Pouilly-Fuissé was once the darling of American wine drinkers — fun to pronounce, rich and voluptuous in texture. Popularity bred overproduction, and quality suffered in the 80s. But in the last few decades local winemakers have begun to reclaim the wine, and today Jasper Morris calls it “the most dynamic white wine appellation in Burgundy.”
Sauvignon Blanc is among the world’s most popular white grapes, planted everywhere from New Zealand to California to Chile. But the original source for Sauvignon Blanc is France’s Loire Valley.
Gautier Desvignes is a rising star among Burgundian winemakers. Vinous’s Neal Martin recently found Gautier’s wines “really quite superb.” And the Wine Advocate’s William Kelley calls the domaine “very much a Côte Chalonnaise address to watch,” and advises that “importers looking for a potential future star should beat a path to his door.”
Vincent Boyer is one of Meursault’s young superstar winemakers. His golden white Burgundies from Meursault and Puligny are among the finest in our cellar. Vinous calls his wines “superb” and “very impressive;” Jasper Morris MW writes “Boyer seems to make better wines year after year.”
Ansonia isn’t exactly your local hipster natural wine store; (too much Burgundy, not enough Brett). But we do enjoy a bit of “natty wine” from time to time, and celebrate the largely positive influence it’s had on the world of wine. And so we’re excited today to introduce our first Pét-Nat, our most hipster wine to date.
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.
Grown near the mouth of the Loire River, Muscadet is at once brisk and hearty — the essence of the windswept Atlantic coast. Wine writer Lettie Teague calls it “one of the world’s best, if most obscure, bargains,” saying “a glass of $8 Muscadet will always be a better wine than an $8 glass of something else.”
We love enjoying wine en plein air. There’s a certain harmony in enjoying a natural wine with the sun on your skin — a product of nature adid the natural world. And among our favorites are the vibrant, exuberant, life-filled organic white Burgundies of Nicolas Maillet.
The 2018 vintage provided the Chablisiens with something they hadn’t seen in years: decent volume. The 2016 and 2017 growing seasons brought the trials of Job — hail, frost, freezes and everything else, it seemed. In 2018, catastrophe turned to fruitfulness, as the vines produced strikingly large quantities of ripe fruit.
The Clos du Joncuas might be the most exciting recent find 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.
Chenin blanc is a chameleon. Its expressions range from bone dry to startlingly sweet depending on vintage, terroir, and winemaker. Vouvray is the original source for Chenin Blanc, but the surrounding towns in the central Loire Valley produce excellent examples as well.
As some of you noticed, we underbought rosé this year. Our entire summer’s worth sold out in 15 days, and by June 1 there wasn’t a drop of pink in the entire warehouse. Turns out all those people sitting at home got thirsty when the weather warmed up!
With most socializing happening outdoors these days, we’re getting lots of requests for wines suited for a patio or a picnic. We ran out of most of our everyday wines back when everyone was busy stocking up on pasta and purell. But we’ve just restocked, and none is more welcome than today’s Côtes du Rhône.
Romain Collet has transformed his humble family domaine in Chablis into a real source to watch. Jasper Morris MW calls writes that under Romain’s direcion, Domaine Collet is “moving towards joining the pantheon of the top quality outfits” in Chablis.
Vinous writer Josh Raynolds calls the Domaine du Tunnel “among the top producers of Cornas.” Star winemaker Stephane Robert farms an envious collection of old syrah vines around the tiny appellation, and his wines very much live up to the hype. He’s humble and quiet in person, but his wines are bold, assertive, and charming.