Author: Thomas Wilcox

Sauvignon Blanc is one of the most popular varietals in the world, grown everywhere from New Brunswick to New Zealand to New Mexico. But its origin is in France’s Loire Valley, where it’s the star of Sancerre and its neighbor Pouilly-Fumé. Nestled in limestone- and flint-rich soils on either side of the upper Loire River, these two towns produce Sauvignon Blanc with unmatched purity and refinement.

Our two sources here – Garenne in Sancerre and Michot in Pouilly-Fumé – produce some of the most popular wines we import. So today we’re delighted to introduce a third: Gilles and Séverin Chollet are father and son vignerons in Pouilly-Fumé. The Chollet style is subtler and less punchy than Michot’s, with more refinement and a lighter touch.

Our inaugural wine from Chollet is their Pouilly-Fumé “Les Caillottes,” drawn from limestone-heavy soils. This cuvé is lightweight, unoaked, and complex with notes of citrus and oyster shell. A pleasant dollop of sucrocité joins the notes of gardenia, roses, and lime. Clocking in at 12.5% alcohol, this will be a perfect addition to your patio this spring.

____________________________

Chollet Pouilly-Fumé “Caillottes” 2022
bottle price: $25

Add to Cart

 

The Northern Rhône represents (for now) the northern limit of where Syrah can ripen fully. As with many grapes, the area of northernmost range produces the most elegant and delicate expression of the grape – picture a huge, flat, high-alcohol Shiraz…now picture its opposite.

Winemaker Denis Basset of the Domaine Saint Clair in Crozes Hermitage walks the line between tradition and modernity with skill and grace. His punchy, delicious wines are always beautifully crafted, minimally oaked, and bursting with dark fruit, terrific freshness, and friendly prietags.

The 2021 Crozes-Hermitage “Fleur Enchantée” is all of 13% alcohol – laser focused, perfectly balanced Syrah. The nose shows clove and blackberry, with black pepper and hints of earth – the oak is barely perceptible. The mouth is young and juicy with dark tannins and plenty of zip. The blackberry/plum fruit joins a fresh minerality and long dusty finish.

____________________________

Saint-Clair Crozes-Hermitage “Fleur” 2021
bottle price: $25

Add to Cart

 

The wines of Margaux are prized for their elegance and perfume, and combination of left-bank Bordeaux power, and unusual grace and lift. Our source here is the Château du Courneau, and we’ve recently restocked on their terrific 2018 Margaux, a wine that delivers both subtlety of fruit and richness of palate.

It’s a blend of about 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The 2018 vintage was among the hottest on record, and the resulting wines are packed with ripe juicy fruit. Courneau spends a year in oak, and has more than enough stuffing to withstand the wood. In short, this is punchy, elegant, simply delicious Margaux.

Perfume is always the watchword in Margaux, and this wine delivers beautifully. We found the nose exquisitely balanced, with the oak already well integrated over notes of plums and stones. The palate shows notes of raspberry jam, wild dark cherries, and violets; the mouth has beautifully fine tannins with a long, very elegant finish. As grilling season returns, you’ll want some of this wine around.

____________________________

Chateau du Courneaux Margaux 2018
bottle price: $35

Add to Cart

 

Like Pinot Noir in Burgundy or Syrah in the Northern Rhône, the Nebbiolo grape is inextricably linked to the region of its finest expression: Piedmont.  Nebbiolo is a thin skinned varietal capable of tremendous subtlety and elegance, with more than a passing resemblance to Burgundian pinot noir. Its two most famous wines are Barbaresco and Barolo — the former generally lighter-bodied than the latter, offering less aggressive texture and often earlier drinking windows.

Our lone Piedmont source (for now) is Sassi San Cristoforo in Barbaresco. Their 2015 Riserva is a real treat – now eight years on from harvest the wine has begun to add tertiary aromas to its gorgeous bouquet of fruit and flowers. The nose is deep and earthy, with beautiful depth and a dark floral perfume of plum, espresso and licorice. The mouth is softened and beautiful but with excellent clarity and a subtle spine of tannin to keep all the elements in line.

