Author: Thomas Wilcox

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09 Red Burgundy from a Master Winemaker.

Le weekend.  We spent some fine days with winemaker Michel Gros this weekend. On Friday afternoon we toured his vines with some friends from Boston, then returned to his cellar for a vertical tasting of his family’s monopole. Then last night he and his wife joined us (and 600 others) for a grand dinner in the cave of the Chateau de Clos de Vougeot.

Gros is as modest as his wines are extraordinary – he regularly wins international awards for the wines he makes in “the greatest Pinot Noir village on earth.” (Clive Coates MW) And yet he’s happiest working in his vines, reminding us that great wines come first from vineyard work. More often than not he’s washing dirt from his hands as we arrive for a tasting.

This week we tasted Gros’s exceptional 2014s from cuve — (they will be bottled next month and available in November Futures). But we’ve already got quite a bit of Gros at the warehouse – and today we’re offering one of our favorites.

 

Silk and Earth.  The 2009 vintage was a banner year in Burgundy – perfectly healthy, ripe grapes, and plenty of them. Today we’re offering Gros’s 2009 Morey-St-Denis, a plot from which Michel makes fewer than 1000 bottles each year. Michel’s vines in Morey are exceptionally well-situated, in a vineyard adjoining the Clos des Lambrays, the Clos de Tart, and Bonnes Mares, three of the region’s most famous Grand Crus.

We have tasted a lot of wine over the past few weeks, and more than a little red Burgundy – but Gros’s wines continue to stand out. This Morey-St-Denis is pinot noir at its very finest – ripe, round fruit from the famous vintage, now slightly softened six years on from the harvest, a silky and smooth mouthfeel with notes of cherries and toast, and a delicate, lace-like minerality.

We wish all of our readers could have joined us at the Clos Vougeot last night, but in its place we can offer an exceptional wine from one of Burgundy’s finest citizens. Decant this for a half hour and use your biggest Burgundy glasses – you might even hear some singing below the rim.

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GROS Morey-St-Denis 2009
Ansonia Retail: $76
quarter-case: $68/bot

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AVAILABLE IN   3-    6-   AND  12-   BOTTLE LOTS

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Email Tom to place an order.

or call Tom: (617) 249-3657

 

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Terms of sale. Ansonia Wines MA sells wine to individual consumers who are 21 or more years of age, for personal consumption and not for resale.  All sales are completed and title passes to purchasers in Massachusetts.  Ansonia Wines MA arranges for shipping on behalf of its customers upon request and where applicable laws permit.

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Tasting Blog: Day Twelve

DAY TWELVE  |  Beaune, Vosne-Romanée | 6.17.16

 

No new tastings today, but a full day of events. We spent the morning with the visiting Boston Chapter of the Chevaliers du Tastevin — we visited domaine in Beaune whose vines are in Pommard, and did a fascinating 10 year vertical of the Pommard, stretching back to 2005.

In the afternoon we met up with the Chevaliers again, this time in Vosne-Romanée, where Michel Gros took us on a tour of his vines at the Clos Vougeot. After explaining the history of the Clos and the effect of the subtle variations in soil content, slope, and exposition, we headed back to the domaine for a tasting. We began with a sample of 2015 en fut, and then continued on with a horizontal tasting of Vosne and Nuits 1er crus in 2012, and then a vertical of the Monopole Vosne 1er cru Clos des Réas. For a finale, a 2005 Clos Vougeot, from the plot we stood in an hour before: an personal and enjoyable tasting for all.

For dinner we visited “La Buisonnière,” and had one of the best meals of the trip. Chorizo boudin noir, ris de veau, and souris d’agneau. Jura tomorrow.

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Floral, Alsatian Blend for a Summer Picnic. $16

The French have a long tradition of eating outdoors. From harvest tables in Burgundy to breezy rooftops in Paris, a French meal en plein air is full of beguiling aromas, clinking glasses, and hearty laughter. We’ve enjoyed more than half of our meals this trip sur terrace, and we find that wine (and really food in general) tastes better outside, with room to breathe and open.

A Spring-Summer favorite of ours is “Les Anémones,” a delightful blend from our friend Francis Muré in the Alsace. It’s a perfect picnic wine, matching nicely with a wide range of foods, from sharp cheeses to crusty bread. We poured it as an aperitif at a graduation party last month, and it was a refreshing antidote to the muggy summer afternoon.

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Anémones is a blend of Riesling, Muscat, and Pinot Gris. It’s soft rather than sweet, with less sharpness than Riesling, but enough acidity to keep it lively. There are notes of apricot, orange and pear, with a lovely round mouthfeel and good length. Like curry, Muscat sometimes takes over things that it’s a part of; but here it is nicely balanced and not at all overwhelming.

