Steve Zanotti – Page 43

BRIEFS

–Keep a close watch on the arrival of the 2015 northern Rhones. The vintage yielded spectacular Syrahs that were at once tender and authoritative, loaded with classic terroir yet engaging from a purely hedonistic sense. Specific names to look for are Durand, Courbis, Ferraton, and Coursodon. If you are shopping ratings, some of these have pretty impressive ratings from Wine Spectator already, and fine range scores from Wine Advocate and Jeb Dunnuck that will surely end up on the higher end when the final reviews are issued. Simply, as time passes these wines will get more ttention and quantities aren’t huge to begin with. Don’t miss out on this epic vintage in the north.

–Not meaning to be sectarian in any way, but it has really been a white Christmas with respect to uncanny deals on Chardonnay. A measly $11 will buy you the spectacular new Novellum Chardonnay 2015 from Domaine Lafage (Wine Advocate 92 and arguably the best in the series, $10.98), consistently one of the best values on the market. Even sillier are the special purchases on the breakout Chilean Ritual Chardonnay 2015 (a James Suckling 93 that we sold well at $15.99, now $9.98!), and the crisp, appealing Thorn-Clarke Mount Crawford Chardonnay Eden Valley 2016 (90s from both Vinous and Wine Spectator, $9.98). This is a remarkable group of Chardonnays for this kind of price, with a special thanks to exceptional vintages and a quirky current market. To find a scenario similar you would need a time machine to go back to the ‘90s to find Chardonnays this good for this kind of tab.

–Just received what we believe to be the best damn bottles of Pinot Noir we’ve ever had form Australia. The new releases from Gary farr’s eponymous label, By Farr, are, in a word, epic. We were blown away by these micro-production gems grown in Victoria just west of Melbourne. Glossy, seductive, spicy, world-class, with that Pinot umami that separates the legends from the rest, these offerings are a must-buy for fans of the genre….

–We’ve managed to pull together a fair cache of older Sauternes all from top vintages, including a number of bits from 2005 that were enthusiastically re-rated by Wine Advocate in June of 2015, a variety of d’Yquem bottlings, and carefully selected stars from more recent collectible vintages. It’s a good time for your sweet tooth. See all Sauternes.

MORE CHAMPAGNE

LOUISE NICAISE BRUT RESERVE PREMIER CRU–This is really something out-of-the-ordinary, a grower Champagne that we can sell for under $30?! Not only that but it is in what we’d call crowd pleasing style. In a world where growers are focusing more on low-dosage cuvees that focus on the terroir that are best served while reading existential prose or financial reports, this young turk’s effort encourages one to don one’s party chapeau. A lot of people will remember this story because it comes from the village of Hautvillers, the village that was the home base of a guy called Dom Perignon way back when. These folks have only been at it for four generations. The most significant event in their history, their daughter Laure marrying Clement Preaux, a serious talent who subsequently kicked up the quality at this estate. He was 25 at the time (in 2007) and had apprenticed with Selosse as well as worked at a Champagne co-op and is now seriously making magic by reducing dosages and kicking up the fruit quality. He still makes a user-friendly style with this blend of 40% Chardonnay and 30% each of the Pinots. A late comer to the lineup, this is one of the best deals of the season thus far.

MARIE COURTIN EXTRA BRUT EFFLORESCENCE (2012)-Named after Dominique Moreau’s grandmother, Marie-Courtin is a small vineyard in the Aube, on a hillside of the Cote des Bars, which seems to be quite the breeding ground these days for a new movement in Champagne. The vision here is to produce single-vineyard, single varietal, single vintage champagnes from biodynamically grown grapes, using native yeasts and no dosage while employing a minimalist intervention philosophy. This area is particularly prized for its Pinot Noir grapes grown on Kimmeridgian/limestone sub soils. The Champagnes retain a freshness similar to Chablis, which is actually physically closer to here than is Reims! The grapes for this cuvee were harvested from the bottom of the hill because there is more clay, a favorite soil for Pinot Noir. The wine manages to maintain a Pinot-y vibe yet remain thrillingly light on its feet. A 94 point score from Galloni who called it, “A complete and wonderfully nuanced wine…fabulous…bright and sculpted.”

DE SAINT GALL GRAND CRU BLANC DE BLANCS CUVEE ORPALE 2002-Great old Champagne is something of a luxury and it’s pretty special when we can find something that shows a true picture of older bubbly yet still has a reasonably broad appeal. Some folks have a little trouble with older bubbles because of expectations. People like the idea of aged Champagne, but also expect it will have the same aggressive fizz and nervy brightness of a younger bottling. Instead there will be a much lower pace to the bubbles, a creamier palate feel, and a slightly more caramelly/doughy bent to the flavors. Still the 2002 vintage leans a bit more delicate and this one has a freshness that sets it apart from a lot of older bottlings. A Suckling 96 on this tete de cuvee from a cooperative, the $59 fare is definitely a bonus, and loose comparisons were made to Taittinger Comte de Champagne in another piece we read. Fresh, vibrant, yet chock full of the classic toasty, doughy aromas that mark older cuvees, this wine captures the dense fruit character of this outstanding vintage.

