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Dry, Refreshing New Muscadet: Pears, Dried Flowers, and Salt Air. $22

Perched where the Loire river meets the windswept Atlantic coast, Muscadet has long been a source for a classic, dry white wine. Served by the carafe in the oyster bars of Paris and London for decades, it’s refreshing, abundant, and inexpensive — a perfect glass to wash down a plate of crustaceans.

In recent years Muscadet has undergone a reinvention of sorts with the elevation of three of the region’s best towns to a new “Cru Communal” status. Today’s wine comes from Clisson, one of the leaders in the new wave of Musacdet. Combining excellent terroir with extended years on the lees, this wine is an unusually complex take on a classic.

 

 

Last month winemaker Christophe Martin walked us through his vineyards, explaining the intricacies of each terroir. For anyone that still thinks of Muscadet as high volume plonk, a visit with Christophe (or a taste of his wine) will dispel the idea. These are carefully crafted, intense, delicious expressions of a limited terroir. A bottle of Muscadet may cost a buck or two more than it used to, but the jump in quality is several times.

Martin-Luneau’s 2014 Clisson has just arrived in our warehouse, and it’s delightful. It’s a marriage of the brisk, refreshing essence of the sea with the delicate herbal and fruit flavors of western France. The nose is clean and pure, showing dried flowers, melons, and lemon. The mouth is smooth and very dry, with notes of stones, salt air, and apple skins.

Oysters are the longstanding pairing of choice with Muscadet, and the thick savoriness in this wine is an exceptional foil for the fresh brininess of an oyster. The winemakers themselves recommend serving this with a simple moules marinières, made with shallots, parsley, thyme, butter and, of course, Muscadet. With summer heat on the way, this is dry, tasty, and perfectly refreshing.

 

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Martin-Luneau Muscadet “Clisson” 2014

Ansonia Retail: $26
6+ bottle price : $22/bot

 

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Crisp, Refreshing, No-Oak White Burgundy. $22

“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.

With this wine, it’s simple: no oak at all. This classic, stony, energetic chablis is all freshness, minerality, and pure fruit. The Domaine Gautheron is a small, family-owned property, and we love their precise style. You could eat off the floor there, and the rigorous cleanliness extends to their wines as well.

 

 

Cyril Gautheron is a rising star in Chablis. The Gautheron Family has made wine here for 200 years, but Cyril has taken the reins with great passion and has won critical acclaim from wine writers around the world. The Domaine’s style is classique — little to no oak, bright notes of lemon and apple, and steely fresh minerality.

Gautheron’s Petit Chablis 2016 has just arrived, and it’s the perfect summer white. Look for notes of stones, lemon zest, and flowers, with brisk minerality and smooth, clean finish. For summer heat, this is a refreshing, crowd-pleasing white wine. For anything from the sea — steamed lobster, raw oysters, grilled swordfish — it’s a must have.

 

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Gautheron Petit Chablis 2016

Ansonia Retail: $26
6+ bottle price : $22/bot

 

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At last: Crisp, Dry Provençal Rosé. $19

Rosé’s popularity shows no signs of ebbing. We generally steer clear of winemaking fads, but even for us traditionalists it’s hard to deny the tastiness of cool rosé under a warm sun. Our criteria for rosé are threefold: dry, inexpensive, and refreshing.

The provencal-style rosé from the Domaine les Goubert hits all three perfectly. Grown across the sun-drenched plain just east of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Goubert’s rosé is dry and delicious. If there’s a beach or a roof deck or a backyard patio in your future this summer, this is almost as necessary as sunscreen.

 

 

Rosé de Flo is the project of the Cartier family’s thirtysomething daughter Florence, who is now handling much of the winemaking at Goubert. Her rosé is 100% saigné (literally, “bled”) meaning it’s made entirely from juice that runs off from grapes resting in the tank. This makes for a more subtle, elegant style, with increased floral notes and a crisper, less mouthfilling palate.

