Author: Thomas Wilcox

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Cheerful, “Gourmand” New 2016 Red Burgundy

The town of Maragnes is an underrated source for red Burgundy. Located at the very southern end of the Côte d’Or, it’s often left off regional maps, and its reputation is for rusticity over refinement.

But chosen carefully, Maranges can offer excellent value for red Burgundy drinkers. The wines never reach the complexity of Vosne or Chambolle, but can offer a less subtle alternative at far better prices.

Today we’re excited to release the 2016 Maranges 1er cru “Fussière” from the Domaine Roger Belland, a cheerful, approachable red Burgundy with unusual class for its level.

Roger Belland is an excellent source for easy drinking, approachable red Burgundy. They use a long, very cool fermentation to retain the fruit in their wines. Today’s Maranges is from a south-facing vineyard and a vintage with excellent ripeness — it’s lively, round, and, as Belland puts it, “very gourmand.”

In the nose there’s intense, juicy, bursting cranberry fruit, with notes of honey and tulips. The mouth is pleasant and punchy with young, approachable tannins, no raspiness, and a clean refreshing finish. Burghound found it “very round” with “nicely voluminous flavors” and “pliant tannins.”

This is an excellent choice for Thanksgiving — a pinot noir with the jovial soul of a Beaujolais.

 

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Belland Maranges 1er cru “Fussière” 2016
bottle price: $35

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Polished, Sophisticated 7-year-old Premier Cru Red Burgundy

The Domaine de l’Arlot is one of the iconic estates of Burgundy’s Nuits-St-Georges. Early adopters of biodynamics, they farm their impressive holdings with precision and care. The estate uses whole-cluster fermentation, which adds a structure and tension to their wines.

If this makes them hard to approach in youth, given some time and proper cellaring they can become extraordinary. In going through our inventory this week we happened upon our last few cases of a 2011 Premier Cru Nuits-St-Georges from Arlot. We took a bottle home to check in, and found it exceptional.

We’ve squirreled away a bottle or two for our own holiday parties next month, but the rest is up for grabs: $65 per bottle until we run out.

Arlot’s style requires patience, but with 6 years in the bottle most of the work is already done. The Petits Plets cuvée is from the younger vines in Arlot’s monopole Forets-St-Georges, and the 2011 seems to be just now entering its drinking window. Burghound’s notes reflect the wine’s “attractive suppleness” and “well-concentrated” texture.

The nose is exquisite — dark, briary notes of dried fruits and spice mix with a woodsy smokiness, dried violets, and beautiful notes of forest floor and mushroom. In the mouth it’s dense and smooth, with polished fruit bolstered by lovely restrained tension.

Depending on the size of your family, this might not be the best choice for your Thanksgiving next week — it’s subtle and sophisticated, and lends itself to contemplation and a quiet pause. Serve this with duck breasts and potatoes, and don’t invite too many others over.

 

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Arlot Nuits-St-Georges 1er “Petits Plets” 2011
bottle price: $65

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Nectar-like No-Oak White Burgundy, $24

Nearly all white wines from Burgundy spend some time oak. The barrels help develop the texture wines’, adding a roundness through micro-oxygenation. And while they’re typically less heavily oaked than many New World wines, the toasty notes are an important part of the great white Burgundies of Chassagne, Puligny, and Meursault.

But not all white Burgundies are oaked. The most famous vat-raised chardonnays of France come from Chablis, where the wines boast a stony crispness. But the other excellent source for unoaked Burgundian Chardonnay is the Maconnais, about an hour south of Beaune, in what the French call “la France Profonde” (deep France).

And it’s here that we find today’s wine — Nicolas Maillet’s pure, explosive, nectar-like white Macon-Villages.

Nicolas Maillet is a passionate young winemaker in the heart of the Maconnais. His wines are as pure an expression of the Chardonnay grape as we know, with no oak to obscure the gorgeous fruit. They have the clarity of fine Chablis with the weight and roundness of a Côte d’Or Chardonnay.

The 2016 Maillet Macon-Villages has just arrived in our warehouse, and it’s expressive and beautiful. Look for spring flowers and honeysuckle, with faint notes of dried straw. In the mouth it’s a classic Macon — rich and full with bright floral notes, beautiful acidity, and lots of depth. Maillet draws upon biodynamics to elevate the complexity, and his wines are a true symphony of nature in the glass.

For white Burgundy fans, this is a remarkable value — far more complexity than the price tag suggests.

