The wine world loves the word “minerality,” but no one can quite define it. Wine writer Lettie Teague calls it “a helpful word to describe wines that aren’t fruity, spicy, or herbal.” We think of it as refreshing element in a wine that doesn’t come from acidity, but we too struggle to offer an exact meaning.
The hillside of Montrachet produces the world’s finest dry white wine. In production for nearly two thousand years, the vineyard straddles the border between the towns of Puligny and Chassagne. Each produces wine of a different character, and though their terroirs meet in the famous plot, there are genuine differences in the extraordinary wines from both villages.
Jacqueline André is unusually passionate about her vines. She refers to one plot of grenache planted in 1877 as her grandes dames; they were a gift from her grandfather, and today she treats them with extreme care and affection. The ancient rows are hardly straight, but the fruit they produce is of the highest quality.
Sauvignon Blanc has seen a recent surge in popularity. It’s hard to find a wine list these days without examples from New Zealand, California and Washington. But the original source for Sauvignon Blanc is France’s Loire Valley, where the grape (known there simply as “Sauvignon”) has been grown since the 1700s.
The monks of the Burgundy countryside play a crucial role in the story of French winemaking. For about a thousand years between the 5th and 15th centuries, French monks tended vines and made wine on the now famous slopes. Through tasting the products of the rich Burgundian soils (and often the soils themselves), they first developed the idea of terroir.
Over thousands of years the monks and farmers of France experimented with different grapes to find the varietals that best fit their land. The 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.
In midst of the summer heat, we like to open wines that don’t require much thought. Not wines that are boring or one dimensional, just uncomplicated and highly drinkable. Which is why we’re so excited about our brand new Sancerre.
The 2015 red Burgundies have been great successes. Warm weather, small berries, and low yields made a vintage that many critics have called one of the best in decades. Most of the fancier 2015s are dense and tannic today, signaling excellent aging potential, but needing time to reach maturity.
We spent years in search of a nice Aligoté. Forever in the shadow of the finest Chardonnays in the world, Burgundy’s “other white grape” is neither profound nor expensive. Most of our searches yielded disappointment: wines with too much acid, too little body, or both.
Perched on a charming Tuscan hillside, the Fattoria Poggerino is certainly one of the most attractive domaines in our portfolio. (If you’re ever in the area, we highly recommend a visit.) As it turns out, the wine is just as beautiful as the source — Poggerino often appears in the international wine press as a source for classic, affordable Chianti. Their careful organic viticulture results in wines of unusual purity, and they seem to get better each year.
Burgundy is where Chardonnay finds its finest expression. In cold climates, the grape can be acidic and thin; in hot climates, it runs the risk of high alcohol and over extraction. But in Burgundy, Chardonnay has the potential to strike its most elegant balance between soft, mouthfilling fruit, and crisp, refreshing acidity.
Visiting Pierre Bourée is always a treat. The Bourée family domaine in Gevrey-Chambertin is home to a warren of underground cellars, holding stocks dating well back into the 1980s. It can be hard for wine buyers to track the provenance and history of bottles from a decade ago, but at Bourée it’s simple — they’ve never left home.
The Languedoc is one of the world’s oldest winegrowing regions, tracing its history back to 125 BC. For many years it has been known for abundant, cheap, and largely uninteresting wine, but in the past few years the region has seen a renaissance. There is a new wave of small scale winemakers, many committed to low-intervention, “natural” styles of winemaking. Our clear favorites in this category are the winemakers of the Mas Foulaquier.
No town in France 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. His family has made wine there for centuries, and his mother was once the mayor.
Hot weather can make it hard to enjoy wine. Bottles with high alcohol or dark and woodsy comple xions are hard to match with summer temperatures. In July and August, we like wines that are straightforward, refreshing, and inexpensive.