Author: Thomas Wilcox

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[ADVANCE ORDER] Stellar 93-point Premier Cru White Burgundy: 2017 Montée de Tonnerre

The seven Grand Crus of Chablis sit side by side on a hillside facing the town. Just off their eastern border lies the premier cru “Montée de Tonnerre,” a vineyard known for overperforming its classification. As Rajat Parr writes, Montée de Tonnerre “produces at Grand Cru status, but still goes for Premier Cru prices.”

For proof of such value, look no further than Romain Collet’s 2017 Montée de Tonnerre. Where premier crus of the Côte d’Or usually exceed $100 per bottle, Collet’s Grand-Cru-like Premier Cru doesn’t even break $40 at retail. And today’s pricing is even better.

Collet’s excellent lineup of 2018s will be available through our Futures program later this year, but we have managed to get a small allocation of the few remaining 2017 premier crus, so we’re sneaking them into the March Futures, out next week. We’re particularly excited to have snapped up the rest of Collet’s 2017 Montée de Tonnerre.

Romain Collet turned in a terrific lineup of wines in 2017, and we’re not the only ones to notice. His 2017 Montée de Tonnerre received 93-point scores from Jasper Morris and William Kelley (WA), and a 92 from Burghound.

The 2017 Montée de Tonnerre packs a remarkable amount into a sub-$35 bottle: it shows pear, white flowers, and intense lemon peel in the nose, with seabreeze and citrus joining a beautifully tension-filled palate. Kelley writes of its “excellent texture and concentration;” Burghound calls it “outstanding,” “delicious,” and “refined,” concluding “this lovely effort is a wine of finesse.”

There simply isn’t value like this anywhere else in Burgundy, and, we might argue, the world: near-Grand Cru terroir for $32/bot. Quantities are limited; first come, first served. Look for the rest of March Futures out next week.

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Collet Chablis 1er cru
“Montée de Tonnerre” 2017

Ansonia retail: $504
March Futures: $385/case

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Nectar of the Northern Rhône: Extraordinary New Condrieu

The concept of terroir underlies nearly everything in French winemaking. French winemakers prize a wine’s expression of “somewhereness,” above all else. Plant Pinot Noir in Provence, and you’ll get a generic, uninteresting red wine; plant it on a hillside north of Beaune, and the result can be other-worldly.

Other grapes find their supreme expression in other spots: Sauvignon Blanc in Sancerre, Syrah in Côte Rôtie, Cabernet and Merlot in Bordeaux. And for the varietal viognier, the undisputed pinnacle of form is Condrieu.

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. For fans of Viognier, there’s Condrieu, and then there’s everything else.

Our source for Condrieu is the brothers Bonnefond, a domaine best known for their excellent Côte Rôties. Their 2018 Condrieu is superb — the nose is extraordinarily complex and perfumed, with notes ranging from gardenia, herb honey, apricot, green tea, and dried mango. The mouth is smooth and rich with notes of peach and pear, and a beautiful grape-skin briskness that balances the mouthcoating texture.

Condrieu is the perfect winter white wine — rich, mouthfilling, expressive and alive. So complex and diverse is the array of flavors that it requires no accompaniment from food. Should hunger force your hand, a simple French salad is the best choice.

Final note — serve this in your largest Burgundy-style balloon glasses, and let the wine come up to room temperature in the glass. It’s an aromatic experience unparallelled in the world of food.

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Bonnefond Condrieu 2018
bottle price: $62

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2016 Margaux: Inky, Elegant, Profound Left-Bank Bordeaux

If you know anything about Margaux, it’s probably about the iconic Chateau Margaux. But there’s lots to the appellation besides the famous First-Growth chateau. Margaux’s sandy, gravel-filled soils produce some of the Left Bank’s most elegant red wines; Jancis Robinson cites their “haunting perfume,” and “silky texture.”