Given the density of the vintage this should age several more years with ease, but we think it’s perfectly delicious today. Serve from a decanter with a mushroom risotto.

____________________________

Sassi San Cristoforo Barbaresco Riserva 2015
bottle price: $65

Add to Cart

 

Some wines just hit a sweet spot between price and quality. All the way back to our brick and mortar days in Dupont Circle in Washington DC, the Goubert Sablet has been among the best sellers in our lineup. When we left it off our offer last year, we had half a dozen customers write in to express concern.

It’s not the fanciest wine in our cellar — it’s not even the fanciest Côtes du Rhône. But there’s something about the balance of fruit, earth, texture, acidity, tannin and price that make it a winning combination. The 2020 is certainly the best vintage winemaker Florence Cartier has made, and we’ve just restocked (again).

The 2020 Sablet from Goubert might be the best Côtes du Rhône we’ve had in many years. It’s a blend of Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah, all fermented together in the same tank. It’s raised in large concrete vats rather than oak barrels, and the resulting wine is fresh and untouched by notes of vanilla or toast. The nose is a blend of wild cherries, lavender, violets, and cloves. In the mouth the fruits are red, perfectly ripe, with beautiful freshness and a clean, spiced finish. The weight is just right: rich, rounded tannins, mouth-coating fruit, solid supporting acidity, and a smooth finish.

Your search for a house red wine is over.

____________________________

Goubert Sablet 2020
bottle price: $22

Add to Cart

 

We spent much of the last two weeks tasting 2022s across Burgundy. It’s a terrific vintage in
both colors – the reds are characterful and intense with tremendous freshness and lovely fruit; the whites are vibrant and delicious, clear and compelling representations of their terroir.

The world has by now discovered St-Aubin, the once secret town tucked away up a valley between Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet. But if it’s less hidden than it once was, its wines are better than ever. At the western edge of the appellation lies a plot named “Murgers des Dents de Chiens.” Perched just up the hill from Montrachet itself, this St. Aubin premier cru is a remarkable value.

Gerard Thomas’s 2022 St-Aubin from this special vineyard has just arrived, and we’re thrilled to be well-stocked. It shows terrific concentration, with ripe lemon fruit blending perfectly into a chiseled mineral core. On the palate it’s crackling and savory, with a long and tense finish that’s vibrant and lithe. Jancis Robinson’s reviewer found it “rich, creamy and inviting…lots of spice on the palate,” concluding “fresh, flavorful and full of fruit.”

____________________________

Thomas St-Aubin 1er “Murgers” 2022
bottle price: $55

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. Somewhat unusually, however, the frost spared Vincent’s regional-level wines: Bourgogne Côte d’Or, and Aligoté.

Boyer’s 2021 Bourgogne finally arrives in our warehouse this week, and we couldn’t be more excited. 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. This is only beginning its tenure of drinkability, and we invite you to join the ride.

____________________________

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

Add to Cart

 

We spent yesterday in the Maconnais, tasting at four different addresses. All are producing vibrant, organic, elegant and flat-out delicious white Burgundies. Addresses in Meursault and Puligny may get most of the press, but these wines can be every bit as good, and come with remarkably friendly price tags.

Our first tasting was with Sebastien Giroux, a terrific young winemaker farming just six hectares of vines in and around Pouilly-Fuissé. Giroux’s disciplined organic winemaking results in extraordinary wines – William Kelley describes them as “supple, pure and charming.” We can report this trend has continued, as Giroux’s 2022s are going to be exceptional.

Back home in Newton we’re glad to have a healthy stock of his Macon-Fuissé “Vers Chanes,” an overperforming terroir with a less famous name than its neighbor Pouilly-Fuissé. This is delicious unoaked Chardonnay with precise, linear focus. The nose calls to mind the golden lushness of Pouilly-Fuissé, but with a fresher finish and no oak to obscure the gorgeous fruit. The mouth is lithe and precise, with chiseled minerality beneath the apple blossom and apricot notes.

