The South of France has always been hot, but like everywhere else, it’s getting hotter. Even with grape varietals adapted to warm climates, winemakers often struggle to achieve freshness in their wines. We taste plenty of high-alcohol flat wines these days, but few grab our attention.
Our first three vintages with the Forces Telluriques have been wildly popular. The magnificent, unoaked, biodynamic white Burgundy has quickly become a reader favorite. It shouldn’t surprise anyone, really – you won’t find the Forces Telluriques label on any CellarTracker accounts (except Ansonia customers), but the wine in the bottle is from an iconic Mâconnais source with an exclusive importer for the primary label.
The red wines of the Loire Valley always play second fiddle to the region’s whites. But it’s a mistake to ignore them – they’re well balanced, low-alcohol, usually organic, and often exceptional values. Our favorites these days are the unblended, unoaked Cabernet Francs from the central Loire.
The style of winemaking in Chablis is somewhat in flux these days. Recent hot summers in Chablis have meant a departure from the stony, crystalline expression of old. These richer, rounder wines can handle more oak, and some winemakers have extended their elevage, creating wines with richness and complexity to rival those of the Côte d’Or.
Chenin blanc has an enormous range of expression, from bone dry to very sweet depending on vintage, terroir, and winemaker. Vouvray is the original source for Chenin Blanc, but the surrounding towns in the central Loire Valley produce excellent examples as well. We enjoy the sweet stuff from time to time, but our favorite is a dry, refreshing, unoaked, affordable Chenin.
Pascal Bardoux’s wines are just like the man himself: subtle, understated, and delightful. In a region where “le marketing” is king, Bardoux’s delicious, hand-crafted, well-priced cuvées stand out. A world away from shiny tasting rooms and glossy brochures, this is traditional, artisan Champagne authored by a humble farmer.
Everyone needs a pantry wine — something to open without too much consideration or care. Thirsty guests looking for something to wet their whistle? Pantry wine. Back home after a long weekend away, with no energy for anything but takeout pizza? Pantry wine. Playoff game go into overtime and you need just one more glass of something simple? You guessed it.
Roger Belland produces a dozen cuvées from around the southern end of the Côte d’Or, including from famous vineyards in Chassagne, Puligny, and Volnay. But it’s the wines of his hometown Santenay that often appeal to us most. Belland’s style is plump and juicy, with approachable tannins and beautiful aromatics – they never last long in our cellar or on a dinner table.
Chardonnay in Burgundy is capable of extraordinary complexity and subtle sophistication – at its best white Burgundy can outshine reds of a similar caliber. But the region also produces straightforward, delicious expressions of the grape; more tasty than tremendous.
In most corners of France, the 2022 vintage was the hottest and driest on record. While this might not portend positively for the future, some wines have undoubtedly benefited. Particularly on the margins – regional level cuvées and lesser-known appellations – the extra heat has made ordinary wines quite impressive.
Particularly in the Maconnais, the 2020 white Burgundies have been almost universally terrific. The drought caused many chardonnay vines simply to shut down mid-season, stalling the production of their sugars and in the end producing wines with both a ripe concentration and tremendous energy. We’ve bought just about all the 2020s we could get our hands on, and they’ve rightly disappeared from the warehouse at quite a clip.
Romain Collet is a mad scientist in the cellar. He’s matched each of his Chablis terroirs with a specific recipe of elevage vessels – a combination of stainless steel tank, concrete egg, clay amphora, and wooden barrels of various ages. Each is designed to bring out the unique character of every plot of vines.
The pursuit of freshness is a perennial struggle for white Burgundy vignerons these days. They’ve adapted to warmer, drier summers by delaying pruning, harvesting earlier, and tweaking their cellar work. But Chardonnay loves the sun, and inattentive growers can end up with overripe, high alcohol wines.
With grilling season here on our doorstep, we’re thrilled to have a new punchy Bordeaux red in stock. The Chateau Bel Air Gloria comes from the owners of Chateau Gloria in St-Julien. The blend is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23 Merlot, and 2 Cabernet Franc, grown on gravel ridges with clay subsoils on the outskirts of St-Julien.
Some wines in our portfolio hit a perfect balance between fruit, freshness, texture and price – Goubert’s Gigondas, Desvignes’s Givry, and Bohrmann’s Bourgogne blanc come to mind. But this category wouldn’t be complete without Poggerino’s Chianti Classico. It’s one of only a handful of non-French wines we import, and yet its among the most popular wines in the shop.