Celebrate Bloomsday with Declassified Gevrey-Chambertin

Domaine Heresztyn-Mazzini Pinot Noir (Bourgogne 2014)
~$31/bottle Special Price (6-pack mix-and-match)

June 16th is Bloomsday – the international celebration of James Joyce‘s novel Ulysses, one of the essential works of modernist literature. The fictional protagonist of the novel, Leopold Bloom, spends a day kicking around Dublin, Ireland as a kind of contemporary Odysseus. In a passage that made the non-fictional establishment Davy Byrne’s Pub famous, Bloom orders a Gorgonzola sandwich and a glass of Burgundy.

What better way to observe Bloom’s wanderings than with a Burgundy tasting?

We’ll be sampling some of the Pinot Noir-based wines from Domaine Heresztyn-Mazzini with a focus on the superb value Bourgogne from declassified Gevrey-Chambertin vines. The vines are grown in the “Champ Franc” climat that was planted in 1986. Although easy drinking and deliciously seductive, this wine shows its breeding with some of the weight and perfume you expect from such hallowed ground in the Côte de Nuits. Only 430 cases are produced annually.

Heresztyn-Mazzini is a domaine reborn. It has been a family business since 1932 and although Florence Heresztyn had worked there for 13 years prior, 2012 marks the first vintage under the reorganized domaine that now belongs to Florence and her husband Simon Mazzini, a winemaker from Champagne who has worked at the domaine since 2003. They both began their influence in 2007 when they introduced whole bunch fermentation, which has become a fundamental principle at the domaine. Their approach in 13+ acres of vineyards spread across the villages of Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-Saint-Denis, and Chambolle-Musigny is both lutte raisonnée and organic, depending on the plot, with the intention of going fully biodynamic.

The couple place great importance on respecting nature and the environment, and use environmentally friendly pest control. To improve the yield, vines are de-budded and thinned early. To ensure only the healthiest fruit is made into wine, the grapes are always harvested by hand, sorted on a vibrating sorting table, with a final hand-sorting prior to fermentation with natural yeast. The wines are bottled at the estate, with no fining or filtration, and according to the lunar calendar.

More 2014 Wines from Domaine Heresztyn-Mazzini

Special Prices based on 6-pack mix-and-match

~$67 “Vieilles Vignes” (Gevrey-Chambertin)
Assembled from a range of Gevrey-Chambertin climat including, Billard, Es Murots, La Platière, and Puits de la Barraque from vines as old as 70 years. Complex and highly elegant on the palate. 540 cases produced.

~$76 “Les Songes” (Gevrey-Chambertin)
From the Gevrey-Chambertin climat En Songe and Les Gueulepines with vines planted between 1926 and 1952. Great complexity along with nice freshness. 160 cases produced.

$108 “La Perrière” (Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru)
From the Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru climat of “La Perrière” with vines planted in 1982. The finest of Heresztyn-Mazzini Gevrey Premiers Crus, elegant and harmonious. 150 cases produced.

$108 “Les Champonnets” (Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru)
From the Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru climat of “Les Champonnets” with vines planted in 1972. Deep and dense with light floral notes and well-suited for aging. Less than 100 cases produced.

$108 “Les Millandes” (Morey-Saint-Denis Premier Cru)
From the Morey-Saint-Denis Premier Cru climat of “Les Millandes” with vines planted in 1972. Structure, elegance, with a complex bouquet. 150 cases produced.

$225 Clos-Saint-Denis (Grand Cru)
From the Grand Cru climat of Clos-Saint-Denis with vines planted in 1980. Rich, complex, and elegant – A great wine for the cellar. 80 cases produced.

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Posted on 2018.06.13 in France, Saturday Sips Wines, Burgundy  |  Read more...

Italy’s Best Rosato?

Agricola Tiberio Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo (2017)
~$21/bottle Special Price (6-pack mix-and-match) SOLD OUT

Italian rosato comes in all shades but perhaps the height of the category is Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo.