The 2017 Rosé de Flo is a blend of grenache, syrah, and mourvèdre — Florence traded Brun Argenté for Syrah this year, and the result is a fruitier, slightly clearer complexion. The nose shows red fruits like strawberry and raspberry, and the mouth is refreshing and brisk — look for notes of grapefruit zest and citrus.

Bone dry, with 13% alcohol and a delicate acidity, this wine is dangerously easy to sip. Open one with a salad, or goat cheese and tapenade on crusty bread, and you’ll be transported to Provence.

 

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Goubert Rosé de Flo 2017

Ansonia Retail: $24
6+ bottle price : $19/bot

 

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Summery Syrah: Crisp, Refreshing Northern Rhone Red. $25

In much of the world, Syrah is a powerful grape that produces soft wines with jammy fruit and low tannin. But in Northern Rhône Valley, the grape takes on an entirely different style. Grown at its northern ripening limit, Syrah finds a more elegant and balanced expression on the steep banks of the Rhône River south of Lyon.

Many wines from the Northern Rhône require patience and investment. (If that’s your interest, don’t miss our new Cornas producer in the current May Futures.) Our source for Côte Rôtie, the Domaine Bonnefond, also makes classic, delicious wines that age beautifully.

But for readers with nearer term thirsts, Bonnefond’s Syrah is an exceptional value. It requires no patience at all, and at $25 only modest investment. It’s cool, crisp, and perfectly balanced — just the ticket for a summery red.

 

 

Robert Parker calls the Bonnefond Domaine “among the finest in the appellation,” and Vinous’s Josh Raynolds describes Bonnefond’s style as “extroverted” and “refined.” We have long marveled at their ability to achieve wines that are at once dark, intense, and lively. They have all the dark, meaty characteristics of Syrah, but with unusual lift and grace.

The 2016 Syrah “Sensation du Nord” from Bonnefond is, as one taster at the warehouse recently put it, “highly drinkable.” The nose is spiced and expressive, with notes of blackberries, tapenade, black pepper, and game. The mouth is beautifully balanced — at 12.5% alcohol it’s elegant and long, with dense plum fruits and graceful minerality.

With its fresh fruit and peppery mouthfeel this is excellent food wine — lamb and duck are particularly nice matches. But accompaniment isn’t required — an after-work glass of this on a weekday evening will reset your mood with ease.

 

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Bonnefond Syrah 2016

Ansonia Retail: $30
6+ bottle price : $25/bot

 

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2015 Premier Cru Red Burgundy: “Elegant, Intense, and Vibrant”

The 2015 red Burgundies are nothing short of a sensation. After months of hype and a frenzy of enthusiasm upon release, they’ve lived up to nearly all of their acclaim. With sturdy tannins suggesting long and happy lives, the wines also offer near-term hedonistic delight — the best are juicy, lively, and, as the French say, gouleyant (gulpable).

No domaine’s wines better capture the tension between ageworthiness and drinkability than those of Roger Belland. The house style is always fruit forward — ripe, punchy, juicy mouthfeels are consistent from one year to another. But even for Belland, their 2015s offer unusually pleasant early drinking.

In our fast-paced world, cellaring wine has become increasingly rare. But with Belland’s wines, there’s no wrong answer — they are delicious now, and will be even more so in 5 years.

 

 

Master of Wine Clive Coates called Roger Belland “one of the best sources in the village” of Santenay. Though it’s often an afterthought on Côte d’Or maps, Belland’s wines are proof that Santenay can be classic, majestic red Burgundy.

Belland’s finest premier cru Santenay is from the “la Comme” vineyard, just on the northern border with Chassagne-Montrachet. This is Santenay at its most elegant, combining the silky precision of a Volnay with the vibrant character of red Chassagne — think minerals, dried cherries, plum, and herbs. Burghound awarded 91 points, finding it “elegant” and “harmonious,” with “pretty floral nuance,” and “delicious, intense and vibrant flavors.”

Belland’s wines are so drinkable from the start that they’re hard to age — our last bottle, opened 4-5 years after harvest, is often the best of the batch. If you’ve got the cellar space, put down half a case and drink the other six this year. Life is short, after all.