Last year we discovered a delightful new wine from Margaux, the Chateau Larrieu-Terrefort. We’re not claiming it competes with its famous neighbor, but with Chateau Margaux running $750 per bottle, this sub-$50 cuvée is a comparative bargain.

Margaux has exceptional terroir – don’t limit yourself to experiencing it only as a splurge.

The 2016 Larrieu Terrefort Margaux is a sophisticated, classy blend with real subtlety and elegance. It’s dark and powerful, but with silky, seductive texture; and at 13.5% alcohol it’s a welcome break from domestic Cabs with sledgehammer power.

The nose offers floral notes of violet, almost syrah-like, that blend nicely with the oak in which the wine was raised. Joining the violets are dark chocolate, black raspberry, and a hint of earth. It’s still a young wine, but its tannins are rich and perfectly balanced.

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Larrieu-Terrefort Margaux 2016
bottle price: $48

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A “Superb” Red Burgundy Source: 92-pt Premier Cru Givry

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

The impressive 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 calls the domaine “very much a Côte Chalonnaise address to watch,” and advising that “importers looking for a potential future star should beat a path to his door.”

Our customers have thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of Gautier’s winemaking renaissance. His village Givry is as good as entry level red Burgundy gets, and his premier cru Clos du Vernoy wowed people at our Newton Depot a few weeks ago. Even his white Givry, which we recently imported for the first time, has been making fans.

But the wine that shows just how far Gautier has been able to push his terroir is his Givry 1er cru “Clos Charlé.” In the 2017 vintage this seriously impressed Kelley, who awarded 92 points, finding “cassis and cherries… grilled meats, licorice and rich soil,” calling it a medium to full-bodied wine that’s the fleshiest, broadest-shouldered red in the range.”

This wine is proof that serious red Burgundy can be found outside the Côte d’Or. Givry continues to be a real source of value, and the wines continue to get better.

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Desvignes Givry 1er “Clos Charlé” 2017
bottle price: $38

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Transcendent Red Burgundy: 2015 Michel Gros Vosne-Romanée

People sometimes ask why we’re so drawn to Burgundy. Partly it’s nostalgia — we lived here for a year two decades ago, and have a fondness for the place and its people. But our goal at Ansonia is to find wines that reflect their origin, and no region does this better than Burgundy.

Burgundian winemakers use only two grapes — one white and one red — to find expressions of a singular plot of land. And because a wine is only as good as the earth from which it’s made, the finest Burgundies in any cellar are often from the hallowed town of Vosne-Romanée.

Vosne has been the epicenter of winemaking for nearly a thousand years. Centuries ago, a monk wrote that “there are no ordinary wines in Vosne;” this continues to be true. There’s a unique floral character to the best wines from Vosne, a blend of silky finesse with pure intensity. It is the pinnacle of Pinot elegance.

Our winemaker in Vosne-Romanée is Michel Gros, a vigneron who has lived his entire life in the town. His family has made wine there for nearly 200 years, and for a long time his mother was the town’s mayor. Today Michel’s domaine is world famous as a top source for red Burgundy, and the wines from Vosne are at the heart of his lineup.

Michel and his son Pierre are both quiet and humble in person, exuding a modesty that belies the excellence of their product. The Gros wines are among the most consistently excellent red Burgundies in our cellar, year in and year out. In a vintage like 2015, declared by many writers among the top two or three in a generation, they’re nothing short of transcendent.

The 2015 Vosne-Romanée is simply extraordinary wine. The nose shows violets and dried roses, redcurrants and a bit of spice. The mouth is intense and lively but smoothed, with silky ripe tannins in perfect balance with the dark pinot noir fruit. Open one today and you’ll be seriously impressed; open one in five years, and you’ll understand the millenium of fame.

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Michel Gros Vosne-Romanée 2015
bottle price: $85

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Inky, Organic, Iconic: Old-School 93-point Gigondas

Organic viticulture is the future of winemaking — the majority of our winemakers are organic or in conversion. But at some domaines, it’s also the past. The Domaine du Joncuas in Gigondas turns 100 years old next year, and they’ve practiced organic winemaking, as they put it, “depuis toujours” (“since forever”).