PHILIPPONNAT BRUT ROYALE RESERVE-It’s hard to verbalize something like Philipponnat. Not the first name most people think of for Champagne because they don’t do a lot of the mass market stuff other more visible Champagne houses do, though their signature Clos de Goisses has an ardent following. They have an excellent reputation as a solid go-to and we’ve had their Brut Royale and rose a number of times and it always pleases. As it has been with so many others, however, the juice from the 2012 vintage moved many a really good guy up a couple more notches in quality. So it is here. The blend is 65% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay, and 5% Pinot Meunier, made from first press juice of mainly Grand and Premier Crus (label). Not to beat the proverbial cheval, but here again the 2012 vintage elevates and expands creating the best example of this in years. The style here is certainly more ‘vinous’ but not in a zero dosage type of way. That sense of lower atmospheres gives the wine a rounder palate feel, enriched further by the density of the fruit of the vintage. However, the wine still remains light on its feet, delivering a clean, vibrant yet full-bodied bubbly.

WARIS-HUBERT GRAND CRU CHARDONNAY AVIZE-Yeah this one is something of an indulgence of ours from a commercial standpoint, and definitely off the radar. This label, which looks loosely like some sort of custom bottling for a wedding, is actually that of a husband and wife team that merged their family properties with their marriage back in 1997. They definitely owned dirt in the high rent district in the Cote des Blancs, possessing vines in both Avize and Cramant. Vines are over 20-years-old here, and this is strictly from the first press of Grand Cru Chardonnay grapes. As is seemingly more the fashion these days, these folks produce no-dosage cuvees. Avize is home to such luminaries as Selosse and this wine follows in that path though more classically ‘bubbly’ in its presentation. Certainly more ‘culinary’ in style, this fizz shines with a near-Teutonic white rock minerality and white chocolate essence to the Chardonnay fruit, with a broad-yet-focused mid-palate.

VIE DI ROMANS: FRIULI SUPERSTAR

Because of what we do, it is not unusual for us to be asked what our favorite wines are. There are a couple of recurring scenarios that occur as we try and answer the question honestly and not sound like we’re too above it all. If you have only tasted two wines in your life, the answer to the question is quite simple. But when you have tasted literally hundreds of thousands, it’s hard to narrow favorites down even to a couple hundred wines, let alone one or two.

The categories that get our attention can be pretty esoteric as well. For example one of our favorite places for white wines is northeastern Italy. Here in the hills that elevate into the Alps there are high valleys with crystal clean air, bright sunshine and cool nights that create wines like nowhere else in the world. Pure, insistent, remarkably expressive and lively on the palate, perfect foils to a wide variety of foods, the wines from this part of the world have a special character and vigor.

People ask us to name some of our favorites from the region and then have puzzled looks on their faces when we point to wines like Val Isarco, Abbazia di Novacella, Schiopetto, and Cantina Terlano. None of them are exactly household words even among a lot of serious wine cognoscenti. One of our absolute favorites is the subject of today’s offer, a brilliant white wine house in Friuli called Vie di Romans.

We identified these folks as one of the best-of-the-best in the region a very long time ago, and have always jumped at the chance to taste their newest wares. Unfortunately, such chances have come far less often than we would have liked. For one, the wines have not had consistent distribution over the years. Most suppliers don’t have a lot of patience to try and develop higher priced Italian whites. Also, because the wines cost quite a bit more than your run-of-the-mill Friulanos, Pinot Grigios, and Sauvignons, suppliers are more reluctant to show them. The perfectly valid opinion is that most restaurant/retail buyers would find them too pricey to work into standard scenarios.

We’d have to admit ourselves that we have shied away from some pretty stupendous efforts from Vie di Romans simply because we presumed people would be hesitant to spend the additional coin even though these soar above the crowd. People figure they can get ‘good’ Pinot Grigio for $15-16 while Vie di Romans version is closer to $30. Yet there is no comparison. The VdR is richer, more driving and more complex, simply a wine unto itself with dazzling acidity and palate length that bears little resemblance to most of the vapid Pinot Grigios on the marketplace.

We know such wines are not the easiest sell. Sometimes, even against our better ‘marketing’ judgment, we buy them anyway. The very best simply cost more, and these wines deserve the spotlight. So it was with this riveting Sauvignon Blanc duet from Vie di Romans… driving fruit, insistent palate length and mouth- watering acidity.

The single-vineyard Vie di Romans Sauvignon Blanc Piere Friuli Isonzo 2015 simply smells and tastes like something from another strata. There’s power, finesse, and complex flavors of grapefruit, stones, and apple, along with the classically Italian note of tomato leaves. Oak would damage the wine’s purity, so ‘Piere’ is done entirely in stainless steel with an eight month sojourn on the lies and no malo-lactic. The result is a sleek, vividly flavored effort that can play with Sauvignon s costing a lot more. James Suckling’s take, “Plenty of sliced apple, grass and fennel seed character. Medium body, tangy acidity and a smoky, slate aftertaste. Always excellent. Drink now… 93 Points!” You can drink it now, but this meticulously crafted Sauvignon can age as well.

The Vie di Romans Sauvignon Blanc Vieris Friuli Isonzo 2015 kicks it up a notch. It has everything that the Piere has, but more, and with a little different twist to the flavor profile! More palate authority, intensity, and high-toned fruit, plus this one reaches a little into the realm of exotic fruit tones. The main difference between the two is that Piere consists of a higher percentage of Italian clones, whereas the Vieris favors French clones. The vines are a little older here, and Vieris spends nine months on the lies. Again, what a wine…surprising punch yet with an uncommon refinement. Suckling went a little cheerleader on this one, “This is really exotic with peaches, mangoes and grapefruits as well as a steely undertone. Full body, plenty of fruit and a powerful finish. One of the great whites of Italy. Drink now… 96 Points!”