Speaking of curry, Anémones pairs beautifully with food of Indian or Asian style, particularly with a bit of spice. But its best accompaniment is an afternoon outside. This is a simple but delightful and tasty wine with a beautiful bouquet – you’ll be surprised how fast the bottle disappears.

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MURÉ Anèmones 2015
Ansonia Retail: $20
case, half-case: $16/bot

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AVAILABLE IN    6-   AND  12-   BOTTLE LOTS

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Email Tom to place an order.

or call Tom: (617) 249-3657

 

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Terms of sale. Ansonia Wines MA sells wine to individual consumers who are 21 or more years of age, for personal consumption and not for resale.  All sales are completed and title passes to purchasers in Massachusetts.  Ansonia Wines MA arranges for shipping on behalf of its customers upon request and where applicable laws permit.

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Travel Blog: Day Eleven

DAY ELEVEN  |  Chassagne-Montrachet, Santenay, Nuits-St-Georges, Auxey-Duresses, Beaune | 6.16.16

 

 

We started the morning in Chassagne-Montrachet, home to rich, beautiful, elegant wines with silky golden texture and balancing freshness. As it has often this week, the conversation centered around the dismal outlook for 2016. With warm sun and cool rain going punch for punch all day long this week, the specter of mildew is ever present. Happily, the 2014s in the bottle and 2015s in the barrel are as good as ever.

Our second tasting was just five minutes south in Santenay — more bad news about 2016, and more delicious reds and whites from 2014. Juicy, punchy tannins for the reds, and crisp, refreshing mouthfeels in the whites. We stopped by a truck selling charcuterie and cheese in the town square in Santenay, then headed north back to Beaune for lunch. Over saucisson, chèvre, Beaufort, and crusty baguettes, we tasted through samples from a new producer in the Rheingau.

We began the afternoon in Nuit-St-Georges, tasting 2014 reds from the bottle and 2015s from the barrel. The 14s are lovely and croquant, as elegant as ever for this source; the 2015s are exceptionally dense and beautiful. We picked up some more German wines sent to us at the local post office, and then headed south to Auxey-Duresses. Our producer here fell in like with the trend of the day: more bad news, more delicious whites, and more juicy reds. “Qu’est-ce que on peut faire?” they say.

After another 6 samples from Germany, we headed out to dinner at Levernois, a one-star to the east of Beaune. This was one of the nicest meals in recent memory, beginning with a coup de champagne on the terrace, and continuing through an exceptional meal — a 2008 premier cru Chassagne-Montrachet was a highlight.

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Tasting Blog: Day Ten

DAY TEN  |  Morey-St-Denis, Beaune, Rully, Meursault | 6.15.16

 

The sun was out before breakfast this morning, an odd sight of late. We drove north to our first appointment in Morey-St-Denis, as clusters of sunlight chased each other among the rows of vines. Our producer in Morey-St-Denis made excellent wine this year — the 2014s are juicy and croquant, with attractive mouthfeels and great refinement. We caught up on the news of the day, nearly all of which concerns the catastrophic damage from the late April frost.

We headed back to Beaune for lunch, and decided to eat at home while working through some samples. We collected provisions — Brillat Savarin, nicely affiné Brie de Maux, Serrano ham, and a baguette — and enjoyed a meal chez nous. After lunch we tasted through a half-dozen Muscadet samples and some Châteauneuf-du-Pape, then drove south to Rully.

Our Rully producer is our source for delicious sparkling wine at excellent prices, and their 2013 collection of wines is exceptionally good. The final wine — a blanc de blancs raised in barrels and aged on lees for three years — was extraordinary, and one we’d happily put next to several Champagnes. We took a quick tour of the degorging / bottling production, and then headed north to Meursault.

The standout wines from the day were the 2014s from Meursault. Perhaps the finest wines we’ve had from our producer here, these were perfectly balanced, rich, golden, vibrant glasses that were frankly hard to spit out. We began with what must have been the most delicious, drinkable Aligoté we’ve ever tasted, and finished with Meursault 1er cru “Perrières,” an extraordinarily complex and delicious glass of wine. These are some of the finest white Burgundies we’ve tasted, and we’ll be bringing back as much as we can get our hands on.

After the tasting we climbed up to the hills above the town of Meursault, for a lovely view of the countryside. The Côte d’Or stretched out leisurely in either direction, punctuated by tiny hills and slow-moving rainstorms in the distance. For a week with very little consistent sun, this was a pleasant half-hour spend among the vines.

Dinner back in Beaune — a few excellent dishes: stewed beef shoulder with black rice and lemon, escargots in creamy crushed potatoes. Four more tastings tomorrow.

