Author: Thomas Wilcox

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New Sampler: Best of White Burgundy Trio

Perched on a gently-sloping hill twenty minutes south of Beaune lie white Burgundy’s three gems: Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, and Meursault. The precise mixture of clay and limestone beneath these three neighbors is uniquely and perfectly suited to Chardonnay.

Each town has its own character, and we prefer not to pick a favorite. So we’ve collected a trio of village-level whites from these three iconic towns. Comparative tasting is the best way to learn about terroir. Invite over a friend or two, open these three side by side, and see what a few hundred yards of difference can make.

Bohrmann Meursault “Vireuils” 2017
This up-slope Meursault from our newest producer is clear, precise, and exquisite. Bohrmann uses little oak, allowing the pure, golden Meursault fruit to shine through.

Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 2017
Morey’s modern style of Chassagne-Montrachet is intense and impeccably clean. Burghound called it “outstanding,” finding it “bold, rich” and “promising.”

Boyer-Martenot Puligny-Montrachet “Reuchaux” 2017
Vincent Boyer is a rising superstar in Burgundy (see Futures). His gorgeous village-level Puligny-Montrachet shows the depth and concentration for which the town is known.

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Best of White Burgundy Trio
sampler price: $195

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Sophisticated New Cru Bourgeois: $24 Red Bordeaux

Bordeaux is full of expensive wines that need cellaring — here’s a humble, inexpensive, delicious wine with loads of character that’s ready to drink.

Vigneron:   The Negrier family is a tiny domaine based in Saint-Estèphe. Their two miniscule properties amount to less than 2 hectares (5 acres) in total. But both cuvées — today’s and their Fleuron de Liot Saint-Estèphe — regularly win acclaim from wine press. They’re among the best-value Bordeaux we know.

Appellation:   Moulin de Blanchon wine is a Cru Bourgeois from the Haut-Médoc. The Haut-Médoc encompases the areas surrounding the famous towns Bordeaux, in this case from outside Saint-Èstephe. Cru Bourgeois is a wine-based (rather than chateau-based) certification that is renewed each year.

Wine:   The 2017 Moulin de Blanchon is young, vibrant, and punchy — think a bold brasserie red with unusually sophistication and class. The nose shows raspberry jam, black pepper, fresh leather, and forest. The palate is long and inky with fresh fruits and an intense but delicate chalky finish.

Pairing:   Serve this with a rich beef stew or well crusted steaks. Put it in a decanter and give it an hour — your guests will swear you paid twice as much.

You might also like:   Bouquey St-Emilion, Fleuron de Liot 2014, Larrieu-Terrefort Margaux 2016

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Moulin de Blanchon
Haut-Médoc Cru Bourgeois 2017
bottle price: $24

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New $25 Red Burgundy from 100-year-old Vines

Vignerons:   From meticulously cultivated old vines and careful use of oak, the Perrachon creates remarkably delicious and refined red Burgundies. The domaine is among the only Beaujolais producers reviewed (and praised) by both Josh Raynolds (Vinous) and Allen Meadows (Burghound). Perrachon’s reds are honest, complex, delicious red Burgundies; they just happen to be made from Gamay.

Appellation:   Beaujolais is best known for the Beaujolais Nouveau, a cheap insipid red rushed to market a month after harvest. Today’s wine is its polar opposite — the granite-heavy soils of Juliénas give structure and depth to its wines, resulting in intense, bold reds balancing black fruit and wonderful complexity.

Wine:   This pure Gamay is dense and inky, drawing from vines planted over a century ago. Perfectly extracted and carefully aged in oak barrels, this wine shows a beautifully dark, brooding nose of anise and blackberries. The tannins are juicy and silky but sturdy, meaning this should develop nicely for another few years.

Pairing:   Thinking down the road, this is an excellent candidate for Thanksgiving dinner. But between now and then, pair it with a steak in a cast iron pan and cold-oil frites. Close your eyes and you’ll be transported to a Parisian brasserie.

You might also like:   Our five other Beaujolais reds.

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Perrachon Juliénas “Centenaires” 2017
bottle price: $25

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“Exceptionally Rich” New Chassagne-Montrachet

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. Last week we wrote about his terrific Puligny 1er cru. Today we’re introducing his Chassagne 1er cru. The Clos Pitois 2017 is classic Chassagne — rich, mouthfilling, and gorgeous, pulsating with lively golden fruit.

