Author: Thomas Wilcox

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“Vibrant,” “Delicious” 2016 White Burgundy from Michel Gros.

Burgundy doesn’t have to be expensive or ageworthy to be delicious. A talented winemaker with excellent terroir can make terrific wine miles from the main drag, and today’s wine is a perfect example.

Michel Gros is best known for his brilliant red Burgundies from towns like Vosne-Romanée, Chambolle Musigny, and Nuits-St-Georges. But he also holds quite a bit of land in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, a patchwork of rolling hills to the west of the Côte d’Or.

With so many excellent reds, one might wonder why Gros bothers with a white at all. But one taste of this wine will settle the question.

 

 

The Fontaine-Saint-Martin vineyard is named for an ancient Cistercian abbey dating to 1127. We offered the excellent 2015 red from this vineyard last week, and today we offer the 2016 white from the same plot. The soil here is the same mix of marl, clay, and limestone found on the Hill of Corton, and while the Fontaine-St-Martin won’t compete on richness or longevity, its smooth floral quality readily calls to mind the famous Grand Cru.

The 2016 whites are a delight — a lovely combination of ripe richness with a lively refreshing core. Gros’s cuvée is no exception: open, approachable, and simply delicious today. Burghound found it “round, delicious, and attractively vibrant,” and balanced by a “fine bead of minerality.” The nose is floral, showing gardenia, white pepper, pears, toasted lemon. The mouth is intense and smooth, at once mouthfilling and fresh.

Pair this welcoming, mouthfilling wine with a Sunday afternoon veal stew and a polar vortex.

 

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Gros HCDN Fontaine-St-Martin blanc 2016

bottle price: $39

 

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Rich, Juicy 2015 Right-Bank Bordeaux. $25

The monks and farmers of France have spent centuries years identifying the grape varietals that best fit their lands. Most grape-place pairings were settled long ago, and now the happy marriages — Syrah in the Northern Rhône, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Burgundy, Sauvignon Blanc in Sancerre — produce many of the world’s finest expressions of each varietal.

And so it is with Merlot and Bordeaux. Recent trends notwithstanding, Merlot has always played a starring role in the finest wines of Bordeaux, particularly in the Right Bank’s famous towns of Pomerol and St-Emilion. The combination of limestone and clay soils, excellent drainage, and early ripening makes Merlot grown there unique and delicious.

 

 

Today’s wine is from Lalande-de-Pomerol, a sort of minor-league appellation to Pomerol’s big league name. It offers near-term drinking at a fraction of the cost of Pomerol, and benefited greatly from the magnificent 2015 growing season. (For those interested in more serious, ageworthy Right Bank 2015s, see January Futures.) James Lawther MW wrote recently of the 2015 Right Bank reds “I wouldn’t say it’s the greatest ever, but it’s a very, very good vintage.”

The 2015 Grand Ormeau Lalande de Pomerol is dark, juicy, and very mouthfilling. Look for notes of licorice, tobacco, plums, and cinnamon. The mouth is smooth, ripe, and velvety, perfect for a well crusted steak from a cast iron pan. Or pair it with a burger and football next Sunday afternoon.

 

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Grand Ormeau Lalande-de-Pomerol 2015

bottle price: $25

 

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Regional Discovery Six-Packs

To know French wines is to understand French winegrowing regions. Each region has its own history, rules, traditions, grapes, and customs — they’re almost like separate countries when it comes to winemaking.

Our portfolio focuses on Burgundy, but we import wines from other corners of France as well. Below we’ve collected six regional samplers, all $125-150 (and one France-wide sampler of our favorites from all six regions.) Each comes with a regional profile card to help guide you discover and get to know the region.

Free East Coast shipping on all samplers.

