Michel and Estelle Prunier are a father-daughter winemaking team whose wines are humble and classic. Master of Wine Clive Coates calls the Pruniers “certainly the best grower” in the town, and their wines perfectly fit the charming, small-town Burgundian feel of the region.
Picamelot is among Burgundy’s finest crémant houses. The Wine Advocate’s resident Champagne expert William Kelley writes that “Picamelot produces some of the best sparkling wines in Burgundy,” and calls their wines “elegant,” “excellent,” and “superb.”
We’re really excited about the 2018 Chablis lineup from Jean Collet in the May Futures. From their simple Vieilles Vignes to the magnificent Grand Cru Les Clos, Romain Collet handled the warm vintage with expert control, finding perfect balance and freshness in every cuvée.
Earlier this week we tasted through Pierre Amiot’s lineup of 2018s. The new vintage is excellent -- full, ripe, and lush, but with bold foundation and plenty of material. The Amiots sent along bottles of 2017 to taste side by side, and the comparison was fascinating.
We’ve gathered the Ansonia team in Maine this week to taste through nearly 100 wines for the next two Futures issues. (We know, we know -- someone’s gotta do it.) By this point in the year we usually have a good feel for the vintage, having spent a week tasting in Burgundy -- but our cancelled trip means we’ve had…
Roger Belland and his daughter Julie are 5th and 6th generation winemakers in Santenay, at the southern end of the Côte d’Or. The domaine’s wines are so approachable young that they’re often not given the chance to age – today’s is an argument for patience.
Thirty-something winemaker Cyril Gautheron has elevated his family domaine in Chablis new heights. His fanatical attention to detail and purity results in an astonishing clarity and precision in his wines. He relies on terroir and skill, rather than oak, to craft his wines.
Great Burgundy vintages tend to have two lives: an pleasant, fruit-filled youth, and a mature, sophisticated adulthood. And between these two windows, there’s often an awkward phase (call it the teenage years) where even the best wines in top vintages are quiet and underwhelming.
Roger and Julie Belland are father and daughter Burgundian winemakers in Santenay, fifth and sixth Burgundian vignerons. Clive Coates calls them “one of the best sources in the village,” and their meticulous vineyard work results in perfectly balanced, easily accessible wines.
The Côte d’Or is home to nearly all of Burgundy’s most famous wines. As monks discovered centuries ago, the region’s combination of soil, exposition, slope, and weather makes it a near-perfect place to grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Morey-St-Denis is a tiny Burgundian town, home to a mere 680 people. Forever ceding the spotlight to its two famous neighbors -- Gevrey-Chambertin to the north and Chambolle-Musigny to the south -- Morey-St-Denis is nonetheless a source for exquisite red Burgundy.
The Domaine Perrachon has made wine in Juliénas since the 1870s. This small family Beaujolais domaine has caught the press’s eye, garnering acclaim and high scores from Vinous, Wine Advocate, and Burghound. Their style ranges from simple, fruity Beaujolais, to serious, ageworthy red Burgundy.
“Oaked” or “unoaked” sounds like a yes-no question, but it really is a range. Most of the wines we import spend some time in oak, but the strength of its influence depends on the age and size of the barrel, the chauffe (how heavily the inside is charred), and time in the barrel.
The town of Maragnes is an underrated source for red Burgundy. Located at the very southern end of the Côte d’Or, it’s often left off regional maps, and its reputation is for rusticity over refinement.
Where much red Burgundy tends towards subtleness and finesse, the Varoilles style is noticeably more intense. They harvest relatively late, and use a long cold soak to extract loads of flavor and texture from their grapes.