Author: Thomas Wilcox

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No-Oak Premier Cru Chablis: Humbly Delicious

Chablis is a singular place. Its combination of deep stony soils and cool climate exists nowhere else on earth. These factors produce a 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. 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, unoaked Chardonnay. Gautheron allows the stony soil to show through as delicate minerality. One taste and we think you’ll agree: a wine this good doesn’t need any help.

 

 

We’ve just restocked on the 2016 Vaucoupin. It shows remarkable richness for a wine without oak — purity and elegance that is exceptional. The briny freshness of oysters (or a lemony-prepared fish) is a perfect foil for the brisk energy of the Vaucoupin.

After the excellent but unusually soft 2015 vintage, Gautheron’s 2016s are a return to his regular form. 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. We served this yesterday at a holiday party, and it performed beautifully — it matched a wide range of cheeses and was enjoyable on its own: humbly delicious.

 

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Gautheron Chablis 1er “Vaucoupin” 2016
bottle price: $32

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Special Offering: 2005 Red Burgundies from Michel Gros

No, that’s not a vintage typo in the subject line. We’ve just called up our small collection of 2005 Gros Burgundies from our offsite warehouse. Purchased back in 2007, and they’ve rested quietly under temperature control for over a decade. Today we’re bringing them out of their slumber to pass them along to you.

The 2005 vintage was by all accounts near-perfect. Allen Meadows (Burghound) called it “one of the greatest vintages in the history of modern Burgundy.” Jancis Robinson MW called it a “glorious” and “rightly revered” vintage; Jasper Morris MW called it “the most uniformly successful vintage I have seen in my career.”

As happens with most great vintages, the 2005s went into hibernation after bottling — over the past decade they’ve shown their intensity and class, but have been missing the richness and complexity you’d expect. They’re just now beginning to edge into their drinking window, and so we’ve decided to let our customers direct their final acts — we think they’ll continue to improve for another decade or more, but the rest is up to you.

Today we’re releasing three 2005 village wines from Michel Gros — two cuvées from Nuits-St-Georges, and one from Vosne-Romanée.

Michel’s Nuits-St-Georges “Les Chaliots” is from a vineyard on the southern end of the town, not far from the famous “Les St-Georges” vineyard. This is classic Nuits, with rich meatiness, bold intensity, and dark blackberry fruits. Look for cassis, cinnamon, mushrooms, and leather.

The other Nuits-St-Georges cuvée is a blend of four plots near the border with Vosne-Romanée, and this cuvée combines aspects of both villages. There’s the traditional intensity of Nuits-St-Georges, but with an increased layer of Vosne spice and silk. Look for dark berries, earth, pine, and toast.

And finally, the Vosne-Romanée, from Michel’s home town. This is the most elegant of the three, showing redder fruits and a longer, silkier finish. Vosne is Burgundy at its most refined, and Michel’s never disappoints. Look for violets, smoke, dried roses, and velvet.

As you might expect, these are all available in small quantities. We’ll accept orders as first come, first served until we run out.

 

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Gros Nuits-St-Georges “Chaliots” 2005
bottle price: $125

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Gros Nuits-St-Georges 2005
bottle price: $125

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Gros Vosne-Romanée 2005
bottle price: $135

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A Symphony of Spice: Exquisite 6-Year-Old Côte Rôtie

We raided our offsite warehouse a few weeks ago, and have brought some older gems with a bit of bottle age. Stay tuned over the next month for a series of throwback wines (including some really exciting old Burgundies this Friday). Today’s pick should hardly be considered old, but it’s in a lovely place.

Bonnefond’s Côte Rôtie from 2012 has added sophistication and complexity in the six years since its harvest. The fruit has become less juicy and more refined, and the nose has added depth and spice. Six years on, this has plenty of future; but it’s remarkable what a little cellaring can do.

Writing about this wine back in February 2015, Josh Raynolds of Vinous found “spice-accented aromas of cherry compote,” “real vivacity” and “resonating spiciness.” He awarded 91 points, and we’re confident if he tasted it today he’d be even more enthusiastic.

We tasted it yesterday (just to check in) and were highly impressed. In the nose it’s almost Burgundian, showing a perfumed mixture dried roses, cherries, tree bark, violets, and deep purple fruit. The mouth is savory and elegant, full of spices like cloves and anise, the finish is sleek and subtle.

Patience among wine drinkers (and merchants) is rare these days, and this is proof that even a few years of bottle aging can do wonderful things. Less than two cases are available.

 

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Bonnefond Côte Rôtie 2012
bottle price: $65

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Rich, Exciting New Loire Cabernet Francs from Saumur-Champigny

The Loire Valley is an exciting place these days. The two new sources we discovered this spring have already gained fans among our readers — the Sancerres of Domaine de la Garenne, and the Chenin Blancs of Nicolas Paget. Today we’re excited to introduce a third — the Domaine des Sanzay in Saumur-Champigny.

