We spend lots of time reading about French wine regions, following critical reviews and leafing through guides. But our favorite discoveries often come from time spent on the ground. One such pleasant surprise came from a wine list at a small outdoor bistro in Séguret a few years ago.
With chilly, drizzly weather settling into Boston this week, our first suggestions for wine are usually red. Recently arrived reds from Goubert are approachable and affordable, and were a hit at yesterday’s depot tasting. But if your menu or your guests require something white, look no further than today’s cozy Meursault.
We’ve collected five new samplers to help with gift giving this month. (And if one of them happens to find its way to your own cellar, we promise not to tell…)
Chardonnay is responsible for all of Burgundy’s finest white wines. But 10% of white wine vineyards in Burgundy are Aligoté, a less celebrated grape that produces simple, refreshing wines. Aligoté is seldom magnificent, but in the hands of the right winemaker it can be delicious.
For several decades the Domaine les Goubert has produced some of the most popular wines in our portfolio. Grown in the warm Provençal sunshine around Gigondas, they’re smooth, accessible, welcoming red wines perfect for a cozy evening by the fire.
Today’s wine comes from one of the most famous names in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. We imported their wines for our Futures group for decades, but their national importer kicked up a fuss about us a few years ago. So to avoid conflict we’ve taken them out of our main sales channels.
The soils of Sancerre are famous for their flint. This unusual mineral gives the region’s wines notes of smokiness and stones. The minerality acts as a perfect foil for Sauvignon Blanc’s lush grapefruit notes, and Sancerre has always been among the world’s most popular wines.
Morey-St-Denis is a tiny town. Home to only 680 people, its half-square-mile of vineyards produces a wide array of wines, ranging from simple Bourgogne to famous Grand Cru. We’ve found much to like across this small terroir, particularly in the premier crus from the Domaine Pierre Amiot. Today’s offer is for Amiot’s excellent 2011 premier cru from “Ruchots.”
For many years at the start of every tasting, Rhône winemaker Denis Basset would give us small taste of his only white. “Just to set the palate,” he’d explain, before continuing on to his rich, syrah-based reds. The white was always lovely — floral and fresh, beautifully expressive, and a perfect way to start a tasting. And every year, when we asked how much we could buy, he’d smile and shake his head. (Loyal local restaurants were to blame).
No town is more celebrated for its wines than Vosne-Romanée. Home to some of the world’s finest and most sought-after bottles, Vosne is undoubtedly the most famous Pinot Noir village on earth. Michel Gros is a lifelong resident, and his family has made wine there for centuries.
Champagne is a complicated place. Since its early days the region has been inseparably linked to a sense of glamour and “le marketing.” It can be easy to lose track of quality and distinctiveness amid Champagne’s glossy promotional haze.
Chablis is a singular place. Its combination of deep stony soils and cool climate exists nowhere else on earth. These factors produce a unique wine — mineral and crisp, pure and clean. Our goal as importers is to find wines that reflect the place from which they come, and there is no better place to find such wines than Chablis.
No, that’s not a vintage typo in the subject line. We’ve just called up our small collection of 2005 Gros Burgundies from our offsite warehouse. Purchased back in 2007, and they’ve rested quietly under temperature control for over a decade. Today we’re bringing them out of their slumber to pass them along to you.
We raided our offsite warehouse a few weeks ago, and have brought some older gems with a bit of bottle age. Stay tuned over the next month for a series of throwback wines (including some really exciting old Burgundies this Friday). Today’s pick should hardly be considered old, but it’s in a lovely place.
The Loire Valley is an exciting place these days. The two new sources we discovered this spring have already gained fans among our readers — the Sancerres of Domaine de la Garenne, and the Chenin Blancs of Nicolas Paget. Today we’re excited to introduce a third — the Domaine des Sanzay in Saumur-Champigny.