October 2021

‘EOV’ BARGAIN ON A BOURGOGNE BLANC

We’re always on the hunt for high-performance, well-priced Burgundy in all of the colors. This one kind of fell into our laps but we’re happy to take it. There are probably a few things to explain. First is the fact that this Bouchard isn’t the more familiar one. Bouchard is a negociant family that originally came to Burgundy in the mid-1700s to continue their fabric trade. They rather quickly added being a wine merchant to their list of activities. Around 1828, Theodore-Joseph Bouchard set up his own firm as Bouchard Aine, separate from Bouchard Pere though, apparently, both originated from the same family of Michel Bouchard. Both operated continuously and Bouchard Aine was purchased by Jean Claude Boisset in 1993.

It’s always a little nebulous when you try and establish what is in something labeled ‘Bourgogne’. In this case, the grapes come from a few different locals. In Bouchard’s words, the grapes were harvested on selected terroirs in the south of Burgundy, the Maconnais and Côte Chalonnaise with a small part coming from Côte de Beaune vineyards. It has been difficult to profile the 2018 whites as it seems the proposition varies from producer to producer, but this effort had both the fruit and the verve to present itself well.

The Bouchard Aine & Fils Bourgogne Chardonnay 2018 effort hits all the right notes. There is the expected bright acidity that some 2018s lacked, and notes of fresh apple, pear, and floral notes. The palate has weight and expressive fruit, a pleasing core of fruit and lift to the finish. In short a very correct, delightful, engaging bottle of Chardonnay. It got our attention immediately and would have had a bigger play except that, inventory-wise, it was the end of the vintage. The EOV (‘insider’ acronym for ‘end of vintage) price we got did merit mention of this rather attractive Bourgogne as a value. Quantities are modest.

DELICIOUSLY ‘TYPICAL’ VOSNE ROMANEE

There are a lot of reasons to talk about a particular wine. In this case we are mentioning it because it is simply an outstanding example of why people love Burgundy. The Olivier Gard Vosne Romanee Damaudes 2018 hits all of a Burgundy lover’s buttons. At first sip, our seasoned veteran wine buying panel simply stopped for a moment to appreciate this little gem.

As is usually the case in Burgundy, it starts with the dirt. Les Damaudes is a lieu dit (a named vineyard considered elite among ‘villages’ plots) at the top of one of the wine world’s most special hills. It abuts Premier Cru Malconsorts and Dessus de Malconsorts, not far (about 300 feet) from some of the ‘grandest’ of Grand Crus, La Tache, Gaudichots de La Tache, and Le Grande Rue. Talk about a good neighborhood.

The age of the vines for the grapes Gard harvested were an average of 60-years-old. Gard practices sustainable agriculture, uses organic fertilizer and ploughs the rows. The grapes are harvested by hand and sorted on a conveyor. Half of the grapes are whole cluster and half destemmed, macerated at cool temperatures and fermented wit natural yeasts. The juice remains in contact wit the fine lees in light toast Vosges and Allier oak casks, 50% new and 50% year-old, for 18 months

From our point of view, everything clearly went right for Gard in the ripe, generous 2018 vintage. This is a textbook Vosne Romanee with that insistent red and dark cherry fruit lased with effusive spice notes and just a touch of earth. This showcases this village completely. Yes, at $85, it isn’t cheap. But wines from this hill are expensive, with a few of them fetching four or five-digit prices. Relatively speaking this is a bargain for a true, pure Vosne Romanee experience.

Reviews? Not a lot. Gard isn’t that widely distributed or even seen. We’ve got this from Wine Enthusiast, “This wine’s shy nose gives away only a tantalizing notion of black cherry. Alive with both freshness and ripeness, the palate expands into a shimmering canvas of red and dark cherry, densely woven with an edge of conifer perfume. This wine is firm, fresh, elegant and delicious…94 points.”

But this wine isn’t about scores. It’s about authenticity. This is what really good Vosne Romanee is supposed to taste like, and it’s about the joy of consuming it now, or ten years from now.

