Hot, dry growing seasons are now the norm in Burgundy. Twenty years ago these vintages would have been unusual – a challenging outlier requiring some careful adjustments in the cellar. But as warm, sunny conditions have become the new normal, both growers and vines have begun to adapt more permanently.
Like just about every other wine in France, the Syrahs of the Northern Rhône have gotten riper and more lush in the last few years. A series of scorching hot growing seasons mean that the wines have begun to feel a bit more Southern. Don’t get us wrong, they’re delicious – indeed some of the best we’ve had – but the shift is noticeable.
Saint-Estèphe is one of the primary appellations in Bordeaux’s Left Bank. Known for its clay-gravel soils, the wines of Saint-Estèphe are bold and impressive, with lots of concentration. These are assertive wines that often require substantial cellaring to unwind their potential.
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.
Some wines just hit a sweet spot between price and quality. All the way back to our brick and mortar days in Dupont Circle in Washington DC, the Goubert Sablet has been among the best sellers in our lineup. When we left it off our order last year, we had half a dozen customers write in to express concern.
Though it has no Grand Cru vineyards, the white Burgundies of Meursault are some of the most sought after in the world. Classical Meursault inhabits the decadent, opulent end of the white Burgundy spectrum, drawing on clay-rich (pictured) soils to produce muscular, mouthfilling white wines.
Bordeaux and Burgundy may be France’s two most famous winegrowing regions, but they’re many ways they’re worlds apart. Chief among their differences is scale – Bordeaux produces nearly ten times as much wine as Burgundy. Bordeaux won’t replace Burgundy as the core of the Ansonia portfolio any time soon, but its size means there’s plenty of excellent wine there with ready distribution.
By Burgundy standards, Nuits-St-Georges is an enormous appellation, stretching nearly four miles end to end. The mineral content in the soil varies widely across the town, and Nuits can best be thought of as three distinct districts: north, middle and south. The northern part that borders Vosne is the most elegant, the middle the boldest and most powerful, and the southern the lightest and most mineral.
The Northern Rhone Valley is best known for its pure-Syrah reds from towns like Côte Rôtie, Hermitage, and Cornas. The region’s most famous white – Condrieu – is pure viognier, and comes from a tiny appellation in the northern sector of the region. But in fact many of the other appellations also produce white, usually from one or both of the Roussanne and Marsanne varietals.
It’s hard to find anything wrong with 2020 Burgundies. In both white and red, the wines are terrifically concentrated and yet possess vibrant acidity and beautiful balance. They’re predicted to age beautifully, but it’s hard to imagine many will last long in the cellar if they taste like this. The Wine Advocate’s William Kelley puts it “among the very best in the last two decades” for white Burgundies.
The Domaine les Goubert is among the domaines we’ve worked with the longest. Over more than two decades their consistency has remained unshakable – good vintage and difficult, up year and down, Goubert’s delicious, well-priced Gigondas cuvées are like trusty old friends.
Everyone seems to be raising their prices these days, but the Burgundians have been doing it since before it was cool. It’s hard to blame them – tiny vintages, pricier equipment, and a shortage of labor all contribute to rising costs. At the same time, demand and quality have never been higher.
Sauvignon blanc is among the world’s most widely planted grapes, but its origin is the Loire Valley. In the Loire, Sauvignon takes on a floral, mineral style, juicy grapefruit notes with a lively minerality, often notes of flint, and pleasant herbal finish.
The Syrahs of the Northern Rhône are known for their intense color and soaring aromatics. Some wines even rival their Burgundian neighbors to the north in terms of elegance and subtlety. Though recent hot vintages have delivered a bit more meat on the bones than a decade ago, the most successful cuvées retain their classic northern complexity.
In a recent column, Vinous’s Rhône reviewer Josh Raynolds returned to one of his favorite subjects: Gigondas. This southern Rhône neighbor to Châteauneuf-du-Pape is perennially underrated; or as Raynolds writes: “Gigondas continues to be among the best values in high-quality, small production wines in all of France.”