Author: Thomas Wilcox

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Bargain Bubbles: Sparkling Burgundy under $25

Credit for the discovery of sparkling wine is a matter of dispute. The monks of Limoux in the South of France claim 1531 as the date of genesis; the Champenois, with their stories of widows and Benedictine monks, have certainly won the publicity war; and even the Brits, who invented glass thick enough to contain the pressure, stake a claim.

But whomever you credit with its creation or taming, the world has become quite fond of bubbles over the past few centuries. We’re excited to have favorites from our Champagne producer Pascal Bardoux in the current September Futures notes; but until they arrive, we’ll continue to enjoy the delicious crémants from the Maison Picamelot.

Picamelot’s “Les Terroirs” combines three grapes from three corners of Burgundy — Pinot Noir from the Côte de Nuits, Chardonnay from the Côte de Beaune, and Aligoté from the Côte Chalonnaise. After its first fermentation, the wine ages on its lees for over a year, gaining complexity and richness. The result is a delicious wine that’s as honest a representation of Burgundy as any still wine.

In the glass (we suggest skipping the flute), “les Terroirs” is bright and lively, with nice dryness and pleasant, delicate mouthfeel — an extraordinarily versatile food-pairing wine. Over the last two weeks in France we’ve gotten used to beginning meals out with a kir petillant (crémant with a dash of crème de cassis). We’re likely to carry this aperitif tradition back home, and we suspect you might enjoy it too.

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Picamelot Crémant “Terroirs” Brut NV

bottle price: $22

 

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“Sleek and Lush:” New 2015 Red Burgundy from Michel Gros

We usually go to the Domaine Pierre Amiot for our Morey-St-Denis. Amiot has fantastic properties around the town, and when the vintage and maturity line up they can be exceptionally fine. But today’s suggestion comes from Amiot’s childhood friend and schoolmate, Michel Gros.

Gros’s plot in Morey-St-Denis is tiny but about as well located as a village plot can be: the vineyard directly borders three Grand Crus: Clos de Tart, Clos des Lambrays, and Bonnes-Mares. Gros’s produces fewer than 1000 bottles of the wine annually, but they are always beautiful.

Gros’s style is a bit out of the ordinary today — he’s an interventionist winemaker in an era when the trend is toward organic and biodynamic styles. But such is his talent that each cuvée comes out a perfectly crafted representation of its terroir. Gros’s wines may not match the “natural” style in vogue today, but they’re undeniably the work of a master.

And in 2015, they’re simply extraordinary. Gros’s 2015 Morey-St-Denis shows the perfectly ripe wild cherry fruit in all of Gros’s cuvées, but with an extra dose of stoniness. In the mouth it’s long and elegant, with a velvety texture that’s smooth and restrained. Burghound called it “sleek yet lush” with “terrific tension.”

Morey-St-Denis isn’t the flashiest town, and Gros’s approach is traditional. But one whiff of this wine and you’ll ignore everything but the contents of your glass.

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Michel Gros Morey-St-Denis 2015

bottle price: $69

 

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Got tomatoes? You’ll need a bottle of this.

We spent the last two weeks in “la France Profonde” (deep France), retracing our family’s visit here 20 years ago. Particularly here in the countryside, the French eat more seasonally than we do back home, and we cooked according to what we found in the market. Among many highlights – peaches, fresh chèvre, figs, squash, and more – were the tomatoes.

Perfectly in-season tomatoes are a reminder of why the food is in fact a fruit. We ate most raw, but managed to enjoy a few in a pasta sauce; and though it may seem heresy given our location, the bottle best matched with the pasta was our sample of Labirinto sent from Poggerino in Chianti.

The 2017 we sampled will arrive during the winter, but the 2016 is delicious, and, more importantly, in stock in Newton.

Poggerino’s Labirinto would qualify to be labeled Chianti Classico, but years ago the winemaker decided to bottle wine from the younger vines under a separate label. The 2016 Labirinto offers many of the same pleasures as Poggerino’s excellent Chianti Classico, but with less tannin and for a couple fewer bucks.

