Prices in Bordeaux have never been higher, fed by global demand, particularly from China. With this spring’s release of the highly anticipated 2015s, the trend upward will likely continue. With value in mind, we often consider second wines of famous vineyards, or secondary properties from famous winemakers.
Nestled side by side just south the city of Beaune, three neighboring towns represent the crown jewels of White Burgundy: Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, and Meursault. This trio produces the finest whites in Burgundy, which most consider the greatest white wines in the world.
In our search for expressions of terroir, we never tire of sampling local flavors. Oysters from Belon, chèvre from the Loire, butter from Isigny — these foods represent their regions as much as any stony Chablis or rich Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
When we write about minerality, it’s usually in the context of a white wine. The Chardonnay of Chablis and the Rieslings of the Mosel Valley are prized for their stony clarity, drawing minerality from the limestone- and slate-laden soils. But minerality is a quality in red wines as well, and at its best can contribute an ethereal elegance and vibrancy.
It was last year that we first stopped at the unassuming doorstep of Frederic Michot. We had little more to go on than a brief note in a French wine guide promising small scale, excellent Pouilly-Fumé. The rutted tracks in the ridges above the hamlet led to a modest house with a small tasting room.
White Châteauneuf-du-Pape is rare. Nearly 95% of the appellation’s wines are red, and because of the warm climate and abundant sunshine, it’s difficult to make wines with good balance. But in the hands of a careful winemaker, the unusual white grapes can produce beautiful and astonishing wines.
The Northern Rhône is best known for its all-syrah reds from Côte Rôtie and Hermitage. These spiced, inky wines are precise expressions of a unique marriage of grape and land — nowhere else does syrah taste quite like this. Most bottles from Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, however, require diligent cellaring, and start north of $50 a bottle.
For about a thousand years between the 5th and 15th centuries, French monasteries were the center of the winemaking world. It was the monks, tasting the products of the rich Burgundian soils (and often the soils themselves), who first developed the idea of terroir.
We spend more time in Burgundy than Bordeaux. Our small import business is usually a better fit with the family-run domaines of Burgundy than the large chateaux of Bordeaux. But we’ve been lucky enough to find a few Burgundy-scale producers in Bordeaux: small families making excellent wine away from the spotlight and marketing of the rest of the region.
The best known domaines in our portfolio are two sources of classic Red Burgundy: the Domaine Michel Gros and the Domaine Pierre Amiot. Their wineries are just three miles apart, and they both farm plots along the world’s most famous stretch of vines. Winemakers Michel Gros and Jean-Louis Amiot were even grade school friends.
During our trips to France, we like to eat at restaurants with good local wine lists. It’s a great way to broaden our regional palates, and sometimes we even discover a new wine for our portfolio. At dinner on a Séguret terrace this June we had the nicest surprise discovery in red Rhône wine that we’ve had in years.
The year is 1895. The United States number 44, and Grover Cleveland is president. Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey are born, and inventor George Selden receives a patent for the automobile. And cross the ocean in France (then a six-day crossing by boat), a vineyard of grenache is planted just outside Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Like Chablis, the Chianti name has had a rough time of it over the years. A straw-covered “fiasco” bottle with candle wax dripping down its sides still jumps to the minds of most consumers, and for a long time Chianti’s former reputation as cheap wine of low quality was well deserved.
Burgundy can be a difficult region for budding wine enthusiasts. Confusing classifications, high entry fees, and finicky grapes can make it a tough region to crack. But to those looking for a good place to start, we can think of no better one than the Domaine Roger Belland.
The organic wine movement is alive and well in France. Every year we see more producers transitioning to organic winemaking, or at least making steps toward in that direction. Some have been at it longer than others, but no one boasts a longer history than our newest source in Châteauneuf-du-Pape: the domaine Pierre André — organic for 35 years, and biodynamic for 24.