 

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Regional Discovery Six-Packs

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Elegant 2014 Pommard: Soy, Pepper, Raspberry, Silk

The towns of Pommard and Volnay are giants of the Côte de Beaune reds. Though less than a mile apart, the two towns represent opposing profiles – Volnay tending toward elegant and feminine, and Pommard toward sturdy and masculine. As neighbors they provide an excellent example of the microterroirs of Burgundy.

But as you might expect, terroir shift exists on a continuum. As you approach the border, the differences between the towns blur a bit, and it’s there that we find today’s wine. It’s a Pommard by name, but borrows a bit of elegance from its neighbor to the south.

Grown from three plots in the appellation of Pommard, it’s the vines from near Volnay border that dominate this wine. The nose is pretty and exotic, with soy sauce and spices alongside the classic raspberry fruit. The mouth shows dry blackberries, with elegant, delicate, long mouthfeel.

This will benefit from another few years of cellaring, but given a carafe and an hour to breathe, it’s delightfully drinkable today. Pair it carefully with a mild steak or tenderloin, and this is a charming glass of old-world, old-school Burgundy.

 

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Mégard Pommard 2014
bottle price: $49

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Granite and Wildflowers: 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 foolhardy. Tall skinny bottle + “Riesling” ≠ sweet.

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. It may be single digits out today, 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 said, “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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Extraordinary, Rich 92-Point Cornas from a Superstar Winemaker.

Cornas is a tiny appellation. Its 145 hectares (compare to Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s 3,133) are at the southern end of the Northern Rhône. The name Cornas comes from the Celtic word for “burnt earth,” and its grapes often ripen two weeks earlier than the rest of the region.

But its wines are anything but tiny. For years Cornas’s reputation has been for richness and ruggedness. The first quality remains true: these are inky, chewy wines made from hard granite soil. But “ruggedness” needs some revision. A younger generation has brought modern winemaking to the ancient vineyards, and the results are more refined than ever before.

Cornas hasn’t given up its untamed spirit, but the new wave of winemakers has bought it nicer clothes and taught it some manners. And none more expertly than the Domaine du Tunnel.

The Domaine du Tunnel is often cited as one of the best sources in the appellation. Named for an old railway tunnel that now houses the domaine’s exquisitely designed cuverie, these wines are a highlight of any Cornas collector’s cellar. It took us years to secure an allocation here, and the wines themselves have lived up to every bit of hype.

Tunnel’s 2016 Cornas is classic and excellent. The nose shows inky, woodsy flavors — violets and blackberry mix with underbrush and mushrooms. The fruit is clean, and dense and pure and the finish unimaginably long. Josh Raynolds of Vinous awarded 92 points, finding “fine-grained tannins,” and “sharply focused black and blue fruit flavors.”

With a winter storm approaching, we can’t think of a better companion than a glass of this.

 

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Tunnel Cornas 2016
bottle price: $59

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“High Performing” 2015 Red Burgundy from Michel Gros under $40

Michel Gros appears on many lists of Burgundy’s finest winemakers. His style is smooth and elegant, with warm, enticing notes of toast, red berries, and a silky texture. Gros’s village level and premier cru wines can be truly extraordinary, but they require (and reward) investment and patience.

Not all of Michel’s wines hail from such exalted zip codes. Gros makes several “petits vins,” which aren’t as complex or long-lived, but offer a chance to sample his brilliance at a more affordable price.

In 2015, a vintage considered among the best in decades, these petits vins are unusually fine. Today’s suggestion is the 2015 “Fontaine St-Martin,” an Hautes-Côtes de Nuits that we think easily competes with village level red Burgundies.

 

 

The Fontaine-Saint-Martin vineyard is named for a nearby Cistercian abbey that dates to 1127. The hillside of vines was in production for centuries, and Michel has made wine there for over 40 years. The Fontaine St-Martin plot is indeed special — soil samples revealed the parcel contains the same mix of marl, clay, and limestone found on the Hill of Corton

The 2015 Fontaine-St-Martin punches far above its weight. It’s more impressive than anything we’ve had from the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, with extremely dense tannins, dark blue fruit, and floral notes of violets and roses. Burghound named this one of the “Top value wines in 2015” for the entire region. Master of Wine Sarah Marsh called it “high performing” and predicted it should age beautifully.

