Author: Thomas Wilcox

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“Elegant” New Sophisticated Premier Cru Chablis: 93 points, $35

Romain Collet is a rising star in Chablis. After taking over the domaine in 2009, Collet has introduced ambient yeasts, new fermentation vessels, and a move towards organic viticulture. The quality has jumped, and despite recent disastrous weather patterns, Romain has produced some remarkable vintages.

We’re not the only ones to notice the improvements. After years away, Burghound, Jasper Morris, and the Wine Advocate have all returned and delivered very complementary reviews. Morris writes of a “significant upsurge in quality,” and WA’s William Kelley remarks “there’s a lot to admire here.”

We’re excited to introduce Collet’s Chablis premier cru from the Vaillons vineyard, a classic terroir and one of the original premier crus of Chablis.

Collet raises his Vaillons in equal thirds — one third in tank, one third in foudre, and one third in small barrels (none new). The resulting cuvée is a marriage of the three methods: freshness from the tank, roundness from the foudre, and dryness from the barrel. The Vaillons terroir is very stony, even for Chablis standards, and this wine’s piercing minerality shines through the ripe, golden fruit.

Kelley awarded 90-92 points, finding it “elegantly textural, with lovely purity, a deep core and a stony finish.” Morris awarded 90-93 points, finding it “attractively persistent” and “pure.” This is everything fine Chablis should be. Look for notes of lemon and flowers, with very fine details and Grand Cru length.

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Collet Chablis 1er “Vaillons” 2017
bottle price: $35

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96-point “Beauty” Riserva from Chianti

Perched on a charming Tuscan hillside, the Fattoria Poggerino is certainly one of the most attractive domaines in our portfolio. (If you’re ever in the area, we highly recommend a visit.) As it turns out, the wine is just as beautiful as the source.

Poggerino’s careful organic viticulture results in wines of unusual purity. Their 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. Their 2015 was met with universal acclaim, and we’re excited to release it today.

Given time in the bottle, Poggerino’s Riserva becomes a remarkably elegant wine — as complex and subtle as many Burgundies we know. The density from the old vines and time in oak gives this an almost aggressive intensity in its youth. But given a year or two it quickly becomes delightful in a decanter.

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 the mouth that this wine really comes alive. Look for a dynamic mouthfeel, with juicy “crunchy” notes of currants, licorice, iron, and blueberries.

Jancis Robinson called it “particularly polished,” and wrote “there is beauty here.” The Wine Spectator labeled it “highly recommended,” awarding a whopping 96 points and suggesting it should age well into the 2030s. We don’t plan to keep ours quite that long — our favorite window is usually 3-8 years in — but if you do, we hope you’ll invite us over.

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Poggerino Chianti Classico “Riserva” 2015
bottle price: $45

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Dry, Refreshing Summertime Provençal Rosé

We’d bet that many readers have garages bigger than the Domaine Malmont’s winemaking space. We work with some small-production winemakers, but even by our standards Malmont’s winery is tiny. The space attached to winemaker Nicolas Haeni’s house in Séguret looks more like a large tool shed than a winemaking operation.

But from this tiny place Nicolas crafts some of the most exciting wines in our portfolio. His red Côtes du Rhône and Séguret have gained acclaim from the international wine press; his quantities in white Séguret are too small for us to import, but trust us, it’s exceptional. And today we’re thrilled to release his 2018 Rosé.

Malmont’s vines are high in the hills to the east of Séguret, a series of terraced vineyards that he farms with minimal intervention. His winemaking is similarly restrained, where he uses only ambient wild yeasts, and allows the fermentation to proceed at its own pace. The result is honest wines full of precision and complexity.

Malmont’s 2018 rosé is a blend of Grenache and Syrah (75/25) and a blend of direct pressing and saigné (85/15). The nose shows light strawberries, lemon rind, tangerine, and minerals. The mouth is perfectly balanced, totally dry with excellent freshness and pleasant notes of herbs, lavender, and honey.

It’s effortlessly drinkable. Serve this on a sweltering evening with something from the grill.