 

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Maillet Macon-Villages 2016
bottle price: $24

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Stock up for the Holidays: $18 Everyday Red

With Thanksgiving next week and December holidays only a few weeks after, entertaining season is upon us. Whether host or guest, it’s always handy to have an inexpensive, crowd-pleasing red around. Today we suggest the a 2016 Juliénas from Jean-Marc Monnet.

We work with many winemakers with low profiles, but Jean-Marc Monnet might be the least visible. He has no roadside, no website, and no other American importer. Jean-Marc himself is as humble as his winery is hidden, but the wines themselves are a wholly different story.

Monnet’s reds are intense and perfectly extracted — the fruit is inky and dense, but with no hint of bitterness. They look and feel like syrah in the mouth, but the gamay fruit is red and juicy. They embody Jancis Robinson’s dictum on Beaujolais, a wine that’s “meant to be drunk, not contemplated.”

Monnet’s Juliénas 2016 is classic — from 35+ year old vines and a low-yield vintage, this is packed with juicy mouthfeel and excellent freshness. The color is inky purple, with a dark nose showing raspberry and pure wild cherry. The mouthfeel is intense and smooth with a long, dense finish of cranberry, minerals and violets.

Beaujolais is the perfect crowd-pleasing Thanksgiving red — but if there’s any left over after next week, it won’t last December.

 

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Monnet Juliénas 2016
bottle price: $18

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Velvety, Cozy Old-Vine Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

There’s no wine quite as cozy as Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The best Châteauneufs all contain a splash of southern sunlight, combining the region’s rugged, sunbaked earthiness with rich, mouthfilling fruit. With cold weather upon us on the east coast, Châteauneuf is as essential as a crackling fire or warm jacket.

Today’s wine comes from one of the appellation’s foremost producers. Jacqueline André tends her ancient 140-year-old vines with the care and attentiveness of a loving parent. The original organic and biodynamic source in Châteauneuf, André’s wines are a standard for elegance and clarity.

From a vintage dubbed one of the best in the last dozen years, the 2015s offer immediate enjoyment. The most successful 2015s were those that kept alcohol in check and retained some acidity — as it turns out, Jacqueline André is a master of balance. Though it’s deep, intense, and enormous, André’s 2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape achieves it all without becoming flat or dry.

Look for notes of plum, licorice, raspberry jam, and tapenade in the nose — the mouth is dense and extremely long, with bold flavors of cherry jam and wood bolstered by rich, voluptuous tannins. We opened a bottle last night with Thomas Keller’s butter-basted skirt steaks, and the match was magnificent.

 

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André Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2015
bottle price: $62

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2015 Pommard: “Utterly Delicious, Highly Seductive”

The reds of Burgundy are known for their elegance and finesse — but not Pommard. Its clay-rich soils produce reds that Rajat Parr calls “masculine, rustic, and earthy.” Next to the elegant, ethereal red Burgundies of the rest of the Côte d’Or, Pommard stands out. It’s a bit less subtle, but no less delicious.

Roger and his daughter Julie Belland are 5th and 6th generation winemakers in Burgundy. They craft wines that are neither pretentious nor pricey. Using a cool, slow fermentation to preserve the fruit in their wines, the Bellands produce friendly, attractive, delicious red Burgundies that need no patience.

Burghound calls Belland’s 2015 Pommard “utterly delicious” and “highly seductive,” with a “balanced and lingering finish.” From an exceptional vintage with unusual ripeness, this shows loads of perfectly ripe fruit, cool sturdy tannins, and a balanced, mouth filling palate.

The wines of Pommard famously age very well, but Belland’s 2015 Pommard won’t require much time. The nose is deep and perfumed, with plum, wild cherries, and cinnamon. The palate is rich and mouthfiling, with ripe, punchy tannins and notes of pan drippings, strawberry jam, and faint anise. Pair this with an autumn evening and a hearty pasta with veal or short ribs.

 

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Belland Pommard 2015
bottle price: $55

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Exceptional Chianti Classico Riserva: Currants, Licorice, and Graphite

Our only Italian producer, the Fattoria Poggerino, has long been a favorite among our readers. Their wines are all pure sangiovese — dark, delicately balanced expressions of an intense, powerful grape. Rajat Parr in his recent book calls their wines “excellent” and “some of the purest expressions of the grape in Italy.”

Poggerino’s finest wine is their Chianti Classico Riserva from the “Bugialla” vineyard. Like Poggerino’s other wines, it is pure, unblended Sangiovese. But the Riserva comes from their oldest vines — nearly 45 years old now — and they raise it carefully in oak before bottling. Poggerino holds it a full year in the bottle before releasing it to the public.