Joncuas wines prove at least one thing about organic winemaking: it works. We stumbled across Joncuas last spring, and they’re one of the most exciting additions to our portfolio we can remember.

Sisters Dany and Carole Chastan are third generation vigneronnes practicing old-school winemaking — whole clusters, limited sulfur, all wild yeasts. They use no new oak, and neither fine nor filter. Their wines are juicy and deep and very expressive, with gorgeous fruit. For readers familiar with our portfolio, combine the ethos of Foulaquier or André with the terroir of Goubert.

The Joncuas Gigondas 2016 is a magnificent. It’s 80% grenache (some from centenarian vines), with the rest Mourvèdre and Cinsault. The fruit is clean and very pure, with a gorgeous silky texture and notes of violets, raspberry, garrigue, and spice. Think of it as Grenache that wants to be Syrah.

The Wine Advocate awarded 93 points, finding it “big and balanced,” “plush,” and “velvety and long.” Close your eyes and this is easily a Châteauneuf-du-Pape; open them and it’s an astonishing value for under $35.

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Joncuas Gigondas 2016
bottle price: $34

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Magnificent 93-point Cornas: “Beguiling” & “Splendid”

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 in Cornas. We feel lucky to have finally gotten an audience at this address — a tiny, well-known producer in a tiny, popular appellation. His 2017 is classic, powerful, and unlike anything else in our portfolio.

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. Their 2016 was delicious, but their 2017 is even better.

The 2017 Cornas “Patou” is magnificent — a combination of inky black flavors with unusually refined floral finesse. The nose is deep and rich, showing cherries, cocoa, anise, and pepper. On the palate it’s very fine and silky, with intense mouthfeel and notes of cherry jam, violets, and olive. The Wine Advocate awarded 93 points, finding it “intense, with an attractive dusty texture of chalk dust, charcoal and crushed stone.”

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Dumien-Serrette Cornas 2017
bottle price: $52

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New Dry, Crystalline, Refreshing Riesling under $20

Ask a group of sommeliers to name their favorite wine region and most will say Burgundy. But ask them to pick a single favorite grape varietal, and we’d put some money on Riesling. Aside from its excellent food friendliness, Riesling communicates terroir with as much honesty and precision as any other grape.

Today we’re suggesting a bone-dry Riesling from our Austrian source Weingut Salomon-Undhof. Based in Austria’s northeastern corner, the Salomon family has farmed vines since 1792, and the country’s preeminent wine guide calls them a “figurehead of Austrian wine history.”

Grüner Veltliner may be the classic grape from Austria (and indeed Salomon’s is excellent), but we’re just as excited about this piercing Riesling.

The 2018 Terrassen Riesling is bright and dry and crisp. The nose shows green apple and notes of stones and grape skins. The mouth is zippy and refreshing, with pleasant dry fruit and excellent freshness.

An unusually warm summer across Europe in 2018 produced wines with an extra dose of ripeness. In Salomon’s Riesling Terrassen this translates into an added weight and complexity – still entirely dry, but with a creamy mid-palate filling. In short, a remarkable amount of poise for a wine under $20.

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Salomon-Undhof Riesling Terassen 2018
bottle price: $19

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New 2016 Pommard: Old-World Elegance and Charm

Pommard and Volnay are the red Burgundy royalty of the Côte de Beaune. Pommard, the king, produces wines that are sturdy and masculine, drawn from clay and iron rich soils. Volnay, the queen, produces wines of unparalleled elegance, a study in subtlety and grace.

Today’s wine is from Pommard, but we like to think of it as a prince, inheriting the best qualities of both towns. Made from vines near the border between these two majestic towns, the Mégard Pommard is a beautifully balanced blend of the two styles.

Hail storms hit Pommard in 2016, and many producers suffered severely reduced yields. But the quality of the remaining fruit was terrific – healthy, small berries producing sophisticated, gorgeous reds.