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Malmont Rosé 2018
bottle price: $22

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Refreshing Alsatian Summertime Pinot Noir. $19

Our focus on Burgundy means we taste a lot of Pinot Noir. From simple regional wines to ageworthy Grand Cru, there’s a remarkable spectrum of expression in Red Burgundy. But today’s Pinot Noir is outside even Burgundy’s wide range.

In the Alsace, Pinot Noir takes on a less serious role — simpler, juicier, and more floral. Winemakers here usually employ less oak and less extraction, resulting in wines that drink well immediately. They’re not profound or ageworthy, but on a warm summer afternoon it’s hard to think of a better choice.

Today’s wine comes from the Domaine Mersiol, a family source in the picturesque Alsatian hilltown of Dambach-la-Ville. The Mersiols farm organically on rolling, granite-flecked hillsides, producing crisp whites and refreshing juicy reds. Their 2018 Pinot Noir is surprisingly dense and concentrated, and a bit more mouthfilling than usual, but just as pleasant.

The nose shows dark cranberry, wild cherries, and strawberry jam, alongside perfumed spring flowers and violets. The mouth is cool, clean, and refreshing, with excellent freshness, softened tannins and a smooth, lively finish.

We like to serve it as the French often do — a bit cool and, if possible, outside. Bring it along on your next picnic, even if it’s just by an open window.

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Mersiol Pinot Noir 2018
bottle price: $19

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“Premier Cru” Sancerre: Pear, Grapefruit, and Stones

If Sancerre had a grand cru vineyard, it would be the Monts Damnées. This most famous of Sancerre’s terroirs abuts the hamlet of Chavignol west of the town. Sancerre produces popular wine from every corner of its appellation, but the hillside of the Monts Damnées is special.

And just a half mile to the east along the same slope lies “Les Bouffants.” Its soil is similarly full of “Caillotes” (large limestone stones), and it’s from this plot that today’s wine hails. Bouffants’s slope isn’t quite as steep as its famous neighbor, but you’d want someone who knew what they were doing driving a tractor up the hill from you.

The 2017 Bouffants was the first Garenne wine to sell out last year, and we’re excited to have the 2018 back in stock today. Garenne’s regular Sancerre is delightful and everything we look for in a Sancerre. But “Bouffants” is truly something special.

Made from pure, unoaked Sauvignon Blanc, Bouffants is more dense and serious than Garenne’s regular cuvée. The 2018 is concentrated and very long, full of deep mineral intensity and dried fruit. Look for notes of pears and grapefruits, with a long, clean, very dry finish. Think of the ripe fruitiness of a classic Sauvignon combined with the stony core of a Cru Muscadet.

Bouffants is a perfect food wine and can stand up to a wide range of diverse flavors. Serve it with steamed lobsters and ample butter this summer, and it will be years before your guests forget the pairing.

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Garenne Sancerre “Bouffants” 2018
bottle price: $28

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Smooth, Dry, Thirst-Quenching New Provencal Rosé. $19

Rosé may be in vogue of late, but its origins are actually quite old. The people of Provence have made rosé since 6th Century BC, when Phonecean ships brought vines across the Mediterranean. Today Provence remains one of the world’s centers of rosé production.

With spring weather finally here, rosé season is upon us, and we’re excited to release a cuvée that meets all three of our rosé criteria: dry, inexpensive, and refreshing. Goubert’s Rosé de Flo has become staple at summer cocktail parties among our readers.

It’s dry, delicious, and dangerously easy to drink.

Rosé de Flo is the project of the Cartier family’s thirtysomething daughter Florence, who is now handling much of the winemaking at Goubert. Her rosé is 100% saigné (literally, “bled”) meaning it’s made entirely from juice that runs off from grapes resting in the tank. This makes for a more subtle, elegant style, with increased floral notes and a crisper, less mouthfilling palate.

The 2018 Rosé de Flo is a blend of grenache, syrah, and mourvèdre. The nose shows spring flowers and red fruits like strawberry and raspberry. The mouth is more refreshing than last year’s with good intensity and refreshing and brisk mouthfeel — look for notes of grapefruit zest and citrus.

Bone dry, with soft ripeness and beautiful tension, this wine disappears with remarkable haste. Open one with a salad, or goat cheese and tapenade on crusty bread, and you’ll be transported to Provence.

