Posts
Chers Amis,
Just to refresh you since it has been a month since my last email. This is Mary Taylor - you are on my email list because you are interested in wine and after schlepping in the wine trade for some 10 years with a certain assiduity, along with a fascination which has garnered me entree into a fairly small world of wine fanatics, I have tasted a great many wines and can navigate fairly well. As the powers (men) that guard the dusty wine business in the US observe in
abhorrence, I have dusted myself off and used box-exterior ideas to create a service by which, directly from wine country, I source wine for you - intelligent and independent consumers as you are, at a very competitive price. I don't need much on which to live, especially in Burgundy, where I’ve moved from Brooklyn. This service is not only for elite financiers, but for everyone who drinks wine.
So lets get to it. Considering I share a great deal of time with the winemaker of Camille Giroud,
David believes in balance. Buying grapes from growers with whom he has very discreet and informed relationships, he has experience working with a vast number of climats. Indeed Camille Giroud now makes some thirty different wines. He uses as little treatment and sulphur as possible, and his wines have been praised by critics for several years, especially for his knock-out Grand Cru. His ear is always to the ground when it comes to the rest of the wine world - constantly thinking about trends and techniques. As it happened, during the IPNC (Int Pinot Noir Celebration) in 2007, at table with some usual suspects, there was a big controversy that ensued about Corton as one collector uproariously asserted that red Corton does not deserve Grand Cru status. I was surprised that David was not scratching the table, considering Corton is a major part of the Giroud's wine.This particular Corton Rogents 06 has ethereal and romantic aromas and muscular sexiness. I, and others, believe David to be the of best red
Corton producers on the hill. The Rognets vineyard is just to to the right of Faiveley's Clos du Corton. I would like to challenge the stubborn enthusiast (you know who you are) to taste this now or after 5-50 years.
While helping the Giroud team bottle the other day and I stopped to taste the wine. It was racy and fleshy, with a sweet pinot fruit succulence - incredible secondary herbaceous, flowery, sexy lavender spice aromatics. Tannins ample and ageworthy but not aggressive - minerality and precision that feels like Rousseau. Later at a Sunday lunch with the family we re-tasted the wine - the perfect deep red pinot color, not at all lean, gorgeous mouth-watering smell like being in a garden in bloom, opulent but with class and grace. A touch of new oak results in a seamless ensemble of tannins acid, and ripeness.
The Burghound is giving 93 points to Giroud Corton’s that are over 60 years old, says that 05 was the best vintage he has ever tasted here, and now gives 90-92 points to this 2006. The potential is preeminent, restates Clive Coates in his awesome new Burgundy book that you should own. Bourgogne Aujourd'hui has called David the best new face in wine. Why did Napoleon refuse to drink anything else? Here’s the answer direct from the winery to you.
Maison Camille Giroud Corton ‘Rognets’ Grand Cru $96.50 per
bottle.
3 bottle minimum.
This is the best price in the US – imported upon order. Will stay
cellared for the summer in Burgundy and arrive in the fall.
Price does not include tax, if applicable and / or shipping.
Slainte,
Mary Taylor
mary@thoreauwinesociety.com
dear friends,
Hello again, from dank, dark, rainy, mysterious burgundy, where
weather is secondary the the quality of life around here - actually
cold and dark means more saucisson and rich wines. Society members
have gently advised that I could find things for a more prudent every
day budget, and without a marketing department, I have only the
lessons from what you tell me (please feel free to email suggestions),
although I must argue that my $35 and up wines are priced very
competitively.
In that spirit, here's a goodie, in fact, there is nothing better on
earth, for quality to price ratio than this:
Domaine Devevy Bourgogne Blanc 2005 – the purist of the pure.
"Do you mean Devevey, as in Jean-Yves Devevey, the greatest chanteur,
singer of Burgundian ballads, in the entire region?" Yes indeed, this
magnanimous man himself doubles as an extraordinary wine-maker who I
first encountered at a celebratory luncheon for the 2005 ‘En
Primeur’ wines offered at Berry Brothers in London early last year.