In the nose it shows violets, cherries, cassis and some earth. The mouth is intense and energetic — the tannins are young but juicy, and the mouthfeel is bold and refreshing. Look for sour cherry jam and minerals.

If there are any tomato sauces in your summer/fall plans, a bottle of Poggerino will be about as essential as Parmesan. (Well, almost.)

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Poggerino Labirinto 2016

bottle price: $19

 

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Minor-League Pomerol: Juicy 2015 Right Bank Bordeaux. $25

The monks and farmers of France have spent about a thousand years identifying the grape varietals that best fit their lands. Most grape-place pairings were settled centuries 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. Sideways 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. Master of Wine James Lawther 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 if you’re an autumn griller, pair this with a burger and football on a Sunday afternoon.

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Grand Ormeau Lalande-de-Pomerol 2015

bottle price: $25

 

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“Outstanding” 93 point 2015 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru: Burgundy at its Boldest

Gevrey-Chambertin is at the bold, masculine end of the red Burgundy spectrum. Gevreys are still complex, beautiful Pinot Noir, but they show a rugged richness that makes them meatier than most of their neighbors.

Our producer in Gevrey takes his richness directive seriously. Gilbert Hammel of the Domaine des Varoilles farms 80+ year old vines in his extraordinary premier cru monopole in Gevrey-Chambertin.

And if the richness from the vines, the winemaker, and the appellation weren’t enough, today’s offer is for his signature wine from 2015, one of the best in a generation. If you think of Burgundy as lacking intensity or richness, you’ve never had this wine.

 

 

The 2015 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru “Clos des Varoilles” is a powerhouse of a red Burgundy. Grown in a 6 hectare vineyard (enormous by Burgundy standards), the wine shows grand-cru level intensity. Our notes show dark cassis fruit in the nose, along with licorice and gingerbread spices. In the mouth is enormous and very long — the tannins are bold and bursting, a sign that the wine will live for decades to come.

Allen Meadows (Burghound) agreed with our assessment, awarding 91-93 points and finding a nose of “plum, anise, floral and earth aromas,” with “excellent size, weight and concentration” and “big-bodied and powerful flavors.”

This might not be the world’s subtlest red Burgundy, but it’s an extraordinary amount of wine distilled into a single bottle. And it’s awfully fun.


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Varoilles Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru
Monopole “Clos des Varoilles” 2015

bottle price:  $125  $108

 

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Mixed Case: 2018 Autumn Reds Sampler

It hasn’t exactly felt like autumn in Boston this week. But whether it shows up tomorrow or in a few weeks, cooler weather is on the way. And as the season changes we prepare for a change in our glasses as well, and today’s sampler should help stock your cellar for the coming transition. We’ve collected four reds that are dark, woodsy, and full of character. Think of this as pulling out that box of wool sweaters from the closet — you’re not quite ready to wear them yet, but now they’ll be there when you are. (3 of each wine, free East Coast shipping)


Bonnefond Syrah 2016
From Côte Rôtie winemakers Robert Parker calls “among the finest in the appellation,” this declassified Syrah is spiced, refreshing, and perfectly balanced, full of cool fresh fruit and notes of pepper and violets.

Saint-Clair Crozes-Hermitage “Fleur Enchantée” 2015
From a once-in-a-generation vintage, this pure Syrah is meatier than Bonnefond’s, but shows no less elegance or grace. Look for dark notes of cassis and earth, all wrapped in a sleek, 13.5% alcohol body.

Goubert Gigondas 2014
This wine is so popular among our readers we struggle every year to keep it in stock. We enjoy it year round, but it’s most appropriate in the fall. Look for notes of stewed cherries, leather, and lavender.

Marchesseau Lalande-de-Pomerol 2015
This right bank Bordeaux shows the sophisticated, polished side of Merlot. It’s dark and chewy but beautifully ripe, with a smooth texture and restrained woodsy notes. Serve this with a steak from a cast-iron skillet.