The 2016 Pommard is delightful. The nose is pretty and exotic, with soy sauce and spices alongside the classic raspberry fruit. The mouth shows dry blackberries, with elegant, delicate, long mouthfeel.

Carafe for an hour and it’s delightfully drinkable today. Pair it carefully with a mild steak or tenderloin, and this is a charming glass of old-world, old-school Burgundy.

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Mégard Pommard 2016
bottle price: $59

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“Lush” 90-point Wintery Rhône Blend under $30

There’s a sense of ancient history in the south of France. Roman-era towns and crumbling ruins dot the countryside — even the modern highways follow the ancient “Via Agrippa” of the Romans. Winemaking here is just as old, and archeologists have found presses dating back to 400 BC.

Winemaking in Séguret, a twenty-minute drive across the valley from Chateauneuf-du-Pape, dates to the year 611 — and little has changed in 1400 years. Today winemaker Nicolas Haeni of the Domaine Malmont makes exquisite natural cuvées using ambient wild yeasts and chemical-free organic viticulture.

We’re not sure exactly what the wines tasted like in the 7th century, but we bet these Malmont reds are better.

Haeni farms a magnificent vineyard deep in the hills above Séguret. The vineyard enjoys excellent airflow from its perch high on the slope, providing healthy grapes and extraordinary biodiversity in the vines. The Malmont vineyards vibrate with life as honeybees, rabbits, and birds dart among the wildflowers and herbs. On a sunny Spring day, it’s a veritable Eden.

Malmont’s wines are similarly vibrant. They sport dense, inky fruit with attractive tannins and a beautiful floral finish. Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator both gave 90 points to the Séguret 2016, calling it “full-bodied and lush,” with a “creamy texture” and “a pretty beam of raspberry and blackberry coulis.”

This is ur-wine, a pure expression of land and place. Serve from a carafe with an afternoon salad.

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Mamont Séguret 2016
bottle price: $29

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Clos de Tart’s Neighbor: “Outstanding” 92-point Premier Cru Red Burgundy

The Clos de Tart is one of Burgundy’s greatest properties. The vineyard has had only four owners since the 12th century, and, unusually for Burgundy, has never been subdivided. Today the wines from this 7.5 hectare monopole start around $500 per bottle.

Needless to say we don’t regularly drink Clos de Tart (background of photo). But we do enjoy wine from its immediate neighbor, a premier cru across the street called “Les Ruchots” (foreground of photo). Our source in Morey-St-Denis, the Domaine Pierre Amiot, makes magnificent wine from this vineyard year in and year out. Today we’re excited to offer their terrific 2016.

The 2015 vintage deserves all the acclaim and press coverage it receives. But insiders (and in particular Burgundian winemakers) consider 2016 nearly as good, and in some instances, superior. We’ve been floored by the precision and polish of the 2016s, and the 2016 Ruchots is among our favorites in the vintage.

From an acre of vines, the Amiot family makes just 200 cases of this wine per year. Their vines, planted in the 1950s, produce concentrated, intense red Burgundy. Allen Meadows (Burghound) awarded the 2016 92 points, finding it “outstanding,” “exceptionally rich” and “seductively textured,” predicting “this should be approachable after only a few years of bottle age yet reward up a decade plus of cellaring.” He concluded simply “good stuff here.”

We’re not claiming you’ll mistake Ruchots for its iconic Grand Cru neighbor, but it’s easy to see why many consider Ruchots the best premier cru in the town. It’s a wine of unusual depth and intensity for its class, and at less than a sixth the cost, we think it’s a fantastic value.

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Amiot Morey-St-Denis 1er “Ruchots” 2017
bottle price: $75

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Refreshing, Organic, Exuberant: New Loire Valley Cabernet Franc

The Loire Valley is an exciting place these days. We’ve added three Loire sources in recent years, each bringing something new to the Ansonia portfolio: whites from the Upper Loire (Garenne in Sancerre) and Central Loire (Paget in Touraine-Azay le Rideau), and reds from today’s source, the Domaine des Sanzay in Saumur-Champigny.