One of the great whites of Italy? Indeed, they both are. Considering they are legitimate best-of-breed, the prices actually don’t seem out of line. You get what you pay for, and these are the works of masters. Treat yourself.

A NEW OPPORTUNITY ON SOME OLDER LA NERTHE CHATEAUNEUF

Over the years we have had the opportunity to observe all facets of the wine business. One thing that has always been a little quirky (OK, there are a lot of quirky things but that’s a piece for another day) is how older wines get distributed. People wonder where we get all of the older Bordeaux we come up with on a regular basis. The answer is simple…they are out there. They are out there because there is an established, rather vibrant market supported by the negociants from older stocks, library holdings of some sort from most of the top chateaux, ‘exchanges’ of sorts like the one called ‘Livex’ where dealers all over the world can trade among themselves, and of course auction houses where consumers can buy or sell personal holdings. That’s a lot of options, and no other genre has anything close to that.

For most everything else, one is relegated to finding older goods as they resurface in the auction market. The frequency with which things appear there has a lot to do with the goods themselves. Bordeaux and older domestic wines are most common because those are the most popular categories overall and fueled by a certain level of speculative buying. At the other end of the spectrum, you see very little from certain categories like Burgundy and Rhone because those buyer purchase such wines to drink and very few scenarios would motivate them to part with those wines. Very few of the producers themselves keep healthy back stocks for an extensive set of reasons we won’t get into here.

Our point here is that opportunities to buy older vintages of top quality Chateauneufs are rare by definition, and clearly something this rare and unique even more so. The Chateau La Nerthe Chateauneuf Du Pape 2007 was a remarkably delicious surprise that appeared before us very recently. You simply don’t see a lot of 10-year-old Chateauneuf from iconic vintages floating around out there, period, let alone with compelling reviews at palatable prices.

The wine is a textbook example of what a well-made Chateauneuf from a ripe vintage should be, a little bit of grilled herbs to the inviting nose of confectionary cherries, some spice and pepper woven into the lush, kirschy palate, resolved acidity, and resolved ripe tannins. The quality of this particular bottling was enhanced because the domaine chose not to bottle their reserve Cuvee Cadettes and added that juice to this cuvee. Why they would do that in a vintage of this caliber is anyone’s guess But that is the fact and clearly that took this wine to another level.

There are compelling notes from Robert Parker and a 93-point score back in issue 185 (October, 2009), but we’d suggest even more relevance to the notes from Jeb Dunnuck in a 10-year Chateauneuf retrospective in February of 2017, “Still youthful and not yet fully mature, the 2007 Châteauneuf du Pape (which includes all the grapes that would normally have gone into the declassified Cuvee Cadettes) is full-bodied and impeccably balanced, with a fresh, focused bouquet of cassis, licorice and charred meats. This cuvee always ages beautifully, and this is one of the more fresh, lively and focused 2007s out there–and it still has present tannin. It’s certainly enjoyable today but should be even better with a year or two of additional cellaring…94 points.”

Great older wine isn’t easy to get, great old Chateauneuf is super rare. So take the time to reward yourself for the holidays, or for whatever reason you want, with this very special edition of Chateau la Nerthe. Just don’t take too long (there’s not a lot).

Champagne, Part Two: Our Holiday Picks

Previously we broached the subject of what is happening in the wine world regarding Champagne in the ‘macro’ sense. As we have said tirelessly, we don’t believe Champagne is festivity specific. One can and should open a great bubbly any time for any reason. But we have come to accept that, since the industry acts like Champagne is a holiday thing and presents it accordingly, this is the time of year when people have been trained to listen. To restate our case, our muse is smaller production and preferably grower generated Champagnes. There are plenty of big houses telling their story via slick marketing displays in stores and restaurants, magazine ads and even T.V. spots. We choose to highlight the unique and, we think, more compelling choices.

Hey, we aren’t against large production, good bubbles. They serve their purpose, and are an easy grab for a lot of folks who want to serve something their guests have heard of or give a gift where the label has a certain, albeit media-created cachet. We’ll drink Bollinger, Pol Roger, or the like any time someone is pouring, as long as we aren’t buying. There are two things that are relevant there, presuming it is a style we like. First, a lot of ‘corporate’ type bubblies have raised prices in recent years because they’re committed to creating a ‘prestige’ image for their brands. In short, they want to charge you more so you can feel better about yourself and your purchase. Isn’t that kind of them.

Second, and painfully obvious to us but most people don’t see it, is that these big house Champagnes have more marketing layers as a rule. Typically there’s not only an in-house marketing infrastructure but an importer bringing it in (and putting his markup on it) and selling it to a wholesaler (who puts his margin on it). This can add another bump (or two) to the prices and push those wines into another marketing strata altogether where what you get in the bottle may not be the best choice for the elevated price vis-a-vis what else is out there. While it will sound crazy, besides that fact that we feel we get more nuance in grower bubbles thanks to the terroir specificity, they often turn out to be a much better deal in a direct comparison of what is in the bottle.