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Crisp, Golden, Everday White Burgundy. $22

Chance.  Yesterday morning Vincent Ravaut began our tasting at the domaine with a simple glass of white from an unmarked bottle — “just to arrange the palate,” he explained. The wine was a very pretty chardonnay, with a lovely nose of white flowers and almonds and a rich but lively mouthfeel. Noting our interest, Vincent explained it was the domaine’s entry-level Bourgogne blanc from 2013; he then smiled and broke the news that it was “épuisé” (sold out) for some time.

We’re happy to report we still have a little of the Bourgogne 2013 in our warehouse. We usually don’t cellar Bourgogne blancs for all that long — they’re generally best in the year or two after harvest. But Ravaut’s 2013 Bourgogne began with robust acidity, which has helped it weather the past few years beautifully. Today’s it’s as pleasant and balanced a glass of Chardonnay as we’ve had all month.

 

Undiscovered.  The Ravaut family continues to be the ultimate local wine source. A generation ago the family developed a clientele among the workers in the quarries next door, and today they continue to sell more than half of their wine to local customers — the cellar was crowded yesterday with visitors from Paris and elsewhere in France. The Ravauts fly mostly below the radar of the international wine press, and we feel lucky to have found them.

Vincent has put together some fantastic wines of late — his 2015 whites and 2014 reds will appear in Futures later this fall, and they are both exceptional vintages. But in the meantime, the last few cases of the Bourgogne 2013 are sure to find many friends. With a rich mouthfeel and beautiful balance, this is a wine for gourmands :generous, fresh, easy to drink, and it pairs beautifully with food. There are faint notes of fennel next to the traditional lemon and toast. Try this with a mushroom risotto.

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RAVAUT Bourgogne blanc 2013
Ansonia Retail: $26
case, half-case: $22/bot

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AVAILABLE IN    6-   AND  12-   BOTTLE LOTS

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Email Tom to place an order.

or call Tom: (617) 249-3657

 

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Terms of sale. Ansonia Wines MA sells wine to individual consumers who are 21 or more years of age, for personal consumption and not for resale.  All sales are completed and title passes to purchasers in Massachusetts.  Ansonia Wines MA arranges for shipping on behalf of its customers upon request and where applicable laws permit.

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Tasting Blog: Day Nine

DAY NINE  |  Gevrey-Chambertin, Ladoix, Monthelie, Beaune | 6.13.16

 

We dodged large raindrops this morning running from our car to the domaine in Gevrey-Chambertin. Situated in a majestic mansion dating to 1700, this domaine makes fine, elegant red Burgundies that are delicate and finessed. Tasted some beautiful 2014s, which should both require and reward some patience.

In the pursuit of photos, we managed to get ourselves quite muddy between tastings — it turns out that clay-rich soil of Gevrey-Chambertin is no joke. And our second tasting of the morning involved a hose and some shoe-washing before the start.

The whites here — 2015s all from barrel — were across the board fantastic. In a vintage where ripeness was a given, the retention of acidity became the game, and the Ravaut’s have succeeded mightily. But the star of the second tasting may have been the 2014 reds. Bursting with juicy tannins and clean, elegant fruit, there are some of the most drinkable 2014 reds we’ve seen. Can’t wait to get them into our cellars this fall (probably September Futures).

Lunch back in Beaune — steaks with green pepper sauce and frites — then south to a new producer in Monthelie. These were remarkably complex wines, both white and red, made biodynamically with low sulfites and low intervention. The quality of fruit was unusually brilliant, and accompanied by lively mouthfeels from red and white.

Dinner back in Beuane — a Chorey-les-Beaune 2014 is a standout glass. A full day tomorrow — CDN in the morning, CDB in the afternoon.

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Floral, Refreshing Gamay from Beaujolais. $22

Spring Flowers.  We spent last Friday morning in the Beaujolais. It’s a charming region — really a 30 mile vineyard punctuated by a handful of villages. The region’s most widely distributed wine is an inexpensive and insipid red that’s rushed to market several weeks after the harvest. But as connoisseurs have known for years, there’s far more to Beaujolais than meets the eye.

The region is split into 10 small appellations called “Crus,” each with its own distinct character. Among the most respected is Fleurie, a small village whose wines tend show a floral character — violets, dried roses, and lavender, among others. Our producer here is the Chateau de Juliénas, whose Fleurie 2013 is classic, bright, and lovely.

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Summer Red.  Wines from the Crus of Beaujolais are made from Gamay, the same grape used to make Beaujolais Nouveau. But given time to ripen properly and a year or more to mature, real Beaujolais is a different thing entirely from its simple bacchanal cousin. The Chateau de Juliénas’s Fleurie is lively and vibrant, showing the carefree joie-de-vivre for which the Beaujolais region is known.

