New Arrivals: Our Best Value Rosé – Provence and Northern Rhone Favorites, Loire Whites and Jurançon!
Rosé season is upon us and our favorite Provençal rosé has arrived, from our friends at Les Fouques. For lovers of the Northern Rhone we offer a superb Cornas and great values from Saint-Joseph and Condrieu. Plus Biodynamic Jurançon from Chateau Lapuyade, and some favorite Loire Valley whites have arrived as well...
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Domaine les Fouques, Provence
Since the 2010 vintage it has been our great pleasure to feature the lovely wines from Yves Gros and family at Domaine Les Fouques, near Hyères. The 2023 vintage at Les Fouques, as in much of France, brought warm, humid weather, but with late season sunshine, bringing wines with less alcohol than in 2018 through 2020 and with lovely freshness and a silky texture. Biodynamic farming, great terroir and wild yeast fermentations make these among the very finest rosés of Provence. Drink the beautiful 2023 "Cuvée Aubigue" over the next 2 years. Only 4 cases remain of the 2022 Les Fouques “L’Estelle” – this superb wine from the estate’s oldest vines is delicious now and through 2025.
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Domaine des Amphores, Chavanay, Saint-Joseph
The wines of Véronique and Philippe Grenier at the Domaine des Amphores in Chavanay are huge favorites at Chambers Street and it's no wonder, as these are delicious, honest wines of terroir from the Northern Rhône at very reasonable prices! Certified organic since their beginning in 1992, and since 2016 all the wines are Demeter certified for Biodynamic farming as well. The 2022s here are sensational wines with lush, vibrant fruit framed in fresh acidity which will provide fabulous current drinking, and the Saint-Joseph red will benefit from medium-term cellaring as well. We love the whites here, which seem to get better every year - they are silky, elegant and unforced, just delicious wines.
The terroir around Chavanay gives a somewhat lighter but very pretty style of Saint-Joseph rouge as compared to that of the Gonons, but there are similar methods here and the same commitment to great work in the vines. And the whites at this over-achieving estate are particularly lovely – the 2022 “Detour,” from old vines of Clairette, with Roussanne and Marsanne is the perfect summer aperitif. The Estate’s brilliant Saint-Joseph Blanc “Altitude 300” is from 80% Roussanne and 20% Marsanne on granite soils in "Le Monteillet" at 300 meters altitude – it’s a serious wine – “drink with scallops, trout, foie gras, chicken in cream sauce, blanquette of veal, raclette, Rigotte de Condrieu cheese,” say the Greniers.
The outstanding and authentic Saint-Joseph Rouge "Les 7 Lieux" is from vines planted in the 90's, always organic, and from parcels of old vines, converted to organic, in Chavanay, below Condrieu. 50 - 60% de-stemmed, 50% in vat, 50% in 2 to 10 year-old demi-muid and foudre. The "7 Lieux" 2022 is a gorgeous Saint-Joseph with old school aromas and flavors of northern Rhone Syrah, un-blemished by new oak, for current drinking or short-term cellaring.
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Domaine Barou in Charnas, Saint-Joseph
In the 1960s and early 1970s, when chemical agriculture took over the world's vineyards, there were those few vignerons whose conviction and courage led them on the path to organic and Biodynamic farming, often in the face of resistance and ridicule by their peers. Estates that chose to preserve the life of their soils and the quality of their fruit in this early period included L'Ecu (Guy Bossard) in Muscadet, Guion in Bourgueil, Frick in Alsace, Rateau in Burgundy, Tinou in Jurançon, Pierre André in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Domaine Barou in Saint-Joseph. We salute all these estates and we're happy to feature in today's email the vibrant Vins de Pays and Saint-Joseph from Domaine Barou.
Alexis Barou converted the estate to organic agriculture back in 1971 as he didn't find as much flavor in his cherries with "conventional" farming. His son Emmanuel, with wife Marie-Agnès, currently have about 3 hectares in Saint-Joseph, 1 hectare in Condrieu and 6 hectares of Vin de Pays in Charnas from which they produce elegant, unforced traditional wines - along with delicious organic cherries and apricots. Their farming is exemplary, using their own compost, keeping the soil covered, plowing as little as possible and avoiding even the organic treatments against mildew, as they can harm soil fauna. The Saint-Joseph parcels are in Limony, on de-composed granite, and Charnas, on stone covered firm granite, and the Vin de Pays vines are in hilltop or plateau vineyards on thin sandy soils above granite bedrock as well. "This is a name to watch" says Livingstone-Learmonth in "Wines of the Northern Rhône," "the domaine is emerging as a sound address for carefully made, natural wines."