____________________________

Giroux Macon-Fuissé 2021
bottle price: $29

Add to Cart

 

On Monday we tasted with Pierre Gros, now firmly ensconced as principal winemaker at his father’s eponymous Domaine Michel Gros. Though he’s only just returned to this jewel of a domaine in Vosne-Romané, he’s already proving himself as a talented vigneron. We tasted his extraordinary 2022s from barrel Monday, certainly his finest vintage to date, with soaring critical scores to match.

The 2020 vintage was one of Pierre’s first back at the family domaine, and a very successful vintage chez Gros. His Nuits-St-Georges cuvée comes from four plots near the Vosne-Romanée border, and shows a beautiful mix of the two terroirs: the classic hearty character of Nuits, with a touch of Vosne’s finesse and spice.

Gros’s 2020 Nuits-St-Georges has begun to drink beautifully (indeed we’ve been delighted by several extremely drinkable 2020 village reds this trip). The wine shows gorgeous aromatics and a fleshy core, with excellent tension and a solid backbone typical of Nuits. Burghound found “chocolate, cassis and dark currant liqueur” notes, calling it “rich, ripe, palate coating and seductively textured” with “very good punch.”

We think Gros’s 2022s (in November Futures this year) will set a new standard for the domaine. Until then, the 2020s is an awfully tasty way to wait.

____________________________

Gros Nuits-St-Georges 2020
bottle price: $72

Add to Cart

 

 

Over the weekend we drove from Beaune up to Chablis to taste with our producers there. If you’ve read our recent notes on Cyril Gautheron’s 2022s you’ll know we were blown away by his entire lineup – Saturday’s tasting confirmed our initial impressions. We’ve added a few more cuvées to our shopping cart, and can’t wait to share them with you later this spring. (If you missed them in the March Futures that closed yesterday, let us know and we’ll try to squeeze you in.)

The even better news from Saturday’s Chablis visit was that at Gautheron’s crosstown rival* Domaine Jean Collet, the 2022s are just as good. Across the board – village, premier cru, grand cru – the vintage produced vibrant, precise wines full of perfectly ripe fruit and cut with classic chablisien tension. Winemaker Romain Collet’s terrific lineup of 2022 premier crus will be in this year’s May Futures, but their humble Chablis 2022 is always bottled early and arrived in Newton late last year.

The 2022 Chablis from Collet is open, fresh, fruit forward, and delicious. It carries less of the piercing minerality found in the premier crus, making it ready for immediate consumption and a perfect match for aperitifs this Spring (whenever that arrives). Look for dry notes of lemon zest, saline, and chalk – pair with cheese and crackers at the end of a long week.

____________________________

Collet Chablis 2022
bottle price: $29

Add to Cart

 

*Not actually a rival, just our other Chablis source.

Yesterday afternoon we tasted with Lea Bonnefond, the 26 year old force her family domaine in Côte Rôtie. She’s friendly and quiet, and while her father and uncle are still very much involved, the transition to Léa will be steady and smooth. In a terrific Decanter profile last week, Matt Walls MW calls her wines “triumphant” and considers them “up there with names like M Chapoutier, E Guigal, Domaine de Monteillet and Stéphane Ogier.”

Bonnefond’s 2022s we tasted yesterday were outstanding, a vibrant, beautiful vintage with sophisticated texture and perfect balance. The 2022s will be in this summer’s July Futures, but we’re pleased to report we already have some 2019 back at home in Newton.

Léa’s first vintage back at the family domaine was 2019, and it’s starting to drink beautifully. Bonnefond’s Côte Riotie “Rochins” vineyard immediately abuts the famous La Landonne, and the 2019 is a knockout – look for cloves, black pepper, strawberry jam, cocoa powder and more. Josh Raynolds of Vinous gave 95 points, finding “Palate-coating…vibrancy and lift…extremely long.

____________________________

Bonnefond Côte Rôtie “Rochins” 2019
bottle price: $75

Add to Cart

 

Yesterday we finally met the Negrier family, winemakers at Fleuron de Liot. They’re a Burgundy-sized estate in St-Estèphe on Bordeaux’s left bank. Henri Negrier created the domaine from scratch with his wife two decades ago – a remarkable feat in a land of giant chateaux passed down through families for centuries.

