Morey-Saint-Denis Elegance

Oct 27-Nov 2, 2014
2011 Domaine Odoul-Coquard Morey-St-Denis “Les Crais Gillon”
~$50/bottle – 15% off of regular price of $59 SOLD OUT

If you know little about a vintage or producer, or even much about Burgundy as a region, the wines from Morey-Saint-Denis can be one of your safest options. It’s one of the smallest appellations in the Côte d’Or and over 50% of the acreage consists of premier and grand cru vineyards. The size, along with a core of principled growers, makes the overall standard in Morey-Saint-Denis very high.

It’s often claimed that Morey combines the earthiness of Gevrey-Chambertin with the elegance of Chambolle-Musigny. But that’s too simple. Morey-Saint-Denis has its own characteristics. On the lower slopes, where the single vineyard lieu-dit “Les Crais Gillon” is located towards the Gevrey side of the village, the wines tend to show the typical Côte de Nuits spine without being weighty, and show a suppleness that makes them accessible even in their youth.

Taking over winemaking responsibilities from his father, Thierry, in 2009, third generation winemaker Sébastien Odoul farms just a little over an acre of land in Morey-Saint-Denis. As with all serious growers, Sébastien is meticulous in the vineyard. His cellar practices are minimal intervention so the wines articulate the terroir of individual sites. In 2011, he harvested an extremely low yield from Les Crais Gillon, due in large part to the planting of older vines with extremely tiny berries.

Our good friend, David DeBenedictis, stopped into the shop yesterday and picked up some bottles for himself. Here’s a guy who spends a good part of the year in Burgundy with his company, Terroir Wine Seminars. Because his other home is in Florida, the French call him “Monsieur de Floride”. He works closely with Christophe Tupinier, the editor of Bourgogne Aujourd’hui Magazine — a French publication concerned with all things related to Burgundy wine. Let’s just say, David knows a thing or two about Burgundy. He was quite pleased to see us offering wines from this little known yet high-level producer and told us the price for this Morey-Saint-Denis was simply outstanding.

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Posted on 2014.10.23 in Saturday Sips Wines, France, Burgundy  |  Read more...

Bordeaux – Graves and The Left Bank

2010 Le Petit Haut Lafitte Pessac-Léognan
Price: $59/bottle – SOLD OUT

Second label Bordeaux have always offered incredible value, but as the selection process for the “Grand Vin,” or first wine, has gotten stricter, today the best “seconds” offer an even greater value than in the past.

From the gravel soils of Pessac-Léognan on the left bank of the Garonne River, Château Smith Haut Lafitte’s history in Bordeaux dates back over 800 years. But it wasn’t until Daniel and Florence Cathiard purchased the estate in 1990 that there was a great leap in quality. The Cathiards are using traditional methods like hand-picking and hand-sorting in the field and in the cellar as well as using the latest technology to ensure only the highest quality grapes are made into wine. They even cooper their own oak barrels.

Designed during the blending of Smith Haut Lafitte, the wines of Le Petit Haut Lafitte are vinified and aged with the same care as the batches that will become the first wine of the Château. All work in the vineyard is organic and sustainable with some biodynamic techniques. Le Petit Haut Lafitte is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% Merlot. Maturation is carried out in barrels for 14 months.
2010 Château German Marbuzet Saint-Estèphe
Price: $39/bottle – SOLD OUT

The hamlets of German and Marbuzet that give their names to Château German Marbuzet lie almost precisely between the two second-growth estates of Château Cos d’Estournel and Château Montrose. Here owner Didier Marcelis meticulously works six acres of vines growing from a terroir largely composed of gravels, clay and sand, a terroir shared by all wines from the Médoc, although Saint-Estèphe contains a slightly higher proportion of clay. These are wines that tend to be slightly higher in tannin yet are soft on the edges – an iron fist in a velvet glove.

The blend is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Franc from vines with an average age of 35 years. Grapes are picked by hand and then transported to the winery in hoppers with an inert atmosphere to preserve freshness before being sorted by hand in the cellar. The wine is then matured in French oak barrels (1/3 new) for 16 months.

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Posted on 2014.10.09 in France, Bordeaux  |  Read more...

From the Cellar: Affordable Aged Barolo

2001 Alessandro and Gian Natale Fantino Dardi Bussia Barolo $330 6-Pack ($55/bottle) – SOLD OUT

Ever since we started talking about the move to Birmingham and the enhanced Elie Wine Co. we’ve been telling you that we were going to bring in a select few Italian wines. We’ve found a rare deal on a library release of 2001 A&G Fantino Barolo — A Piedmont nebbiolo that adheres to our strict standards of quality and expression of place that we apply when choosing all of our French and Spanish wines.

For a large part of his career, Alessandro Fantino was part owner and made the wines for the well-regarded Cantina Bartolo Mascarello. In 1998 he sold his portion of the winery to Bartolo’s daughter Maria-Teresa and dedicated himself to helping his brother run their family estate full-time.