Some of the names here you may recognize if you have been following us or other hardcore Champagne lovers over the years, others may not be familiar as we find new things all the time. What adds a little more ‘juice’ to this particular round of Champagnes, both the non-vintage and vintage bottling, is the vintage. The vintage matters in Champagne for a couple of reasons. First, of course, is that vintage Champagnes are only made in better years and occasionally one turns out to be really special like 1996, 2002, and 2008. Well the 2012 vintage is one of those top flight vintages and the vintage dated stuff has been generally fabulous.

As to the non-vintage cuvees, sure they are a blend of vintages. Blending is how all of the champenoise large and small keep their regular cuvees consistent (as much as they can) year in and year out. The addition of juice from a great vintage like 2012 (and 2013 was no slouch either) kicks the whole blend up a few notches. The explosive fruit and superb balance of 2012 has had a rather dramatic effect on a number of these non-vintage efforts. Without sounding like those pizza ads commonly seen during televised sporting events…’better ingredients, better bubbles’.

We will admit that, even though we don’t necessarily like the trend to deliberately drier Champagnes and lower dosages as too many of the wines come off as ‘angry’, this lineup runs drier across the board that any list we have presented before. It is a hard style to do well. But these practitioners, with a bit of help from a generous vintage, have done some impressive work. In summation, it’s a great time for Champagne, and here are a few things we particularly like this time around.

HENRI BILLIOT BRUT RESERVE GRAND CRU–We’ll start right here with one of the consistent players in our lineup through the years has been a frequent player here. There were a couple of vintages that were perhaps a bit less precise and pleasing as the last generation kind of wound down. But it is back to being an engaging drink in a fruit driven, possibly even robust style as they rebound nicely under daughter Letitia Billiot’s watch. All Grand Cru fruit from their holdings in Ambonnay and Montagne de Reims, we couldn’t run down the exact cepage here (older notes show about 80%Pinot ) but the flavors clearly suggest Pinot Noir is the lead player here. Big, creamy and mouth-filling with apple and pear flavors with some toasty dough and a whiff of citrus, and maybe a touch of chewiness, it is broad yet lifted, outgoing bubbly.

HENRI BILLIOT BRUT GRAND CRU 2012– This blend of 70% Pinot and 30% Chardonnay is from the older parcels. Deep color, even bolder flavors, apple cobbler, toast and that open, broad palate style, this one shows more of an underlying chalky minerality as a counter-balance to the gregarious fruit notes. Again outgoing is the operative word that takes the style of the house to an elite level on the back of the gushing fruit that defines the vintage. This is, again, a ‘bigger’ Champagne, perhaps a little drier than their typical impression but with plenty of fruit to give you that Billiot experience. A Galloni 91 with the suggestion of a little bottle age, this is an intense Champagne with a dry, but not too dry (6gl) bent that’s for Champagne hardcores.

GASTON CHIQUET BRUT TRADITION– Gaston Chiquet’s style is finely tuned and precise, which depends a lot on the vintage to make everything work. Some years are a near miss but this time around the wines impressed like we haven’t experienced in a long time. We’ll use some of importer Terry Theise’s insider, albeit quirky descriptors. “In essence this wine combines the pumpernickel-sweetness of Meunier with a walnutty richness typical of this part of the Marne, and what makes it most wonderful is that it’s both extremely articulate and openly friendly.” It is a classy, defined, and really together Champagne with a slightly more savory bent, but sleek and elegant front t back. Citrus, apple, toast, fine bead, the mix is 40% Pinot Meunier, 35% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir. Theise calls it, ‘otherwise…saltier than usual, with somewhat more power and length.’ Our take is that you can’t pull off this style without really good fruit and, while we don’t buy Chiquet every year, when we like it, we really like it. Antonio Galloni’s notes, “ (2012 base wine) The NV Brut Tradition is creamy, supple and inviting, all qualities that make it an excellent choice for drinking now and over the next few years. Dried flowers, chamomile, mint, pastry and orchard fruit, along with more exotic overtones, give the Tradition its distinctive personality.” We think the 90 point score is kind of conservative.

GASTON CHIQUET BLANC DE BLANCS D’AY GRAND CRU–Definitely a dramatic step up and well as a distinctly different profile here from the powerful Chardonnay grapes grown in Ay. The cuvee is all 2012 which elevates the richness of the mid-palate while still keeping in tune with the toasty, doughy profile. Theise compares it to Bollinger stylistically which is fine as far as giving you a reasonable idea of what to expect, but we think that the somewhat richer fruit component gives it more dimension. It delivers the impression of terroir while still giving pleasure, something a lot of the ‘artisans’ seem to have forgotten. Creamy and fruit driven but not sweet.

DRAPPIER BRUT CARTE D’OR NV–We can barely remember the first time we sold Drapppier’s Champagne as it was back in the original location some time in the late 1980s. But this Pinot Noir centric Champagne has always been a favorite when it’s available (like a lot of smaller Champagne houses, they aren’t always distributed on the market) and the price is right. Fresh apples, pears, a moderate bead, and fine, round palate feel, we have often referred to this tongue-in-cheek as a junior, junior Crystal because of the Pinot flavor profile. Certainly one of the more broadly appealing styles, this is a particularly savvy buy at its current price. It’s in a style of which we say, “if you don’t like this, you don’t like Champagne…and probably not puppies or rainbows either.”