From their humble small-scale winery outside Saint-Estèphe the Negriers quietly craft exceptional wines, far outperforming their classification status. Indeed in a week where we’ve tasted dozens of Left Bank Bordeaux from impressive zip codes, the Negriers’ wines stand out for their clarity and character – not to mention their price.

Their Fleuron de Liot from Saint-Estèphe is 50/50 Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, a humble, traditional, simply delicious Left-Bank Bordeaux. We tasted the 2020 yesterday , and confirm it’s a showstopper – dense, inky and concentrated, pulsating with vibrant fruit and beautiful tension – notes of plums, tobacco, pencil shavings, and gravel in the nose, with a sturdy and perfectly balanced mouth.

We’ve already got some 2020 back in Newton – give this 30-60 minutes in a carafe before dinner, and you’ll be blown away.

____________________________

Fleuron de Liot Saint-Estèphe 2020
bottle price: $32

Add to Cart

 

Region: Grown near the mouth of the Loire River, Muscadet is at once brisk and hearty — the essence of the windswept Atlantic coast. Wine writer Lettie Teague calls it “one of the world’s best, if most obscure, bargains,” saying “a glass of $8 Muscadet will always be a better wine than an $8 glass of something else.” (Today’s, at $3.80/glass, less than half that.)

Appellation: The Muscadet region’s new “cru communal” appellations require aging 24-30 months on lees, and Martin-Luneau farms grapes in both Gorges and Clisson. Today’s wine “Deux Roches” comes from a blend of both appellations (hence “two rocks”) — the blend bears neither name, but the wine’s quality speaks for itself.

Wine: Martin-Luneau’s 2020 Deux Roches cuvée is bright and crisp, with lime rind and melon in the nose, and zippy, refreshing acidity in the mouth. There’s an intense dryness and liveliness that’s perfect for warming weather. Pair this with anything from the sea, most perfectly, oysters.

____________________________

Martin-Luneau Muscadet 2 Roches 2022
bottle price: $19

Add to Cart

 

Many readers are very familiar with Poggerino’s excellent Chianti Classico cuvées, a favorite of writers in Vinous, the Wine Advocate, and more. (Indeed, don’t tell our French producers, but they’re some of the most popular wines we import.) This year winemaker Piero Lanza reintroduced his “Labirinto” cuvée, a simple, easy-going red from young vines.

We’re excited to welcome back Poggerino’s Labirinto. It’s nearly all sangiovese, with a splash of local organic Merlot blended in from a neighbor. You can’t taste the Merlot at all, but the addition perfectly rounds out the energetic young sangiovese juice. The resulting cuvée is dangerously drinkable – fresh, silky smooth and delicious on its own.

Labirinto’s fruits are redder than the Classico’s – think wild cherries – with a smooth mouthfeel and very subtle tannin. Keep this around for weeknight pizza enjoyment all summer long.

____________________________

Poggerino Labirinto 2021
bottle price:$22
case price: $18 (use code POGG)

Add to Cart

 

We generally prefer our Cabernet Franc unoaked and pure, but there are a few cuvées we’ve found whose density and complexity is worthy of oak treatment. Chief among them is Domaine des Sanzay’s Saumur-Champigny rouge “Beauregard.” We’re delight to have the terrific 2020 in stock today.

If you like your Loire reds more serious and ageworthy, here’s an exciting find. The nose shows smoke and anise, which have both started to integrate beautifully into the fruit; and we expect the trend to continue. The 50+ year old vines contribute impressive richness, which the Sanzay Family have handled masterfully — despite all of the inky, old-vine material, the shape of the wine remains fine and precise (even angular).

This is Cabernet Franc at its most Burgundian — intense, earthy fruit that somehow retains its lift and sophistication. We expect this to improve for another 3-4 years, and wouldn’t be surprised it it was still impressive in a decade. Lightweight, carefree Cabernet Franc is useful and delicious, but here’s ample proof the grape can perform on a higher level.

____________________________

Sanzay Saumur-Champigny Beauregard 2020
bottle price: $32

Add to Cart