This is a special plot of red Burgundy from a master winemaker in a legendary vintage — all for the price of a business lunch.

 

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Gros HCDN Fontaine-St-Martin red 2015
bottle price: $39

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A Trio of Legendary Meursault: 90-94 points

Meursault is a village stuck in time. Its narrow crooked streets and pointed steeple perch on a hill above fields of weathered vineyards first planted by monks in 1098. The golden nectar of these fields has been known for centuries, and today it is as sought-after as any wine in the world.

Meursault has no grand crus, but its three famous premier crus — Perrieres, Genevrières, and Charmes — almost make up for it. These exceptional terroirs produce some of Burgundy’s greatest wines of any color. We’re excited, for the first time ever, to offer all three from our star Meursault winemaker, the Domaine Boyer-Martenot.

 

 

In his excellent recent book Rajat Parr describes the trio thus: “Perrières — the eternal Grand Cru in waiting, with its epic fusion of body and minerality, frame and physique; Charmes — full bodied and physical, but deep and engaging; and Genevrières — crystalline in structure, at once gossamer and formidable.”

We won’t try to beat Parr at poetry, but we’ll confirm that these characterizations match Boyer’s cuvées this year. Vincent Boyer is making wine at a higher level these days than ever before — Vinous’s Stephen Tanzer declared himself “seriously impressed” with Boyer’s 2017 premier crus. Simply put, these are extraordinary wines — they’re not cheap, but greatness rarely is.

We have very small allocations of each — we’re offering them all individually and as a set of three. First come, first served.

 

Boyer-Martenot Meursault 1er cru “Charmes” 2017:   $125
Charmes is always the smoothest and most unctuous of Boyer’s cuvées. The 2017 has a particularly lovely balance between mouthfilling fruit and energy. Tanzer awarded 90-93 points, calling it “silky and densely packed” and “captivating,” noting its excellent “concentration and length.
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Boyer-Martenot Meursault 1er cru “Perrières” 2017:   $125
Always Boyer’s most masculine cuvée, this is an explosion of energy, richness, and depth. Tanzer awarded 91-94 points, finding “terrific intensity and verve,” and “superb inner-mouth energy.”
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Boyer-Martenot Meursault 1er cru “Genevrières” 2017:   $132
This is more concentrated and longer than the Charmes; less fat and more intensity. Tanzer awarded 91-94 points, calling it “at once thick and piquant,” and “classic, dense, vibrant.” He concluded simply “this is superb.”
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Meursault Trio (one of each wine):   $369/trio
+ free East Coast shipping
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The Best Côtes-du-Rhône in the Business. $16

In most cellars, Côtes du Rhône is the workhorse wine. Hosting thirsty guests? Go with a Côtes du Rhône. Pairing anything from salad to stew to soup to sirloin? Côtes du Rhône fits the bill. The best examples are crowd-pleasing, inexpensive, and full of character.

Our favorite Côtes-du-Rhône these days comes from the Domaine les Goubert — it’s among the best buys in our whole portfolio. It mixes a bit of Gigondas richness and depth with the hearty character of the rugged provençal landscape, and winemaker Florence Cartier’s touch of elegance and refinement.

It’s unlikely to be the fanciest wine in your cellar, but it might be the most useful.

A Côtes du Rhône should be three things: balanced, dark, and inexpensive. Goubert’s is all three. The relatively low alcohol, keeps it fresh and lively on the palate. The blend of six grapes classic Rhône grapes forms a rich, hearty, dark wine. And it’s inexpensive enough to pull out at a moment’s notice.

