We usually place our order from the Mas Foulaquier in January, and by the time the wines arrive in March the earth has barely begun to awake from its winter slumber. This year the wines have arrived a month later, with Spring in full bloom.
With a supply crunch from recent small vintages and seemingly inelastic demand, the cost of Burgundy is headed in one direction. And yet amid ballooning prices Chablis has maintained its place as a consistent source of value. Even Grand Crus from top tier producers still rarely break the $100/bottle mark.
We used to wonder why the humble Bourgogne rouge from the Domaine des Varoilles was so good. During our visit to Philippe Cheron last month we found the answer. He explained that the grapes for this cuvée come from vines planted in what until recently was village-level Gevrey-Chambertin.
France’s Southern Rhône valley produces rich, smooth red blends. At one end of the spectrum there’s Châteauneuf-du-Pape, famous and long-lived; at the other there’s Côtes du Rhône, uncomplicated and inexpensive. Today’s wine is from the middle.
All of the winemakers we work with in Burgundy are grower-producers, meaning they farm their own grapes and produce their own wine. But over the last few years of severely diminished yields, we’ve seen several winemakers add “négociant” operations, making additional wine with purchased grapes under another label. These cuvées often put winemaker skill on […]
More than anywhere else in Burgundy, winemakers in Chablis have felt the impact of recent warm vintages. Earlier harvests and more sun exposure have meant riper grapes and wines with fleshier, richer textures. This style of Chablis can support more oaking, and some winemakers have begun to increase the exposure to oak barrels.
Last week we finally met Philippe Cheron, winemaker at the newly created Domaine du Couvent. The new domaine combines the holdings of the shuttered Domaine des Varoilles and Cheron’s family vineyards, including several plots his grandfather planted in the 1930s. It’s a new lineup with a new label, but with a highly experienced winemaker, and vineyard holdings steeped in history.
White Burgundy is an easy wine to pair with food. At the high end, an ageworthy bottle Meursault or Puligny can exceed the subtlety and depth of a red Burgundy. Paired with a lobster risotto or veal in cream, it’s a marriage of opulence and charm.
Over the weekend Pascal Bardoux welcomed us to his kitchen table for an intimate tasting of his terrific grower Champagnes. Pascal’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.
Something that often strikes us when we visit France is the expanded sense of time. The countryside is littered with twelfth century chateaux, Roman era churches, even remains of neolithic settlements. Vignerons in particular have an expanded time horizon – the vines they plant today may not be mature until their children are grown; Champagne producers lay down their vintage bottles imagining what the world will be like in ten years when they finally disgorge them.
The changing climate has caused dramatic shifts amid the tiny microclimates of Burgundy’s Côte d’Or. In a region where a few meters makes the difference between four-figure Grand Cru and $60 village, a couple degrees of warmer weather can have profound effect.
Yesterday morning we tasted through Michel Gros’s 2020 vintage from barrel. It’s a terrific year, with both tremendous density and great energy. Hot, dry growing seasons have become the norm in Burgundy, and while they still make life difficult for the growers, the vignerons here begun to adapt their practices in the vines and the cellar. The resulting wines are as good as they’ve ever been.
Robin’s finest wine is their 2011 Cuvée Kimmeridgienne – made from pure Pinot Noir grown in chalk/limestone/clay soils, this wine sat on its lees for seven years, gaining complexity and exceptional depth. The batch in stock in our warehouse was disgorged (final corking) last fall and it’s simply magnificent today.
We visited Romain Collet in Chablis yesterday morning – he pruned late this year and wasn’t too worried about tonight’s forecasted frost. (It’s another story in the Côte d’Or.) Spring frosts have become the norm in Chablis these days, and Romain has steered his domaine beautifully, making terrific wines in difficult circumstances.
The Bonnefond family’s star continues to rise. Once firmly in the ripe, oaky, “extroverted” camp that made them a darling of Robert Parker, the domaine has shifted towards subtler expression in recent years: less time in oak, larger barrels, and earlier harvests.