The soils of Sancerre are famous for their flint. This unusual rock gives the region’s wines a note of smokiness and minerality — a perfect foil for Sauvignon Blanc’s lush grapefruit notes. This unique balance has made Sancerre one of the world’s most popular wines.
In Burgundy as in real estate, location is everything. Today’s wine comes from a vineyard in Gevrey-Chambertin called “Combottes.” It’s classified Premier Cru but surrounded on all sides by five famous Grand Crus, including Charmes, Latricières, Mazoyères, and Clos de la Roche.
Vosne-Romanée and Nuits-St-Georges are neighbors with opposing characters. Vosne tends towards elegance, finesse, and spice; Nuits towards richness, more structure, and bolder flavors. In the hands of a talented winemaker, both can be superb.
The wines of Margaux are prized for their elegance and perfume, and combination of left-bank Bordeaux power, and unusual grace and lift. Our source here is the Château du Courneau, and their 2018 delivers both subtlety of fruit and richness of palate. Courneau is the second wine of Chateau Haut Breton la Rigaudiere, a well respected Margaux vineyard which Jane Anson MW describes as “excellent and reliable.”
Volnay has no Grand Crus, but the premier cru Caillerets vineyard is the finest in the appellation; in fact the local saying goes “he who has no vines in Caillerets knows not the worth of Volnay.” We’ve had delicious bottles from all over Volnay, but one taste of Caillerets and the reasons for its reputation become clear.
If Nicolas Maillet were to sum up his winemaking philosophy, it’d go something like this: let the grapes speak for themselves. Firmly committed to organic viticulture, and always a light tough in the cellar, Maillet coaxes rather than crafts his wines from each plot and vintage. If the fermentation needs a year to finish (a not infrequent occurrence chez Maillet), then he gives it a year.
The soils of Burgundy vary widely based on location, but in general are some blend of argile (clay) and calcaire (limestone). The proportion of these two elements goes a long way in determining the character of wine made in each town. And in Chambolle-Musigny, it’s all about the calcaire.
In our portfolio filled with brilliant, committed and passionate winemakers, there is none more so than Jacqueline André of the Domaine Pierre André in Châteauneuf du Pape. Her family has been a pioneer in organic viticulture, beginning with a grandfather who decided in 1963 that chemicals were bad for vines and gave them up entirely (just as most others were dialing up treatments).
Last week we wrote about the first of our two new finds in the Beaujolais: Dupré-Goujon. Today we’re suggesting the other discovery: Frederic Berne. Both are part of the new wave of young winemakers making their name in the region. Natural wine has a long history in the Beaujolais, indeed many cite the region as the modern movement’s birthplace in the 1970s. Both of our new vignerons practice biodynamic farming and low-intervention winemaking, limiting use of oak and sulfites.
We’ve imported Chablis from the Domaine Gautheron for nearly a decade. Winemaker Cyril Gautheron’s precise, elegant, well-priced white Burgundies have become a staple at our warehouse tastings, our kitchen table, and the cellars of many of our readers.
Sandwiched between the city of Beaune and Hill of Corton wrapped in a patchwork blanket of Grand Cru lies the somewhat forgotten town of Savigny-les-Beaune. Its gravel- and sand-laden soils produce bright wines with excellent definition and delicate structure. In lean years they can be a bit angular for many tastes – but lean years may be a thing of the past.
It doesn’t take an expert to notice that Guillaume Goujon and Sebastien Dupré are farming organically. Their vines, located in the Côte de Brouilly, share the earth with an impressive array of herbs, flowers, grasses, and wildlife – all in the name of fostering biodiversity and soil health. In the cellar Dupré and Goujon have a similarly light touch – their cuvées are made with whole clusters, ambient yeasts, limited oak and almost no sulfites.
For years our two Champagne sources have contributed two distinct styles to our portfolio: Pascal Bardoux in Montagne de Reims, with delicate, floral, delicious blends; and Jacques Robin in the Côtes des Bar, with rich, toasty Pinot Noir cuvées. Today we’re thrilled to add a third source, this one from the Côtes des Blancs, bringing something entirely new to the table.
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).