VILMART & CIE GRAND CELLIER D’OR 2012-Simply put, if Vilmart was a little cheaper, it would be dangerous. By that we mean if this was in the $40-50 range, it would be hard to drink anything else. It costs a little more because they seem to be working on a different plane than most houses. It is one of the best examples of a precise, delicate, yet engaging bubbly. Fine bubbles, refined texture, plenty of nuance with floral, pear and yellow stone fruit, citrus, brioche/pastry, and some nuttiness all nicely played against each other. This one doesn’t club you, it invites your attention with the volume ‘just so’ and exhibits class at every turn. The 2012 vintage, as it has in so many cases, adds a little amplitude to the wine without changing the style. Among the more restrained stylistically but with a lot going on, this has been a favorite particularly over the last few vintages. Said Antonio Galloni, ‘Vilmart’s 2012 Grand Cellier d’Or is bold, racy and seductive, with all of the radiance of the vintage very much in evidence. ” ‘Bigger’ Champagnes might pull down bigger scores in a tasteoff (though the 2007, 2009, and 2010 all got 94’s from Spectator and we think this one is better), but one-on-one this is a winner.

PIERRE PAILLARD LES PARCELLES GRAND CRU EXTRA-BRUT NV-We’ve gone out of our way to try as many Champagnes as we can for a long time. But very few made the immediate impression on us that Pierre Paillard did when he first came to market here some 5 years ago. The name is familiar because Pierre’s cousin Bruno has been in and out of the market for quite some time but the styles show no familial resemblance. Plus Pierre is a grower with holdings in Bouzy, one of the elite Grand Crus for Pinot Noir in particular. This is 60% Pinot and 40% Chardonnay but Pinot from this part of Chamapgne is both distinctive and powerful with insistent, long flavors and aromas of toasted bread, pear nectar and a honeyed highlight, all done with a dosage that is slightly under 3gl (which is quite dry). To have something play this well at this low a dosage is a rare feat but, like we said, we knew this guy was special the first time around. Two-thirds of this cuvee is 2012 vintage which creams out the mid-palate nicely. Drier and more serious compared to price peers, this is a must and arguably one of the more important tasting cuvees in this price range.

PIERRE PAILLARD LES MAILLERETTES GRAND CRU EXTRA-BRUT BLANC DE NOIRS 2012–Our problem with the two designated 2012 bottlings is a simple one. We know very well from a marketing perspective it is always better to focus on a single selection from a particular price/style strata and a single producer. Multiple choices from the same label causes confusion for buyers and often less is sold of the two combined than when one is presented solo. Even knowing that, we still couldn’t decide. At least one is Blanc de Noir and the other Blanc de Blanc. This is a single varietal (Pinot) from a single parcel and a single vintage. It has the classic apple turnover flavors with apple skin undercurrents here make beautiful music together, and there’s a great impression of fruit and roundness even without evident sweetness. Very hard to do but Paillard has shown ‘mad skills’.

PIERRE PAILLARD LES MOTTELETTES GRAND CRU EXTRA-BRUT BLANC DE BLANCS 2012–This is 100% Chardonnay from a single vineyard planted in 1961 with a layer of solid chalk a few inches under the surface. The dosage here is under 2gl yet the wine sports plenty of citrus and white peach fruit edged in toasty dough (croissant?), salinity, and minerality. Very fine bubbles, this isn’t necessarily ‘big’ but very cohesive and long on the plate. Elegant but insistent, this has layers and intensity but also surprising harmony and refinement. Given the performance, we dare say this paor of single parcel efforts are a bargain for something that could definitely run with ‘bigger dogs’. We loved both of these and they are well priced for a ‘hot’ vintage.

More to come…

FABULOUS FAURY

Everyone pretty much accepts that axiom that wine is subjective. Not everybody has the same palate memory, tasting experience, or even the same physical ability to taste wine (or anything for that matter). Even among ‘experts’ there are a widely varied opinions as to what defines a ‘great’ wine. We could write pages (and have) on all of the things that determine and effect how a wine is perceived beyond the wine itself. But our purpose today is merely to define our terms for this specific case.

The definition of ‘great’ depends on the format. The winner of a mass tasting is often the wine that overpowers, or might be the most expressive on that day. Does that mean its great? To some people maybe so. But our enthusiasm for this pair from Faury, the Cote Rotie 2015 and Condrieu 2015, stems from their achievement of an ideal. We’ll explain.

Yeah, we have been fans of Faury, an estate in the Northern Rhone, for a long time. The wines have always been round, engaging, and well priced. Philippe Faury founded the estate in 1979 and his son joined him in 2006, and it seems like they have been doing their best work of late. The 2015s, not surprisingly, have been uniformly exciting from top to bottom. But the pair we mentioned earlier kind of took us aback.

They are not the ‘biggest’, most aggressive wines we have had, nor would we guarantee they would win some knock down tasting event. But without trying to sound presumptuous, the appeal with this particular pair was the proximity to what some might call ‘perfection’. We are defining that as the wines performing beautifully to the ‘benchmark’ of their particular genre. Simply put, they are sensational examples that you would describe exactly as how they might be described in a textbook.

We have gone into detail about how difficult it is to get Viognier right. It is a capricious grape that can go from lean and undernourished to dumpy and flabby in short order. If you were to describe the perfect Condrieu, it would be a wine with richness in midpalate, but not too much, supported by enough acidity for lift, but not too much, with just the right amount of tension between all of the components to sit perfectly centered on the palate. The flavors would range from pear to peach to apple, with a slightly honeyed note and layers of spice tones.