Yet Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo isn’t exactly a rosato. It is an official denomination and appellation to cover the cherry-red (Cerasuolo roughly translated means cherry-like), brightly flavored wines of Abruzzo made from the free-run juice of the Montepulciano grape with a short maceration prior to fermentation apart from the grape skins. Agricola Tiberio‘s Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo is rich and fleshy, with aromatics of flowers and citrus peel, ripe raspberry and blood orange flavors, lip-smacking acidity, noticeable structure, and a lengthy finish. While light in color, it’s a big enough wine to handle Abruzzo’s traditional grilled lamb (Arrosticini Abruzzesi) yet light enough for porch sipping. And we’ve tested it for both.

The reality of Abruzzo is that many farmers find it convenient to join cooperatives and force production well beyond the limits of quality rather than make their own wine. The shame of it is that the region’s sunny hills are more than capable of producing outstanding wines, and a new generation of grower/producer aims to show the world what’s possible when the focus is on creating wines that speak of place. Leading the movement is Cristiana Tiberio.

It’s amazing to watch Cristiana’s star rising so fast. She has only been fully responsible for the winemaking at her family’s 74 acre estate in the Cugnoli area of Pescarese (one of the four zones of Abruzzo) since 2011. Yet she is already mentioned among the top producers of the region, consistently being awarded the coveted “Tre Bicchieri” (Three Glasses) by Gambero Rosso, the world’s leading authority on Italian wine.

Wider diurnal temperature variations are the norm in Cugnoli so its white wines tend toward freshness with the potential for development in the cellar, while its Montepulciano wines are some of Abruzzo’s most refined.

A recent visit with Cristiana at her vineyards and cellar confirm what we’ve already tasted in her wines. The main goal of the estate is producing wines that clearly express the characteristics of the land they come from and the specific varieties that have adapted there. In Cristiana’s words: “One of the most important things for me in being a vigneron and making wines is to work just with massal selections. What is so unique in my wines are my biotypes, because they are the historical and authentic clones for each variety that I saved and propagated in order to express and respect the original flavors and aromas. These biotypes are unique and belong just to me, so they today represent the identity of my wines.”

More Wines from Agricola Tiberio

Pecorino (2016)
~$21/bottle Special Price (6-pack mix-and-match) SOLD OUT

Despite its name, there is no direct link between the Pecorino grape and Pecorino cheese. According to local legend, Pecorino gets its name from the sheep (pecora) who would snack on the grapes in the vineyards. The variety was thought to be extinct until it was found growing wild just north of Abruzzo in Marche and began a revival in the 1980s. Tiberio’s seven acres of Pecorino vines are planted on 20 foot deep limestone soils over clay and compacted sand and are some of the oldest in the region. The vines are naturally low yielding with a high total acidity so the wine shows a thrilling combination of rich texture and energy, orchard fruit, sage flowers, salt, stone, and sunshine.

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (2015)
~$18/bottle Special Price (6-pack mix-and-match) SOLD OUT

This is Abruzzo’s Montepulciano grape at its most pure. From a plot of 50+ year old Montepulciano vines grown in clay-calcareous soil. Intense aromas of cherry and flint before dense, sappy fruit with a snappy finish. It’s a versatile red wine that won’t become ponderous in the heat of summer. According to Cristiana, 2015 was a very hot and dry vintage. An early harvest endowed the wines with more concentration and richness of fruit. To live life at its fullest pair a bottle with homemade pizza cooked on your outdoor grill.

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Posted on 2018.06.06 in Saturday Sips Wines, Italy, Abruzzo  |  Read more...

The Champagne Society – June 2018 Selection: Louis Picamelot

$27 Louis Picamelot “Les Reipes” Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut (Crémant de Bourgogne 2014)

$28 Louis Picamelot “En Chazot” Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut (Crémant de Bourgogne 2014)

Price for both bottles to The Champagne Society members: $55 (regular price $65)

We decided to change up our latest offering from The Champagne Society. The June 2018 selection features two bottles from Maison Louis Picamelot, one of the leading producers of Crémant de Bourgogne.

As a French appellation for the regulation of sparkling wines Crémant de Bourgogne came into being only relatively recently but the practice goes back at least a century and a half. Today, Crémant de Bourgogne is a merger of long traditions with some of the strictest rules for sparkling wines in France – including hand-harvesting in whole bunches, the use of small boxes with perforated bottoms, and the same pressing protocols as Champagne.

