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.
The Fattoria Poggerino is the lone Italian source in our portfolio. Their careful organic viticulture and unusually pure wines have vaulted them to the top of most lists of winemakers in Chianti. Vinous writes of their Poggerino’s “remarkable purity and nuance,” and Rajat Parr calls their wines “excellent” and “some of the purest expressions of the grape in Italy.”
The town of Pommard produces the Côte de Beaune’s boldest wines — they’re sturdy and masculine, and usually age beautifully. Pommard is often compared with its neighbor Volnay, which tends to produce wines of elegance and finesse.
Meursault is a village stuck in time. Its narrow crooked streets and pointed steeple perch on a hill above fields of weathered vineyards first planted by monks in 1098. The golden nectar of these fields has been known for centuries, and today it is as sought-after as any wine in the world.
Much has been written about the 2015 vintage in Burgundy, one of the best in at least a generation. But the vintage also blessed other regions in France, in particular, the syrah-based wines of the Northern Rhône. Master Jancis Robinson speculated the 2015 Northern Rhones might be “the best in 55 years.”
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 secretly blended it into thinner Côte d’Or reds to bulk up weak vintages.
Made from 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, it’s a rich, velvety blend with a classic combination of dark fruit and spice. Wine Advocate awarded 91 points, finding it “medium-bodied, soft, refreshing and elegant,” with “quiet intensity.” Antonio Galloni of Vinous found it “soft, pleasant, [and] easygoing.”
Only two white wine terroirs in Burgundy’s Côte d’Or hold the status of Grand Cru. Montrachet and its satellites, in the south between Chassagne and Puligny, are the more famous. The other is Corton-Charlemagne, perched on a large hill marking the midpoint of the Côte d’Or, so named after it was made a gift from the Holy Roman Emperor.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the Rhône Valley’s most famous terroir. Known for its bold, inky rich wines mostly from Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre, the town’s best examples improve for decades, and can cost three figures per bottle.
In much of the world, Syrah is a powerful grape that produces soft wines with jammy fruit and low tannin. But in Northern Rhône Valley, the grape takes on an entirely different style. Grown at its northern ripening limit, Syrah finds a more elegant and balanced expression on the steep banks of the Rhône River south of Lyon.
Burgundians have made wine in Meursault since 1098. Over the last nine centuries the village has proudly earned its glowing reputation, and today produces among the most sought after wines in the world. Though it has no Grand Cru vineyards, Meursault’s wines are among the world’s most exquisite expressions of Chardonnay.