Author: Thomas Wilcox

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Minerality in a Glass: Elegant, Vibrant, Premier Cru Chablis

Soil plays a crucial role in determining the character of wine. Clay-rich soils produce bold wines; flinty soils imbue their wines with notes of gunsmoke. And in Chablis, the particular blend of limestone, clay, chalk, and ancient oyster shells gives its wines an elegant, lace-like minerality.

The winemakers of Chablis must decide how to balance this vibrant mineral energy with Chardonnay’s ripe fruit and potential acidity. Too much ripeness and the wine is flat; too much acidity and the wine is harsh.

Twentysomething Romain Collet may not have many years under his belt, but his first few vintages have provided several decades’ worth of challenges. And Collet has already proven himself an expert in achieving the balance needed for excellent Chablis.

Collet’s collection of 2016 Chablis is terrific across the board, but today’s Premier Cru “Montmains” makes an argument as the best value of the lineup. It’s perhaps a step less complex than Sêcher or Montée de Tonnerre, but it’s classic and easier to enjoy young. Burghound awarded 90 points, citing “attractively textured flavors,” and “softly exotic aromas.”

Collet has perfectly blended the brightness and minerality of classic Chablis with attractive floral and fruit notes. The nose is unmistakably Chablis — notes of lime rind, alpine spices, and stony earth. The mouth is clean and smooth, with excellent energy and a rich, tension-filled finish.

Serve this with a plate of briny oysters to start your next cocktail party — order a case and we’ll throw in an Ansonia Wines oyster knife for free.

 

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Collet Chablis 1er cru “Montmains” 2016
bottle price: $32

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Giants of the Rhône: 92-95 point Masterpieces

With the weather finally turning cooler, we’re beginning to reach for richer reds from the southern half of France. Today we’re highlighting three of our favorites from three of the Rhône Valley’s most famous appellations: Cornas, Côte Rôtie, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

All are intense, rich, meaty and just delicious — they’re available by the bottle, but if you pick up a mixed case we’ll throw in free shipping, and reduce the price by $61 so one bottle is free.

 

Tunnel Cornas 2016: $59/bot
Our newest Rhône producer is often cited as one of the best sources in the appellation. It took us years to secure an allocation here, but their pure Syrah wines have lived up to every bit of hype. The nose shows inky, woodsy flavors — violets and blackberry mix with underbrush and mushrooms.

Vinous: 92 points  “Taut, sharply focused black and blue fruit flavors show very good delineation, and a smoky mineral element adds lift and back-end cut. Fine-grained tannins add subtle grip to a spicy, floral-dominated finish that hangs on with strong tenacity.”

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Bonnefond Côte Rôtie “Côte Rozier” 2015: $72/bot
Syrah simply doesn’t get any better than this. From a plot bordering the legendary La Landonne, the Bonnefond brothers produce only 125 cases of their Côte Rozier per year.

Vinous: 93-95 points  “Explosive aromas of ripe red and dark berries, cherry-cola, incense, Asian spice and smoky minerals, plus a suggestion of woodsmoke. Spicy, deeply concentrated raspberry, cassis and cherry pie flavors show superb focus and energy, and a sexy floral pastille quality emerges as the wine opens up. Delivers a compelling blend of richness and finesse, finishing with superb mineral lift, harmonious tannins and outstanding, floral-driven persistence.”

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[MYSTERY] Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2015: $56/bot
We’re not permitted to release the name of this winemaker, but they’re one of Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s most well known and well respected sources. But don’t take our word for it:

Vinous: 93-95 points  “Sexy, high-pitched red berry preserve, floral pastille and Asian spice aromas show outstanding clarity. Sappy, penetrating black raspberry, spicecake and licorice flavors gain weight with air and pick up suggestions of blood orange and smoky minerals. Shows impressive depth and polish, alluring sweetness and no rough edges.”

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Mixed Case: 4 of Each Wine
$748   $695/case
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Rich, Muscular, Intense: New 2015 Red Burgundy, $25

The Beaujolais has always had a turbulent relationship with the rest of Burgundy. To many in the Côte d’Or, Beaujolais represents overmarketed and undercrafted wine. But in recent years the Beaujolais has undergone a renaissance, as the prominence of Nouveau recedes and more vignerons make ageworthy wine.

Among our favorite serious Beaujolais sources is Laurent Perrachon, a family domaine working very old vines with meticulous care. Perrachon has plenty of fans — the domaine regularly receives top notes from Jancis Robinson, Josh Raynolds (Vinous), and Allen Meadows (Burghound).