The 2022s from Emmanuel and Marie-Agnès are simply sensational, bursting with vibrant fruit, balanced and bright - they are amazing values and are a testament to 50 years of organic farming!
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2021 Dumien-Serrette Cornas “Patou”
The Dumien name can be found mentioned in Cornas as far back as 1515. In 1925, before Cornas was recognized as an AOC in 1938, the family purchased the 1.8 hectares of vineyards which constitute their current estate. Most of this land is found in the Patou vineyard, which has primarily granitic soils, with vines dating back to the 1920’s, with some even exceeding 100 years old. After years of selling in bulk to negociants such as Delas, Chapoutier and Jaboulet, Domaine Dumien-Serrette began to bottle their own wine in 1983. The 2021 Cornas “Patou” is an extraordinary wine which is delicious now, although cellaring of 15 to 2o years is certainly possible. “It’s Burgundian, high appeal Cornas” says Livingstone-Learmonth in drinkrhone – serve a bit cool with grilled meats this summer..
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Chateau Lapuyade/Clos Marie-Louise, Jurançon
Régine and Jean-Joseph Aurisset of Chateau Lapuyade/Clos Marie-Louise produce sensational dry, moelleux and dessert wines from Gros Manseng and Petit Manseng on their Biodynamic estate deep in the hills of Jurançon, southeast of Pau. The soils are primarily "poudingue," a conglomeration of calcareous stones and gravel deposited during the formation of the Pyrenees, with sandy clay topsoil. The Aurissets prefer a very full-bodied style of Jurançon - all their wines are aged in used barriques with late-harvested grapes giving an amazing complexity to the dry wines and a phenomenal richness to the moelleux Petit Manseng and the amazing dessert wines, the 2019 Cuvée Marie-Louise and the 2010 Confidence.
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And finally, a few very special Loire whites (2 Chenins, 2 Sauvignon Blancs) for this Summer, and a great value Rosé...
2022 Domaine de la Roche Bleue "Orée de la Berterie"
We're especially happy to have the delicious 2022 Coteaux du Loir "L'Oree de la Berterie" back in the store again! We quote Lettie Teague's enthusiastic note in the Wall Street Journal: "the beautifully balanced, decidedly lush 2022 Domaine de la Roche Bleue Cuvee L’Orée de la Berterie Coteaux du Loir ($27) was nothing short of stunning. Its producer, Sebastien Cornille, has earned a cult following for his Chenins, and I can see why."
2022 La Grange Tiphaine Montlouis "Clef du Sol"
“Clef de Sol” from Coralie and Damien Delecheneau at La Grange Tiphaine is a blend of different southern exposed plots located in Montlouis on sandy perruches, i.e. clay and flint over tuffeau. The vines are about 80 years old, in Biodynamic farming. This is one of the most versatile and elegant of Loire Chenins, with a perfect balance of fruit and mineral elements and a silky palate. It’s particularly gorgeous in the 2022 vintage!
2022 Domaine Philippe Gilbert Menetou-Salon Blanc
This is a sensational Sauvignon Blanc from this long-time Biodynamic estate, showing extra ripeness in this excellent vintage balanced by complex mineral notes and firm acidity, really a beautiful wine!
2023 Gerard Boulay Sancerre Chavignol
Of course Gerard Boulay is considered one of the top producers in Sancerre, along with Cotat and Vatan. We have a small allocation of this outstanding wine from the Kimmeridgian soils of Chavignol.
2022 Gerard Boulay Sancerre Rose “Sibylle”
Make room in the fridge and the cellar, as we were lucky enough to grab the last 5 cases of the delicious 2022 “Sibylle” Rose. This lovely Pinot Noir is drinking beautifully now and through 2025 – and it’s a sensational value at $19.99!
