Articles

7/22/21 - Although the estate is quite young in terms of Champagne houses, Pascal Doquet produces wines we consider modern classics. In the few years the wines have been available under his own name, we’ve been bowled over by their beauty and terroir expression. Based in Vertus, Pascal has worked the family’s Doquet-Jeanmaire estate as chef de cave since 1995 and in 2004 acquired...

7/20/21 - Relatively unknown in the US, recommended to us by our friend Pascaline Lepeltier, the Sancerres of Vincent Gaudry are certainly among the finest in the appellation and we are proud to offer superb new arrivals from the 2018 and 2019 vintages. Based in the village of Grand Chambre near Sury-en-Vaux, the domain was established by Vincent's grandfather with only a few hectares...

7/14/21 - La Marca was started in 2007 by Daniela Quaresima, Beatrice Bonci, and her brother Alessandro. Artists and musicians with some winemaking experience, they thought that producing their own wine would provide a bridge between art and wine, but as Alessandro says, with a laugh, “we quickly found that we were stuck in the vines, that the wine demanded total dedication, and that...

7/12/21 - "We are replanting here, all the historically forgotten grape varieties of Bordeaux, in a biodynamic approach, respectful of the terroir"  - so says the front page of the Chateau Cazebonne website, and indeed the project began in 2016. A collaboration between winelover Jean-Baptiste Dusquesne and winemaker David Poutays, this important Graves estate in Saint-Pierre de Mons extends over 40 hectares, principally on...

7/11/21 - I was contemplating a single sentence newsletter for today’s offer: “Sub-$30 Trousseau and Poulsard from the Jura’s Domaine Pierre Richard!” What else do you need to know? That both were bottled without added SO2? That the Richard family started cultivating vines in the commune of Le Vernois in 1919? That the estate is in official organic conversion with Ecocert, which they’ll achieve...

7/10/21 - I have been itching to feature Domaine Blard & Fils since being introduced to the estate in February by Roland Benedetti of Living Wines. I offered 12 bottles of Domaine Blard & Fils' 'Micraster' as an interesting addition to a Jacquère-heavy newsletter focused on the wines of Domaine des Côtes Rousses, but I was late to the game and couldn't secure anything...

7/8/21 - Mondeuse, Mondeuse, Mondeuse… These days, I’m finding it hard to resist the low-alcohol red wines made from this staple grape of the Savoie. I featured the Bruno Lupin 2019 Mondeuse a few weeks ago, from vines around 70 years old and aged in ex-DRC barrels. It weighs in at 12% ABV. Today, I’m looking at the Silice Rouge 2020, 100% Mondeuse, from...

7/1/21 - According to our friend Wink Lorch, author of Wines of the French Alps, Jérémy Decoster of Les Cortis took what he learned working at the hallowed Domaine de Moor in Chablis and applied it to his own estate years later in Bugey. He and his wife, Isabelle, started the business in 2016 with the idea that their low-intervention wines would "sell locally,"...

6/21/21 - Mark my words, I will be drinking tons of Bordeaux this summer. Week after week, I’m being introduced to amazing bottles from all over the region. Even during the recent days of high-80 temps in New York City, the good ones are just as enjoyable as they’d be if it were 30 degrees cooler outside. Don’t miss delicious bottles because you think you...

6/16/21 - Though the temperature may have fluctuated a bit in the last few days, it's clear that summer is upon us. My summer plans this year are uncomplicated. I intend to overstay my welcome in the backyards of those friends who possess them, to fall asleep on the lawns of various local parks, and most crucially, I am going to consume as many...

6/13/21 - We're very happy to have a new shipment from Gilles Bonnefoy of  "Les Vins de la Madone" in the Côtes du Forez! We sometimes use the word "vibrant' when discussing the fruit and mineral flavors of wines from the Loire Valley and that is certainly the case with "Les Vins de la Madone," from Biodynamic farming on the estate's high-altitude parcels of...

6/7/21 - The other night we opened up a sample of the multi-vintage, multi-grape bottling from Broc Cellars, 'Got Grapes'. What we expected to be a rather straightforward 'glou-glou' chillable red, stole our attention for over an hour! We were each so taken by its sheer deliciousness, that it reminded us that a wine need not be overly complex to be captivating. Every time I...

5/28/21 - “Every region needs an Yves,” writes Wink Lorch, a friend of Chambers and the author of the priceless book, Wines of the French Alps. In her section dedicated to the winemaker, Yves Duport, Wink tells her audience to “expect the unexpected” when tasting his wines from Southern Bugey - and so that is what I did. Today, I have a new favorite...

5/20/21 - Sancerre is one of those French appellations, like Chablis, that sells by itself - easy to pronounce (unlike Bourgueil) and reliably inoffensive, even poorly made wines sell like crazy in restaurants and growers have little incentive to work well in the vines and more naturally in the cellar. Happily there are a few producers who proudly work differently, producing distinctive wines of...

5/17/21 - I have been looking forward to the arrival of the 2019 Burgundy vintage. The best wines in 2018 were produced by growers who kept careful watch on rising sugars and falling acids and picked early enough to maintain balance without making wines that toppled over. In 2019, it seems there were no such concerns. Over the course of many Zoom calls with...