Jancis Robinson calls Moulin-a-Vent the “most highly rated of all the Beaujolais crus,” and after a sip of today’s wine it’s not hard to see why. Perrachon’s Moulin-a-Vent “Les Burdelines” is as dense and bold as any Beaujolais we’ve tasted. As with Perrachon’s other wines, this bears more resemblance in mouthfeel to a Northern Rhône Syrah than a Pinot from Burgundy.

From a year with exceptional intensity and concentration, the 2015 Burdelines is serious and substantial, but also classy and refined. Perrachon keeps this wine in oak for a bit longer to help it knit together, and the extra few months of rest works wonders.

There’s a smoothness and elegance that’s unusual for Gamay. The oak adds a faint note of toast, but more serves to soften the edges and round the palate. With an hour in a carafe, this wine will happily accompany a hearty meal and a rowdy group of friends. Look for anise, cherry, black pepper, and stones on the nose, with a dense, chewy mouthfeel and notes of briary cassis and black raspberry.

With Thanksgiving just over a month away, this couldn’t have arrived at a better time.

 

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Perrachon Moulin-a-Vent “Burdelines” 2015
bottle price: $25

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“Impressively Rich” New 92-point Premier Cru White Burgundy

Most consider white Burgundy the finest expression of Chardonnay. But even within Burgundy there’s a wide range of styles and flavors; precise, crisp Chablis on one side of the spectrum, and lush, mouthfilling Meursault on the other.

Today’s wine is Chablis that wants to be Meursault. And while it’s typical of neither place, it’s also a delicious blend of both styles. Not for purists, perhaps, but delightful and well-balanced nonetheless. For the first time in many years we’ve been given a small allocation of Jean Collet’s Chablis 1er cru “Sêcher.”

Romain Collet is a talented young winemaker who has endured a recent series of difficult vintages with poise. Though their crop was down 75% in 2016, Collet managed to produce a terrific lineup.

The 2016 Sêcher combines a rich, mouthfilling ripeness with classic Chablis energy and freshness. There’s pear, gardenia, and white pepper in the nose, with toast and lemon joining in the mouth. Burghound awarded 90-92 points, calling it “impressively rich,” with “good vibrancy and minerality while delivering excellent length on the delicious, clean and saline finish.”

Tasted blind, you might guess this was a particularly energetic Meursault. It might not be classic, but it sure is tasty.

 

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Collet Chablis 1er cru “Sêcher” 2016
bottle price: $35

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Inky, Bursting New Gamay: “for Drinking, not Contemplating”

Beaujolais might be the perfect wine for the fall. Crisp air and turning leaves are an excellent match for a the cool fruit and punchy mouthfeel of first-rate Beaujolais. The region is still best known for the Beaujolais Nouveau, a quaint local custom turned global marketing phenomenon. But there’s far more to Beaujolais than cheap candied red wine.

The Crus Beaujolais are more serious wines from the ten small villages that make up the appellation. Our favorite among these is Juliénas, which is known for its dark, concentrated expression of the Gamay grape. Cru Beaujolais may be more intellectual than their Bacchanalian Nouveau cousins, but at their core they maintain the region’s spirit of festivity and plaisir.

Today’s Juliénas comes from Jean-Marc Monnet, a tiny winemaker making humble, excellent gamay. Made from 25-50 year old vines, this is smooth, rich, complex and simply delicious. It has more concentration and energy than much Bourgogne rouge from further north, and comes in at about half the price.

The color is inky purple, with a dark and earthy nose showing cranberry and pure wild cherry. The mouthfeel is intense and smooth with a long, dense finish of graphite and violets. This is delicious and intense, but, as Jancis Robinson puts it, “meant to be drunk, not contemplated.” It’s best described in French as gouleyant, a wonderfully onomatopoeic word that means “gulpable,” which perfectly captures the essence of good Beaujolais.

There’s no better wine for autumn than Beaujolais. But skip the Nouveau this year — for a few bucks more, Monnet’s dense, silky red is still a steal.

 

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Monnet Juliénas 2017
bottle price: $18

 

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Sophisticated New $25 Bordeaux: 2016 Left-Bank Cru Bourgeois

Burgundy and Bordeaux are the two giants French wine. In nearly every aspect — style, tradition, grape varietal, scale — they are opposites. As a small père et fils enterprise, Ansonia’s model fits far better with Burgundy, and we work with more than four Burgundy sources for every one in Bordeaux.

But the wines of Bordeaux continue to intrigue us, and we’re always on the hunt for a Burgundy-scale producer from the southwestern coast. And this spring we discovered a gem — rich, smooth, sophisticated red Bordeaux that’s also a startling bargain. We’re thrilled to introduce the 2016 Haut Médoc from Château Moulin-de-Blanchon.