First planted in 1421, the “Clos Pitois” is a monopole of the Belland family. Owning an entire vineyard is rare in Burgundy, and in keeping with Chassagne’s tradition of excellent Pinot Noir Belland continues to plant it half red and half white.

But today we’re focused on the white. Like all of Belland’s 2017s, it combines an intense richness with linear focus. Burghound found it “exceptionally rich” with “enveloping flavors” of “yellow orchard fruit, melon, petrol, and citrus.”

The nose is explosive and opulent — we found lemons, spring flowers, butter, and honey — your nose will pick them up while the glass is still several inches away. On the palate it is long, rich, and vibrant, with notes of tropical fruits, hazelnut, and toast.

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Belland Chassagne-Montrachet
1er cru “Clos Pitois” 2017
bottle price: $79

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New $22 Syrah Blend: Lavender & Blackberries

Today’s wine is an overperforming Syrah from the Languedoc. It packs far more punch and balance than the average wine at its price point. Here are the details:

Vignerons: Brother and sister Christine Deleuze and Luc Simon are the winemakers at Clos Bagatelle, a Languedoc estate that dates to 1623. Their meticulous vineyard work results in refreshing wines, even from a hot climate.

Appellation: St-Chinian is an ancient town high in the hills of the Languedoc. Its high elevation and schist-laden soils produce wines with character, minerality, and crisp texture.

Wine: The blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Carignan shows blueberry pie and earth in the nose. The mouth is long and full, with smooth tannins and notes of lavender, thyme, honey, and pepper.

Pairing: This wine is dark, juicy, and peppery: pair it with a rich mean like Shredded Pork Shoulder.

You might also like:   Bagatelle’s other St-Chinian, all-syrah Crozes-Hermitage, new Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

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Bagatelle St-Chinian “Fil de Soi” 2017
bottle price: $22

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“Sleek” New 91-point Volnay: Plums, Velvet, and Silk

Red Burgundies aren’t known for their heartiness. Pinot Noir is a delicate, thin-skinned varietal — light in color and body. It most often shows subtlety over strength, polish over power.

But what they lack in weight they more than make up in elegance. The reds of Burgundy 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.

Three of Volnay’s vineyards stand above the rest: Caillerets, Champans, and Santenots. And so from a town with no Grand Crus, these wines are as good as Volnay gets. Today’s Volnay is from the premier cru Santenots vineyard, right along the border with Meursault.

Belland’s 2017 Volnay-Santenots premier cru is a delight. The nose shows plum, blackberry and spice; the mouth is tense and full, with fine tannins, and a savory, gamey finish. Burghound awarded 91 points, calling it “attractively sleek,” spicy and fresh” and “overtly floral.”

This is richer than much Volnay, but doesn’t lack at all for subtlety and refinement.

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Belland Volnay 1er cru “Santenots” 2017
bottle price: $69

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“Supple, Round, and Delicious”: 2017 Michel Gros Bourgogne. $25

Our final Futures issue of the year comes out next week. It includes some of our most popular winemakers — Goubert, Boyer-Martenot, Desvignes, and more — but one favorite in particular: the Domaine Michel Gros. His entire lineup of 2017s will be available next Sunday, but today we’re focusing on one wine that is always in short supply.

The 2017 vintage was a happy one in Burgundy — bountiful quantities, healthy grapes, plenty of sun. The red Burgundies feature ripe fruit and relatively low acidities, and the resulting wines are accessible and delicious.

Great winemakers make excellent wines from even the humblest terroir. Gros is famous for his fine, high-end red Burgundies, and we can’t recommend them enough. But for everyday enjoyment, Gros’s simpler wines show the class of much fancier bottles.

Gros’s Bourgogne 2017 is refined, juicy, toasty, and polished. There’s far more complexity here than most reds at the Bourgogne level. Look for silky tannins, notes of raspberry and plum, and an earthy, complex palate. Burghound found a “fresh and distinctly earthy nose,” and called it “supple, round and delicious.”

We expect Gros’s 2017s to make lots of friends over the coming years. But this one, scheduled to arrive in late November, will be a treat by the holiday season. For a Burgundy lover, this is about as good a wine as $25 will ever buy. First come, first served until our allocation is used up.