Maison Louis Picamelot is a small crémant house based in Rully in the Côte Chalonnaise subregion of Burgundy. It is directed by third-generation vigneron Philippe Chautard, who tends his 34 acres of vines with the purpose of creating sparkling wines that show character of place. He views Crémant de Bourgogne as a sparkling wine that should emphasize the diversity of Burgundian terroir rather than play little brother to Champagne. His newly constructed cellar built between the walls of an old quarry harnesses the earth’s natural coolness to age his single vineyard sparkling wines of distinction.

The idea behind this round of The Champagne Society is for you to have fun with these two Crémant de Bourgogne. Invite a few friends over on a warm evening to taste these side-by-side. With the wines being 100% Chardonnay and 100% Pinot Noir respectively, not only will you get a sense of the importance of grape variety and place, you’ll be drinking some great wines.

Louis Picamelot “Les Reipes” Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut (Crémant de Bourgogne 2014)

100% Chardonnay from a well-tended single vineyard site above Saint-Aubin in the Hautes Côtes de Beaune, “Les Reipes” is Phillipe Chautard’s interpretation of a Blanc de Blancs. Strictly hand-picked the fruit is transported in small crates in order to keep whole bunches intact to prevent any risk of oxidation. Grapes are pneumatically pressed and only the first press juice (Coeur de Cuvée) is fermented. The wine was bottled in June of 2015 and aged for over two years before being disgorged on October 2017.

Louis Picamelot “En Chazot” Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut (Crémant de Bourgogne 2014)

100% Pinot Noir from a single vineyard site located on the upper hillsides of Saint-Aubin in Côte de Beaune, “En Chazot” is Phillipe Chautard’s interpretation of a Blanc de Noirs. Strictly hand-picked the fruit is transported in small crates in order to keep whole bunches intact to prevent any risk of oxidation. Grapes are pneumatically pressed and only the first press juice (Coeur de Cuvée) is fermented in stainless steel vats. The wine was bottled in June of 2015 and aged for over two years before being disgorged on November 2017.

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Posted on 2018.06.01 in France, The Champagne Society, Burgundy  |  Read more...

Summertime and the Drinking is Easy with Red & White from Northeastern Spain

The northwestern Spanish wine production zone of Ribeiro is undergoing a renaissance. One of the vanguard producers of this movement is the Bodega of Coto de Gomariz located in the Avia valley near the Atlantic coast where a unique microclimate created by the Avia river causes summers to be hotter than usual and winters to be mild and humid.

Coto de Gomariz was created in 1978 by the Carreiro family. They began the area’s resurgence by recovering a vineyard that Cistercian monks had established in the 10th century. Today, they own close to 70 acres of vineyards. Coto de Gomariz winemaker Xosé Lois Sebio is one of the most admired and exciting names in Ribeiro. He employs both organic and biodynamic viticulture practices in the vineyards and all wines are fermented with indigenous yeasts.

Shisteous, granitic and sandy soils, steep slopes, tiny yields, a unique microclimate, and the farming of the native red and white grapes of the region has allowed Coto de Gomariz to produce some of the most distinctive and expressive wines in Ribeiro.

Coto de Gomariz (Ribeiro 2015) WHITE
~$24 Special Price (6-pack mix-and-match)

The titular white of Coto de Gomariz is composed mainly of Treixadura, with the rest a blend of Godello, Albariño and Loureira grown on granite, schist and clay near the village of Gomariz at an altitude of 450 to 900 feet above sea level. The wine is fermented in stainless steel vats and kept until the following spring when it is bottled according to the Biodynamic calendar. A glassful exudes heady aromas of honey-dipped quince, dusty pastoral lanes, and wildflower meadows in bloom. On the palate the wine is crisp but not thin, with a touch of crabapple and a streaky stone finish. This will be a patio favorite. 4,200 cases are produced annually.