‘DRY SAUTERNES’ STILL HITS THE HIGH NOTES

More than a decade ago we made something of a discovery. Because of the production time and slowing demand for dessert wines, a couple of the top Sauternes producers decided to take things in a bit of a different direction by taking some of their production and making a modestly price dry white. The first one that crossed our path was a much earlier version of the G de Giraud. We loved it, it was a huge hit, and it has been a pretty consistent part of the program ever since. Floral nose laced with hints of honey, bright and lively in the mouth, with a fresh, lifted, tender finish, it didn’t exactly fill a niche. Rather, it created a whole new option.

The soils here are gravelly, with 80% over sand and 20% over clay. Guiraud is farmed organically and got their certification in 2011. They take the same care with this wine as they do with their Grand Cru dessert wines, hand harvesting into small crates to avoid bruising. The wine is made from 50% Semillon and 50% Sauvignon Blanc from ripe grapes that were not botrytised, and sees seven months is second use oak barrels that held Sauternes the year before.

The 2019 Giraud Sec is another exciting effort in this unique category, arguably one of the better efforts if memory serves. A plump, bright display of apple, peach, quince, apricot and a hint of the honeyed-floral profile one typically associates with Sauternes. Pretty, delicate, tasty and light on its feet, it is extremely versatile with food but can play well as an intriguing aperitif. A -unique, sneaky-good beverage that exists outside expectations, it was an exceptional wine to pioneer and it still surprises.

Typically the critics don’t pay a lot of attention to wines like this as it doesn’t fit nicely into the typical ‘boxes’. But James Suckling’s note is spot on, “This is a dense, waxy white with sliced dried-apple and lemon character, as well as stone and white peaches. It’s full-bodied, flavorful and rich. I like the spicy finish at the end from the Semillon. Really excellent. From organically grown grapes…93 points.”

TASTY, NEW ‘GRAND CRU’ BUBBLES

We haven’t changed our view of Champagne which is to seek out small, terroir-centric producers. Why? Well while blending Champagne like the big houses do creates a pleasing, and more consistent bubbly, the blending tends to negate the element of place. In our minds, if a Champagne can give you the desired personality and flash an element of terroir, we feel the entire experience is elevated.

Soutiran is a family producer located in Ambonnay. It began in the 1950s when Gerard Soutiran, after retiring from his military career, created this Champagne label based on lands of his wife, Solange. The third generation, in the form of Gerard’s granddaughter Valerie and her husband Patrick Renaux joined the company in 1999 and ultimately took the helm of the company. The family owns six hectares of vines primarily in the elite village of Ambonnay. The vines are cultivated sustainably and harvested by hand.

We’re always looking for distinctive bubbly and this property’s Soutiran Champagne Grand Cru Signature really caught our attention. It is interesting to note that only 17 of the 320 villages in Champagne are entitled to use the term Grand Cru, which makes them pretty rare by definition. Ambonnay is great terroir for Pinot Noir and, as designated, the grapes here all come from Grand Cru sites. The blend is 45% Pinot Noir and 55% Chardonnay, with 10% of the cuvee seeing time in barrel. This blend is 56% from the outstanding 2012 vintage and 44% is from prior reserve cuvees. It was bottled in 2015 and disgorged in 2020, giving it five years on the lees.

In their notes among the 10 cuvees they produce it states that this is their best seller. We can see why. The nose offers up plenty of generous apple and peach fruit highlighted with notes of toasted brioche. The palate is creamy and the bead is fine, the round, layered apple, pear, peach and toast across the palate is round and engaging while still maintaining the requisite brightness. There is a creaminess and opulence to the fruit that is driven by the Pinot Noir and, certainly to an extent, by the fruit-driven nature of the 2012 vintage.

Lovely, creamy, classy bubbles from a house we weren’t intimately familiar with, this will find many friends. With all the specificity with Champagne reviews (right down to the lot number), we couldn’t find anything on this specific bottling. Others have been well-reviewed, however, and a good bit of this cuvee came from an excellent vintage in 2012. Delish.

SERIOUSLY GOOD, SEXY 2019 COTE DU RHONE

It has been a great run for the southern Rhone again over the last five vintages (2015-2019). But on a hedonistic level, the 2019 vintage is perhaps the most striking. The wines have opulent, tender, round, engaging fruit and a sleek, supple palate feel right out of the gate. This surprising effort from Domaine de la Solitude is a pretty accurate poster child for what we are talking about.