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Michel Gros Bourgogne 2017
Ansonia Retail: $384
October Futures: $295/case

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AVAILABLE BY THE CASE AND HALF-CASE

 

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Old-Vine Chambolle-Musigny from Iconic Terroir

Chambolle Musigny is best known for its three famous terroirs: the Grand Crus Musigny and Bonnes-Mares, and Premier Cru Amoureuses. These three wines fetch prices north of $400/bot, and are among the jewels of many serious collectors’ cellars.

But the undisputed fourth-best terroir in the town is Les Fuées, a premier cru immediately next to Grand Cru Bonnes-Mares. And it’s here that today’s wine originates. Our new Chambolle source the Domaine Boursot has remarkable 75+ year old vines in Fuées, and their wine is extraordinary. It doesn’t come cheap, but greatness rarely does.

(We usually don’t use the words “fourth-best” to sell readers on a wine, but this is Chambolle, so even 24th-best would be special.)

We discovered the Boursots via a note from Vinous’s Burgundy reviewer Neal Martin, who writes of a “foundation for a promising future,” and describes Boursot’s wines as “superb,” “excellent,” “very fine,” and “worth seeking out.” The bottles we’ve opened recently confirm our initial impressions — this is an underrated domaine with terrific terroir.

Boursot’s Fuées marries power and gracefulness in a way only a Chambolle vineyard can. The nose is dark and brooding, with cassis, violets, and gingerbread. The mouth is huge and intense — today it’s bold and impressive; in a few years it will be refined, elegant, ethereal, and smooth.

Decant this for an hour and serve with duck breasts on a Sunday afternoon.

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Boursot Chambolle-Musigny 1er “Fuées” 2017
bottle price: $99

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Golden, Chalky Richness: Exquisite New Meursault

Meursault is one of Burgundy’s largest appellations. Though it has no Grand Crus, its wines are among the most respected and sought-after in the world. With chalky soils and a low water table, Meursault produces prototypical white Burgundy: golden, rich, and perfect balance between roundness and mineral tension.

We’ve long bought our Meursault from the terrific Domaine Boyer-Martenot, but this spring we discovered another source that was too good to pass up. The Domaine Bohrmann makes a somewhat more modern style of Meursault — less oak, more electric, exquisitely polished.

Today we’re excited to introduce their Meursault “Vireuils,” an unusually sophisticated village-level Meursault.

Meursault from higher up the hill is more mineral that that from the flat, and Bohrmann’s Vireuils strikes a terrific balance: the rich intensity of classic Meursault from a ripe vintage combined with a linear tension that carries and elevates the form.

The nose is soft and rich, with expressive golden fruit and white flowers. The mouth is at once bright and full — there’s the roundness of Meursault with gorgeous, elegant minerality. And, as with all Bohrmann wines, careful and deft use of oak.

Borhmann’s Bourgogne rouge and St-Aubin 1er cru have already made many friends among our readers. We’re confident the Meursault (or what’s left of our stock) will join them soon.

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Bohrmann Meursault “Vireuils” 2017
bottle price: $59

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“Highly Seductive” Drink-Now Premier Cru Red Burgundy

Burgundy can be an intimidating place. Its classification rules are complicated, and its wines often require precise and careful cellaring. Even for experienced collectors it can tricky to time the optimum drinking window, and getting it wrong can be disappointing and expensive.

But not all of Burgundy’s wines are complicated. In Santenay, a town at the southern end of the Côte d’Or, Roger Belland and his daughter Julie make wines that are neither pretentious nor pricey. The Bellands use a cool, slow fermentation to preserve the fruit in their wines, and the results and friendly, attractive, delicious red Burgundies that need no patience.

In fact Belland’s wines age quite well, but they’re so drinkable young that most don’t make it past a year or two in our inventory. Today’s we’re suggesting the Santenay 1er cru “Beauregard” red from 2017. Some wines we import are intellectual experiences; this one is pure hedonistic pleasure.

This wine is a delight. The nose is classic Belland, with bright red fruits, spring flowers, and intense berries. The mouth is punchy and dense, with attractive, juicy tannins and a silky palate bursting with raspberry, wild cherries, and plums. Burghound found it “highly seductive” and “very ripe.”

In a world of red Burgundies that need time and investment, here’s a drink-now cuvée under $50.

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Belland Santenay 1er “Beauregard” 2017
bottle price: $42

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2010 Bordeaux: Perfectly-Aged Red from “a Truly Great Vintage”

Bordeaux can be an intimidating place. Grand Chateaux, skyrocketing prices, and wines that require decades of aging — to the casual wine drinker it’s not exactly accessible or friendly.