Goubert’s 2017 Côtes du Rhône is the expressive and refined, showing dark wild cherries, raspberries, and a hint of minerality. The mouth is both jammy and refreshing, with notes of white pepper, licorice, and plums.

It’s a by-the-glass wine for your kitchen, something to enjoy before and during your meal. Serve this with anything from hamburgers to our favorite pasta: oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and ample grated parmesan. Just be ready when your guests start looking for a second bottle.

 

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Goubert Côtes-du-Rhône 2016
bottle price: $16

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Simplicity and Warmth: New Rich Rhône Blend for the Winter Months Ahead

Eric Chauvin’s story is a familiar one. A fifth generation winemaker inherits his family domaine. He begins to bottle the wines himself, tightens up the quality, converts to organic viticulture. We stumbled across Chauvin’s tiny Domaine le Souverain in the Rhône Valley a few years ago, and have been delighted at the discovery.

And the wines? Souverain’s reds are neither ageworthy nor pretentious — they’re straightforward, balanced, well-made, and simply delicious. They’re also far more complex than your average drugstore Côtes-du-Rhône. Chauvin’s organic practices and careful vinification means his wines pulse with energy and life.

 

Last week we reintroduced the new vintage of Souverain’s Séguret, a crowd favorite from a few years ago. Today we’re excited to release a second Souverain red: the Sablet “Réserve.” It’s a blend of Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah, and spends a year in large oak barrels before bottling. Chauvin has handled the oaking beautifully — the notes of toast and spice add a stylish foil to his juicy organic fruit.

This is bolder and fuller than the Séguret — the nose shows intense jammy fruit, with spice and garrigue. The palate is rich and mouthfilling, but maintains vibrancy — the fruits are ripe and smooth but refreshing and nimble. Serve this with a stew and roasted vegetables, or just a Netflix show and a wintery evening. It’s cozy, welcoming, and delightfully easy to drink.

 

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Souverain Sablet “Reserve” 2016
bottle price: $22

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New Dry Chenin Blanc: an Organic Symphony of Fruit and Spice

Chenin blanc is a tough grape to pin down. The varietal produces a staggering array of styles: from still to sparkling, bone dry to very sweet, and everything in between. Even today, the winemakers of the Loire, France’s center for winemaking innovation, continue to push what’s possible from the grape.

This spring we were thrilled to discover an exceptional new source for Chenin blanc. The wines of Nicolas Paget have already become popular among our readers, from the dry, refreshing Melodie, to his enticing off-dry Maestro. Paget is unknown in the US — we’re his first American importer — but his expressive, organic cuvées have found enthusiastic welcome from the UK’s famous Berry Bros & Rudd.

Today we’re excited to introduce a third Paget cuvée: the 2014 Indr & Loire. It’s unlike anything in our portfolio, and we think it’s delightful.

The 2014 Indr & Loire is Paget’s maiden release for the cuvée. He ferments the wine dry, and then ages it for two years in oak barrels. The barrels are old enough not to impart any flavor, but have allowed the wine to relax and develop into something extraordinary.

The nose is dry and floral, with notes of lemon, mango, yellow raisins, and lychee. The mouth is smooth and long — think golden apples, coconut, and exotic spice. There’s enough freshness to keep the wine afloat, but it’s the richness and depth of flavor that make it memorable.

This is bone dry wine — very ripe and very full, but with no sweetness and a long, elegant finish: a perfect wintery white. Serve this as an aperitif at your next dinner party, and your guests will never guess where it’s from.

 

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Paget Chenin “Indr & Loire” 2014
bottle price: $29

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Delightful New Premier Cru Red Burgundy from a Rare, Ancient Grape. $32

Many of our winemakers are multi-generational, with some domaines stretching back for centuries. We’re always slightly apprehensive when a new generation takes over. Some try too hard to make their mark early, changing styles and abandoning longtime traditions. But at many domaines the younger generation arrives with modern techniques and a new energy.

