Author: Thomas Wilcox

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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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Wedding Gift Samplers

Looking for the perfect gift for a wedding this summer? Try one of our four new Wedding Gift Samplers. They won’t be on the couple’s registry, but you can be sure they don’t already have one.

Shipping for each sampler is FREE, and we can send them right to the recipient.

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Wedding Gift: Anniversary Sampler ($250)
Here are three wines to open over the next 10 years. Champagne for the first anniversary, Côte Rôtie for the fifth, and Pomerol to be opened in 2029.

  • 1st Anniversary: Bardoux Champagne Millesimé 2010
  • 5th Anniversary: Bonnefond Côte Rôtie 2015
  • 10th Anniversary: Clemence Pomerol 2015

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Wedding Gift: Ageworthy Sampler ($250)
Four bottles to put in the back of the cellar. They’ll toast you when they open them, or if you’re lucky, they’ll invite you over.

  • André Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2015
  • Bonnefond Côte Rôtie 2015
  • Poggerino Chianti Classico Riserva 2015
  • Gros Vosne-Romanée 2015

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Wedding Gift: Magnums ($350)
There’s nothing more festive than magnums…

  • Bardoux Champane 2002 (1.5L)
  • André Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2015 (1.5L)

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Wedding Gift: Best of France ($395)
For the Francofiles or oenophiles on your list. Six iconic French appellations: Champagne, Chassagne-Montrachet, Vosne-Romanée, Côte Rôtie, St-Emilion, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

  • Bardoux Champagne Millesimé 2010
  • Thomas Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 2016
  • Michel Gros Vosne-Romanée 2015
  • Bonnefond Côte Rôtie 2015
  • Destieux St-Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2015
  • André Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2015

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And now for something different: Orange Wine!

Over the years it feels like we’ve sampled nearly every type of French wine – every color, grape, blend, age, technique, region, etc. But last fall we discovered a wine we’d never before tasted in France: orange wine.

Also called vins de maceration (skin-contact wines), orange are wines made from white wine grapes but vinified like reds. Most white wine is pressed off its skins before fermentation; red wines ferment with their skins (the source of their color). “Orange” wines are made from white grapes but fermented with their skins.

Today we’re excited to introduce our first ever two orange wines. They’re both from the our new source in Alsace, Vincent Gross.

Gross’s oranges wines are made from Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris, varietals whose skins are purple but whose juice is clear. Gross leaves both cuvées on the skins for 26 days before pressing, then raises them 10 months in large foudres. The technique extracts tannins and other elements from the skins, and results in a complex and fascinating palate.

The Gewurztraminer Neuweg VDM offers a wonderfully spicy nose along with what resembles the citrusy hops of a summertime session beer. The spicy nose creates an expectation of sweetness on the palate, but in the mouth the wine is completely dry. The texture is lovely, substantial but showing plenty of energy — look for notes of wild berries and white pepper.

The Pinot Gris Osperling VDM is also mouthfilling and rich on the palate, but without a hint of sweetness. The nose is savory and dry, with notes of herbal honey and dried flowers. There’s ripe stone fruit with good supporting acidity and hints of salinity in the mouth, making the finish clean and precise with notes of anice and citrus.

These aren’t likely to become your new house wine. But they’ll pair beautifully with spring vegetables and strong cheeses (think real Munster a tomme from Alsace). Give them a try — we doubt you’ll be disappointed, and we guarantee you won’t be bored.

 

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Gross Gewurztraminer VDM 2016
bottle price: $32

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Gross Pinot Gris VDM 2016
bottle price: $32

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Smooth, Juicy 2016 Premier Cru Red Burgundy: “Vibrant” & “Outstanding”

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

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

In fact Belland’s wines age quite well, but they’re so drinkable young that most don’t make it past a year or two in our inventory. Today’s we’re suggesting the Santenay 1er cru “Gravières” 2016 — it’s lovely and elegant today, but should continue to improve for another 5 years if you can keep your hands off it.

The nose is classic Belland, with bright red fruits, spring flowers, and intense berries. The mouth is punchy and dense, with attractive, juicy tannins and a silky palate bursting with raspberry and wild cherries. Burghound awarded 91 points, calling it “outstanding” and finding it “generous and vibrant,” and “beautifully persistent.

In a world of red Burgundies that need time and investment, here’s a less fussy but no less complex premier cru for under $50.