But not all Bordeaux requires investment or cellaring. Today’s wine is well made, from a superb vintage, and perfectly mature — and it’ll only run you $5/glass.

Vigneron: The Chateau Ramafort is a 13th century property in the heart of Bordeaux’s Left Bank. Their enormous, remarkable underground storage facility enables them to release their wines near their perfect drinking window.

Vintage: The 2010 vintage in Bordeaux was among the best in decades. Decanter called it “a truly great vintage” and Jancis Robinson calls it “stellar.”

Wine: The 2010 Ramafort has spent the last 9 years in underground storage at the Chateau, and today it’s perfectly mature wine with delicate notes and a delicious mouthfeel. It’s 50/50 Merlot and Cabernet Franc — the nose is full of dry fruits and pretty secondary aromas. The mouth is smooth but not soft, with velvety tannins and a clean finish.

Pairing: Cast Iron Steak

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Ramafort Cru Bourgeois 2010
bottle price: $25

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Gorgeous New Fleurie: Violets, Blackberries, and Granite. $19

Today’s wine is simple, floral, and delicious. So we’re not going to complicate it with a long post. Here’s what you need to know:

Vignerons:   The Perrachon family has made wine in the Beaujolais since the 1870s. Their vines are on average quite old, and produce polished, serious reds from pure Gamay. Perrachon has plenty of fans — the domaine regularly receives top notes from Jancis Robinson, Josh Raynolds (Vinous), and Allen Meadows (Burghound).

Appellation:   Fleurie is known as the “Queen of Beaujolais,” a reference to its femine character. Grown in granite laden soils, the best Fleurie combines a floral character with precise minerality.

Wine:   Perrachon’s 2018 Fleurie is delightful and perfectly balanced. The nose is open and expressive, with a bouquet of violets lining up alongside the ripe fruit. The structure is smooth and silky, with pleasant tannins and perfectly ripe fruit.

Pairing:   We like serving this wine a bit cool, even in the fall. There’s excellent freshness and beautiful young fruit, which we think matches beautifully with stew. Rather than a bold Boeuf Bourguignon (try Pinot), we recommend a slightly lighter Coq au Vin.

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Perrachon Fleurie 2018
bottle price: $19

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Almost Champagne: Exquisite Vintage Sparkling Burgundy. $32

Two main distinctions separate Champagne and other French sparkling wine. First, terroir: Champagne’s unique chalky soils contribute to the singular flavors of its wines. Second, time spent on the lees: Champenois age their wines on lees for longer — on average 2-3 years for non vintage, and 3+ for vintage.

Today’s wine the closest thing to Champagne we’ve found outside the region. The winemakers at Louis Picamelot hold their Cuvée JB Chautard for a remarkable five years on the lees, longer than many Champagne houses. The result is an extraordinarily complex crémant, with notes of almond and crème brûlée reminiscent of Grower Champagne.

Let your guests taste it before you tell them where it’s from — we’d bet every one of them will guess Champagne.

The Wine Advocate’s Champagne expert William Kelley calls Picamelot’s cuvées “some of the best sparkling wines in Burgundy,” explaining they make “a persuasive case for taking the genre more seriously.” Picamelot’s wines appear on lists at Michelin starred restaurants such as the three star Lameloise in Burgundy and Alain Ducasse’s three-star in Monte Carlo.

Named for winemaker Philippe Chautard’s grandfather, the cuvée JB Chautard is an 80/20 blend of chardonnay and aligoté, fermented in barrels then left on the lees for a full five years — they began disgorging the 2013 this summer. Kelley awarded 90 points, finding “an elegantly fine mousse, good cut and texture and a sapid, complex finish.” We found a nose full of brioche, nuts, and buttered bread. The mouth is fine, delicate, and very long, with notes of raisins and toast.

Champagne-quality bubbles don’t need to cost you an arm and a leg. And at this price you can enjoy them twice as often.

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Picamelot Crémant JB Chautard 2013
bottle price: $32

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Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru: Vibrant, Profound, Extraordinary

“The greatest white wine commune on earth” – that’s how Master of Wine Clive Coates describes Puligny-Montrachet. Known for its singular purity and depth, Puligny is white Burgundy at its most regal.

Roger Belland makes several cuvées of lush, broad, mouthfilling wines from Chassagne-Montrachet, but his only cuvée from Puligny showcases the town’s unique electric vibrancy. His 50+ year old vines in the premier cru “Champs Gain” produce a distilled, intense wine of profound depth.

