The concept of terroir underlies nearly everything in French winemaking. French winemakers prize a wine’s expression of “somewhereness,” above all else. Plant Pinot Noir in Provence, and you’ll get a generic, uninteresting red wine; plant it on a hillside north of Beaune, and the result can be other-worldly.
If you know anything about Margaux, it’s probably about the iconic Chateau Margaux. But there’s lots to the appellation besides the famous First-Growth chateau. Margaux’s sandy, gravel-filled soils produce some of the Left Bank’s most elegant red wines; Jancis Robinson cites their “haunting perfume,” and “silky texture.”
We’re often apprehensive when a new generation takes over a domaine. Young winemakers often implement needed modernization, but sometimes get caught chasing trendiness. No winemaker in our portfolio has more expertly balanced these impulses than this line than Gautier Desvignes.
People sometimes ask why we’re so drawn to Burgundy. Partly it’s nostalgia — we lived here for a year two decades ago, and have a fondness for the place and its people. But our goal at Ansonia is to find wines that reflect their origin, and no region does this better than Burgundy.
Organic viticulture is the future of winemaking — the majority of our winemakers are organic or in conversion. But at some domaines, it’s also the past. The Domaine du Joncuas in Gigondas turns 100 years old next year, and they’ve practiced organic winemaking, as they put it, “depuis toujours” (“since forever”).
Cornas is a tiny appellation. It covers 145 hectares (compared with Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s 3,000+), and is home to fewer than 50 vignerons. The name comes from the Celtic word for “burnt earth,” and it’s an appropriate moniker: Cornas is pure Syrah like the rest of the Northern Rhône, but the feel is of something sunnier from further South.
Ask a group of sommeliers to name their favorite wine region and most will say Burgundy. But ask them to pick a single favorite grape varietal, and we’d put some money on Riesling. Aside from its excellent food friendliness, Riesling communicates terroir with as much honesty and precision as any other grape.
Pommard and Volnay are the red Burgundy royalty of the Côte de Beaune. Pommard, the king, produces wines that are sturdy and masculine, drawn from clay and iron rich soils. Volnay, the queen, produces wines of unparalleled elegance, a study in subtlety and grace.
There’s a sense of ancient history in the south of France. Roman-era towns and crumbling ruins dot the countryside — even the modern highways follow the ancient “Via Agrippa” of the Romans. Winemaking here is just as old, and archeologists have found presses dating back to 400 BC.
The Clos de Tart is one of Burgundy’s greatest properties. The vineyard has had only four owners since the 12th century, and, unusually for Burgundy, has never been subdivided. Today the wines from this 7.5 hectare monopole start around $500 per bottle.
The Loire Valley is an exciting place these days. We’ve added three Loire sources in recent years, each bringing something new to the Ansonia portfolio: whites from the Upper Loire (Garenne in Sancerre) and Central Loire (Paget in Touraine-Azay le Rideau), and reds from today’s source, the Domaine des Sanzay in Saumur-Champigny.
In a Beaune restaurant last April we stumbled upon that most elusive of wine merchant targets: an unknown Burgundy domaine. Formed in 2002 with just 1.5 hectares of vines, the Domaine Bohrmann has no other importers, zero critical reviews, and hard-to-reach winemaker.
Burgundy has been on a roll of late. Starting in 2014, winemakers have enjoyed excellent quality for five straight vintages. Quantity has been slower to catch up, but in 2017 (at last) Mother Nature delivered a full harvest.
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).