With the Faury Condrieu 2015, you get exactly that. Round enough to deliver and luxurious mouth feel and yet it sits high on the palate, perfectly proportioned, delicious but not overbearing Condrieu from vines planted between 1976 and 2007 in granite soils, this is exactly what it should be.

Perfect Cote Rotie? Great Cote Rotie has a lovely core of blackberry fruit with streaks of mineral, smoke and bacon, ripe tannins, refined acidity, but also the best examples sport an almost Burgundian elegance. Here we have a winner, lovely fruit, nicely proportioned with everything in harmony, plenty of style but not heavy or ponderous. From schist and clay soils, the vines on this 1.7 hectare parcel were planted between 1976 and 2007, this one excels by virtue of its stylish execution of typicite.

If you are looking to be bowled over with overt power, that’s not what these are about. Nor should they be. Here we are talking about a couple of truly delightful wines that excel because they are refined, well executed, captivating examples of exactly what they are supposed to be. Brilliance without excess, it doesn’t hurt that they are attractively priced for their categories to boot.

Serious Saumur

We often make the joke that if a purveyor brings an average wine buyer three wines, he will buy one. If they bring him 10, he will buy one. We are geared a little differently. We don’t believe in token buys. If we taste 20 wines and aren’t thoroughly jazzed with any of them, we buy zero. By the same token, if someone brings in three exceptional wines, we’ll buy all three. That happened on the day we tasted the Haut Baigneux wines. The purveyor also had in tow the Yvonne Saumur Blanc 2015, which thrilled even given the stiff competition.

There has been vineyards around this chateau in Parnay since the Middle-ages and the building itself dates back to the 1500s. It was abandoned when Yvonne and Jean-François Lamunière took over here in 1997 with the intent of revitalizing the estate. Matheiu Vallee took over in 2007 and kept their name on the property as an hommage to the work the Lamunières had done. The property has been organic since 1997 and went biodynamic in 2012.

There are 3 hectares of Chenin Blanc in clay-over-tuffeau (the fine grained local limestone). Perhaps a little more intentional gravitas here, the wine is fermented slowly over four months and malolactic occurs in oak, 30% new, and it is bottled unfiltered. Oak doesn’t always play well with Chenin but it is clearly enlightened and perfectly integrated in this case. There are a few more ‘bass’ notes to the quince and yellow pit fruit flavors, with a little more Chardonnay like feel in the mouth and a salty character that is somewhat Chablis like. Serious stuff here.

VALSACRO: RETURN OF AN OLD FRIEND

It seemed appropriate to say a word about how wine gets here. The answer is, of course, any way we can do it depending on how good it is, which will determine how much trouble we are willing to go to. Sometimes we buy direct from the winery here, or on the open market in Europe, and bring it in ourselves. With wines outside the U.S. there is usually an importer involved. Some importing companies are large, corporate types, and some are ‘shoestring’ operations, with everything in between. It is from this vast array of sources that we can put together a significant selection of wines to suit all manner of tastes.

Usually an importer will work through a purveyor within a given state because they like ‘boots on the ground’. In some states, they don’t have another choice. There are instances where an importer’s portfolio is larger than their chosen purveyor can/will handle. One of the importer’s options in California is to create their own alternative, more targeted sales format to offer items that his in-state purveyor is not working with. On the plus side, we get to see a few other things that we wouldn’t otherwise have access to. On the flip side, there isn’t a local ‘staging area’ for the wines. So buys come via long range shipments of substantial quantities, or not at all since it isn’t practical to just get a case or two. Such a system sometimes has huge benefits for us, and therefore you. But continuity of the product over time often suffers. Vinsacro Rioja is one of those stories.

It was nearly a decade ago we were first presented with Valsacro wines. The ‘Valsacro’ Dioro 2001 was a particularly memorable, classy, hedonistic offering. We saved a few bottles for ourselves and consumed them with gusto over the next couple of years. It was a hard wine not to like, in an engaging, tender, fruit driven style.

Sadly, after that 2001, we didn’t see it any more. The importer Kysela Pere et Fils, was involved with a number of different purveyors over the next few years, something of a shakeout period in the wholesale market. Kysela ‘changed horses’ a time or two, a couple of them closed). Valsacro (as we knew it before) never showed up at any of them. Recently, the importer decided to reintroduce the wine to the marketplace on his own. The winery had changed the name from ‘Valsacro’ to ‘Vinsacro’ (no idea why), but the beautifully textured blackberry/plum juice, and distinctive dusty spice notes caused the memories to come flooding back as soon as we tasted it.

Not only was the ‘Vinscro’ back, the bottling we were presented was from another spectacular vintage, 2010.. The Vinsacro Rioja Dioro 2010 is clearly a reserve level bottling even though the label doesn’t bear the ‘traditional’ wording. In the glass it definitely shows its breeding with dense, plush red and black fruit, pronounced spice, tender edges and ripe tannins. Supple and almost pandering in the mouth, it echoes the philosophy of Vinsacro’s winemaker that ‘wine is to enjoy’.