Burgundy will always have our heart — but when then Bordelais turn out $25 wines at this quality, it become hard to ignore.

Moulin-de-Blanchon comes from the same winemakers who make our popular St-Estèphe “Fleuron de Liot.” It’s less highly classified than Fleuron, but it’s far more approachable young. Next to our other two delicious $25 red Bordeaux (2015 Grand Ormeau, 2015 Marchesseau), Moulin-de-Blanchon is classier and more serious — think an a cozy oak-paneled steak house rather than a bustling outdoor bistro.

Made from 50/50 Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2016 Moulin de Blanchon is remarkably drinkable today. The nose shows raspberry jam, black pepper, fresh leather, and forest. The mouth is smooth and rich, with velvety tannins that are enticingly approachable already. The palate is long and inky with fresh fruits and delicate chalky finish.

Sear some steaks and open a bottle of this for guests — they’ll swear you paid twice as much.

 

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Moulin de Blanchon Haut-Médoc 2016
bottle price: $25

 

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[ADVANCE ORDER] “Top Value” 2016 Red Burgundy from Michel Gros. $25

Our final Futures issue of the year comes out next week. It includes some of our most popular winemakers — Goubert, Boyer-Martenot, Desvignes, and more — but one favorite in particular: the Domaine Michel Gros. His entire lineup of 2016s will be available next Sunday, but today we’re focusing on one wine that is always in short supply.

The 2015 vintage was a hard act to follow, but Gros has a stellar lineup in 2016 as well. We were amazed at the clarity and consistent quality after such a difficult growing season. Gros himself, comparing the two vintages, called the 2016s “arguably classier, as the tannins are definitely finer.” Allen Meadows (Burghound) agreed: “Whether they are as good as his first-rate 2015s remains to be seen but if they’re not, it won’t be by much.”

And so with that in mind we’ll begin with Gros’s simplest wine — and the one that nearly always sells out through Futures: Bourgogne rouge 2016.

Great winemakers make excellent wines from even the humblest terroir. Gros is famous for his fine, high-end red Burgundies, and we can’t recommend them enough. But for everyday enjoyment, Gros’s simpler wines show the class of much fancier bottles.

His 2016 Bourgogne is refined, juicy, toasty, and polished. There’s far more complexity here than most reds at the Bourgogne level. Look for silky tannins, notes of raspberry and plum, and an earthy, complex palate. Burghound included Gros’s 2016 Bourgogne as one of the “top value wines of the vintage,” calling it “naturally vibrant” and noting its “sneaky long finale.”

We expect Gros’s 2016s to make lots of friends over the next few years. But this one, scheduled to arrive in late November, should be a treat by the holiday season. For a Burgundy lover, this is about as good a wine as $25 will ever buy.

 

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Michel Gros Bourgogne 2016

Ansonia Retail: $420
Futures price : $295/case

 

Email Tom to reserve this wine.



AVAILABLE BY THE CASE AND HALF-CASE
NOTE: This is an advance order, we anticipate a December arrival.

 

 

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Intense, Extraordinary New 2015 Red Burgundy; 91 points, $25

We often joke that inhabitants of the Beaujolais consider themselves Burgundian, but that the rest of Burgundy isn’t quite as sure. And while differences between the two halves abound — grape varietal, soil type, landscape, etc. — they share a tradition and style as well.

We call today’s wine “Red Burgundy” intentionally. The grape may be gamay and the zip code may be Juliénas, but this wine exhibits many of the characteristics of our favorite Pinot Noirs. It’s a combination of old vines (planted in the 1940s), expert craftsmanship, and Burgundian elevage. At the price, this could easily become your new house red Burgundy.

The Domaine Perrachon has made wine in Juliénas since the 1870s. Today we’re enthusiastically suggesting their 2015 Juliénas “Clos des Chers.” Made from south facing vines and raised in large 500L barrels, it marries the dark intensity of old-vine gamay with a bit of polish from further north. Or as one taster put it at our warehouse last weekend, “there’s a lot of wine in that glass.”

This is as serious and sophisticated a Beaujolais as we have ever seen. The nose is inky and dense, with dark blue fruits, violets, and pleasant spices like nutmeg and pepper. The mouth is very fine and intense, with beautiful texture, sturdy fruit, and notes of baked blueberries and roses. Burghound called it “exceptionally pretty,” “rich,” and “caressing,” predicting “it could easily enjoyed now [but] there is plenty of upside development potential.”

We’re hard pressed to find a better value in Burgundy today. It’s not from a fancy town or a “noble” grape, but this is true red Burgundy at a remarkably friendly price.

