Lancelot-Royer was one of our most exciting discoveries last year. Michel Chauvet and his son run this tiny house in Cramant, producing exquisite small-batch grower Champagne. All of their wines come from grapes they grow themselves, and their vineyards are 100% Chardonnay from exclusively Grand Cru plots. Everything here is done by hand, from harvesting and riddling to disgorging, dosing and labeling.
Our July shipment arrived last week, just in time for the arrival of autumn. It features crisp Chablis, earthy Burgundys, and, most perfectly of all, fresh, bursting Gamay from the Beaujolais. We’ve compiled a new collection of our autumn favorites, but to us, no other wine matches the crisp chill in the air quite like Beaujolais.
The 2021 Red Burgundies have a reputation as inconsistent and tricky, but someone forgot to tell Gautier Desvignes. Burgundy’s leading wine critic William Kelley calls him “a leading light in the Côte Chalonnaise,” and he’s navigated an extremely difficult vintage with skill and precision. His lineup of 2021 Givrys is outstanding top to bottom – they’re not delicious “for the vintage,’ they’re objectively excellent on their own.
Philippe Cheron has been making wine in Burgundy his entire life, but his Domaine du Couvent is only a few years old. In a region where many domaines stretch back centuries, it’s unusual to see a “newcomer.” But Cheron is hardly a novice, and his skill is obvious after one taste of his wine. Burghound calls Couvent “a domaine to watch going forward;” Neal Martin writes “definitely a grower that I will keep an eye on.”
Aside from Champagne, Chablis is perhaps the most versatile food-pairing wine in our cellar. It’s fresh, crisp, dry, and lively – perfect for a wide range of foods, or for nothing at all. Seafood in particular is a perfect match, and we serve Chablis with everything from linguine with clams to grilled halibut to bouillabaisse.
Transition to organics/biodynamics may be trendy in winemaking today, but it’s nothing new at the Domaine Pierre André in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Jacqueline André’s grandfather stopped using chemicals in his vines in 1963, and the domaine has been certified organic since 1980 – the first in the appellation.
Christophe Bonnefond’s Côte Rôties have matured in style in recent years. Once described by Robert Parker as “extroverted,” the Bonnefonds now make elegant, layered, transcendent wines full of both depth and lift. Vinous reviewer Josh Raynolds calls them “superb” and with the Northern Rhône’s recent half-decade of terrific consecutive vintages, this is a source for some of the most exciting reds in our cellar.
Much of the world’s Merlot is undistinguished. Its default expression is a soft, rounded wine lacking tannin, acidity, and character. But in Bordeaux, Merlot thrives as an essential component to the region’s most iconic wines; and on the Right Bank Merlot reaches its ultimate expression.
The Maconnais is a bastion of youthful winemaking energy these days. With land prices in the Côte d’Or rising into the stratosphere, and wholesale grape prices at harvest not far behind, many young passionate winemakers have set up shop in the Maconnais, Burgundy’s southernmost sub-region.
Nuits-St-Georges is a huge appellation by Burgundy standards, stretching over four miles end to end. But the most traditional expression of the appellation comes from the middle, just south of the town. Prototypical Nuits-St-Georges is bold, dark-fruited, and often pleasantly rugged. It’s still Burgundian Pinot Noir of course, so elegant and subtle – but also somewhat untamed.
Eric Chauvin’s wines share a region and grape varietal with these Côtes du Rhônes, but little else. Chauvin’s tiny Domaine le Souverain has no website, no road sign, and barely a phone number — his cellar is a converted garage. But his wines have more complexity and depth than nearly anything else we taste at their level, and manage to remain a bargain.
Romain Collet took over his family’s estate a decade, and has transformed it from a good if occasionally inconsistent source to a reliably excellent domaine. He’s expertly navigated the changing climate, which has affected Chablis perhaps more dramatically than other French region. Jasper Morris MW writes that he “is moving towards joining the pantheon” in Chablis; William Kelley writes that the wines “have taken another step up in quality…mark this out as an estate to follow closely.”
The quality of entry-level Burgundy has never been higher. Riper grapes and more controlled winemaking now produce Bourgogne-level wines that rival village-level wine for value and depth. We’re hardly the first to notice though, and the market has driven many Bourgogne prices well past $50, and more than a few into three figures. But there […]
It’s hard to find new Burgundy producers these days. Demand remains high, the wines continue to get better, and a series of tiny vintages has meant many vignerons simply don’t need any new customers. But last year we came across a gem in the Maconnais: Sebastien Giroux is a terrific young winemaker farming just six hectares of vines in and around Pouilly-Fuissé.
Muscadet is a crisp, precise, dry white wine that is the essence of freshness. It’s also abundant and inexpensive. Made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape, the best examples are raised “sur lie” (on the lees) to add complexity.