There’s a lot of history here as the family are direct descendants of the Berberini family of Rome circa the 12^th Century, and have a Pope (Urban VIII) and a couple of Cardinals in their family tree. That probably doesn’t make a lot of difference with respect to what is in the glass. The estate was formed in the 17^th Century and has been in the hands of the Lancon family ever since. It was brothers Michel and Jean that took control of the estate in the 80s and raised the bar and now the estate is under the control of Michel’s son, Florent, who has maintained the traditional styling of the house but kicked up the farming aspects to improve the fruit. The 2019 vintage played nicely into Florent’s hands.

The Domiane de Solitude Cotes du Rhone 2019 is comprised of a selection portion of the traditional varietals of the southern Rhone. It is made up of 50% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 15% Mourvèdre, 10% Cinsault, and the last 5% of Counoise, Terret, Muscardin, and Vaccarèse, all from sustainably farmed grapes. The varietals and vineyard parcels are fermented separately and then blended after an eight-month stay in vats.

The nose is an inviting mélanges of ripe red cherries and berries, with earthy spice and subtle garrigue woven throughout. In the mouth, the wine has a wave of plush, layered, shamelessly outgoing red cherry fruits with flecks of spice, cocoa, and a hint of anise. Tender yet lifted, lush and smooth from front to back, it’s hard to imagine something more likable. It’s a versatile and pretty darned handy choice for a variety of scenarios, particularly at under $14.

BEYOND VINHO VERDE

Most people that are familiar with Portuguese Vinho Verde see it as a delightful but typically simple quaff to accompany appropriate seafood preparations. But not all Vinho Verdes are created equal. Some producers take the wine a bit more seriously. Soalheiro has been a favorite of ours for a long time because, well, there’s just more to it as a rule. They make more than one expression of the genre, but our usual favorite is the one made from straight Alvarinho (the Portuguese name for Albarino). Yeah, it costs a little more than your typical ‘$10 or less’ versions, but there’s much more going on in the glass.

What we had never seen before is this version, Soalheiro Alvarinho Vinho Verde Primeiras Vinhas 2019. The story is that Soalheiro was a pioneer in the creation of Alvarinho wine in Melgaço. In the nineteen seventies (1974 to be exact), a passion for winemaking led João António Cerdeira, with the support of his father, António Esteves Ferreira, to plant the first Alvarinho vines and to create the first brand of Alvarinho in Melgaço in 1982, and one of the first Alvarinho brands in the sub-region of Monção and Melgaço. This area is located in northern Portugal, not terribly far south of Spain’s Raixas Bias region where Albarino thrives.

This particular bottling, which is grown organically and harvested by hand, comes from those original Alvarinho vines planted some 40 years ago (‘primeras vinhas’ means ‘first vines’). It also got a significant and rather exapnsive review from Decanter Magazine, “With two wines in our top 50 ‘Best In Show’of a great grape variety, though, resembles that of a great actor: the ability to subsume its own personality inside that of the place (or the character) it is representing or portraying. Compare this (our first ever Best In Show Vinho Verde) with its Galician peer, and you will see a clear difference. This Portuguese wine is much quieter aromatically — but haunting and tenacious, with hints of linden blossom and wet stone. It’s concentrated, cool, sheer, tongue-freshening … yet tenacious once again, with the presence and force of character which typifies its Moncao e Melgaco origins. That impression of a cool, wet granite landscape somehow conveyed by the wine lingers all the way through the long finish. .. 97 Points.”

You can bet this wine would have been an email for us given the wine’s remarkable expression in the glass, review and price ($26.98). Simply put, there wasn’t enough juice for that. Limited, grab this striking white while you can.

‘BOUND & DETERMINED’ TO DELIVER CAB VALUE

As we have mentioned many times, finding good, well-priced Cabernet Sauvignon, particularly from Napa, is a priority. It’s good business. Cabernet is still king for most wine drinkers and we are well aware of that fact. This latest find came from a winery called “Roots Run Deep” which makes a number of wines We had never seen this one before, a well priced Napa Cab with kind of a funny name, ‘Bound and Determined’, from a vintage that has proven to be somewhat erratic among Napa Cabs, 2017. You may know ‘Roots Run Deep’ from their bottlings that have a label that looks like a chalkboard in an engineer’s office covered with ‘equations’ and is called called “Educated Guess.”