Winemakers Celine and Didier Sanzay are fifth generation growers in Saumur Champigny. Their wines pure Cabernet Franc, and fit modern Loire style — small batch, organic, limited oak, concerned with balance and freshness rather than extraction and muscle. They use all wild yeasts, neither fine nor filter, and produce complex, natural expressions of the charming central Loire.

Sanzay’s Saumur-Champginy is intense, clean, and highly expressive Cabernet Franc. Their 2018 is juicy and punchy, showing an admirable level of freshness for a hot vintage. The nose shows violets, tobacco, cassis, and herbs; the mouth is lively, gulpable, and sleek, with papery, gentle tannins.

In short, this is expertly-made wine with a lot to say. We think it far outperforms its modest pricetag, and offers a juicy, crackling alternative to your everyday, catch-all Rhône red. Pair with crackers and goat cheese, coq a vin, or a fresh pizza.

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Sanzay Saumur-Champigny 2018
bottle price: $19

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Golden Fruit, Rippling Intensity: Premier Cru White Burgundy from St-Aubin

In a Beaune restaurant last April we stumbled upon that most elusive of wine merchant targets: an unknown Burgundy domaine. Formed in 2002 with just 1.5 hectares of vines, the Domaine Bohrmann has no other importers, zero critical reviews, and hard-to-reach winemaker.

Bohrmann doesn’t sound very French, and it isn’t — Sofie Borhmann is Belgian, and splits her time between Belgium and Burgundy. We’re not sure where she’s been hiding, or why no other American importers have found her. But her wines simply blew us away, and we’re excited to return to taste next month.

Bohrmann’s full range of wines have been dazzling customers since they arrived last fall, but our favorite among them has been the St-Aubin 1er cru “En Remilly.”

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,” one of the town’s best known vineyards. Tucked just over the hill from Montrachet Grand Cru, En Remilly is a south-facing premier cru that combines ripe fruit with classic minerality.

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 cru “En Remilly” 2017
bottle price: $49

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“A Decided Success:” Gorgeous 2017 Premier Cru Red Burgundy

Burgundy has been on a roll of late. Starting in 2014, winemakers have enjoyed excellent quality for five straight vintages. Quantity has been slower to catch up, but in 2017 (at last) Mother Nature delivered a full harvest.

Writers refer to the 2017 red Burgundies as “restaurant wines” — easy-drinking bottles offering early enjoyment and pleasant youthful fruit. They’re relatively low in acid and tannin, and, as anyone who’s opened them can tell you, they’re seriously hard to put down.

Among our portfolio’s most glowing successes in 2017 was young Gautier Desvignes’s delicious Givrys. We’ve written recently about his village-level cuvée, today we’re focused on his 1er cru Clos du Vernoy.

The Clos du Vernoy is the Desvignes monopole — a classic, juicy, surprisingly polished expression of the family’s terroir. The red Burgundies of the Côte Chalonnaise are less serious and less expensive than those from more famous zip codes, but they’re no less Burgundian. Particularly in 2017 they capture the region’s friendly, welcoming spirit, and at a price that’s harder to find in Burgundy every year.

The 2017 Givry 1er “Clos du Vernoy” is a joy. The nose shows dark plum jam and beautiful complexity — look for pan drippings, mushrooms, and flowers. The mouth is lively and smooth, with great density, and a long, clean, cherry compote finish. Wine Advocate writer William Kelley called it “a decided success” finding “a nicely concentrated core of fleshy fruit,” and awarding 90 points.

We suspect Gautier, who took over in 2014, would be making exciting wine in any vintage; but lucky for us (and for him) he’s had quite a run of good years, and this one is no exception.

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Desvignes Givry 1er “Clos du Vernoy” 2017
bottle price: $38

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