Now both Alessandro and Gian Natale Fantino are creating superb wines out of their tiny, garage-sized winery in the old town center of Monforte d’Alba. They own a scant 20 acres on a hillside with perfect southeastern exposure in the heart of the historic Bussia cru, one of Barolo’s most renowned areas for producing wines of finesse and longevity. Barolos from Bussia tend to have deep color and rich fruit and while they don’t lack the classic tannic structure of Nebbiolo from this part of the world, they are not nearly as hard as the Barolos from the chalky soils of Serralunga.

The Fantino’s grapes are hand-harvested and then hand-sorted at the winery prior to fermentation with native yeasts. The wine is aged in large, two to three year old oak barrels for a period of four years, and then aged in bottle for six months prior to release. By all accounts, 2001 was an outstanding vintage in Barolo, producing wines with excellent concentration, lively acidity, and nicely integrated tannins. The best have ideal structure for long-term aging. 2001 A&G Natale Fantino Barolo is just now reaching peak drinkability and will continue its slow arc of development for several years.

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Posted on 2014.10.07 in Piedmont, Italy  |  Read more...

Superlative Saint-Chinian

Oct 6-12, 2014

Had you been a civil engineer in 2nd century BC working on The Via Domitia (the first Roman road through Gaul linking Italy and Hispania) you might have quenched your thirst by drinking wine grown in and around Saint-Chinian. Clambering up out of the Languedoc Plain, with Mount Caroux and Espinouse furnishing a picturesque backdrop, it’s there on the southern slopes of clay and limestone that Isabelle and Mathieu Champart are creating singular and impressive wines in this ancient region that’s seen a tremendous surge in quality over the past couple decades.

Back in 1976, Isabelle, a Parisian with a degree in Geography, and Mathieu, from a family of farmers in Champagne, began cultivating vines on a humble 20 acre farmstead. For close to twelve years they sold their grapes to the local cooperative but once they decided to bottle under their own label they gained almost instant acclaim. Since then, they’ve acquired another 40 acres planted with vines, orchards, and arable crops. Mathieu tends to the vines, Isabelle makes the wines, and this small slice of the Languedoc is their life. Once, when asked by a visitor if they had children, Isabelle swept her hand across the outside of their winery and answered immediately, “Look around. This is my child.”

The Champarts employ sustainable techniques in their farming and are slowly integrating more organic practices. The grapes are harvested by hand and fermentation is done with indigenous yeasts. 2011 is a superb vintage for the Languedoc region as a whole. The wines possess beautiful aromatics and have sunny, full and layered personalities on the palate. The finest have gorgeous depth and concentration, as well as ample structure.

We’re offering three different Mas Champart cuvées, each with personalities of their own.

2011 Mas Champart Pays d’Oc
$19.99/bottle SOLD OUT
The blend for 2011 is 95% cabernet franc and 5% syrah. Fruit forward and easy drinking.

2011 Mas Champart Saint-Chinian “Causse de Bousquet”
$25/bottle – SOLD OUT
65% syrah, 23% mourvèdre, and 12% grenache mainly sourced from a lieu-dit called Le Bosquet. Aged in barrels and demi-muids for at least 12 months, and then blended and aged in cuve for 8 months for being bottled unfiltered.

2011 Mas Champart Saint-Chinian “Clos de la Simonette”
$39/bottle – SOLD OUT
70% mourvèdre and 30% grenache aged for 18 months in demi-muids after a long maceration. Bottled unfiltered. Though this wine is easy to appreciate now for its inky complexity, it ages extremely well and really shines after some decanting.

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Posted on 2014.10.01 in France, Languedoc-Roussillon  |  Read more...

Luscious Aged Loire Chenin Blanc

September 29 – October 5, 2014
1999 Château de la Roulerie Coteaux du Layon-Chaume Les Aunis
Price: $69/bottle

The River Layon, a tributary of the Loire, meanders its way through a variety of soils and rocks. But its in a special place, on the Premier Cru hilltop of Coteaux du Layon-Chaume, where Château de la Roulerie’s superb parcel Les Aunis produces chenin blanc based wines known for their honeyed texture, deep fruit, and marzipan flavor after a few years of age.

In 1996, Bernard Germain bought the ancient Château de la Roulerie, whose origins date back to the 11th century, from retired pâtissier Gaston Lenôtre. The aim was to make great sweet wines by the “méthode Germain” – fussy vineyard work and careful use of new oak. The vineyards are all located on the slopes and oriented South-Southwest, critical for even ripening in this northerly climate, and are often swathed in an early morning fog that creates a tendency toward botrytis (also known as noble rot, a benevolent fungus that concentrates the grapes). Yields are extremely low.

We have a small amount of this wine that has been stored in our climate controlled store since its release. We recently opened one to sample and found that it was drinking brilliantly. Long and dense with honey, roasted pineapple and crème brûlée that finishes with an ideal balance. It will pair brilliantly with foie gras or Roquefort cheese but can be consumed alone in as contemplative a manner as you choose.

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Posted on 2014.09.28 in France, Loire  |  Read more...

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