Sauvignon Blanc is one of the most popular varietals in the world, grown everywhere from New Brunswick to New Zealand to New Mexico. But its origin is in France’s Loire Valley, where it’s the star of Sancerre and its neighbor Pouilly-Fumé. Nestled in limestone- and flint-rich soils on either side of the upper Loire River, these two towns produce Sauvignon Blanc with unmatched purity and refinement.
The Northern Rhône represents (for now) the northern limit of where Syrah can ripen fully. As with many grapes, the area of northernmost range produces the most elegant and delicate expression of the grape – picture a huge, flat, high-alcohol Shiraz…now picture its opposite.
The wines of Margaux are prized for their elegance and perfume, and combination of left-bank Bordeaux power, and unusual grace and lift. Our source here is the Château du Courneau, and we’ve recently restocked on their terrific 2018 Margaux, a wine that delivers both subtlety of fruit and richness of palate.
Like Pinot Noir in Burgundy or Syrah in the Northern Rhône, the Nebbiolo grape is inextricably linked to the region of its finest expression: Piedmont. Nebbiolo is a thin skinned varietal capable of tremendous subtlety and elegance, with more than a passing resemblance to Burgundian pinot noir. Its two most famous wines are Barbaresco and […]
Some wines just hit a sweet spot between price and quality. All the way back to our brick and mortar days in Dupont Circle in Washington DC, the Goubert Sablet has been among the best sellers in our lineup. When we left it off our offer last year, we had half a dozen customers write in to express concern.
We spent much of the last two weeks tasting 2022s across Burgundy. It’s a terrific vintage in
both colors – the reds are characterful and intense with tremendous freshness and lovely fruit; the whites are vibrant and delicious, clear and compelling representations of their terroir.
Vincent Boyer lost nearly 90% of his Meursault crop in a single cold night in April 2021. The resulting wines were tremendously successful, but exceedingly rare – indeed we’ve almost sold every bottle already. Somewhat unusually, however, the frost spared Vincent’s regional-level wines: Bourgogne Côte d’Or, and Aligoté.
We spent yesterday in the Maconnais, tasting at four different addresses. All are producing vibrant, organic, elegant and flat-out delicious white Burgundies. Addresses in Meursault and Puligny may get most of the press, but these wines can be every bit as good, and come with remarkably friendly price tags.
On Monday we tasted with Pierre Gros, now firmly ensconced as principal winemaker at his father’s eponymous Domaine Michel Gros. Though he’s only just returned to this jewel of a domaine in Vosne-Romané, he’s already proving himself as a talented vigneron. We tasted his extraordinary 2022s from barrel Monday, certainly his finest vintage to date, with soaring critical scores to match.
Over the weekend we drove from Beaune up to Chablis to taste with our producers there. If you’ve read our recent notes on Cyril Gautheron’s 2022s you’ll know we were blown away by his entire lineup – Saturday’s tasting confirmed our initial impressions. We’ve added a few more cuvées to our shopping cart, and can’t wait to share them with you later this spring. (If you missed them in the March Futures that closed yesterday, let us know and we’ll try to squeeze you in.)
Yesterday afternoon we tasted with Lea Bonnefond, the 26 year old force her family domaine in Côte Rôtie. She’s friendly and quiet, and while her father and uncle are still very much involved, the transition to Léa will be steady and smooth. In a terrific Decanter profile last week, Matt Walls MW calls her wines “triumphant” and considers them “up there with names like M Chapoutier, E Guigal, Domaine de Monteillet and Stéphane Ogier.”
Yesterday we finally met the Negrier family, winemakers at Fleuron de Liot. They’re a Burgundy-sized estate in St-Estèphe on Bordeaux’s left bank. Henri Negrier created the domaine from scratch with his wife two decades ago – a remarkable feat in a land of giant chateaux passed down through families for centuries.
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.” (Today’s, at $3.80/glass, less than half that.)
Many readers are very familiar with Poggerino’s excellent Chianti Classico cuvées, a favorite of writers in Vinous, the Wine Advocate, and more. (Indeed, don’t tell our French producers, but they’re some of the most popular wines we import.) This year winemaker Piero Lanza reintroduced his “Labirinto” cuvée, a simple, easy-going red from young vines.
We generally prefer our Cabernet Franc unoaked and pure, but there are a few cuvées we’ve found whose density and complexity is worthy of oak treatment. Chief among them is Domaine des Sanzay’s Saumur-Champigny rouge “Beauregard.” We’re delight to have the terrific 2020 in stock today.