 

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Belland Santenay 1er cru “Comme” 2015

Ansonia Retail: $50
3+ bottle price : $42/bot

 

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Juicy, Refreshing Loire Valley Red for Summer. $22

Summer’s arrival means more rosé and white in our glasses. But sometimes a meal or a houseguest or a whim requires red — and in those circumstances we like to have something straightforward, affordable and refreshing. Pinot Noir is an easy choice, but for something a bit different we often turn to the Loire.

They call the Loire Valley the Garden of France. Its lush rolling hillsides produce nearly every type of wine, from dry to sweet, light to dark, and white to red to sparkling to rosé. One of region’s most distinctive styles is an unoaked, juicy Cabernet Franc from the central Loire Valley.

Our Chinon is a delicious old-vine organic Cab Franc from an up and coming new winemaker named Fabien Demois.

Demois’s style is perfect for the warm weather. His 2015 is unoaked, dense, and juicy — it’s full of fruit and concentration, and with a few years in the bottle has added delicious complexity. We hesitate to add it to the “summery reds” category — it’s far more interesting than the light, simple reds widely available.

Today it shows notes of dark chocolate, cool ripe berries, graphite, and a hint of smokiness. The mouthfeel is lively, complex, and croquant (“crackling”), a testament to the increased freshness we often find in organically grown wines. Serve this slightly cool on a picnic or a patio.

 

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Demois Chinon VV 2015

Ansonia Retail: $26
6+ bottle price : $22/bot

 

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“Rich, Intense, and Delicious:” Opulent Old-Vine Meursault

The wines of Meursault may be popular today, but it’s hard to describe them as a passing fad. The monks of Citeaux first planted vines there in 1098, and over the last nine centuries the village has proudly earned its glowing reputation. Though it has no Grand Cru vineyards, Meursault’s wines are among the most sought after in the world.

We began buying from Vincent Boyer more than a decade ago, and since then the international wine press has widely acclaimed him as a rising star. This year we allocated some of his Meursault “Narvaux,” a village level white considered among Meursault’s finest. Boyer coaxes his 70 year old Chardonnay vines into perfect expressions of this extraordinary terroir.

With old vines, a master winemaker, and exceptional terroir, this is not a wine to miss.

 

 

Meursault is about decadence, opulence, and style, and Narvaux embodies all of these. The vineyard perches just above Meursault’s premier crus and borders the famous Genevrières. Boyer’s 2015 “Narvaux” is a classic, with wonderful mouthfilling intensity drawn from the richness and density of the fruit. The nose is lovely and generous, showing white flowers, hazelnut, and apricot. The mouth is full but tense, showing pear and white flowers, with a long, vibrant finish.

Wine critic Allen Meadows (Burghound) called the 2015 “lovely,” “elegant,” and “beautifully nuanced” in the nose, and “rich, intense and delicious” in the mouth. In short, this is golden, classic, mouthfilling white Burgundy from a master winemaker — serve it in large Burgundy glasses, and marvel at nine centuries of human progress.

 

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Boyer-Martenot Meursault “Narvaux” 2015

Ansonia Retail: $62
3+ bottle price : $54/bot

 

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Advance Order: At Last, Cornas.

For years we’ve searched for a Cornas producer to add to our portfolio. The appellation is tiny (only 145 hectares, compared with Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s 3,133) and a wave of popularity in recent years has made it difficult to get an appointment. But luck was on our side last week, and we’re excited to report that we’ve found not one Cornas source but two.

The name Cornas (pronounce the “s”) comes from the Celtic word for “burnt earth,” and it’s an appropriate name. Though only nine miles south of the famous Hill of Hermitage, Cornas is so much sunnier that its grapes often ripen two weeks earlier. The wine is pure syrah like the rest of the Northern Rhône, but the feel is of something from further South.

 

 

For years Cornas’s reputation has been for richness and ruggedness. The first quality remains true: these are inky black wines made from hard granite soil. They’re bold and chewy, bursting with character and able to age for decades.