 

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Perrachon Juliénas “Clos des Chers” 2015
bottle price: $25

 

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“Exceptionally Rich” Premier Cru 2015 Red Burgundy, 90 points

The 2015 vintage in Red Burgundy has been called one of the best in a generation. Ideal growing conditions produced perfectly ripe fruit, resulting in wines that are full bodied, deeply colored, and simply delicious.

Many of the wines will require aging to reach their potential, but not all of them. Roger Belland in Santenay makes wines for the nearer term. Belland’s reds are drinkable young every year, and in a vintage like 2015, they’re unusually delightful.

Roger Belland and his daughter Julie are 5th and 6th generation winemakers in Santenay, at the southern end of the Côte d’Or. Their 2015 Santenay 1er cru “Beauregard” shows everything that is great about this vintage: perfectly rounded tannins, abundant ripe fruit, and a mouthfilling, sturdy finish.

Wine Critic Allen Meadows (Burghound) awarded this wine 90 points, citing “exceptionally rich flavors,” “liqueur-like aromas of plum and earth,” and a “delicious, sappy, and palate-coating finish.” We agree, finding notes of currants and minerals, with a particularly complex and silky mouthfeel that is both lively and long.

There are certainly more age-worthy red Burgundies from this legendary vintage. But for a reasonably-priced cuvée to enjoy this fall, we can’t think of a better choice than the 2015 Beauregard.

 

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Belland Santenay 1er “Beauregard” 2015
bottle price: $35

 

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Cool, Everyday Syrah-Blend from the Languedoc. $16

For the careful shopper, the Languedoc can be an abundant resource. Long deserving its reputation for mediocrity, the region has only recently become a source of value. There’s still plenty of bad wine made in the vast region, but if you make good choices, $16 will take you farther here than just about anywhere else.

The region’s best bargain may come from the Clos Bagatelle. This centuries-old domaine hails from the ancient town of St. Chinian, set high in the rock-strewn hills of the central Languedoc. Bagatelle grows syrah, carignan, and cinsault in a rocky schist soil that provides balance and minerality.

Bagatelle’s Cuvée Tradition 2016 is full of cool, stony fruit – there’s a dark berry freshness and lack of heat that’s hard to come by in much of the Languedoc. The palate offers fruit compote, meatiness, and hints of tobacco, but without high alcohol or palate-tiring heaviness.

This is a well-priced, crowd pleasing red — it’s the house red for several of our friends. As the weather cools, this is a perfect everyday red to have around to match with autumn dishes. Pair with steak and other burgers from the grill, or a weeknight stew.

 

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Bagatelle Tradition 2017
bottle price: $16

 

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“Outstanding” 91-point Six-Year-Old Premier Cru Red Burgundy.

In our fast-paced and impatient world, cellaring wine has become rare. Not all wines are meant to age, and indeed the wine world’s style continues to shift toward early maturity. But for wine that is built to be cellared, the transformation by bottle aging is nothing short of magic.

Today we’re suggesting 2012 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.

Take a fine premier cru from an excellent vintage and add six years of patience, and you’ve got something special.

This lot of 2012 Millandes comes with impeccable provenance — it just arrived last week from Morey-St-Denis, having spent the last six years in the cellar where it was bottled. When he tasted it back in 2015, Burghound gave 91 points and called it “outstanding” and “lovely,” finding it “supple and round but well detailed.”

We think he’d be even more enthusiastic now. Today it’s just magnificent — the nose is woodsy and perfumed, with cool cherry fruit and lovely notes of anise and cinnamon. The mouth is perfectly balanced, with reserved tannins underlying a round, elegant, mouthfilling palate showing notes of blackberry pie and autumn leaves.

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

 

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Amiot Morey-St-Denis 1er “Millandes” 2012
bottle price: $75

 

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Intense, Delicious, Gulpable New Gamay. $18

The Gamay grape has had a turbulent history. In 1395 Duke Philip the Bold concluded Gamay was “evil and disloyal,” and banished it from the northern half of Burgundy. For the past six centuries it has found refuge in Beaujolais, where it produces mostly simple reds — fruit-forward and inexpensive.

A few years ago we happened across a small-scale, undiscovered Beaujolais producer named Jean-Marc Monnet. He has no road sign, no website, and no other American importer. But his classic Beaujolais cuvées are as intense and vibrant as any we’ve had.

Forget everything you know about Beaujolais (particularly nouveau), this is intense, delicious, inky red wine — think the fruit profile of a Pinot Noir, but the weight of a Northern Rhone Syrah.

