Compared with most regions in France, the Southern Rhône is an easy place to make wine. There’s plenty of sun and warmth, the grape varietals are generally hardy, and the northwesterly Mistral wind keeps the grapes dry and maladies at bay. It’s still hard work, for sure, but lots of winemakers we know in Burgundy look longingly at the conditions to their south.
The Jura region has an untamed feel to it. Lying only an hour east of Burgundy, its a wilder, craggier landscape, producing unusual wines to match. Its most famous product, the sherry-like oxidized Vin Jaune, is fascinating and not to everyone’s taste. (We love it, though, and keep a few bottles in stock if you do too.)
Like most grapes, Syrah changes character based on where it’s grown. In warmer climates like South Africa and Australia (where it’s known as Shiraz), it’s big, rich, jammy and full of ripe plummy fruit. In France’s Northern Rhône, the wine takes on a much subtler expression.
The 2017 vintage was an unusual one in the Southern Rhône. Most reds here rely on Grenache for a majority (or at least plurality) of their blend, but in 2017 Grenache vines across the region had a bad Spring flowering, and yields were down dramatically.
Champagne is a complicated place. Since its early days the region has been inseparably linked to a sense of glamour and marketing. It can be easy to lose track of quality and distinctiveness amid Champagne’s glossy promotional haze.
Côtes du Rhônes aren’t hard to find these days. They’re cheap, plentiful, and abundant — you’ll find them everywhere from a fine restaurant to your local Costco. Most are mass produced, with low tannin and lots of fruit — they may lack flaws, but they’re short on character too.
Maranges is the Côte d’Or’s forgotten appellation. In the past it was known for its unrefined, tannic wines — Burgundians used to call it “le medecin” (the doctor) because some winemakers secretly blended it into thinner Côte d’Or reds to bulk up weak vintages. But today its reputation needs revision. Advances in winemaking and warmer […]
Like many of you, the brief warm spell this week has summer on our mind. Yes, we know, it’s a few months off still, and April snow isn’t unheard of here in New England. But after more than a year cooped up indoors, we’re ready for some sunshine and (fingers crossed) some in-person socializing.
We often say an exceptional regional level wine is a mark of true winemaker skill. And today’s Bourgogne blanc is as good as they come. Sofie Bohrmann’s fancier wines are extraordinary, and worth every penny. But pound for pound, her humble Bourgogne blanc might be her most impressive cuvée.
New winemakers in Burgundy are hard to come by. It’s a tiny region, and between small harvests, ever increasing demand, and well-established importers, it can seem there’s nothing new to discover.
The Loire Valley continues to be the epicenter of modern of French winemaking. As other regions struggle with unusually warm summers, the Loire has become a reliable place for freshness and balance, a result of a cooler climate and a dedicated organic viticulture.
The appellation of Pouilly-Fuissé is the largest and most important in Burgundy’s Maconnais sub-region. Located a full hour south from Beaune (cultural capitol of the Côte d’Or), Pouilly-Fuissé enjoys a far sunnier climate than the rest of Burgundy. Its pure Chardonnay cuvées exhibit an opulence and glamour that’s famously reminiscent of Meursault.
Patrick and Christophe Bonnefond’s wines somehow keep getting better. They’ve enjoyed a string of excellent recent vintages in the vines, but they also seem to be hitting their stride in the cellar. 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.
A vigneron in Burgundy once told us that making delicious Grand Cru was easy — as she put it, “we just get out of the way.” So perfect are the materials that come from these hallowed, ancient plots that a winemaker’s job is mostly to avoid screwing them up.
Conversely, we often say the mark of a good winemaker is the quality of his simplest wine. Regional level cuvées usually don’t exhibit the subtle nuances of terroir for which Burgundy is famous, but they’re a chance for a winemaker to show off cellar skills.
Michel Gros is best known for his brilliant red Burgundies from towns like Vosne-Romanée, Chambolle Musigny, and Nuits-St-Georges. But he also holds quite a bit of land in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, a patchwork of rolling hills to the west of the Côte d’Or.