 

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Belland Santenay 1er “Gravières” 2016
bottle price: $42

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[Advance Order] Exciting New Organic 93-point Gigondas: Velvet and Inky Fruit

Organic viticulture has taken hold in France. Well more than half the winemakers in our portfolio now farm organically. Even in Burgundy, where long history and continuing demand make an argument for the status quo, many domaines have converted. “It’s the future,” one winemaker last week put it simply.

But for some winemakers, 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”). Whether past or future or both, the Joncuas wines prove at least one thing about organic winemaking: it works.

 

 

We stumbled across Joncuas earlier this month, and they’re one of the most exciting additions to our portfolio we can remember. They’ll be featured in next Sunday’s May Futures issue, but we’re spending a bit more column space to introduce them today.

Today two 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.

We’re beginning today with the Joncuas Gigondas 2016, a magnificent vintage in the Southern Rhône Valley. 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.” On complexity, depth, and intensity, this wine way over delivers for its $27 Futures pricetag. We weren’t planning to add a new Southern Rhône producer this trip, but this one is too good to pass up.

 

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Joncuas Gigondas 2016
Ansonia Retail: $420/case
Futures: $325/case


Email Tom to place an order.

 

 

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Small-Batch Grower Champagne under $50

Champagne is a complicated place. Since its early days the region has been inseparably linked to a sense of glamour and “le marketing.” It can be easy to lose track of quality and distinctiveness amid Champagne’s glossy promotional haze.

But Pascal Bardoux, our tiny grower Champagne producer, cuts through the noise. His small-batch Champagnes are quietly exceptional — his tasting room is his small untidy office, where we taste slowly and thoughtfully from an old beat-up leather sofa.

And his wines, humble and delicious, are comparative bargains. Much mass-market Champagne that gets to the US fetches between $75 and $100 a bottle; Bardoux’s small-batch Brut Traditionnel doesn’t even crack $50 — twice the wine at half the price.

Bardoux’s Brut Traditionnel is his non-vintage cuvée, and an excellent entree to the collection. A blend of 60% Pinot Meunier, 30% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir, this wine has the complexity and depth to match the finest bottles from Burgundy or Bordeaux. The nose shows plum, chalk, lime zest, and buttered biscuits; the mouth is dry, elegant, and smooth, with notes of apple and toast.

We can’t recommend this wine highly enough. Don’t limit yourself to Champagne only on special occasions — it’s refined, complex wine in its own right. And from Bardoux it’s not even that much of a splurge.

 

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Bardoux Champagne Brut NV
bottle price: $49

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Extraordinary New Organic Alsatian Pinot Gris: Orchard Fruit and Stones

We’re excited about our new Alsatian source. Vincent Gross is a skilled young winemaker making organic wines from classic Alsatian varietals. His vibrant, bone-dry Riesling has already become popular among readers; his orange wines made from Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer are unusual and exciting.

Today we’re suggesting his 2014 Pinot Gris Neuweg. Made from natural yeasts and biodynamic grapes, this wine pulsates with life and tension. Gross leaves it on the lees in a foudre (large wooden barrel) for nearly a year, an unusual move that gives this wine extraordinary complexity and depth.

Forget everything you know about Pinot Gris (or Pinot Grigio for that matter) — this is complex, unique, and just delicious.

We served this without introduction to the family on Easter Sunday, and heard lots of “yum, what’s this?” and “any left in that bottle?” The nose is gorgeous and very expressive, with clear orchard fruit and faint hints of spice. The mouth is mature and very long — it’s dry but with loads of richness. It begins soft and smooth but finishes lively and refreshing.

This was an excellent pick for ever-tricky asparagus pairing, and it’s not the last time this spring we’ll make the match. Otherwise serve it as an aperitif, with goat cheese on crackers — it’s thick enough to stand up to some cheese with authority, so if you’ve got a taste for fromage “bien affiné”, this should work beautifully.

 

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Gross Pinot Gris 2014
bottle price: $29

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Shimmering, No-Oak Premier Cru White Burgundy. $32

Chablis is a singular place. Its combination of deep stony soils and cool climate exists nowhere else on earth. These factors produce a similarly unique wine — mineral and crisp, pure and clean. Our goal as importers is to find wines that reflect the place from which they come, and there is no better place to find such wines than Chablis.

The traditional interpretation of Chablis shows little or no oak. In recent years, some vignerons have begun to oak their wines more aggressively, particularly among their higher-end cuvées. But winemaker Cyril Gautheron uses oak sparingly and carefully — when he thinks the wine doesn’t need it, he doesn’t use it.

