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.
The Beaujolais has always had a turbulent relationship with the rest of Burgundy. To many in the Côte d’Or, Beaujolais represents overmarketed and undercrafted wine. But in recent years the Beaujolais has undergone a renaissance, as the prominence of Nouveau recedes and more vignerons make ageworthy wine.
Côtes-du-Rhônes are a dime a dozen these days, from bistro chalkboards in Paris to your local drugstore checkout counter. And as you might expect, not all Côtes-du-Rhônes are created equal. Among our very favorites is the Domaine Malmont’s version from Séguret. Malmont’s Côtes-du-Rhône is unique and delicious — richer and far more interesting than the […]
Many of our winemakers are multi-generational. Some stretch back for centuries, others are more recent père et fils (or fille) operations. At their best they maintain a family’s hard won knowledge of its land.
Of the seven Chablis vineyards classified as Grand Cru, most consider Les Clos to be the finest. Taken as a share of the region’s production, Les Clos accounts for only 0.6%. But as Master of Wine and Burgundy expert Clive Coates says, it is “Chablis at its very, very finest.”
Thomas Morey is a master of Chassagne-Montrachet. His properties are among the finest in the town, including magnificent white Burgundies at village, Premier Cru and Grand Cru levels. We’ve been thrilled to welcome his 2016 Chassagne-Montrachet and 2016 Chassagne 1er cru “Embrazées” to our lineup.
For centuries Champagne has been a symbol of refinement and class. It’s sophistication in a glass, the pick of high rollers from Gatsby to Churchill. And for the most serious aficionados, Blanc de Blancs is the best of the best. Made from only white grapes, its Champagne at its most elegant.