The Domaine Jean Collet in Chablis had a tough 2016. Mother Nature threw just about everything at them — hail, frost, mildew, grape maladies, sunburnt fruit, and more. The domaine lost about 60% of the crop, but the fruit that survived was superb.
The weather has finally turned colder here in Boston. And though we enjoy the rosés and Muscadets of summer, we’re excited for the contents of our glasses to turn darker and richer.
In Burgundy as in real estate, location is everything. Today’s wine comes from a vineyard classified Premier Cru but surrounded by five Grand Crus. It sits along the famous stretch of Grand Crus between Morey-St-Denis and Gevrey-Chambertin, and many believe its premier cru classification has as much to do with centuries-ago politics as with terroir. […]
Pascal Bardoux is among the newer additions to our portfolio, but he is already a favorite among our readers. His small-batch Champagnes are distinctive, delicious, complex, and comparative bargains. Much of the mass-market Champagne distributed in the US between $75 and $100 a bottle; Bardoux’s small-batch Brut Traditionnel doesn’t even crack $50. It’s twice the wine at half the price.
Credit for the discovery of sparkling wine is a matter of dispute. The monks of Limoux in the South of France claim 1531 as the date of genesis; the Champenois, with their stories of widows and Benedictine monks, have certainly won the publicity war; and even the Brits, who invented glass thick enough to contain the pressure, stake a claim.
We usually go to the Domaine Pierre Amiot for our Morey-St-Denis. Amiot has fantastic properties around the town, and when the vintage and maturity line up they can be exceptionally fine. But today’s suggestion comes from Amiot’s childhood friend and schoolmate, Michel Gros.
We spent the last two weeks in “la France Profonde” (deep France), retracing our family’s visit here 20 years ago. Particularly here in the countryside, the French eat more seasonally than we do back home, and we cooked according to what we found in the market. Among many highlights – peaches, fresh chèvre, figs, squash, and more – were the tomatoes.
The monks and farmers of France have spent about a thousand years identifying the grape varietals that best fit their lands. Most grape-place pairings were settled centuries ago, and now the happy marriages — Syrah in the Northern Rhône, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Burgundy, Sauvignon Blanc in Sancerre — produce many of the world’s finest expressions of each varietal.
Gevrey-Chambertin is at the bold, masculine end of the red Burgundy spectrum. Gevreys are still complex, beautiful Pinot Noir, but they show a rugged richness that makes them meatier than most of their neighbors.
We’ve collected four reds that are dark, woodsy, and full of character. Think of this as pulling out that box of wool sweaters from the closet — you’re not quite ready to wear them yet, but now they’ll be there when you are.
Harvest is in full swing in Burgundy. Yesterday we visited the Côte d’Or, where the air is alive with the fragrance of grapes and the chatter of busy harvesters. Most of this year’s white grape harvest has finished, and the grapes have begun their journey to becoming wine.
The best values in Burgundy are often the simplest wines from top producers. Most vignerons make their Bourgogne-level wines with the same care and precision as their top cuvées, and the cost remains a fraction of the famous names.
Pascal Bardoux’s Traditionnel and Rosé Champagnes will be featured in this Sunday’s September Futures notes, but not his Vintage cuvée. Bardoux skips years he thinks don’t deserve the “Millesimé” label, and 2011 didn’t meet his lofty standards.
We’re in France for the next few weeks, revisiting some highlights from the family’s year long sojourn here twenty years ago. We have begun as we did in 1998, with a visit to the Brittany coast, and we write you today from St. Malo, an old fortress town on the English channel.
The Domaine Ravaut is the ultimate local wine source. For 120 years the family has cultivated a loyal clientele of friends, neighbors, and workers at the stone quarry in the hamlet of Ladoix. Though they have expanded their reach in recent years, they still sell more than half of their wine to folks who walk in the front door.