 and $100 a bottle; Bardoux’s small-batch Brut Traditionnel doesn’t even crack $50 — twice the wine at half the price.

We like to enjoy Champagne year round – it’s a perfect food pairing, and adds a bit of cheer to any situation. But at the end of every year it goes from a tasty treat to a necessity.

Bardoux’s Brut Traditionnel is his non-vintage cuvée, and an excellent entrypoint to the collection. A blend of 60% Pinot Meunier, 30% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir, this wine has the complexity and depth to match the finest bottles from Burgundy or Bordeaux. The nose shows plum, chalk, lime zest, and buttered biscuits; the mouth is dry, elegant, and smooth, with notes of apple and toast.

We can’t recommend this wine highly enough. Think of it as a refined, complex wine in its own right; it just happens to feature bubbles. (Skipping the crowds this year? A $5 stopper goes a long way.) Some of our favorite pairings include: sushi, triple-cream cheese (like Delice de Bourgogne or Brillat-Savarin), or gougères. Or just a crackling fireplace and Bing on the speakers.

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Bardoux Champagne Traditionnel NV
bottle price: $49

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Elegant, Delicious New 2019 Bourgogne rouge. $34

We’re big fans of Sofie Bohrmann’s white wines. Her vines in Meursualt, Puligny, and St-Aubin produce some of the purest and most well balanced white Burgundies in our cellar. Each is masterfully oaked, and each shows its terroir with clarity and precision. And her Bourgogne blanc is among the best in the business.

Indeed, we enjoy Bohrmann’s whites so much we often forget she even makes a red. But as today’s wine shows, she’s a skillful craftsman in both colors. Her 2019 Bourgogne rouge is continued proof of just how far this magical vintage has stretched.

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 2019s possess an extraordinary balance of fruit, tension, and texture — some cuvées are destined for future greatness, but this one requires no patience.

This is everything you want from an everyday Bourgogne rouge. Nobody you serve it to will know the domaine, but after a sip or two they won’t care.

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Bohrmann Bourgogne rouge 2019
bottle price: $34

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