 

 

With its time in the bottle, Poggerino’s Riserva becomes a remarkably elegant Chianti — as complex and subtle as many Burgundies. The density from the old vines and the time in oak means this is often hard to approach in its youth. But the 2014 is juicy and bursting with perfectly ripened fruit. After an hour in a decanter (or another 3-4 years), you’ll wish you had more around.

The Riserva’s nose is dark in complexion and tenor, but also contains silky high notes of roses and minerals. We found lovely blackberry jam, cherries, and graphite in the nose, but it’s in the mouth that this wine really comes alive. Look for a dynamic mouthfeel, with juicy “crunchy” notes of currants, licorice, and blueberries.

For those looking to cellar, or with a crowd coming for the holidays, this is also available in magnums. Serve with a wintery roast — lamb, pork, or beef.

 

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Poggerino Chianti Classico Riserva 2014
bottle price: $48

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Poggerino Chianti Classico Riserva 2014 (1.5L)
magnum price: $95

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“Sleek” New 2016 Chablis, (Almost) Grand Cru. $35

Chablis is the quintessential food wine. With its refreshing mouthfeel and vibrant minerality, it matches beautifully with a wide range — a foil for rich, creamy dishes, or a match for crisp ones. And for nearly all Chablis, the price-to-quality ratio continues to impress.

Take the vineyard “Montée de Tonnerre.” Located just east of the hill containing Chablis’s seven Grand Crus, this Premier Cru always overperforms its classification. As Rajat Parr writes in his excellent new book, “many think it produces at Grand Cru status, but still goes for Premier Cru prices.”

And for proof of such value, look no further than Romain Collet’s 2016 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.

Romain Collet turned in an outstanding lineup of wines in 2016, despite tough growing conditions. His Chablis 1er cru “Montée de Tonnerre” is a delight, showing pear, white flowers, and intense lemon peel in the nose, with seabreeze and citrus joining a beautifully tension-filled palate. Burghound called it “muscular but sleek,” and found “good volume and richness.”

We drink more red wines as the weather cools and they days grow shorter, but there’s always need for something white from time to time. This overperforming premier cru, perfectly balancing intensity and depth with vibrant energy, is a great match to the season. Serve with Oysters Rockefeller.

 

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Collet Chablis 1er “Montée de Tonnerre” 2016
bottle price: $35

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The Perfect Autumn Red: $16 Beaujolais (Not Nouveau)

We drink Beaujolais year round, but it fits particularly well in the fall. Most of our Beaujolais is on the more serious end of the spectrum, hailing from the ten famous towns that dot the region. But we also enjoy the simpler style — pure fruit, no oak, low tannin, and a pleasant, crackling mouthfeel.

Most $16 Beaujolais is mass-market, large volume wine rushed to market soon after fermentation. Laurent Perrachon’s is a different sort — made with hand picked grapes from 45 year old vines. It shows all of the jubilant, carefree spirit of the region instead of the blandness of much cheap Beaujolais.

 

Perrachon’s 2017 Beaujolais Villages is juicy and refreshing. Unlike Perrachon’s more serious (but also delicious) wines from Juliénas and Moulin-a-Vent, this one is vat raised, and the vibrant ripe raspberry fruit shows through beautifully. The nose is clean and floral, and the mouth is smooth, lively, and refreshing.

With Thanksgiving only three weeks away, this is a no brainer for an affordable, crowd pleasing red. Instead of the usual overmarketed and underproduced 2018 gamay for $15, try this carefully crafted old-vine 2017 gamay for a dollar more.

 

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Perrachon Beaujolais-Villages 2017
bottle price: $16

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2015 Premier Cru Gevrey-Chambertin, 92 points

The Domaine des Varoilles is one of the most exciting recent additions to our Burgundy portfolio. Based in Gevrey-Chambertin, the domaine boasts an extraordinary collection of vines, ranging from village-level to Grand Cru Charmes-Chambertin.

Most interesting, perhaps, are their two premier cru monopoles at the western end of Gevrey-Chambertin. “Clos des Varoilles” and “La Romanée” sit side by side, with “La Romanée” up the slope, and the larger “Clos des Varoilles” further downhill. Only a small wall and a six-yard dirt path separate them (see photo) — but their characters are strikingly different.

Clos des Varoilles, for which the domaine is named, is prototypical Gevrey-Chambertin — rich, meaty, full-bodied, and intense. La Romanée, on the other hand, is elegant, subtle, and silky. And from an extraordinary vintage, the Varoilles 2015 “La Romanée” is a wine of beautiful contradictions: an intense, premier cru Gevrey-Chambertin, but with finesse and and elegance that comes from the mineral content pulled from the bedrock. It’s Gevrey-Chambertin with a splash of Vosne-Romanée.