Today’s wine, the Chablis 1er cru “Vaucoupin” is pure, elegant Chardonnay. Gautheron keeps his entirely unoaked, allowing the stony soil to show through as delicate minerality. One taste and we think you’ll agree: the wine doesn’t lack anything.The new 2017 Vaucoupin has just arrived in our warehouse. It’s a particularly vibrant vintage, with a beautiful ripe core laid over an intense beam of stony freshness. This is pure, elegant, and remarkably long — it begins with flowers and fruit, and finishes (after a while) with freshness and minerality. The nose shows lemon rind and salt air; the mouth is long, tense, and full of energy.

It’s hard to imagine a purer interpretation of the Chardonnay grape. The briny freshness of oysters (or a lemony-prepared fish) is a perfect foil for the brisk energy of the Vaucoupin.

 

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Gautheron Chablis 1er “Vaucoupin” 2017
bottle price: $32

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Two “Outstanding” 2015 Red Burgundies: Neighbors of Clos de Tart & Charmes-Chambertin

Even by Burgundy standards, the town of Morey-St-Denis is small. With only 110 hectares of vines (0.4 square miles), it less than a quarter the size of neighboring Gevrey-Chambertin. Neither as elegant as Chambolle, nor as masucline as Gevrey, Morey is perhaps the prototypical Burgundy — a melange of earth, fruit, wood, stones, forest and silk.

Jean-Louis Amiot is a fifth generation winemaker in Gevrey, and one with an outstanding collection of well-located vines. Amiot’s parcels are often immediately next to a famous vineyard, and provide truly exceptional terroir without an astronomical sticker price.

Today we’re suggesting two 2015s made from such vines: Aux Charmes 1er cru, a small dirt road away from the famous Grand Cru Charmes-Chambertin; and Les Ruchots 1er cru, a few yards from the iconic Clos de Tart Grand Cru.

We tasted at the Domaine Amiot three times in the last three weeks, and it was a reminder of just how good their wines are. Their style has modernized a bit in the last few years, but they continue to make classic, elegant red Burgundies that express their terroir with clarity and grace.

Everyone made good wine in 2015, but careful winemakers like Amiot truly excelled. These should age beautifully for another 3-5 years, but with a decanter and a springtime Sunday afternoon they’re a delight today.

Amiot’s Morey-St-Denis 1er cru “Aux Charmes” is at the northern end of the appellation, a few feet from the Gevrey border and the Grand Cru Charmes-Chambertin. As the name suggest, it’s charming — the nose is deep but expressive, with notes of raspberries, toast and wild cherries; the mouth is silky, mid-weight, and very elegant. Burghound awarded 91 points, calling it “supple and caressing”

Most consider “Les Ruchots” the finest Premier Cru in Morey-St-Denis, based on its location across from the Grand Cru Clos de Tart. Amiot’s Ruchots lives up to its billing — it’s more serious and mouthfilling than the Charmes. The nose shows a rich blend of spice, smoke, and dark berry fruits; the mouth is sturdy and mouthfilling with gorgeous texture and a clean, delicate finish. Burghound awarded 92 points, calling it “outstanding,” “seductive” and “suave.” (Note: Ruchots also available in magnums.)

 

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Amiot MSD 1er “Aux Charmes” 2015
bottle price: $75

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Amiot MSD 1er “Les Ruchots” 2015
bottle price: $86

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Strawberries and Stones: Crisp, Refreshing, Red (!) Sancerre

Sancerre has always been the star of the Loire Valley. Though recent years have seen interest rise in the region’s other appellations, Sancerre remains the best known and among the best-liked. It’s popular, easy to drink, easy to pronounce, and pairs well with lots of dishes.

Today’s wine is classic Sancerre — mineral, bright, refreshing and summery… it just happens to be red. Nearly a quarter of the appellation is planted to Pinot Noir. Like the Sauvignon Blanc used to make white Sancerre, Pinot Noir deftly and elegantly expresses the minerality of Sancerre’s terroir.

It’s just the red to guide us into the spring and summer season.

The whites of the Domaine de la Garenne have received a warm welcome from our readers since we discovered them last year. They’re cool, lively, crisp, full of intensity and elegance. Garenne’s Sancerre rouge is in the same line: refreshing and well balanced, with no new oak and an unusually complex palate.

If the words “Sancerre rouge” call to mind a simple fruit-forward wine, this wine should expand that notion. There’s indeed beautiful red fruit with violets and honey, but also a complex earthiness, both from stones and forest floor. The smooth, relaxed tannins make this go down surprisingly easily — you’ll be amazed how fast a bottle disappears from your summer table.

Serve this wine cool or chilled, with goat cheese on crackers.