We knew those labels as proper, value-driven bottlings that are competent, but not necessarily thrilling, and the consummate 87-88 scorers. Given those visuals, we didn’t have any preconceived notions or expectations about Bound and Determined. But, as we so often say, that’s why we taste. That’s how you find things and find something we did. Given our experience with the vintage, we were keenly aware to look for hard tannins to poke out from underneath the fruit. There weren’t any, which immediately put this Cabernet in the upper echelon of what we tasted for the vintage.

There was also a deep, sturdy, very attractive core of blackberry and plum with notes of pepper, toast, and cinnamon. The flavors were pure and showed considerable breeding. It had some chew to the finish, but not at all in a bad way. It was more like an honest throwback to another era when Cabernets were less overblown yet it is still bursting with fruit. It delivered everything one could expect from a Napa Cabernet and did so for under $30. That is something worth paying attention to.

The juice for Bound & Determined Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 came from some serious sites in Oakville and Rutherford (which of course we can’t mention), and the ‘breeding’ is clear in the wine’s depth of flavor and healthy, saturated color. We can’t point to massive reviews as the winery doesn’t get a lot of media coverage. We did find a few words from James Suckling however on this and what we presume was the inaugural 2016, “A generous, medium-to-full-bodied red with aromas and flavors of grilled black plums, burnt orange, black peppercorn, praline and toffee. Firm, chewy tannins. Flavorful. Drink or hold…90 points.”

We actually think that 90 point score is a little low but we understand moderately priced ‘unknowns’ aren’t likely to pull down big reviews from the press, even of they are from Napa. We’re more on about price performance, however, and this one excels in that arena. A definite diamond in the rough, this tasty Napa Cab for under $30 is definitely newsworthy.

DONNA LAURA CHIANTI RISERVA ALTEO 2018

We’ve done our part over the years to raise the image of Chianti from the straw fiasco bottles to a wine that should be taken seriously, and a number of high-performing producers have given us the vinous tools to make that point. But a number of scenarios call for a Chianti to simply be that tasty, honest bottle to grab to foil a plate of pasta, risotto, or any one of a number of red wine dishes. It’s important to know who the players are in an important wine area like Chianti. But it is equally important to find quality options for that go-to, guilt-free, ‘house pour’ category as well. It just isn’t as easy to find viable value options that live up to our standards. Donna Laura Chianti Riserva Alteo 2018 is one that does.

The back story here is that the current proprietress of Tolaini, Lia Tolaini Banville, was greatly inspired by her aunt, Laura. The story goes that Banville, on a summer holiday traveling from her birthplace in Canada to her ancestral home outside the city of Lucca at the age of six, Lia met her Aunt Laura for the first time who would become a driving force in her life.

So why are we talking about Lia Totaini-Banville, owner of Banville importing and quality oriented Tolaini estate that produces a number of wines including highly reviewed Legit Cabernet? Well the name Donna Laura is a tribute to her aunt, but this Chianti is produced by Lia. As they tell it, “In 2004 an opportunity arose to write a new chapter in the story, this time at Tolaini Winery in Castelnuovo Berardenga with the production of Lia’s own wine label Donna Laura. A loving tribute to the woman whose lessons of family, tradition and honor would share double billing with Lia’s own heritage…”

We had no idea about the connection at the time we tasted it, but that is a pretty significant demonstration of how the work of quality producers somehow shines through. The Sangiovese grapes for the Alteo (a mashup of the names of Lia’s sons Alessandro and Matteo) are selected in Donna Laura’s vineyards in Castelnuovo Berardenga, one of Chianti’s ‘sweet spots’. They are carefully destemmed in the winery and put immediately into steel vats without crushing. The must is kept in contact with the skins for about 20 days with pumping over every 10 hours and 1 delestage a week.

