Artisan French Wines
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The Beaujolais has always had a turbulent relationship with the rest of Burgundy. To many in the Côte d’Or, Beaujolais represents overmarketed and undercrafted wine. But in recent years the Beaujolais has undergone a renaissance, as the prominence of Nouveau recedes and more vignerons make ageworthy wine.
Most consider white Burgundy the finest expression of Chardonnay. But even within Burgundy there’s a wide range of styles and flavors; precise, crisp Chablis on one side of the spectrum, and lush, mouthfilling Meursault on the other. Today’s wine is Chablis that wants to be Meursault. And while it’s typical of neither place, it’s also […]
Beaujolais might be the perfect wine for the fall. Crisp air and turning leaves are an excellent match for a the cool fruit and punchy mouthfeel of first-rate Beaujolais. The region is still best known for the Beaujolais Nouveau, a quaint local custom turned global marketing phenomenon. But there’s far more to Beaujolais than cheap candied red wine.
Burgundy and Bordeaux are the two giants French wine. In nearly every aspect — style, tradition, grape varietal, scale — they are opposites. As a small père et fils enterprise, Ansonia’s model fits far better with Burgundy, and we work with more than four Burgundy sources for every one in Bordeaux.
Our final Futures issue of the year comes out next week. It includes some of our most popular winemakers — Goubert, Boyer-Martenot, Desvignes, and more — but one favorite in particular: the Domaine Michel Gros. His entire lineup of 2016s will be available next Sunday, but today we’re focusing on one wine that is always in short supply.
We often joke that inhabitants of the Beaujolais consider themselves Burgundian, but that the rest of Burgundy isn’t quite as sure. And while differences between the two halves abound — grape varietal, soil type, landscape, etc. — they share a tradition and style as well.
The Domaine Jean-Noël Gagnard is part of the old guard of Chassagne Montrachet. For decades they’ve been among the most recognizable names in white Burgundy, synonymous with class and elegance. Master of Wine Jasper Morris writes that Gagnard’s wines “truly reflect their terroirs and combine intensity and richness with elegance and balance.” Caroline Lestimé, Jean-Noël’s […]
The 2015 vintage in Red Burgundy has been called one of the best in decades. Ideal growing conditions produced perfectly ripe fruit, resulting in wines that are full bodied, deeply colored, and simply delicious.
For the careful shopper, the Languedoc can be an abundant resource. Long deserving its reputation for mediocrity, the region has only recently become a source of value. There’s still plenty of bad wine made in the vast region, but if you make good choices, $16 will take you farther here than just about anywhere else.
In our fast-paced and impatient world, cellaring wine has become rare. Not all wines are meant to age, and indeed the wine world’s style continues to shift toward early maturity. But for wine that is built to be cellared, the transformation by bottle aging is nothing short of magic. Today we’re suggesting 2012 Morey-St-Denis 1er […]
The Gamay grape has had a turbulent history. In 1395 Duke Philip the Bold concluded Gamay was “evil and disloyal,” and banished it from the northern half of Burgundy. For the past six centuries it has found refuge in Beaujolais, where it produces mostly simple reds — fruit-forward and inexpensive.
The Domaine Jean Collet in Chablis had a tough 2016. Mother Nature threw just about everything at them — hail, frost, mildew, grape maladies, sunburnt fruit, and more. The domaine lost about 60% of the crop, but the fruit that survived was superb.
The Domaine Jean-Noël Gagnard is one of the best known and most respected names in Burgundy. Master of Wine Serena Sutcliffe credits the Chassagne source with “opening her eyes to white Burgundy,” and today his daughter Caroline continues to produce wines at the same superlative level. Their wines are pure, classy, and elegant.
The weather has finally turned colder here in Boston. And though we enjoy the rosés and Muscadets of summer, we’re excited for the contents of our glasses to turn darker and richer.
In Burgundy as in real estate, location is everything. Today’s wine comes from a vineyard classified Premier Cru but surrounded by five Grand Crus. It sits along the famous stretch of Grand Crus between Morey-St-Denis and Gevrey-Chambertin, and many believe its premier cru classification has as much to do with centuries-ago politics as with terroir. […]