The 2019 vintage is a terrific red Burgundy vintage, producing wines with extraordinary balance between ripe fruit, acidity, and tannin. As Neal Martin puts it, “they unexpectedly offer freshness and richness that were once thought to be mutually exclusive.”
Sancerre has no premier or grand cru classifications — all 6400 acres are under the same appellation. But, as you might expect, not all of Sancerre’s terroirs are created equal. Among the most famous is the steep slopes of the Monts Damnées (damned mountains).
As many of you read several weeks ago, we’ve finally expanded the Italian corner of the Ansonia portfolio, after only a decade of reader requests. Based on the popularity (and tastiness) of our new Barbaresco producer Sassi San Cristoforo, we hope to continue the trend and add to the growing list.
Chablis may be the last bastion of value in white Burgundy. Using the same grape as the rest of Burugndy (Chardonnay), the vignerons of Chablis have traditionally produced steely, low- or no-oak white Burgundies with loads of zip and minerals. But a warming climate and longer growing seasons have created a wider range of options for the Chablisiens, and today one can find fine white Burgundies there with more than a passing resemblance to those of the Côte d’Or.
Pouilly-Fuissé has come a long way from the over-oaked buttered popcorn of decades ago. Today the appellation is a hotbed of talent, with passionate young winemakers converting old vines to organics and turning out truly excellent wines. With prices for both land and wine in the Côte d’Or headed through the roof, the Maconnais has become one of the most exciting corners of Burgundy.
The Clos du Joncuas is one of the most exciting recent finds in our portfolio. Based in Gigondas in the Southern Rhône, sisters Dany and Carol Chastan learned their craft from their parents and grandparents, and have themselves been farming organically for 40 years.
In the dozen years since he took over his family’s domaine, Romain Collet has elevated its reputation as fast as any new generation we’ve witnessed. We’ve noticed it ourselves, but we’re not alone — writers from Vinous, Burghound and William Kelley have noted a “higher level of refinement” and a “significant upsurge in quality.” Jasper Morris MW writes that Romain Collet “is moving towards joining the pantheon” in Chablis.
Christophe Mestre and his wife are from old Châteauneuf du Pape families. Like many such families, their vines are in plots scattered across the town’s remarkably diverse terroir. Their parcels cover all three of Châteauneuf’s famous terroirs: the famous galets roulés (see photo), sand, and clay-limestone. Mestre makes a single red cuvée from these terroirs, seeking an expression of the appellation as a whole. It’s always delicious, and always well priced.
It’s hard to call any place in Burgundy’s Côte de Nuits “overlooked,” but Morey-Saint-Denis has always been a bit of an underdog. It’s a tiny place — about a mile from end to end, and home to fewer than 700 people — and sits between two larger and more famous neighbors. But it’s an impressive town in its own right, worthy of attention and respect.
In just over a decade, winemaker Romain Collet has turned his family’s reliable if unremarkable domaine into one of the very best sources in Chablis. With a focus on lower sulfur, a transition to organics, and modernized cellar practices, the domaine has begun to realize its full potential. The wine press has taken notice too; William Kelley finds “a lot to admire here,” and Jasper Morris recently opined that Romain Collet “is moving towards joining the pantheon in Chablis.”
Each fall, as we compile the lineup for our October Futures, we search for something other than Michel Gros’s Bourgogne rouge to offer as our early preview. And every year we come up short – for value, price point, and availability, it’s just too hard to beat. So last year, instead of a replacement, we found it some company.
For over a decade the lone Italian holdout in our portfolio has been the Fattoria Poggerino, a Chianti Classico producer beloved of many readers. Today we double our Italian roster by introducing Sassi San Cristoforo, a small estate in Barbaresco. Italy still represents a small corner of the Ansonia portfolio, but we think it’ll continue to be a popular one.
Thomas Morey is a winemaker at the top of his game. After splitting his father’s vines with his brother Vincent in 2007, Thomas has carefully charted his own course, establishing himself as a leading producer in Chassagne-Montrachet. His style is low-oak, precise, and immaculate – each element in perfect harmony, not a leaf out of place. As the seldom effusive critic Burghound writes, “2020 is a stunningly good vintage chez Thomas Morey, in fact I can’t recall ever seeing better quality across the board since he started in 2007.”
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is one of the most recognizable brands in wine. Made famous by French popes in the 14th century, and then again by Robert Parker in the 1980s, the appellation’s place on the winemaking map is well established. For decades the wine from Châteauneuf was head and shoulders above the rest of the Southern Rhône – but these days it’s got company.
Pouilly-Fuissé is getting well-deserved respect in the wine world these days, and beginning with the 2020 vintage some vineyards are entitled to the “premier cru” designation. A growing distaste for excess wood and a reluctance to add more softness to already ripe wines makes it rare to find overoaked Pouilly-Fuissé these days: the days of by-the-glass buttered popcorn are over.