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Goubert Rosé de Flo 2018
bottle price: $19

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“Grand Cru status, Premier Cru prices”: Stellar 93-point White Burgundy: $35

We’re always on the hunt for overperforming wines. We often find them just over the border of a famous vineyard or village. At their best, these wines provide exceptional value: near-perfect terroir, but without the famous name and ensuing cost.

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 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.

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 medaled yesterday at the International Wine Challenge, and received 93-point scores from Jasper Morris MW and the Wine Advocate’s William Kelley.

The 2017 Montée de Tonnerre packs a remarkable amount of wine into a $35 bottle: it shows pear, white flowers, and intense lemon peel in the nose, with seabreeze and citrus joining a beautifully tension-filled palate. Morris calls it “very floral.” Kelley calls it “concentrated and textural,” and “glossy.”

There’s nothing quite like a real Grand Cru — it’s why they drew the lines where they did. But this does an awfully good impression, and at a fraction of the price.

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Collet Chablis 1er “Tonnerre” 2017
bottle price: $35

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Violets, Thyme, Wild Cherries, Plums: Exuberant, Living Grenache/Syrah Blend

The primary trend we see in French winemaking today is less intervention. Winemakers treat less in the vines, limit sulfur, and use wild, ambient yeasts for their fermentations.

Though this “naturalization” of winemaking means more work for the vignerons, the results speak for themselves. Low-intervention wines can be hard to get right, but when they’re good they can be extraordinary.

The winemakers at the Mas Foulaquier aren’t new to the natural game — in fact they no know other way. Foulaquier has been biodynamic and organic since its founding two decades ago. Their wines are clean and perfectly formed, marrying ripe fruit with earthy notes from their rugged terroir.

Whenever Spring gets around to showing up, Foualquier’s 2017 Orphée will be the perfect red for the season. We’ve imported the Orphée for almost a decade now, and 2017 is the best it’s been. The Grenache/Syrah blend cool and fresh in the nose, showing berries, bay leaf, violets, and earth. The mouth is dark and beautifully textured, with softened tannins and notes of cassis, roses, and spice.

The bursting, juicy texture of this wine makes it effortless to like and hard to put down. Close your eyes and plunge your nose into the glass. It’s a wine full of life, and it might just make you feel the same. (NOTE: Foulaquier’s wines are always best enjoyed outside, free to commune with the natural world from which they spring. Maybe next week you’ll finally be able to try it.)

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Foulaquier Orphée 2017
bottle price: $28

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“Quintessential” Chablis: Unoaked Everyday White Burgundy. $26

White Burgundy makes an excellent “by the glass” wine for your house. It pairs with a wide range of foods, and with no food at all — an essential component to a well-stocked cellar. Think of it as wine’s Swiss Army Knife, useful in far more situations than you can think of at one time.

Jean Collet’s entry level Chablis is particularly versatile, with enough freshness to match veal and mushrooms in a cream sauce, but enough ripeness for a glass after a long day of work. Collet’s 2017 Chablis is even better than usual, from a year with perfect balance between ripeness and tension.

The Wine Advocate’s excellent new Burgundy reviewer William Kelley called this “well worth seeking out,” awarding 90 points, and calling it “glossy and textural, with good concentration, racy acids, and a long, delineated finish.” He goes on to say “the combination of ripe fruit with quintessentially Chablisien cut and tension is compelling.” Kelley named one his “six great values on the market.”

We agree and are pleased to be well stocked with the wine. The nose is clean, pure, and precise, showing pear and stones. The mouth is brisk and lively but also intense and smooth, with an enticing roundness punctuated by vibrant minerality. We plan to serve it all spring and summer, and we’re sure your guests would welcome the same.

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Collet Chablis 2017
bottle price: $26

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Two “Outstanding” 93-Point 2015 Premier Crus from Michel Gros

The neighboring towns of Nuits-St-Georges and Vosne-Romanée produce strikingly different wines. In general, Vosne is elegant and ethereal; Nuits is bold and muscly. Taste them side by side and it’s hard to believe they share a border.

