Sandwiched between the city of Beaune and Hill of Corton wrapped in a patchwork blanket of Grand Cru lies the somewhat forgotten town of Savigny-les-Beaune. Its gravel- and sand-laden soils produce bright wines with excellent definition and delicate structure. In lean years they can be a bit angular for many tastes – but lean years may be a thing of…
It doesn’t take an expert to notice that Guillaume Goujon and Sebastien Dupré are farming organically. Their vines, located in the Côte de Brouilly, share the earth with an impressive array of herbs, flowers, grasses, and wildlife – all in the name of fostering biodiversity and soil health. In the cellar Dupré and Goujon have a similarly light touch –…
For years our two Champagne sources have contributed two distinct styles to our portfolio: Pascal Bardoux in Montagne de Reims, with delicate, floral, delicious blends; and Jacques Robin in the Côtes des Bar, with rich, toasty Pinot Noir cuvées. Today we’re thrilled to add a third source, this one from the Côtes des Blancs, bringing something entirely new to the…
The 2019 vintage is a terrific red Burgundy vintage, producing wines with extraordinary balance between ripe fruit, acidity, and tannin. As Neal Martin puts it, “they unexpectedly offer freshness and richness that were once thought to be mutually exclusive.”
Sancerre has no premier or grand cru classifications -- all 6400 acres are under the same appellation. But, as you might expect, not all of Sancerre’s terroirs are created equal. Among the most famous is the steep slopes of the Monts Damnées (damned mountains).
As many of you read several weeks ago, we’ve finally expanded the Italian corner of the Ansonia portfolio, after only a decade of reader requests. Based on the popularity (and tastiness) of our new Barbaresco producer Sassi San Cristoforo, we hope to continue the trend and add to the growing list.
Chablis may be the last bastion of value in white Burgundy. Using the same grape as the rest of Burugndy (Chardonnay), the vignerons of Chablis have traditionally produced steely, low- or no-oak white Burgundies with loads of zip and minerals. But a warming climate and longer growing seasons have created a wider range of options for the Chablisiens, and today…
Pouilly-Fuissé has come a long way from the over-oaked buttered popcorn of decades ago. Today the appellation is a hotbed of talent, with passionate young winemakers converting old vines to organics and turning out truly excellent wines. With prices for both land and wine in the Côte d’Or headed through the roof, the Maconnais has become one of the most…
The Clos du Joncuas is one of the most exciting recent finds 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.
In the dozen years since he took over his family’s domaine, Romain Collet has elevated its reputation as fast as any new generation we’ve witnessed. We’ve noticed it ourselves, but we’re not alone -- writers from Vinous, Burghound and William Kelley have noted a “higher level of refinement” and a “significant upsurge in quality.” Jasper Morris MW writes that Romain…
It’s hard to call any place in Burgundy’s Côte de Nuits “overlooked,” but Morey-Saint-Denis has always been a bit of an underdog. It’s a tiny place — about a mile from end to end, and home to fewer than 700 people — and sits between two larger and more famous neighbors. But it’s an impressive town in its own right,…
In just over a decade, winemaker Romain Collet has turned his family’s reliable if unremarkable domaine into one of the very best sources in Chablis. With a focus on lower sulfur, a transition to organics, and modernized cellar practices, the domaine has begun to realize its full potential. The wine press has taken notice too; William Kelley finds “a lot…
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is one of the most recognizable brands in wine. Made famous by French popes in the 14th century, and then again by Robert Parker in the 1980s, the appellation’s place on the winemaking map is well established. For decades the wine from Châteauneuf was head and shoulders above the rest of the Southern Rhône – but these days it’s…
Perched on the banks of the Gironde River, in the heart of Bordeaux’s Left Bank, the town of Pauillac (poh-yahk) produces some of Bordeaux’s most famous red wines: Lafite, Latour, Mouton-Rothschild, just to name a few. Its gravel rich soils produce prototypical Bordeaux: intense, ageworthy, regal, and impossibly complex.
Tucked away in the picturesque valley between Meursault and Volnay, the charming village of Auxey-Duresses is home to Michel Prunier and his daughter Estelle. They’re among the brightest names in this humble town, and a favorite of Vinous writer Neal Martin. Martin has visited for over two decades, and characterizes them as an “old-school producer” with “premier crus worth hunting…