Winemakers Celine and Didier Sanzay are fifth generation growers in Saumur Champigny. Their wines pure Cabernet Franc, and fit modern Loire style — small batch, organic, limited oak, concerned with balance and freshness rather than extraction and muscle. They use all wild yeasts, neither fine nor filter, and produce complex, natural expressions of the charming central Loire.

 

 

We’re starting with two of Sanzay’s reds, both intense, clean, and highly expressive Cabernet Francs. The first is the 2017 Saumur-Champigny, which shows a lovely balance between fruit and earth. The notes are rustic — violets, tobacco, cassis, and herbs — but with a sleek and lively mouthfeel. The papery tannins give it a gentle backbone, supporting the fruit in style.

The second is Sanzay’s old vine cuvée, the 2016 Saumur-Champigny Vieilles Vignes, from vines aged 50-110 years. This cuvée is denser and more refined, and the extra nine months’ élevage in oak barrels (all used, none new) has given it a smooth, velvety texture. The notes are more spiced and intense, and the finish much longer. We expect this to improve for 3-5 years, though it’s already very enjoyable.

These are interesting, expertly-made wines with a lot to say. Both substantially outperform their prices, and are bright, crackling alternatives to your everyday, catch-all Rhône red. Give them a try — we doubt you’ll be disappointed, and we guarantee you won’t be bored.

 

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Sanzay Saumur-Champigny 2017
bottle price: $19

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Sanzay Saumur-Champigny VV 2016
bottle price: $25

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Pouilly-Fumé Returns: New Crisp Sauvignon Blanc. $19

Sauvignon Blanc has seen a recent surge in popularity. It’s hard to find a wine list these days without examples from New Zealand, California and Washington. But the original source for Sauvignon Blanc is France’s Loire Valley.

The twin villages of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé are the home towns of Sauvignon blanc. Here the grape takes on a distinctly mineral and citrus character. As the name suggests, the wines of Pouilly-Fumé also feature notes of smoke and gunflint, a result of the soils’ high flint content.

Our producer here is Frederic Michot, a small family vigneron with no other US importer and excellent wines. Both of his two excellent 2017 cuvées have just arrived in our warehouse.

Michot’s 2017 Pouilly-Fumé is crisp and delicious — the nose is bright and expressive, with ripe grapefruit, honey, and lime. The mouth is full and very lively. There’s no oak at all, and the palate sings with zippy fruit and minerals. The palate is midweight and very clean, with a dry, slightly smoky finish.

This is pure, unoaked, refreshing Sauvignon Blanc — perfect as an aperitif on its own, or to pair with a table of appetizers at your next holiday party. We enjoyed some last night with Ottolenghi’s Leek Fritters, and the match was superb. If you’re short on time or turmeric, try some crusty bread with a Loire-style chèvre.

 

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Michot Pouilly-Fumé 2017
bottle price: $19

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“Magnificent” 16-year-Old Grower Champagne, in Magnums.

We often preach the value of well-aged wines. Under the right conditions, time has a magical effect on a bottle of wine. Usually it’s red wines (or sometimes whites) that are ageworthy, but we often forget the third category: Champagne.

Champagne evolves in two stages. The first is pre-disgorgement, when fermented wine rests in the bottle under a tight seal and the lees add complexity and richness. The second happens post-disgorgement: the lees are removed, a cork is added, and the wine begins to pick up secondary notes like caramel and nuts.

2002 Champagne would be exciting in any format. Master of Wine Jancis Robinson called it “a magnificent year in Champagne,” and now 16 years on, considerable aging has already occurred. But this particular Champagne, resting on the lees in perfect conditions for 16 years, and disgorged earlier this year, is even more special — it’s in magnums.

Pascal Bardoux is our Grower Champagne producer in Montagne-de-Reims. We ordered a handful of these magnums disgorged last summer, and they were a hit with our customers last fall. We’re pleased to report that Pascal disgorged his remaining 2002s for us this spring, and they’ve just arrived in the depot.

If Champagne is naturally celebratory, and magnums are festive by nature, then this wine is nothing short of an experience. Over the last 16 years the wine has gained an extraordinary complexity, with subtle notes of dried fruits, apple pie, fig, oats, and dried roses. These magnums offer a chance for you to set your own course — its first life is complete; the second is up to you. It’ll be delicious this Christmas, and even more in five.

Open one at Thanksgiving next week and your guests won’t soon forget it. Or give one as a holiday gift — we guarantee they won’t get the same bottle from someone else. For locals we’re opening one tomorrow at the warehouse in Newton. For everyone else, we’re including free East Coast shipping with every bottle — we can even ship Monday in time for your turkey.

 

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Bardoux Champagne 2002 (1.5L)
bottle price: $225

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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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