Michel Gros is a sixth generation resident of Vosne (his mother was the mayor), but he makes several cuvées from Nuits as well. Today we’re suggesting two ideas from Gros, one from each town — both premier crus, both from the legendary 2015 vintage, both 93 points and “outstanding” ratings from Burghound.

The good news is you don’t have to pick just one.

The Vosne-Romanée 1er cru “Clos des Réas” is a terrific wine in any year — in 2015 it’s magnificent. Look for notes of dry raspberries, spice, and violets. Burghound awarded 93 points, finding it “vibrant,” “sleek,” and “outstanding.”

Gros’s Nuits-St-Gerges 1er cru comes from two plots tiny plots of very old vines, which produce only three barrels in a good year. In the 2015 look for dark, juicy notes of cassis, briary woodsiness and a muscular mouthfeel. Burghound gave 93 points, finding “excellent volume,” and calling it “bold and very Nuits,” and “outstanding.”

 

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Gros Vosne-Romanée 1er cru “Clos des Réas” 2015
bottle price: $159

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Gros Nuits-St-Georges 1er cru 2015
bottle price: $115

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Mixed Half-Case (3 of each wine)
bottle price:  $822  $750 + free shipping

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“Delicious,” 8-Year-Old Premier Cru Red Burgundy with Impeccable Provenance

In a fast-paced world, cellaring wine has become a rarity. Not all wines are meant to age, and indeed the wine world’s style continues to shift toward early maturity. But for wine that rewards patience, the transformation of bottle aging is nothing short of magic.

Today we’re suggesting 2011 Morey-St-Denis 1er cru “Millandes” from Jean-Louis Amiot — it’s proof that ageworthy wine doesn’t have to cost hundreds of dollars. Located about ten yards from the famous Grand Cru Clos de la Roche, Millandes is a premier cru that always punches above its weight, but that also needs a few years to reach its potential.

Patience may be a virtue, but in this case someone else has done the work for you.

This lot of 2011 Millandes comes with impeccable provenance — it just arrived this week from Morey-St-Denis, having spent the last eight years resting peacefully in the cellar where it was bottled. Burghound awarded 90 points, finding it “delicious, balanced and solidly persistent,” and suggesting it would be perfectly mature beginning in 2019.

We think his timing prediction is spot on. Opened last night this wine is just delicious. It’s bursting with dry fruit and secondary flavors — think woodsy notes like tobacco, leather, plums, morel mushrooms, and well worn leather. It’s in an excellent drinking window today — carafe for fifteen minutes after opening (not longer).

Serve this with pan seared duck breasts and potatoes in duck fat. Some things are worth waiting for, and with this one the wait is already over.

 

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Amiot MSD 1er “Millandes” 2011
bottle price: $75

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New $25 Sancerre: Uncomplicated Pleasure

Our focus on Burgundy means we spend a lot of time talking about subtlety: the nuances of terroir, the intricacies of weather patterns, etc. But sometimes we like to drink wine that’s a bit simpler — not boring or one-dimensional, just uncomplicated enjoyment in a glass.

The WSJ’s Lettie Teauge once described Sancerre as a wine about “pleasure not profundity.” And often, particularly in warm summer weather, this is all we’re looking for. After years of searching we landed a new Sancerre source last year, and readers quickly made them a staple of their summer tables.

We’ve just received the new crop of 2018 Sancerres from the Domaine de la Garenne, and they might even be better than last year’s.

Located along the banks of the Loire River in central France, Sancerre produces wines from pure Sauvignon Blanc. The wine typically combines ripe, juicy grapefruit notes with a lively minerality, often notes of flint, and pleasant herbal finish.

Garenne’s 2018 Sancerre fits this ideal perfectly — it’s bone dry with pure sauvignon grapefruit in the nose. In the mouth it’s lively but with no astringency or grassiness. Its terroir is a mix of Sancerre’s three soil types (limestone, clay/limestone, and flint), and shows an appealing ripeness alongside the stones.

Serve this with goat cheese on crackers, or chicken on the grill, or a warm summer afternoon.

