Denis Basset is best known for his rich pure Syrahs from Crozes-Hermitage. They’re delicious, well priced, and pulsing with energy and life. For years our only look at his lone white cuvée was in his barrel room – just a splash “to set the palate” before moving on to the reds. The white was always lovely — floral and fresh,…
Denis Basset is a charming, energetic, fast talking young winemaker with a knack for channeling his terroir. His organic cuvées from Crozes-Hermitage are popular in Parisian restaurants, and it’s easy to see why -- they’re balanced, honest, refreshing, and tremendous values.
The Northern Rhône produces the world’s most complex and balanced expressions of Syrah. Particularly in Côte Rôtie, at the region’s northern limit, the wines combine inky, black, masculine fruit with extraordinary lift and finesse. Our producer in Côte Rôtie is Christophe Bonnefond, who seems to make more impressive and well-balanced wines each year.
Mother Nature tends to be a bit friendlier to the winemakers of the Southern Rhône. There’s plenty of sun and warmth, the grape varietals are generally hardy, and the northwesterly Mistral wind keeps the grapes dry and maladies at bay. It’s still hard work, but lots of winemakers we know in Burgundy look longingly at the conditions to their south.
Both the Northern and Southern Rhône Valleys borrow their name from the Rhône River, but there’s more than just 70 miles between them. Each region has its own history, rules, and feel. In the North nearly all the reds are unblended Syrah; in the South, Syrah shares the stage with Grenache, Mourvèdre, and a host of others. The styles, climates,…
The Northern Rhône is a small region, and new winemakers can be hard to come by -- limited supply, steady demand, etc. So when we received a prospecting email from a new winemaker touting his terroirs in Côte Rôtie “Côte Blonde,” we took note.
With a chilly Nor’easter hitting Boston this week, it’s finally feeling like Fall. We tend to drink according to dinner menu more than season, but there’s no denying the appeal of a rich, cozy wine when the weather outside turns frightful.
The South of France has always been hot, but like everywhere else in Europe, it’s getting hotter. Even with varietals adapted to warm climates, winemakers often struggle to achieve freshness in their wines. Winemaker Nicolas Haeni of Séguret is a master of balance.
For years, Gigondas was a savvy wine collector’s secret: near-Châteauneuf-level complexity and richness, at a substantial discount. But even as its name has spread and prices have crept up, the price-value ratio in Gigondas remains unusually good. As Vinous’s Josh Raynolds put it after tasting several hundred cuvées recently, “in the context of the world’s best wines, almost every Gigondas…
Some wines just hit a sweet spot between price and quality. All the way back to our brick and mortar days in Dupont Circle in Washington DC, the Goubert Sablet has been among the best sellers in our lineup. When we left it off our order last year, we had half a dozen customers write in to express concern.
The Clos du Joncuas might be the most exciting recent find in our portfolio. Based in Gigondas in the Southern Rhône, sisters Dany and Carol Chastan learned their craft from their parents and grandparents, and have themselves been farming organically for 40 years.
Praise continues to pour in for the Domaine Patrick & Christophe Bonnefond. Their Northern Rhône reds are pure syrah, and display an exquisite balance of texture, fruit, subtlety and depth. The wines continue to improve each year -- Josh Raynolds of Vinous declared his tasting this year “the single most impressive set of bottlings I have had here.”
The Domaine les Goubert is among the most consistent winemakers in our portfolio. No matter the vintage – warm or cool, sunny or wet, easy or difficult -- the Goubert wines are reliably outstanding. The winemakers allow the vintage to influence the character of the wine, but never the quality.
Cornas is a tiny appellation of only 50 growers. By rules and heritage, it’s the Northern Rhône: its wines are pure, unblended Syrah. But in spirit and character, it’s not far from the South. Cornas (which means “scorched earth” in Celtic) harvests a week earlier than Hermitage (just 20 minutes north), and the vertiginous slopes produce wines with a southern,…
The impossibly steep hillsides of the Côte Rôtie seem like the last place in the world to grow vines. With slopes reaching 60 degrees in places, all field work — planting, pruning, treating, harvesting — must be done entirely by hand. Every time we visit we wonder aloud what on earth would drive people to plant vines here.