For those in search of a refreshing summer red wine, look no further. Chill this a bit below cellar temperature, close your eyes, and you’ll be transported to a Paris brasserie on a summer afternoon. The Fleurie is crisp, refreshing and full of energy, with notes of wild cherries and raspberry jam.

If a food pairing is necessary, find some young goat cheese and a cracker or crusty bread. Otherwise, this wine requires only a Friday afternoon, a friend or two, and a place from which to watch the world go by.

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CHATEAU DE JULIÉNAS Fleurie 2013
Ansonia Retail: $26
case, half-case: $22/bot

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AVAILABLE IN    6-   AND  12-   BOTTLE LOTS

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Email Tom to place an order.

or call Tom: (617) 249-3657

 

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Terms of sale. Ansonia Wines MA sells wine to individual consumers who are 21 or more years of age, for personal consumption and not for resale.  All sales are completed and title passes to purchasers in Massachusetts.  Ansonia Wines MA arranges for shipping on behalf of its customers upon request and where applicable laws permit.

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Travel Blog: Day Eight

DAY EIGHT  |  Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin, Vosne-Romanée, Beaune | 6.13.16

 

Coffee, baguettes, and Beurre d’Isigny this morning — strikes and lunch breaks notwithstanding, there’s something civilized about a country with a protected AOC for butter.

A half-hour drive over the gently rolling hills of the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits to a new address, this time for crème de cassis. Based on the recommendation of a vigneron in Vosne, we hit the perfect source on the first try. The family has been producing crèmes since at least the 1600s — for some reason that’s as far as their records go — and today makes tiny batches of crèmes de cassis, framboise, pèche, and cerise. After a tour of the workshop and explanation of their biodynamic commitments, we set to tasting the most extraordinary crèmes we’ve ever tasted: at once dense, sweet, vibrant, crisp, and refreshing. An exciting and perfect addition to the Ansonia portfolio, coming this fall.

Lunch back in Beaune, and a few new maps from the Atheneum, then back up to Gevrey for a tasting of back vintages of an old school style. Excellent whites and a 2014 red that should handsomely reward a few years’ patience.

Finally our tasting in Vosne — without doubt a highlight of our annual trip, and this time as good as ever. These are silky, crisp, dense but croquant wines that will be overshadowed by the 2015s, but in any other context would be exceptional. A Morey-St-Denis and Vosne 1er cru stand out.

Afterwards we taste samples from Champagne — extraordinary complexity, and even better than last year’s batch. Plenty to like in the sparkling category. Dinner at Ma Cuisine — a 2010 Meursault, and 09 Vouvray from Huet are stars; epoisses as always, the Fromage des Rois, and Roi des Fromages.

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Pure, No-Oak, Premier Cru White Burgundy.

Value.  Chablis has had a rough year so far. With hailstorms and late frosts devastating the region this spring, our conversations during yesterday’s tastings all turned to the cruel whims of Mother Nature. It would have been an entirely depressing visit had it not been for the two most recent, truly excellent vintages already in the cellars.

The wines of 2014 and 2015 include some of the freshest, most drinkable Chablis we can remember. Our favorite wine from Cyril Gautheron is his premier cru Vaucoupin, a wine that marries the richness and complexity of a premier cru with the classic stony freshness of Chablis. The 2015 won’t be available for many months, but there’s no need to wait for the 2014 — it’s already at the depot in Newton.

Pure.  Many young Chablis winemakers use oak in their premier crus to add richness and depth, but with his Chablis 1er cru Vaucoupin Gautheron avoids this temptation. This wine is entirely vat raised, allowing the wine’s natural complexity and minerality to shine through. Today the 2014 shows a ripe, savory, and lemon zest nose alongside a beautiful chalky minerality. The mouth is rich but precise, with a hint of salinity next to the citrus and stones.

This is a perfect summer white — it’s rich enough to serve on its own at a cocktail party, yet zippy enough to match even a flavorful fish or shellfish dish. Sushi or raw oysters might be its best accompaniment, but all this really needs is a warm summer evening and a few glasses.

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GAUTHERON Chablis 1er Vaucoupin 14
Ansonia Retail: $30
case, half-case: $25/bot

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AVAILABLE IN    6-   AND  12-   BOTTLE LOTS

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Email Tom to place an order.

or call Tom: (617) 249-3657

 

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Terms of sale. Ansonia Wines MA sells wine to individual consumers who are 21 or more years of age, for personal consumption and not for resale.  All sales are completed and title passes to purchasers in Massachusetts.  Ansonia Wines MA arranges for shipping on behalf of its customers upon request and where applicable laws permit.