This wine stopped us in our tracks at the domaine in April. It was certainly the wine of the tasting, and a candidate for wine of the trip. It’s hardly cheap, but greatness rarely is.

Belland is a 5th generation domaine based in Santenay, making accessible, well-made wines at reasonable prices. The domaine’s style is fruit-forward and mouthfilling, an approach that lends itself well to the naturally round wines of Santenay and Chassagne-Montrachet.

But in 2017 Belland’s Puligny was simply a homerun. They perfectly balanced the ripeness of the vintage and house style with up-slope Puligny’s pulsating tension. It’s only subtly oaked (6 months), leaving the stage open for astonishing intensity and depth from fruit — look for white flowers, stones, grapefruit, lemon zest, and honey.

Belland’s plot is just under an acre, producing barely 200 cases per year. If you have a taste for high end white Burgundy, this is tension-filled, powerful, and immaculately polished — full of depth, stones, intensity and life.

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Belland Puligny-Montrachet
1er cru “Champs Gain” 2017
bottle price: $99

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Autumn Wine Guide

Beaujolais

There’s no better wine for Autumn than Beaujolais. That refreshing chill in the air these days perfectly matches the crackling energy and gulpable freshness of Beaujolais.

Monnet
Juliénas 2018     intense, juicy, refreshing     $18
Chiroubles 2018     dark, floral, pretty     $18
Juliénas VV 2018     inky, dense, chewy     $19

Perrachon
Fleurie 2018     pretty, refined, floral     $19
Juliénas Centenaires 2017     elegant, sophisticated, polished     $24
Juliénas Clos des Chers 2017     rugged, juicy, cherries     $24

Recipe Ideas
Julia Child’s Coq au Vin
Chicken Thighs with Square and Mustard Greens

 

Other Reds

Aside from Beaujolais, in the fall we like darkly flavored wines with good freshness and density. Here’s a dozen favorites from the Rhône, Burgundy, Loire, Bordeaux, and Italy.

Syrah
Bonnefond Syrah 2017     cool, refreshing, black pepper      $25
Saint Clair Crozes Etincelle 2016      dark, spiced, blackberries      $22
Dumien-Serrette Moulin 2018      juicy, young, refreshing      $25
Saint Clair St-Joseph 2015      intense, bold, inky      $36

Southern Blends
Bagatelle Fil de Soi 2017      smooth, rich, rugged      $22
Foulaquier Orphée 2017      earthy, spiced, vibrant      $25
Mestre Châteauneuf-du-Pape 17      smooth, refreshing, dark      $34
Joncuas Gigondas 2016      earthy, mouthfilling, dense      $34

Others
Paget Chinon 2016     cool, refreshing, cherries      $22
Ramafort Cru Bourgeois 2010      mature, smooth, polished      $25
Poggerino CC 2015      dusty, pure, cherry jam      $25
Varoilles Bourgogne 2015      elegant, toast, earth      $39

Recipe Ideas
Chorizo White Bean Stew
Thomas Keller’s Cassoulet

 

Whites

In the fall we like whites with a bit of thickness and texture. With oysters in season and roasts in the oven, there’s a wide range of flavors and foods to match.

Burgundy: Côte d’Or
Boyer-Martenot Aligoté 2017      smooth, refreshing, baked lemon      $22
Gros FSM blanc 2016      hazelnut, mouthfilling, toast      $39
Belland Santenay 1er blanc 2017      round, lemons, minerals      $42
Bohrmann St-Aubin 1er 2017      intense, shimmering, golden      $49

Burgundy: Chablis
Gautheron Petit Chablis 2017      crisp, unoaked, zippy      $22
Collet Chablis 2017      smooth, refreshing, stony      $26
Gautheron Chablis 1er cru 2017      unoaked, vibrant, lemon curd      $32
Collet Chablis 1er cru 2017      intense, smooth, polished      $35

Others
Martin-Luneau Clisson 2010      stony, oxidative, dry      $25
Paget Chenin Indr et Loir 2014      exotic, expressive, pears      $29
Bonnefond Condrieu 2017      aromatic, peach, elderflower      $54
Gross Gewurztraminer VDM 2017      unusual, hops, spices      $32

Recipe Ideas
New England Clam Chowder
French Onion Soup
Gnocchi with Sage, Butter, & Parmesan