Amid a trend of rising prices across Burgundy, Chablis has maintained its place as a consistent source of value. Even Grand Crus from top tier producers still rarely break the $100/bottle mark. Of the forty premier cru vineyards across the appellation of Chablis, Montée de Tonnerre is undisputedly the finest and most prestigious. As wine writer Rajat Parr puts it,…
We’re delighted to welcome Christian Clerget back into the Ansonia portfolio. Thirtysomething Justine Clerget (Christian’s daughter) is now in charge, and has brought renewed energy, refined techniques, and a passion for organic viticulture. The Clerget wines were always classical, terroir-transparent, old school red Burgundy; Justine has maintained this spirit but added polish and class.
Sofie Bohrmann summed up the 2022 growing season with one word: “parfait.” After the catastrophic 2021 vintage, in which some of her parcels lost over 90% of their crop, 2022 provided clean, healthy grapes, and plenty of them. It was hot and dry as it always is these days, but rain fell at exactly the right time – a bit…
The wines of Margaux are some of the most celebrated in Bordeaux, admired for their unique blend of finesse and power. The soils are light and thin, full of gravel, sand and limestone, and the resulting wines combine Left-Bank muscle with an exquisite finesse and perfume.
The Loire Valley continues to be the epicenter of modern of French winemaking. As other regions struggle with unusually warm summers, the Loire has become a reliable place for freshness and balance, a result of a cooler climate and a dedicated organic viticulture.
In his book “The New French Wine” Jon Bonné writes that Jacqueline André’s wines “are about old-fashioned subtlety,” crediting her with “quietly upholding the extraordinary quality of her family’s domaine.” André is fully worthy of this praise, and it’s never been clearer than today.
Sablet is a classic Southern Rhône town. Its 9th century streets are home to just 1400 residents, a couple of boulangeries, and a handful of restaurants and wineries. Winemaker Eric Chauvin is a Sablet native (also a volunteer firefighter), and it’s also the location of his tiny excellent Domaine le Souverain. His organic, balanced, extremely well-priced red Rhônes have become…
Cyril Gautheron makes a wide range of wines from his family domaine in Chablis. They’re all from the same grape of course (Chardonnay), and all from the same town (Chablis). But the range from Petit Chablis up to Grand Cru covers an enormous range of terroir and expression. Each is carefully and beautifully crafted, leading Jasper Morris MW to call…
Yesterday we spent a delightful afternoon tasting and sharing lunch at the Fattoria Poggerino in Tuscany. It’s been years since we last visited, and it was wonderful to walk among the sangiovese vines again. Piero Lanza is a gifted winemaker who has turned his humble property into what top wine writers consider a reference point for Chianti Classico.
Many famous chateaux in Bordeaux produce a “second wine,” a bottling of juice from younger vines or less favored corners of the vineyard. The quality of this cuvée varies greatly depending on chateau and vintage, but at its best it can be an early maturing wine with excellent pricing, and a careful consumer can find tremendous value.
Vincent Boyer now works with his sister Sylvie, and together they share the viticulture (mostly her) and winemaking (mostly him). They’ve nearly completed their conversion to organic farming, and their always excellent wines have become even better in recent years. They raised prices after their catastrophic 2021 vintage where they lost 90% in some plots from frost, but actually lowered…
Organic viticulture is the future of winemaking — the majority of our winemakers are organic or in conversion. But at some domaines, it’s also the past. The Domaine du Joncuas in Gigondas turned 100 years old a few years ago, and they’ve practiced organic winemaking, as they put it, “depuis toujours” (“since forever”). Writer Jon Bonné cites them as a…
Many of the winemakers we work with farm on a small scale, particularly in Burgundy. But strictly by the numbers, our smallest winemaker might be Dumien-Serrette in Cornas. Located at the southern end of the Northern Rhône Valley, Cornas is home to just 50 winemakers across 145 hectares (compare to 3000+ in Chateauneuf-du-Pape).
If Côte d’Or Pinot Noir is a sophisticated, well-dressed gentleman with a long resume, Gamay from Beaujolais is a free-spirited artist: unruly, unpredictable, and often way more fun. Nearly all reds from Burgundy are unblended – all classy Pinot, or all untamed Gamay.
Regular readers will know Gautier Desvignes, the humble, friendly, thirtysomething winemaker who has transformed his modest family domaine into a top name in the region. William Kelley writes that Desvignes is “one of the leading lights in the Côte Chalonnaise,” and we wholeheartedly agree.