Abadía de Coto de Gomariz (Ribeiro 2012) RED
~$25 Special Price (6-pack mix-and-match)

Abadía de Gomariz is a blend of local red grapes that consists of 50% Sousón complemented with Brancellao, Ferrol and Mencía from the village of Gomariz where soils are granitic with schist and clay. Though fermented in stainless steel, the wine is aged for one year in 300-liter used oak barrels, mostly of French origin, to tame some of the hairy tannins that Sousón can exhibit. With a few years of age, the wine is presently drinking at its peak. A sip is juicy little forest berries with a long and winding cherry pit finish. On the nose, the berry fruit is sweeter with hints of licorice and cream. Give the wine a very slight chill, fire up the grill, and break out the lamb shoulder steaks. Only 2,080 cases produced.

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Posted on 2018.05.30 in Saturday Sips Wines, Spain DO, Ribeiro  |  Read more...

Crowd-Pleasing 2015 White Burgundy

Domaine Sylvain Langoureau (Saint-Aubin 2015)
~$35 Special Price (6-pack mix-and-match) SOLD OUT

Wine pundits are calling 2015 an “extraordinary” vintage throughout the Côte d’Or. Typical of warm and sunny years the 2015 whites are clean, pure and rich, favoring ripe orchard and soft citrus fruits over bracing minerality.

The husband and wife team of Nathalie and Sylvain Langoureau farm about 24 acres of prime vineyards in Saint-Aubin, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet. This is a heart and soul garagiste operation based in the tiny hamlet of Gamay, nestled between Puligny-Montrachet and Saint-Aubin. Sylvain vinifies his wines with ambient yeast and small percentages of new oak. The finished wines are elegant, focused gems produced in very limited quantities.

Sylvain describes 2015 as a vintage of maturity: “…the fruit was super-clean and quite ripe…(the wines) are very rich with fine complexity and just enough supporting acidity to maintain the proper balance. They should drink well young and age over the short to perhaps mid-term and as such should be ideal for those who like their whites on the younger side.”

High up on the back slope of the Côte d’Or behind the Grand Cru of Montrachet, the commune of Saint-Aubin is known for refined white wines and excellent value. Sylvain Langoureau’s 2015 Saint-Aubin exemplifies the vintage and the village. A glassful leads with the heady aromatics of lemon curd pastry with suggestions of pineapple, fennel frond, and wet stone. A sip is creamy yet exquisitely balanced by a mineral streak that lasts through a finish that is touched by just the slightest hint of fresh butter. Break a bottle out next time you need to cement a friendship or just have a plate of seafood that could use a mate.

More 2015 Whites of Domaine Sylvain Langoureau

All prices are based on the purchase of six or more bottles (mix-and-match)
~$44 “Les Frionnes” (Saint-Aubin Premier Cru)
Steep slopes located between the villages of Saint-Aubin and Gamay, where the soil is nearly pure limestone.

~$44 Saint-Aubin “Bas de Vermarain à l’Est” (Saint-Aubin Premier Cru)
A stone’s throw from “Les Frionnes” on the same steep limestone slopes.

~$53 SOLD OUT “Les Houillères” (Chassagne-Montrachet)
Single vineyard on the border of Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet just below the Grand Cru of Montrachet.

~$67 “La Pièce Sous le Bois” (Meursault Premier Cru)
Located just above the plot “Sous le Dos d’Âne.” “La Pièce” designates a patch or a plot of vines, situated in this case, below the wood “Sous le Bois” of Blagny.

~$67 “La Garenne” (Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru)
From vines planted in 1954 on one of the highest Premier Cru slopes in Puligny-Montrachet.

~$67 “Les Chalumeaux” (Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru)
Premier Cru vineyard bordering Meursault and the vineyard of “Sous le Dos d’Âne.”

Reds of Domaine Sylvain Langoureau

~$31 SOLD OUT “Les Voillenots Dessous” (Chassagne Montrachet 2015)
~$31 SOLD OUT “Les Voillenots Dessous” (Chassagne Montrachet 2014)

100% Pinot Noir. Although Chassagne-Montrachet is renowned for its white wines the commune produces just as much red wine. A superb value from a parcel located below the village of Chassagne-Montrachet.

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Posted on 2018.05.23 in Saturday Sips Wines, France, Burgundy  |  Read more...

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