The vineyard consists of a 120 acre estate on the southern slope of Mount Yerga in the Rioja Baja near the border with Navarra. The Escudero family (who own Vinsacro) has owned this parcel for four generations. The soils here are poor, stony calcerous clay, perfect for grapes. The vineyard is a century old and the grapes are planted to afield blend that the family refers to as ‘Vidau’. The grapes are hand harvested into small crates and the Dioro goes through four separate steps in the selection process, ending up as a ‘best barrels’ cuvee. The lead player in this Rioja is Tempranillo (50%), but there’s a good bit of ‘other’ as well (20% Garnacha, 10% Mazuelo, 10% Graciano, 5% Monastrell and 5% Bobal). Tasting this was déjà vu in the best possible way.

Apparently Wine Advocate’s Luiz Gutierrez was as taken with the Dioro as we were, saying “The 2010 Vinsacro Dioro opens to an explosion of flowers and ripe blueberries that is very perfumed. It feels quite modern and aromatic with well-integrated oak and a luscious palate. This is produced from a field blend they call Vidau, which, in their case it is approximately 50% Garnacha, 30% Tempranillo and a myriad of other grapes like Graciano and even Monastrell. The wine aged in brand new French oak barrels for 17 months, and it’s clearly a high-end wine with aspirations…92 points.”

Aspirations, indeed! That is the best part of our little reunion with Vinsacro. Luis in Advocate shows a list price of $46. Thanks to some sort of ‘market mechanics,’ we are able to offer this luscious Rioja for $ 17.98. Given the wine and the price, rest assured we’ve got ours. Seriously good, deliciously drinkable (surely the bottle age helped as well), you need some of this special juice for yourself .

TRADITIONAL HOLIDAY MESSAGE: WINES FOR THE BIRD, AND OTHER FAVORITES

We interrupt our originally scheduled rant to bring an important message…holy smokes it’s November! Yeah, it kind of snuck up on us again as we were scurrying around trying to find delicious deals and innovative new sources of fermented grape juice.

We realize there are folks that have it all planned from their own cellar stock. But there are others who treat this family holiday differently than they would a dinner or event with their ‘wine and food’ friends. Ours is neither to judge, nor comment on prices because that is up to everyone’s discretion and based on their individual needs.

We’re merely here to comment on some categories that we think work well with the Thanksgiving bird. Isn’t it the same stuff every year? To a point, yes. The ‘basics’ still apply. No matter how it is cooked, turkey is still fowl and tolerates a wide range of wine choices. It is less about the bird and more about the stuffing and other accoutrement in determining which choices might prove most complimentary.

Every year is different wine-wise as well. There are some categories hitting a high note this year, and others that are at a nadir. For the most part this year offers more potential choices in what we feel are the ‘right’ categories. Our basic rule of thumb is that, given the varied goodies that will be on the holiday table, whites should have good acidity and little or no oak, and it’s a fine spot for something with a little residual sugar. As for reds, bright fruit, light to medium body, and not a lot of tannin or obvious wood work best. Again a bit of underlying acidity is a good thing, and large framed, oaky, high alcohol wines can get tiresome over the course of the meal.

For those ‘big reds’(Cabernet, Bordeaux, Syrah), save them for hearty beef or lamb roasts. Acidity is good, wood and tannins not so much with fowl. These are our favorite red plays with the bird.

Pinot Noir-The fruit driven, bright fruit of a Pinot marries beautifully with roast, smoked, or fried bird. These are wonderful times for Pinot fans as California has been rolling out the hits and there are plenty of 2012 and 2013 examples on the shelves, with a few 2014s now in the mix, a vintage that has a real elegant tender edge that makes them pretty serviceable. Oregon has plenty of good stuff, too, particularly the outstanding 2014s and remaining 2012s. Burgundy? Of course, if the budget allows.

Beaujolais–This is also the ‘near perfect’ choice always and one we have been recommending for ages. But this year is particularly exciting given the arrival of the bold, expressive 2015s and the remaining tender, elegant 2014s. Serving them with a slight chill offers another dimension to the folks at the table. Not everybody ‘gets’ room temperature. Forget the still travel-shocked 2016 ‘nouveau’ when even the ‘little’ 2015 Beaujolais are lovely, juicy glassfuls.

Rioja-Somehow you knew we’d get there but the elegance, versatility, and the bottle age of reservas and gran reservas make them crowd pleasing choices. Spanish wine for an American holiday? Heck yeah.

Chianti- Sangiovese works nicely particularly on tables where the food choices have a more savory bent. The 2015s are quite juicy.

If Thanksgiving is a ‘white night’ for you, there are lots of unique options this time around that didn’t exist last year. The key is fresh, bright flavors, lifted acidity, and little or no oak. Again the choice has a lot to do with the sides because turkey itself is pretty versatile. Spanish Albarinos, Portuguese versions of the same, white Rhones, and a host of things from northeastern Italy (Kerner, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco, Friulano, etc.) are as good as they have been since the benchmark 2010s, maybe better. The 2016s have even a bit more drive. Consider this a blanket recommendation.

Riesling- Crowd pleasers and the kind of wines that far too many people deny even liking (until they taste it). We are not fans of the new ‘trocken’ movement in Germany and find the majority of the examples either under nourished or over priced. That being said, classic German Riesling at the kabinett (fruity) and halb-trocken or fienherb (medium dry) level are always lovely choices, particularly from the 2015 vintage. If you want dry Riesling, the Australians and Austrians do fine work with the 2015s from Austria particularly noteworthy.