But “ruggedness” needs some revision. A younger generation at both domaines has brought modern winemaking to the ancient vineyards, and the results are more refined than ever before. Cornas hasn’t given up its untamed spirit, but the new wave of winemakers has bought it nicer clothes and taught it some manners.

 

 

DOMAINE DUMIEN-SERRETTE
With fewer than 50 growers, there aren’t any real unknowns in Cornas. Our first winemaker, Dumien Serrette, is the lesser known of the two, though they’re hardly newcomers — records show Dumiens living there in 1515. We’re pleased to offer a very small allocation of their 2016 Cornas.

Dumien-Serrette’s Cornas is magnificent — a combination of inky black flavors with unusually refined floral finesse. The nose is deep and rich, showing cherries, cocoa, anise, and pepper. On the palate it’s very fine and silky, with intense, distilled tannic structure and notes of cherry jam, violets, and olive.

 


DOMAINE DU TUNNEL

The Domaine du Tunnel is far more recent than Dumien-Serrette, but already better known. Often cited as one of the best sources in the town, Tunnel’s wines lived up to their considerable hype. Named for an old railway tunnel that now houses the domaine’s exquisitely designed cuverie, these wines are a highlight of any Cornas collector’s cellar.

Tunnel’s 2016 Cornas is classic and excellent. The nose shows inky, woodsy flavors — violets and blackberry mix with underbrush and mushrooms. The fruit is clean, and dense and pure and the finish unimaginably long. Josh Raynolds of Vinous awarded 92 points, finding “fine-grained tannins,” and “sharply focused black and blue fruit flavors.”

 

 

We were thrilled to discover both of these producers last week, and we’re excited to share them with you. If any allocation remains, both producers will be featured in next Sunday’s May Futures Issue, but we’re opening up the bidding early on these two wines. They’re available in our usual case and half-case lots, as well as a special 6-bottle sampler, 3 bottles of each wine. Orders are first come first served — click below to reserve by email.

 

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Dumien-Serrette Cornas 2016
Domaine du Tunnel Cornas 2016

Ansonia Retail: $750/case
Futures price : $575/case

Available by the case and half-case

 

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Cornas Sampler, 3 of each wine

Ansonia Retail: $375
Futures price : $295

 

Email Tom to place an order.

 

 

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Crisp, Vibrant, Old Vine Sauvignon Blanc: Charm and Freshness in a Glass

Yesterday afternoon we visited Frederic Michot, our winemaker in Pouilly-Fumé in the Loire Valley. After our tasting he took us on his tour of his vines, all Sauvignon blanc planted on the banks of the Loire.

Michot is as brisk and energetic as his wines — he talks (and drives) fast, and sports the same no-nonsense attitude found in a glass of his Pouilly-Fumé. His side of the river may be less famous than his neighbor Sancerre, but Michot isn’t willing to concede it any advantage.

 

 

Nor should he. Michot’s Pouilly-Fumé Vieilles Vignes has become a frequent presence on our summertime dinner table. It’s refreshing, unoaked, mouthfilling and utterly delicious. The 2017 we tasted yesterday will be in stock later in the year, but the end of our 2016 stock is still available. With summer around the corner this is a perfect everyday glass of white.

The 2016 nose shows mango, grapefruit rind, and straw; the mouth shows ripe grapefruit, lime rind, and honey. The wine is at once mouthfilling and electric, with the persistence of richness and freshness found in finest Sancerre. Grilled shrimp, pan seared scallops, broiled haddock, steamed Maine lobster are among the many pairings for this wine. Or if fruits de mer aren’t your thing, try a glass with goat cheese on a crusty piece of French bread.