Chiantis in this price range often suffer from being acidic or undernourished. This is neither, with a lovely, cohesive roundness from front to back to the currant and classic cherry fruit laced with floral notes and a touch of earth. It is a perfect demonstration why you seek little wines made by very conscientious producers as opposed to someone putting together a ‘blend’ to hit a ‘price point’. It’s all about intent. We’ll take it easy on the adjectives but it fulfills its mission nicely, a pleasing, easy drinking, soulful, surprisingly successful ‘riserva’ offering of Chianti from top terroir at a very modest ($11.98) price. You don’t have to tell anyone it cost so little.

MORE MACONNAIS MAGIC FROM TROUILLET-LEBEAU

This is one of three different wines we have talked about from this impressive new producer (to us anyway)in a very short time, There has been a lot of news about this part of Burgundy of late with the initiating of a series of first ever Premier Cru designations for Pouilly. All of that is well and good, but finding a new source like Trouillet-Lebeau is much more relevant for us. You can’t drink titles.

It is composed of vines in six villages that average 40-50-years-old planted in classic clay-limestone soils: Soluté-Pouilly, Fuissé, Loché, Vinzelles, Leynes, and Davayé. The vines are grown sustainably, and tilling is largely carried out to encourage underground soil life and root development to obtain the richness and minerality required for the highest quality wines. In the cellar, grapes are pressed gently using a pneumatic press and decanted rigorously for 24 hours, in order to obtain clear, pure grape juice. All vintages are vinified in oak vats, large barrels or casks from Burgundy, fully respecting the required cool temperatures in order to maintain all of the freshness and finesse of Chardonnay.

The Trouillet-Lebeau Saint Veran les Condemines 2019, as with all of the Trouillet-Lebeau wines we have been presented thus for, has an uncommon depth and richness and distinctive styling for the category. As Saint-Verans go, this one is much more fleshy and fruit driven than the typical examples. From 70-year-old vines in this single vineyard, there is a captivating generosity to this wine and a rather lush texture supported by just enough acidity. Not having had this bottling before, we have no idea how the warm 2019 vintage plays into the whole personality of this wine, but we like the result.

The nose has peach, apple, floral and slightly honeyed tones. In the mouth, the fruit is tender and round and delivers all that the nose promises with a nice little kick of unctuous fruit and acidity at the end. One might suggest there is an almost New World feel to this wine, but the subtle minerality and the way this gentle fruit manifests gives away its Burgundian origins. A very compelling effort, particularly for the price, as we have been saying this is a house to watch.

VALUE CABERNET FROM AN OLD AMIGO

One might question devoting time to a lengthy piece about a wine in this price range. But some of the story is very important by way of differentiation. There are a lot of wines in this kind of price range that are trying to get your attention, but many are concocted labels that, bluntly, aren’t very good. It matters that we have sold Benegas wines in the past, dating back 10-15 years, and we have a history with them.

They have a history as well. Tiburcio Benegas founded Trapiche winery in Mendoza in 1883 and it was sold to the Pulenta family in 1971. Frederico Benegas Lynch lived at the Trapiche winery until it was sold, then in 1999 bought the Fincas Libertad winery which was one of the family’s former properties and Benegas winery was founded.

The key point is that this is a producer with a long history, not some made up ‘brand’, and they make surprisingly soulful wines at a number of price levels. That’s what we recalled about them from our previous experiences at the old location, and that is still true today. Simply, we can’t do this in California for this kind of price because we don’t have the terroir, mature vineyards or appropriate economics to do so. We’ve made that point before so we’ll leave it at that. You can get surprising good Cab outside the U.S. for not a lot of coin if you take the time to look and are willing to ‘kiss a lot of frogs’. We do that for you.

The Benegas Cabernet Sauvignon Mendoza Luna 2019 is 100% Cabernet from Finca Libertad situated at 2800 feet elevation and harvested at lass than four tones an acre, less than a lot of Napa producers who sell their wines for a lot more. This Cab sees four months in barrels to round it out. A great option for under $15, we’re glad to have Benegas back around as we hadn’t seen them in some time. Black fruit, round tannins, surprising substance and a unique chocolate/earth that is particular to a number if the Benegas reds, what’s not to like? There’s surprising character here for a mere $12.

It got nice notes from James Suckling as well, “Pretty, vivid Cabernet Sauvignon with dark currant, fresh tobacco and hints of cedar on both the nose and palate. Medium body, lightly fine tannins and a delicious finish. ..92 points.”