Pinot Blanc- We are referring to the examples from Alsace rather than the bigger, often oaky California versions, though there are some Oregon efforts that will work also. Pinot Blanc definitely plays well in a ‘supporting role’ and rarely calls attention to itself…until the bottle is empty.

White Bordeaux- People are surely waiting for us to say Sauvignon Blanc or Sancerre. Hey the 2015 Sancerres are knockout, but the pungent edge, while gorgeous with a plate full of oysters or mussels, can run afoul of some of the varied things on a lot of Thanksgiving tables. The Bordeaux versions, tempered with Semillon and Muscadelle, play more to the melons and minerals profile with less of the lime/grapefruit edge.

Wild Cards- We aren’t deliberately trying to frighten people here. But sometimes they need a nudge to try something new. The 2015 vintage in Austria is the ‘year of the Gruner Veltliner’, with so many examples carrying the classic terroir-driven stony flavors, but also with more stuffing in the middle and stone fruit flavors adding another gear and dimension that we can’t remember in any recent crop. Our wildest card? Muscat from Alsace, with a super spicy nose that says sweet, but a bone dry cut to clean the palate.

We could go on, and certainly haven’t covered all the possibilities. But this is where our heads will be spinning as we are out looking at the shelves for our own holiday plans. It is a particularly bountiful year in some of our favorite categories for Thanksgiving service. Of course, if you can’t decide, there is always Champagne! Happy Thanksgiving.

BERTHAUT-GERBET: A REFRESHING NEW FACE

We had a recent rant about how predictable Burgundy is in the wine press. Same producers, same vineyards in the same relative order…a nice, defined hierarchy. Even though we know that going in, we press on anyway. One of the things that is new and different in Burgundy is youth. There are a lot of old-guard producers that have been doing things the same way for decades passing the baton to the next generation. Sometimes youthful exuberance can create new problems, other times it can be the path to enlightenment by bringing fresh ideas to the domaine.

In this particular case, there was a smooth transition from Denis Berthaud, sixth generation to operate this now 13 hectare domaine founded in the late XVIIIth Century, to his daughter Amelie at the ripe old age of 25. Denis is married to Marie Andree Gerbet whose family estate is located in Vosne Romanee. Amelie also works the properties inherited from her mother’s family, hence the name Berthaud-Gerbet.

The change was immediate and continuing as Amelie demonstrated great touch, refining the sometimes rustic, old school tannins of the previous ‘regime’, while still preserving the sense of place. She started with the difficult 2013 vintage, but the 2015 vintage gave this graduate of the University of Bordeaux a chance to really show her stuff. There’s the classic ripeness of the vintage, pure red and some black fruit expression to the wines, but all within the context of fresh acidity and lift. The concentration to the fruit in all of the wines, the clean lines, and notes of spice, speak to a youthful vision of the new Burgundy where technology meets tradition.

In earlier writings, Wine Advocate’s Neal Martin spoke to what Amelie had to face taking over the reins as a young woman. Getting the respect of the older workers and getting them to do what she wanted was a task in itself. But the end result was that the quality of the Berthaut label, long known as a source for old school, ‘value’ Burgundy, was suddenly raising eyebrows. Martin credits her with revitalizing the image of Fixin (where the family has the most vineyard land) in the eyes of wine buyers. It was in these well crafted, sleek ‘lesser’ appellations that we got excited.

The Berthaut-Gerbet Bourgogne Rouge Hautes Cotes de Nuits 2015 got our attention immediately by virtue of its insistent fruit, purity, and very fresh flavors. Cherry, mulberry, a little spice and damp earth, all the things you expect from good Burgundy. Undeniable elegance, this is from the higher elevations (haut cotes) and came from a 1.6 hectare plot of 45 year old vines. The juice in the bottle definitely reaches to a higher level than the appellation might lead you to believe, and thus under $30 price tag for something that tastes like ‘real Burgundy’ was darned appealing.

Amelie’s Berthaut-Gerbet Fixin Les Clos 2015 generated the same comments from us that we later read in reviews…’when was the last time you had a Fixin like this’? Indeed her kinder, gentler take addresses the very issue that had plagued so many examples from this village in recent years. According to the domaine, this 1 heactare site sits high on the hill at nearly the same level as the Premier Crus, and the vines here, which range from 10-80 years old play like a more pedigreed site. The funny thing is that, with several different reviews on the doamine that included the requisite Grand Crus and Premier Crus, this and the Hautes Cotes were not even mentioned. That’s Burgundy for you.

While those showed great bang for the buck and were the bulk of our buy, we grabbed a little of the Berthaut-Gerbet Fixin En Combe Roy 2015 from 70-year-old vines near the 1er Cru Les Arvelets with a touch more gras and earth and a beautifully proportioned, spice driven Berthaut-Gerbet Vosne Romanee 2015. To make our point about how Burgundy reviews work, do these words “A deft touch of wood sits atop the super-spicy and fresh black pinot fruit, cinnamon and violet-tinged aromas. There is really lovely richness to the unusually concentrated and muscular flavors that also possess a caressing, even velvety mouth feel while delivering fine depth on the lingering finale where the only reproach to be made is a hint of warmth” sound like this kind of score (88-91)? We think not. An important and emerging but still under-the- radar domaine.