Chiroubles (she-roo-bluh) is usually on the more floral, lightweight end of the Beaujolais spectrum. Monnet’s 2017 Chiroubles is characteristically gorgeous in the nose, but in the mouth it’s far more substantial. The nose shows intense perfume of violets, graphite, honey, earth, and wild cherries. The mouth is punchy and vibrant, with bursting tannins and cool refreshing notes of cranberries and woods.

This is a perfect candidate for your autumn house red — smooth and delightful enough to serve on its own, but with character enough to match food. It’s a dense, juicy, affordable red to match the cooling days and lengthening nights. Skip the Nouveau — this is twice the wine and still doesn’t break $20/bot.

 

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Monnet Chiroubles 2017
bottle price: $18

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Pure, Honest, Magnificent 2016 Old-Vine Chablis

The Domaine Jean Collet in Chablis had a tough 2016. Mother Nature threw just about everything at them — hail, frost, mildew, grape maladies, sunburnt fruit, and more. The domaine lost about 60% of the crop, but the fruit that survived was superb.

Collet’s 2016s are magnificent. Young winemaker Romain Collet managed to turn in an exceptional lineup of wines amidst an abundance of challenges. Everything from his Grand Crus to Premier Crus to today’s classic old-vine Chablis are just excellent.

We enthusiastically recommend his whole 2016 collection, but we’re focused on his simplest today.

 

 

There are no regulations concerning what qualifies as an “old vine” in France, but Collet’s would meet just about anyone’s standard. Planted in 1932, these vines have survived everything Nature (and man) have thrown at them over eight decades. With each passing year their grapes lose volume but gain intensity and depth.

So intense and complex is their juice that Romain uses zero new oak for this cuvée, choosing instead to let the pure fruit shine through. And shine it does — 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.

This is Chablis as it was meant to be: no oak, clean, pure, lively, and smooth. We only hope we’re still turning out work this good when we’re 86 years old…

 

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Collet Chablis VV 2016

bottle price: $29

 

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Rich, Silky New Châteauneuf-du-Pape: Autumn Arrives

The weather has finally turned colder here in Boston. And though we enjoy the rosés and Muscadets of summer, we’re excited for the contents of our glasses to turn darker and richer.

No wine fits better the cooling weather than Châteauneuf-du-Pape. For us the name conjures a hearty meal and roaring fireplace. And while we may still be a few weeks away from fireplace weather, you’ll want Châteauneuf-du-Pape around when it arrives.

We have several excellent options from the famous appellation, and we’re excited to add a new one today.

The appellation of Châteauneuf is only about 12 square miles, but it makes some of the world’s most sought after wine. Christophe Mestre is a small production winemaker who flies under the radar of most of the wine world, but recently his talent and terroir have begun to bring him acclaim. We think his 2016 is among the best he’s produced.

Fans of the appellation used to paying well over $50 for bigger names should take note — this is a rich, classic, mouthfilling Chateauneuf-du-Pape with a remarkably low price tag. The nose is explosive, with a wide range of notes from violets and pan drippings to strawberry jam and lavender. The mouth is smooth and soft and rich, with a dark red complexion and silky tannins.

This is a rich, round, welcoming Southern red to match those stews you’ll start cooking soon. And at the price you can open a bottle for the weeknight leftovers as well.

 

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Mestre Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2016

bottle price: $34

 

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Overperforming New 2015 Red Burgundy: 92-point Almost Grand Cru

In Burgundy as in real estate, location is everything. Today’s wine comes from a vineyard classified Premier Cru but surrounded by five Grand Crus. It sits along the famous stretch of Grand Crus between Morey-St-Denis and Gevrey-Chambertin, and many believe its premier cru classification has as much to do with centuries-ago politics as with terroir.

But whether it’s a secret would-be Grand Cru, or just a perfectly positioned Premier Cru, one thing is settled — the “Combottes” vineyard turns out magnificent wine. The Domaine Pierre Amiot is based in Morey-St-Denis, but makes a few hundred cases each year from this plot just over the border in Gevrey.

 

 

Today we’re offering the Combottes from 2015, a vintage considered among the best in a generation. The wine is young but already exceptional, and built to last. The nose is dark and sweetly floral, with notes of spice, plum, and earth. The mouth is dense and sappy with a rich, mouthfilling concentration. Burghound awarded 92 points, calling it “restrained,” “refined” and “sleek.”

Most red Burgundy improves with age — Combottes today is twice as delicious as it was when it arrived in the spring. It’s built to go another 10-15 years if desired. But life is short, and when a wine tastes this good this young, no one (except perhaps your future self) will fault you for opening it early.

 

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Amiot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er “Combottes” 2015

bottle price: $92

 

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