Christophe Bonnefond is a quiet man. Our tastings with him each year are pleasant and friendly, but he’s not what you’d call a “talker”. He’s happy to answer questions, but rarely volunteers information, preferring to let his wines speak for themselves.
The town of Maragnes is an underrated source for red Burgundy. Located at the very southern end of the Côte d’Or, it’s often left off regional maps, and its reputation is for rusticity over refinement.
The last seven years have done wonders for these wines, and so we’ve collected six of our favorites into a sampler: 3 red Burgundies and 3 red Rhônes, all from 2012.
Chassagne-Montrachet is one of the three principal white wine growing towns in Burgundy’s Côte d’Or. A century ago it was best known for its red wines, but today most famous Chassagnes are rich, mouthfilling whites.
Some wines we import are meant for grand occasions. These are the famous wines of Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Champagne – bottles to pull from the back of the cellar when the moment is significant. (Yesterday’s “magical” 2017 Grand Cru Chablis would qualify.)
Of the 12,000 acres of vineyards planted in Chablis, only seven vineyards covering 250 (2%) qualify as Grand Cru. And of these seven, most consider the “Les Clos” the finest. As Master of Wine Clive Coates puts it, Les Clos combines “depth, intensity, and great elegance” – or in other words, is “Chablis at its very, very finest.”
The Hill of Corton sits just north of Beaune, dividing Burgundy’s Côte d’Or in two. Local inhabitants have tended vines here since Roman times. The Emperor Charlemagne (742-814) was a particularly enthusiastic patron of the wines of Corton, and the hill’s most famous whites are still named for him today.
The Côte d’Or is home to nearly all of Burgundy’s most famous wines. Centuries ago local monks discovered the Côte’s unique combination of soil, exposition, slope, and weather; today it continues to be a near-perfect place to grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
The Domaine Jean Collet in Chablis had a tough 2016. Mother Nature awoke on the wrong side of the bed that year, and the vintage had just about every malady you can think of — hail, frost, mildew, grape maladies, sunburnt fruit, and more. The domaine lost about 60% of the crop, but the fruit that survived was superb.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the quintessential winter red wine. Grown under the brilliant Provencal sun, the best examples combine richness and elegance in a way that’s hard to match anywhere in the world.
The Côte de Nuits is a narrow band of vineyards stretching from Beaune to Dijon. Perched along the slope of an east-facing hill, this famous strip of vines produces many of the world’s priciest and most sought-after red wines.
Vines have covered the steep hillsides of the Rhône river for over 2000 years. Sprouting from vertiginous granite slopes, gnarled syrah vines bake in the summer sun and produce intense, concentrated juice that becomes deep and unmistakable red wine.
Of all the white Burgundy we import, none is a purer expression of Chardonnay than Nicolas Maillet’s classic Maconnais cuvées. They’re cool, round, unadulterated Chardonnay with excellent balance and no oak. If the Côte d’Or offers Burgundies of pedigree and refinement, then the Maconnais offers Burgundies of vibrancy and joy.
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.
For white wines, it doesn’t get much drier than Muscadet. Grown near the mouth of the Loire River, Muscadet is at once brisk and hearty — the essence of the windswept Atlantic coast.