 

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Garenne Sancerre rouge 2016
bottle price: $28

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No-Nonsense Sauvignon Blanc: Crisp, Refreshing Pouilly-Fumé. $22

Winemaker Frederic Michot is as brisk and energetic as his wines. He talks (and drives) fast, and sports the same no-nonsense attitude found in a glass of his Pouilly-Fumé: pure Sauvignon blanc, no oak, clean and crisp.

Michot’s side of the river may be less famous than his neighbor Sancerre, but he isn’t willing to concede it any advantage. His wines are exceptional Sauvignon blancs, full of precision, focus, clean dry fruit, and beautiful tension.

Sancerre deserves its fame and acclaim; but Pouilly-Fumé is its scrappy underdog cousin, with just as much to offer, and at a better price.

Michot’s Pouilly-Fumé Vieilles Vignes has become a frequent presence on our summertime dinner table. It’s refreshing, unoaked, mouthfilling and utterly delicious. His 2017 old vine cuvée is a delight, with lots of depth and bursting freshness. With summer around the corner this is a perfect everyday glass of white.

The nose shows mango, grapefruit rind, and straw; the mouth shows ripe grapefruit, lime rind, and honey. The wine is at once mouthfilling and electric, with the persistence of richness and freshness found in finest Sancerre.

It’s perfect for seafood: grilled shrimp, pan seared scallops, broiled haddock, steamed Maine lobster, etc. Or if fruits de mer aren’t your thing, try a glass with goat cheese on a crusty piece of French bread.

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Michot Pouilly-Fumé VV 2017
bottle price: $22

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2015 Red Burgundy from a Master of Vosne-Romanée. $35

Winemakers here in Burgundy are breathing a bit easier these days. Last week’s damaging frosts notwithstanding, cellars here are fuller than we’ve seen them in some time. In fact there’s even talk of the 2018 vintage (currently in barrel) as a “grand millesime.”

But no one claims anything is quite as impressive as the magnificent 2015s, one of the best vintages in a generation. Everyone made good wine in 2015 — and the greatest winemakers, well, their results were extraordinary.

Michel Gros has many accolades to his name. He’s on Master of Wine Clive Coates’s list of the 17 top domaines in Burgundy, alongside Lafarge, Ramonet, DRC, Leroy, and de Vogüé. In person Gros is humble, shy, and soft-spoken — a brilliant winemaker, happiest in the fields among his vines.

Gros’s village, premier cru, and grand crus are extraordinary, and we have a few of them from 2015 left. But for more regular enjoyment, Gros’s simpler wines show the refinement and class of much fancier bottles — and particularly in 2015, they punch well above their weight.

The 2015 HCDN rouge from Gros has the refinement and complexity you’d expect from a $50 bottle. The nose is is ripe, toasty, and elegant. Look for notes of violets and earth, and a surprisingly polished and long mouthfeel. The Guide Hachette called it “elegant and fine.” We found plum, raspberry, cloves, and spice. For a Burgundy lover, this is about as good a wine as $35 will ever buy

 

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Gros HCDN red 2015
bottle price: $35

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Precision and Minerality: the Perfect $25 White Burgundy

Yesterday morning we drove up to Chablis to visit Cyril Gautheron. He had been up since 2am guarding his vineyards against frost, but somehow managed a warm handshake and a smile for our 9:30 appointment.

Gautheron approaches his winemaking with fanatical precision. He farms over 65 different plots of vines across the Chablis appellation, and vinifies each in its own separate tank. We tasted only about 15; the night before Cyril had done them all.

The variations between each tank are subtle but distinct, and Cyril completes his final act of blending masterfully. The results are perfect Chablis cuvées, each different, and each marrying classic minerality with ripe fruit and vibrant texture.

The Gautherons have made wine in Chablis for two centuries, but we can’t imagine their wines ever being quite this good. The 2017s combines intense fruit, refreshing minerality, and a lively, dry energy. They’re a plunge in a chilly ocean, and then a dry breeze as the sun warms you back up.

The 2017 Vieilles Vignes is bursting and delicious — it combines chalk and lemon in the nose, with bright clear notes and a touch of herbs. The mouth is precise, elegant, and pure, with notes of lime rind, saline, and dry Chardonnay fruit.

Cyril has guided the his vines through frost, hail, flowering and harvest; he’s blended them into an exquisitely balanced cuvée. We’ve found them and brought them to a warehouse in Boston. All that’s left to do is pull the cork…

 

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Gautheron Chablis VV 2017
bottle price: $25

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