 

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Michot Pouilly-Fumé VV 2016

Ansonia Retail: $26
6+ bottle price : $22/bot

 

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Local Celebrities in Morey-St-Denis: 92 point 2015 Premier Cru

Morey-St-Denis is a tiny town. After our tasting yesterday at the Domaine Amiot, we strolled a few hundred yards down the town’s main street to lunch with Chantal and Jean-Louis. In a four minute walk we paused half a dozen times to exchange greetings with neighbors and friends, and then got waves and handshakes from nearly everyone in the restaurant. There may be only 680 inhabitants in the town, but everyone knows the name Amiot.

Amiot’s 2016 are all excellent, but one in particular grabbed our attention yesterday. The Morey-St-Denis 1er cru “Ruchots” vineyard lies a mere 10 feet from the iconic Clos de Tart (see photo; Clos de Tart at left, Ruchots at right). While you might not mistake one wine for the other, it’s easy to see why many consider Ruchots the best premier cru in the town. It’s a wine of unusual depth and intensity for its class.

The 2016 Ruchots, along with Amiot’s other 2016s, will be in the May Futures offering in just over a week. But the magnificent 2015 Ruchots is sitting in our warehouse awaiting your corkscrew. Clos de Tart deserves its praise and acclaim, but at $250 a bottle it’s nice to have a more affordable neighbor at the ready. For those in search of a special red Burgundy from an exceptional location, we offer “Ruchots.”

 

 

From an acre of vines, the Amiot family makes just 200 cases of this wine per year. Their vines, planted in the 1950s, produce concentrated, intense red Burgundy. Allen Meadows (Burghound) awarded the 2015 92 points, finding it “suave and velvety,” “highly seductive,” and with “very fine persistence.”

This wine is enough to prove that Morey-St-Denis is much more than just a stop between Chambolle-Musigny and Gevrey-Chambertin. Its nose is dark and spicy, with hints of earth and smoke. The mouth is ripe, rich, and long, with blackberry and woodsy flavors. There’s enough structure to keep this aging beautifully for a decade, but like most 2015s, it’s a mouthful of juicy, very fine Burgundy today.

 

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Amiot Morey-St-Denis 1er cru “Ruchots” 2015

Ansonia Retail: $86
3+ bottle price : $78/bot

 

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“Seductive,” “Utterly Delicious” 2015 White Burgundy from Michel Gros.

Yesterday afternoon we visited Michel Gros, our best known winemaker for Côte de Nuits reds. We barrel-tasted his 2016s, which are exceptionally good — this vintage will be far better than critics’ early predictions. At the end of a long tasting, Michel poured us tastes of his only white wine, from the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, in both 2015 and 2016.

The 2016 (available this fall), is great — lively and rich with tension and lots of character. The 2015 (in stock now), was just delightful. From a year with perfect ripeness and medium acidity, it was rich and round with lovely young freshness and a terrifically long finish. It drank like a wine from a far fancier zip code.

We try to handicap our tastings for context — everything tastes better in the morning, and at the end of a long day of tasting it’s far harder to detect nuance. So yesterday afternoon, after eight hours of tasting more than 60 wines, that Michel’s 2015 blanc must be the real deal to have been so impressive.

 

 

There aren’t (yet) any premier crus in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, but Michel’s would almost certainly be among the first. The vines grow in a small plot called “Fontaine Saint Martin,” a vineyard whose soil matches the mix of marl, clay, and limestone found in the vineyards of Corton-Charlemagne a few miles away. The wine may not match the richness or longevity of a Corton-Charlemagne, but its smooth floral quality readily calls to mind the famous Grand Cru.

From a rich year with perfect ripeness, the 2015 Fontaine-St-Martin blanc is a wine to enjoy immediately. It’s open, approachable, and will fit perfectly into your spring white wine lineup. Burghound found “fine richness” and “round and utterly delicious flavors.” The nose is floral, showing gardenia, white pepper, pears, toasted lemon. The mouth is intense and smooth, at once mouthfilling and fresh.

It’s a perfect cocktail white — don’t tell your guests it’s not from the hill of Corton, and they’ll never know how little you paid for it.

 

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Gros Hautes-Côtes “Fontaine St-Martin” blanc 2015

Ansonia Retail: $38
3+ bottle price : $32/bot

 

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