 

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Garenne Sancerre 2018
bottle price: $25

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Bold New 2015 Pomerol, “Powerful & Exuberant”

Pomerol is a small place. The appellation is home to a mere 150 winemakers, and covers less than three square miles. But the wines of Pomerol are anything but small. In his landmark World Atlas of Wine, Hugh Johnson calls Pomerol “richest, most velvety and instantly appealing form of red Bordeaux.”

Merlot is the dominant varietal here, thriving in the gravely and iron rich soils. Planted in the wrong location, Merlot can produce soft wines that lack acidity and character. But the terroirs of Pomerol were made for Merlot, and here the grape produces some of the world’s most powerful and expensive wines.

Our longtime source in Pomerol is the Chateau la Clemence, where biopharma executive turned winemaker Christian Dauriac is the owner. Dauriac goes all in on the “bold” Pomerol theme: his 50-year-old vines produce dense, concentrated fruit, and he restricts their yields to a startlingly low 20 hectolitres per hectare. Dauriac blends in 15% of Cabernet Franc for a bit of backbone and definition.

The result is an intense, mouthfilling wine that can age for decades. The 2015 in particular is bold and seductive, showing notes of violets, dark chocolate, and, licorice, tobacco. Antonio Galloni of Vinous called it “bold, powerful, and exuberant.” Drink this over the next 15 years — we can’t promise all Merlot is this good, but, then again, that’s why they call it terroir.

 

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Clemence Pomerol 2015
bottle price: $115

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Wildflowers and Granite: Electric, Dry Grand Cru Riesling

There is no more underappreciated wine than Riesling. Many US consumers, burned by syrupy Rieslings with no life and too much sugar, have sworn off the grape. But for lovers of dry wine, there’s enough bone-dry Riesling out there to make avoidance a mistake.

One of the liveliest and most delicious dry Rieslings in our portfolio comes from the Domaine Mersiol’s Grand Cru vineyard Frankstein. Grown organically from 30 year old vines, this wine perfectly conveys the landscape of its origin. The Mersiol family has lived in Dambach for centuries, and their wines represent a long and intimate knowledge of this stony terroir.

 

 

The 2016 Mersiol Riesling Frankstein is a delight. Crisp notes of lime zest and melon with a vibrant, precise minerality bolster an expressive nose of elderflower and peach. Warm weather’s arrival may be slow this year, but this symphony of spring will call to mind a landscape of wildflowers and vines sprouting from the granite slope.

This is as good a food wine as any in our portfolio. Serve this with seared scallops (Thomas Keller’s simple preparation is hard to beat), or with a crisp spring salad of greens and grilled chicken breast. Beside those, consider sushi, steamer clams, veal in cream, etc. etc.

The famous importer Terry Theise once wrote, “there are times when I think that any sip of wine that isn’t Riesling is wasted.” Take a sip of this wine, and you’ll know what he meant.

 

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Mersiol Riesling Grand Cru “Frankstein 2016
bottle price: $29

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Punchy, Delicious, Everyday 2015 Red Burgundy. $25

The Côte d’Or is home to nearly all of Burgundy’s most famous wines. As monks learned centuries ago, the region’s combination of soil, exposition, slope, and weather makes it a near-perfect place to grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

But it’s a mistake to ignore the rest of Burgundy. It may be more difficult to produce great wines outside the Côte d’Or, but with a skilled winemaker and a great vintage, the results can be excellent. Gautier Desvignes’s 2015 reds are juicy, complex, and delicious. We’ve just restocked, and they’re better than ever.

Gautier Desvignes is a young winemaker who took over his family’s domaine a few years ago. He has brought new energy and modern techniques to the winemaking, and the results have been nothing short of exceptional. He’s managed to transform a humble, traditional family winery into one making some of the most popular wines in our portfolio.

Vinous describes the Desvignes wines as having “wonderful balance,” “great clarity,” and being “excellent” and “really quite superb.” His 2015 village level Givry “Meix au Roy” 2015 drinks far above its $25 price tag. The nose is ripe and beautifully textured, with notes of cherry jam, violets, stones, and baking spices. The mouth is fresh and young but not at all harsh, with a rich, juicy attack followed by a smooth, perfectly balanced, mouthfeel that’s far more refined than most Givry.

 

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Desvignes Givry “Meix au Roy” 2015
bottle price: $25

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