The 2015 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er “Romanée” is Gevrey with particular poise. Today the nose shows gingerbread and cherries, with briary, brambly fruits and a pleasant toastiness. In the mouth this walks a beautiful line between robust Gevrey structure and elegant mineral notes. The tannins are perfectly extracted — intense and bold but not at all bitter or dry.

Burghound awarded 92 points, calling it “vibrant and delicious” and finding the finish “sappy and balanced.” Old vines (planted in the 1950s), exceptional terroir, expert winemaking, and an outstanding vintage — all make it hard to find much wrong with this wine. It’s not exactly cheap, but the best in any category rarely is.

 

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Varoilles Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru “La Romanée” 2015
bottle price: $108

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Gorgeous, “Graceful” New Wintery Côte Rôtie.

Sometimes the most impressive wines come from the most unassuming of winemakers. We see our fair share of egocentric vignerons, but often the most talented winemakers are the quietest.

So it is with Christophe Bonnefond. In good years and bad, rain or shine, he greets us with a faint smile and few words. His emails usually contain a phrase or two — if we’re lucky, a whole sentence. But his wines are the work of a master; and they’re anything but faint.

Bonnefond’s wines are pure Syrah, grown on the steep slopes of Côte Rôtie. Together with his brother Patrick, Christophe produces exceptional reds from the Northern Rhône, the region where Syrah finds its most noble expression. The Bonnefonds work some of the more famous plots in the region, but also produce a regular cuvée that requires much less time and is far more affordable: the Colline de Couzou.

The 2016 Côte Rôties are more elegant and finer than those of 2015. With a touch less power and ripeness, the vintage allows spice, silkiness, and lovely fruit to show through. In 20 years, we’d rather have the 2015s in our cellar (and if you didn’t stock up, we have some left); but in the nearer term the 2016s are nearly irresistible.

Vinous’s Josh Raynolds called Bonnefond’s 2016s “as graceful a group of wines as I’ve ever sampled.” And graceful is an apt word — they are long and silky, with beautiful tension and gorgeous texture. The 2016 Côte Rôtie “Colline de Couzou” shows notes of anise, plum jam, and cloves. Vinous awarded 92 points, finding “cassis and violet,” “an energizing jolt of cracked pepper,” and calling it “sappy, smooth and long.”

We like to serve this with a standing rib roast around the holidays. But for any cozy meal away from the autumn chill, this is an excellent choice.

 

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Bonnefond Côte Rôtie 2016
bottle price: $54

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Inky, “Graceful” Syrah from a Master of Côte Rôtie. $25

The wines of Côte Rôtie have been celebrated for thousands of years. They appear in the writings of Plutarch and Pliny the Elder, and today are among the favorite wines of the sommelier Instagram set. Made from pure Syrah at its northernmost growing limit, Côte Rôtie represents the grape at its most refined.

Our source for Côte Rôtie is the Domaine Bonnefond. Robert Parker calls Bonnefond’s wines “among the finest in the appellation,” and Vinous’s Josh Raynolds recently called them “as graceful a group of wines that I’ve ever sampled.” We have several of their cuvées in stock going back a few years.

But aside from their flagship Côte Rôties, the Bonnefonds also produce an exquisite and well-price IGP Syrah, from just outside the appellation. It’s as complex and polished as any $25 bottle we can think of.

 

 

Côte Rôties famously cellar well, and often require many years of patience to reach their potential. Bonnefond’s Syrah requires neither investment nor patience. At once dark, intense, and lively, it shows the meaty characteristics of Syrah, but with unusual lift and grace.

The 2017 is among our favorite vintages they’ve made of this wine. The nose is spiced and expressive, with notes of blackberries, tapenade, black pepper, and game. The mouth is beautifully balanced — at 12.5% alcohol it’s smooth and long, with dense meaty notes joining plum fruits and graceful minerality.

With its fresh fruit and peppery mouthfeel this is excellent food wine — lamb and duck are particularly nice matches. But accompaniment isn’t required — an after-work glass of this on a weekday evening will reset your mood with ease.

 

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Bonnefond Syrah 2017
bottle price: $25

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Rich, Cozy, and Smooth: 92-point Southern Rhône Blend

There’s perhaps no cozier wine than a red from the Southern Rhône Valley. The most famous is Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but many rich, excellent reds hail from the surrounding towns as well. At their best they provide similar depth and complexity but far better pricing.

