Articles

8/12/21 - On Monday, we featured the innovative Antoine Depierre, of Domaine Mayoussier, who is planting international grapes, like Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah, in the southern part of the Isère near the national park of Vercors. There couldn't be a starker contrast between Antoine and the winemaker we're featuring today, the prolific Nicolas Gonin, who is at the north of the Isère, relatively close to...

8/10/21 - There aren’t many winemakers in the Isère who sell their bottles internationally. And the most well known producers that do are focused on reviving and promoting the historically important grapes of the region, like Verdesse and Persan. However, the geographical isolation of vineyards and wineries have allowed innovative thinkers like Antoine Depierre to plant vines that aren’t thought of (or officially recognized)...

8/7/21 - “The discovery of a profound terroir, of a brilliant winery, always leaves me paralyzed yet euphoric, in the manner I imagine a spiritual revelation would affect the faithful.” - Becky Wasserman, upon meeting Patrick Charlin and tasting his Altesse from Montagnieu in Bugey. Read the whole text here, it’s definitely worthwhile. Patrick Charlin, the Altesse master of Montagnieu, in his green, green...

8/4/21 - New releases from 2018 - 2020 have just arrived from La Ferme de la Sansonnière. Of course we were not able to taste the wines in France as we normally do each winter, but the wines have been extraordinary over the past few years. Our allocation is quite a bit smaller this year, no further inventory is available. (Wines arrive Friday 8/6)...

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...