 


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Autumn 2018 Sampler

price: $350  $295

 

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Crisp, Everyday White Burgundy under $20

Harvest is in full swing in Burgundy. Yesterday we visited the Côte d’Or, where the air is alive with the fragrance of grapes and the chatter of busy harvesters. Most of this year’s white grape harvest has finished, and the grapes have begun their journey to becoming wine.

Nearly all the white wines in Burgundy are Chardonnay, but 10% are Aligoté, a less celebrated grape that produces simple, refreshing wines. Aligoté is seldom magnificent, but in the hands of the right winemaker it can be delicious.

Boyer-Martenot’s is our favorite, with a rich mouthfeel and unusually complex bouquet. Forget what you know about Aligoté — Boyer’s is real white Burgundy.

From vines with an average age over 40 years, and an excellent vintage, Boyer’s Aligoté is smoother and rounder than most. The secret is his use of 5- and 7-year-old barrels to age the wine — barrels too old to impart much oak flavor, but which help micro-oxygenation and add softness and depth.

In the nose Boyer’s Aligoté shows wild honey and herbs, with white flowers and classic green apple. The mouth is bright and lively, with a chalky richness that’s nearly unheard of for Aligoté. This is a perfect and versatile white for late summer and fall; and for readers interested in making kir, we have an exceptional crème de cassis.

But with this Aligoté, the cassis isn’t mandatory — it is a crisp, pleasant glass of white Burgundy on its own.

 


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Boyer-Martenot Aligoté 2016

bottle price : $19

 

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Red Burgundy under $30 from a Master Winemaker.

The best values in Burgundy are often the simplest wines from top producers. Most vignerons make their Bourgogne-level wines with the same care and precision as their top cuvées, and the cost remains a fraction of the famous names.

Rising demand and fixed supply has pushed many Bourgogne rouges from top domaines past $30 and even up into the $40s. But Jean-Louis Amiot has kept his Bourgogne more affordable. Our allocation is fewer than a dozen cases every year, but in 2016 we managed to snag a few more.

This is delicious, complex red Burgundy from a top producer — it just happens to be at an everyday price.

 

 

Morey-St-Denis is tiny — the population is less than 700 — and its vineyards cover less than half a square mile. Amiot is among the best known names in town, and his wines are excellent year in and year out. Everyone made excellent wine in 2015, but Amiot really showed his talent as a winemaker in 2016.

We retasted some 2016 on Saturday at the Domaine with Jean-Louis, and confirmed our notes from earlier this year — his 2016s are dense and full of pleasant fruit. The Bourgogne shows dark red tannins that are fresh and cool, with briary notes of raspberry, licorice, and minerals.

The 2016 Bourgogne is not as big or long as his village and 1er cru cuvées, but it’s the unmistakable combination of an expert winemaker with excellent terroir. And at less than $30 it will be one of the top value Burgundies in your cellar.

 


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Amiot Bourgogne rouge 2016

bottle price : $28

 

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Extraordinary, “Silky” 2010 Vintage Champagne, the Last Few Cases

Pascal Bardoux’s Traditionnel and Rosé Champagnes will be featured in this Sunday’s September Futures notes, but not his Vintage cuvée. Bardoux skips years he thinks don’t deserve the “Millesimé” label, and 2011 didn’t meet his lofty standards.

We tried to purchase more of his exceptional 2010 Millesimé cuvée, but there’s none left to buy. After sustaining a 45% loss to his 2010 crop from bad weather and winning several awards from renowned journals, we’re left with only our current warehouse stock.

But we can’t say we’re surprised — the 2010 Blanc de Blancs is extraordinary wine. Bardoux produced only 300 cases, and when a wine is this good we’re rarely the only ones to notice.

 

 

Bardoux’s 2010 Champagne Millesimé is his first 100% blanc de blancs. It’s all chardonnay, and comes with an impressive collection of accolades. The Guide Hachette awarded a Coup de Coeur, finding it “rich, silky, and fresh.” It also won gold at the prestigious Effervescents du Monde competition, where it placed 8th in a field of 548 sparkling wines.