A case in point is Domaine les Goubert’s “Cuvée Florence.” Though it’s grown in Gigondas, in richness, refinement, and ageworthiness it more closely resembles a fine Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Made from only their best parcels of Grenache and Syrah, Cuvée Florence is noticeably better than many wines from its more famous neighbor.

As often happens, the 2012 Cuvée Florence has entered a superb drinking window… just as our stocks have nearly run dry.

We’ve been buying the Cuvée Florence for decades, but the 2012 is unusually good. The family’s thirty-something daughter Florence, whose birth inspired the creation of the cuvée back in the 1980s, is now the principal winemaker. Florence has modernized the winemaking a bit, but maintained her domaine’s high quality and stellar reputation.

The 2012 Gigondas “Florence” is a rich, velvety delight. The nose is deep and woodsy, showing cassis, leather, raspberry and spice. The mouth is smooth, dense, and very long. Vinous awarded 90-92 points, finding “mocha, licorice, and violet,” and “supple, building tannins.” Jancis Robinson called it, “attractive, and “very well balanced.”

This is rich, dark wine that will fit perfectly alongside a fine cut of beef or rack of lamb. It’s the perfect choice for a chilly autumn evening.

 

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Goubert Gigondas “Florence” 2012
bottle price: $48

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“Outstanding” 93-point Masterpiece: 2015 Michel Gros Red Burgundy.

Vosne-Romanée and Nuits-St-Georges are neighbors with opposing characters. Vosne tends towards elegance, finesse, and spice; Nuits towards richness, more structure, and bolder flavors. In the hands of a talented winemaker, both can be superb.

Today’s wine not only comes from a supremely talented winemaker, but from an outstanding vintage and an exceptionally well-located plot. Michel Gros’s Nuits-St-Georges comes mostly from vineyards lying on the Nuits-Vosne border. The resulting wine shows a splash of the violets and spice for which Vosne is so prized, but beneath that nose a classic Nuits mouth.

Gros’s entire 2016 lineup is available through our October Futures program (read more here), but for something already in stock to enjoy sooner, we enthusiastically recommend the 2015 Nuits.

 

 

Michel Gros’s 2015s are excellent across the board — from his Hautes-Côtes de Nuits all the way up to Grand Cru Clos Vougeot. (You can browse all we have in stock here.) They exhibit the vintage’s signature smooth ripe fruit, but also Michel’s classic toasty woodsiness.

Gros’s Nuits-St-Georges 2015 is delightful today, and should develop for as long as you can keep your hands off it. Burghound awarded 91 points, finding “outstanding richness,” and “concentrated and muscular flavors,” such as “berries, plum, earth, and forest floor.” Wine Spectator awarded 93 points finding it “complex and structured,” noting its “fine length.” To this we’d highlight notes of cinnamon and dark flowers, and a bold but silky mouthfeel.

We decant this for an hour or more to soften the tannins, though we’ll admit at taking a quick sip or two as it went in. Don’t let too many others sniff it, or there may not be enough to go into the carafe.

 

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Gros Nuits-St-Georges 2015
Wine Spectator Retail: $85

bottle price: $69

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New $22 Syrah Blend: Wild Lavender and Blackberry Jam

The south of France is a warm place. The grapes grown there are adapted to the heat, but achieving balance in a hot climate can still be difficult. If grapes become overripe, they contain too much sugar and too little acid, which boosts alcohol levels and flattens the palate.

All of which makes us awfully glad to have the Clos Bagatelle in our portfolio. Located in the bright, sunny Languedoc, Bagatelle’s wines nevertheless achieve a consistent balance, year after year. Their secret to freshness is their vineyards’ schist-laden soils and high elevation, which deliver refreshing minerality and cool nights throughout the summer.

Today we’re releasing Bagatelle’s 2016 “Au Fil de Soi,” certainly the best vintage of this wine we’ve had.

Clos Bagatelle is a centuries-old domaine in St. Chinian, a mountainous section of the northwestern Languedoc. A blend of syrah, grenache, mouvrèdre and cinsault, “Fil de Soi” is a delicious, vibrant blend that’s at once concentrated and rich, but smooth and balanced.

We found the 2016 St-Chinian “Au Fil de Soi” a definite step up from the 2015. It’s cool and delightful — at 13.5% alcohol it retains freshness, and at $22 it’s a bargain. Look for blueberry pie and earth in the nose. The mouth is long and full, with smooth tannins and notes of lavender, thyme, honey, and pepper.

Serve this a bit cooler than room temperature — it’s a rich southern wine that’s perfect for a weeknight dinner in.

 

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Bagatelle St-Chinian “Fil de Soi” 2016
bottle price: $22

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