Gautier Desvignes is in the latter category. In a few short years he’s transformed his quaint family domaine from traditional rustic Givry into some of the most popular wines in our cellar. Last year Vinous discovered him, and described his wine as “really quite superb.”

 

We’re excited to release Gautier’s most recent innovation: a new cuvée called “Le Vernoy.” It’s from a plot he planted six years ago with “pinot fin,” a rare, ancient clone of Pinot Noir. The clone is prone to millerandage (small berries), and produces smaller quantities but riper notes on the palate.

The 2016 Givry 1er cru “Le Vernoy” is the debut vintage for the cuvée, and we think it’s likely to become a favorite. The nose is very pretty, with bright fruits and notes of strawberry, violets, and earth. The mouth is intricate and delightful, “light on its toes” as Neal Martin puts it, with very fine tannins and a pleasant clean finish. If your idea of Givry is rustic and hearty, this should cause an expansion of your definition.

We thoroughly enjoyed this with soup and a salad recently, but for an upgraded pairing try this recipe for Veal Medallions with Almonds and Figs.

 

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Desvignes Givry 1er “Le Vernoy” 2016
bottle price: $32

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[Advance Order] “Exuberant” 2015 Chianti Classico under $22

French wines have long been the focus of the Ansonia portfolio. Of the 45 winemakers we work with, about half are from Burgundy, and all but a few are French. Our longtime exception to this rule is the Fattoria Poggerino.

Poggerino’s wines are all pure sangiovese — dark, delicately balanced expressions of an intense, powerful grape. We’ve worked with Poggerino for almost 15 years, but recently their star has risen dramatically. In his recent book Rajat Parr calls their wines “excellent” and “some of the purest expressions of the grape in Italy.”

As usual, the entire Poggerino lineup (including a very limited release of their exceptional olive oil) will appear in next Sunday’s January Futures release. But we’re singling one of our favorites out today to review in a bit more detail.

 

 

Poggerino is in Radda-in-Chianti, a charming hill town about halfway between Siena and Florence. Their regular cuvée Chianti Classico strikes a beautiful balance between a deep enticing nose and a sturdy, classic mouthfeel.

The 2015 is unusually good, with strawberry jam and anise on the nose, and cherries and roses in the mouth. The texture is firm and long, with excellent aging potential; but even today the wine opens nicely in a glass or carafe. Robert Parker’s reviewer calls it “plump and ripe” with “good intensity and a high pleasure threshold.” The Wine Spectator found it “harmonious” with “fine energy” and “a beam of pure cherry flavor.”

We think this is among the finer vintages of Chianti Classico that Poggerino has made. As the vines age, the wines gain depth and polish with every vintage. If you’ve got Poggerino in your cellar already, this vintage is an excellent for replenishing your stock. And if you’re new to the wine, Futures offers a discounted way to try it out.

 

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Poggerino Chianti Classico 2015
Retail: $300

Futures price: $250/case

Email Tom to reserve.

 

 

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New Sampler: Cozy Winter Reds

Sometimes the moment calls for a grand wine: something ageworthy, pulled from the back of the cellar, opened at just the right time, decanted for hours, etc. Other times, it doesn’t. For this sampler we’ve collected four uncomplicated wines from the “easy” category — wines you can enjoy with out too much consideration or contemplation. They’re cozy weeknight reds for pizzas, salads, pastas, soups, and leftovers.

 

Souverain Séguret 2017
dark, rich, earthy Rhône blend from a tiny organic source

Poggerino Labirinto 2014
pure, smooth, beautifully balanced Sangiovese from Chianti

Bagatelle St-Chinian Fil de Soi 2016
dark, intense, peppery Syrah blend from the Languedoc

Grand Ormeau Lalande-de-Pomerol 2015
classic, rich, sophisticated Merlot blend from right bank Bordeaux

3 of each wine

 

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Mixed Case: Cozy Winter Reds
case price: $250

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