More than any other Bardoux wine, this cuvée distinguishes Champagne as head and shoulders above other sparkling wine. The nose shows anise, pomegranate and cream, with a subtle toastiness that’s both charming and serious. The mouth is smooth and long, with very fine bubbles, and notes of quince, grape skins, peach and plums.

Bardoux’s Traditionnel and Rosé are delicious, and at under $45/bot in Futures they’re a steal. But when the moment calls for something unusually special, try one of the last few of these 2010s — whomever you’re sharing it with will thank you.

 


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Bardoux Champagne Millesimé 2010

bottle price : $75

 

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The Essence of Freshness: Crisp, Dry Muscadet

We’re in France for the next few weeks, revisiting some highlights from the family’s year long sojourn here twenty years ago. We have begun as we did in 1998, with a visit to the Brittany coast, and we write you today from St. Malo, an old fortress town on the English channel.

We’re surrounded here by boats, seagulls and salty air, and so oysters and other fruits-de-mer are never far from our mind. How the oysters of France rank next to our own from Harpswell Sound is a matter of debate, but one thing isn’t: they both pair terrifically with Muscadet.

 

 

Martin-Luneau is a family domaine farming old vines on the plains south of Nantes. Today we’re suggesting their 2014 Gorges Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine. This wine has the “Cru” designation, combining exceptional terroir with extended years on the lees. The result is an unusually complex take on a classic.

This Gorges matches perfectly with cold oysters, summer heat, or both. It’s pure and clean, showing melon, dried spring flowers, and lemon zest. The mouth is smooth and very dry, with notes of salt air, stones, and green apple skins. It’s refreshing and full of energy.

Our family is a bit older and bigger than it was two decades ago (we’ve added a wife and a third generation, and tripled our eligible drivers) — but French food pairing traditions have barely budged. And with a pairing like oysters and Muscadet, why would they?

 


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Martin-Luneau Muscadet “Gorges” 2014 

bottle price : $22

 

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“Excellent” 2015 Red Burgundy: Smooth and Woodsy. $28

The Domaine Ravaut is the ultimate local wine source. For 120 years the family has cultivated a loyal clientele of friends, neighbors, and workers at the stone quarry in the hamlet of Ladoix. Though they have expanded their reach in recent years, they still sell more than half of their wine to folks who walk in the front door.

The winemaker today is Vincent Ravaut, a friendly, thirtysomething son who has mastered cellar work. His diligence and careful attention during vinification and aging results in wines of perfect balance. Ravaut’s 2015s have all the clean precision we’ve come to appreciate, plus unusually complex and ripe fruit.

Today we’re suggesting Ravaut’s 2015 Côte de Nuits Villages, from vines near the border with the Côte de Beaune. The 2015 is succulent and juicy, with bursting tannins and dark, pure fruit. Think the joie-de-vivre of a Cru Beaujolais with the refinement and class of Pinot Noir. Jancis Robinson agreed, finding it “robust” with a “fine, chalky texture” and “excellent freshness.”

Like most of the 2015 red Burgundies, this is a delightful, refreshing glass on its own. The nose shows raspberry jam, graphite, and cassis — it’s a seductive and utterly pleasant bouquet. But the ripe tannins are an excellent match for food, with notes of plum and earth on a persistent, lively finish. Serve this with a roast chicken on a Sunday afternoon.

 


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Ravaut Côte de Nuits Villages 2015

bottle price : $28

 

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Rich, Muscular $25 Gamay: “Refined, Delicious, and Refreshing”

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.

A generation ago the words “refined” and “Beaujolais” were rarely found in the same sentence, but it’s a good word to describe Perrachon’s 2014 Burdelines. Burghound awarded 90 points, finding “detail, verve, and refinement,” and calling it “delicious and refreshing.”

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. This isn’t a Beaujolais you’ll forget about soon — twice the price of the Nouveau, but it’s easily ten times the wine.


