Today’s wine comes from one of the most famous names in Chassagne-Montrachet. We’ve imported their wines for our Futures group for decades, but their national importer kicked up a fuss about us a few years ago. So to avoid conflict we’ve taken them out of our main sales channels.
St-Aubin may not be the secret source for white Burgundy it once was, but it’s not because of the quality. Soaring prices for Burgundy from its famous neighboring towns of Puligny, Chassagne, and Meursault mean that the spillover demand have nudged prices for St-Aubin well. But the quality has more than kept pace, and despite the demise of its anonymity,…
Red Burgundy is classically a study in finesse and understatement. Pinot Noir’s thin skin and clear juice enable remarkable subtlety, and at their best, Red Burgundies can be hauntingly beautiful. They’re rarely the loudest voice in the room, but often the most impressive. But as with most rules, there are exceptions.
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 Robert Parker have noted a “higher level of refinement” and a “significant upsurge in quality.” Jasper Morris MW writes that Romain…
A wine made up of 50/50 Grenache/Syrah can take on many shapes. Grown on a flat plain in irrigated soil by a large-volume winery, the blend will be a cheap, unremarkable Côtes du Rhône. Grown just miles away in the legendary soils of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and the wine can be an ageworthy gem. Today’s wine is […]
Where much red Burgundy tends towards subtleness and finesse, the Varoilles style is noticeably more intense. The winemakers harvest relatively late, and use a long cold soak to extract loads of flavor and texture from their grapes. The resulting wines are concentrated, dark, and delicious.
The critical reception of the 2018 red Burgundies can be described as qualified enthusiasm. The best examples are said to be ripe, rich, mouthfilling, bold, and delicious -- Vinous’s Neal Martin found “a sense of nascent joie-de-vivre” across the vintage. But wines picked too late can be overripe -- “very ripe wines of highly variable quality,” concluded Burghound.
The Jura region has an untamed feel to it. Lying only an hour east of Burgundy, its a wilder, craggier landscape, producing unusual wines to match. Its most famous product, the sherry-like oxidized Vin Jaune, is fascinating and not to everyone’s taste. (We love it, though, and keep a few bottles in stock if you do too.)
The 2017 vintage was an unusual one in the Southern Rhône. Most reds here rely on Grenache for a majority (or at least plurality) of their blend, but in 2017 Grenache vines across the region had a bad Spring flowering, and yields were down dramatically.
Like many of you, the brief warm spell this week has summer on our mind. Yes, we know, it’s a few months off still, and April snow isn’t unheard of here in New England. But after more than a year cooped up indoors, we’re ready for some sunshine and (fingers crossed) some in-person socializing.
A vigneron in Burgundy once told us that making delicious Grand Cru was easy -- as she put it, “we just get out of the way.” So perfect are the materials that come from these hallowed, ancient plots that a winemaker’s job is mostly to avoid screwing them up. Conversely, we often say the mark of a good winemaker is…
Vosne-Romanée and Nuits-St-Georges are neighbors with opposing characters. Vosne tends towards elegance, finesse, and spice; Nuits towards richness, more structure, and bolder flavors. In the hands of a talented winemaker, both can be superb.
Climate change is hard to ignore when you’re a farmer. Warmer summers and earlier harvests have provided Burgundian growers with new challenges, as balance and freshness have become trickier to achieve. But in some corners of Burgundy, the warmer weather has been welcome.
Ask a group of sommeliers to name their favorite wine region and most will say Burgundy. But ask them for just one favorite grape varietal, and it’s likely Riesling. Aside from its excellent food friendliness, Riesling communicates terroir with as much honesty and precision as any other grape.
Romain Collet took over his family’s fines in 2008, and has since made great strides. Having introduced organic farming, natural yeasts, and a lighter hand in the cellar, the Domaine Collet has regained its once loft status among sources for high-end Chablis.