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Perrachon Moulin-a-Vent “Burdelines” 2014

bottle price : $25

 

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Not Your Average Côtes du Rhône.

Côtes-du-Rhônes are a dime a dozen these days, from bistro chalkboards in Paris to your local drugstore checkout counter. And as you might expect, not all Côtes-du-Rhônes are created equal. Among our very favorites is the Domaine Malmont’s version from Séguret.

Malmont’s Côtes-du-Rhône is unique and delicious — richer and far more interesting than the vast majority of other bottles in its category. It owes its distinctiveness to an unusually high percentage of syrah (60%), which contributes dark berry and black pepper notes, and keeps the wine lively and fresh.

It’s a few bucks more than the mass-market version, but the quality is many times better.

 

 

Malmont is the project of Nicolas Haeni, a young Swiss winemaker who founded the domaine nearly a decade ago. His grapes grow on terraced vineyards in the hills above Séguret, and his wines already have wide acclaim from the international wine press.

Though it’s not raised in oak, there’s a pleasant note of toastiness in this wine. Look for notes of plum jam, lavender and thyme, presented with a round but lively mouthfeel. The ubiquity of Côtes du Rhône means it’s also a crowd pleaser, a sure hit at a late summer cocktail party. Let this develop over an hour in a glass, and leave the Kirkland brand behind.


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Malmont Côtes-du-Rhône 2016

bottle price : $24

 

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Juicy, Bursting, Gulpable 2015 Red Burgundy under $30

Many of our winemakers are multi-generational. Some stretch back for centuries, others are more recent père et fils (or fille) operations. At their best they maintain a family’s hard won knowledge of its land.

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. The 2015s in particular are refined, complex, and simply delightful.

 

 

In 2015 Gautier split his plot of village level Givry into two cuvées. The original “Meix au Roy” is classic Givry — rugged, mouthfilling, lively Pinot Noir. For the second cuvée, Gautier removed some leaves from the vines over the summer, allowing the sun to raise the phenolic ripeness of the grapes.

The result is an extra-ripe cuvée, with juicy fruit and smooth, velvety texture. It’s riper and fuller than the Meix, with punchier tannin and a longer finish. This is Burgundy at it’s juiciest — with the sun soaked exuberance of Beaujolais and the dark fruit of the Côte d’Or.

Fair warning — once open, particularly in a crowd, this wine evaporates promptly.


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Desvignes Givry “Champ la Dame” 2015

bottle price : $28

 

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Grand Cru White Burgundy: “Chablis at its very, very finest.”

Of the seven Chablis vineyards classified as Grand Cru, most consider Les Clos to be the finest. Taken as a share of the region’s production, Les Clos accounts for only 0.6%. But as Master of Wine and Burgundy expert Clive Coates says, it is “Chablis at its very, very finest.”

We’re big fans of Chablis, and there’s much to like in the other 99.4% of wines grown there. But Les Clos is something special, a wine to open when the moment is just right. Romain Collet leases a tiny 0.4 acre plot of 65-year old vines, and from it produces one of our favorite wines in his lineup.

 

 

One whiff of the Collet’s Les Clos, and you’ll understand the hype. The nose shows exquisite lemon, pear, and mineral aromas, and follows with an extraordinarily long, rich, tension-filled palate. It’s hard to imagine more concentration or density in white wine, particularly one with a nearly imperceptible use of oak.

Romain Collet has expertly balanced Chablis’s signature minerality with a richness and intensity that calls to mind Corton-Charlemagne or Montrachet. Allen Meadows (Burghound) awarded 92 points, finding “white orchard fruit,” and a mouthfeel “textured, dense and powerful.”

Les Clos is famously long lived wine, with aging potential stretching out a decade or more; and the longer you can keep your hands off of it, the better it will be. We opened a bottle recently, and we’d suggest decanting it (yes, decanting), for a half-hour or so before serving. Give it a year, and you’ll wish you had bought more; but even in its youth, Les Clos is unmistakably in a class of its own.


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Collet Chablis Grand Cru “Les Clos” 2015

bottle price : $69

 

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