In British fashion, we drank seven million 'blue-chip' wines along
with those of Jean-Yves which, although being of much lesser
appellations (as compared to the pedigree in the room), held their own
quite respectively. (I do recall a 1927 Musigny and other such
craziness).
But more importantly, this is a winemaker who, no matter what
appellation he is dealing with, puts attention and devotion into his
vines as if they were ALL grand cru – an extremely honest
viticulturalist, he is, which comes through so clearly in the finished
wine. As my friend Caroline said; “When you drink his wines, you
just can’t help it – they are exciting, you feel the tingly energy
of the wine, like the energy from yoga!” (Sans laborious exercise).
HIs bourgogne blanc comes from Jean-Yves' 5-6 hectare (12ish acre)
holdings in the southern Cote. Sunshine and purity, a certain levity
and precision that jumps out – focused, juicy and refreshing,
acidity and sugars delicately balanced. No chemicals used ever –
true terroir – just outstandingly hand crafted.
Not a picayune libation, although priced as such. Stick this in a
pitcher and tell your guests this is premier cru Chassagne-Montrachet.
$23.45 per bottle
Offer closes Sunday.
First come, first served
Email back with desired amounts. I will set you up with an account if
we have yet to.
Good news, we have hooked up with another gastronomic genius, and you
can find these and other foodie articles on Alison’s Humble Gourmand
site at http://humblegourmand.com/blog/
.
And, I beg of you, if you have some wacky friend cousin that is a
wine freak, do send them along to the society - I have little more
than a quiet countryside afore and I would also love to hear about
what you are doing, so send word.
A shout out to senior society member Emily M. for turning 30. Many
great wines ahead!
Bon Weekend – I hope it’s transcendental,
mary
Chateau des Rontets Pouilly Fuisse 'Pierrefolle' 2006
Chers Amis,
It’s after 11 here in France and I’ve been tasting wines all day - so if I slur through this one, je m'excuse - I wanted to get this offer out to you before my tiny allocation goes away.
Up on a hillside in a far-away village often confused by its Loire cousin of a similar name, the vines of Pouilly-Fuisse are currently struggling through a relatively rainy growing season, however we know they will prevail because we’ve all read 'The Secret.' However in 2006, there was a different story - as is the case in every vintage. In fact, Fabio, co-pilot and winemaker, told me that 2006 had the same analytical ripeness as 2003, but better phenolic ripeness - meaning a lush, ripe wine, but with more aromatics.
These Rontets
people are darned impressive, (I took a bunch of photos of their place which
I will post on the TWS blog), former architects who lived in Milan - went to
wine school at the CFPPA (apparently an excellent vinification school) in
Macon and took over Claire's family domaine, going organic while ripping up
the Pinot and replacing with
better-suited Chardonnay.
The
Pierrefolle is the second in command of 3 cuvees - made from older vines,
owing to a creamy lushness, and a slight touch of residual sugar from the
ripe vintage. The clay-limestone organic mountain vineyards are doing the
talking here. The palate has elegance and tension - sunny buttery lemony
minerally yeasty flavors – unfiltered, 18 months elevage in 1-6 year old
barrels and the vintage give to a bigger Chard than what I’m normally
screaming about - very immediate. Reminds me of the lush Chalk Hills of my
youth when, legally premature, I was fine-tuning the palate, but also with
real minerallyness that I can't live without, a true ‘place-wine’ - a
kind compromise between sophisticated adult and inner child. Pair with
white meats (Supreme de Volaille anyone?) and drink now to 4 years.
Burghound gave 91 points to the 05’s - has yet to score the 06's
$39
per bottle - best price in the US - compare to 25 euros which is
the
conversion.
Slainte,
MT
How to order:
Please reply with desired amounts – first come, first served.
I will set you up with
an account if you don't already have one.
Chers Amis,
A word on storage: I'm sure I don't have to bang you over the
head with the tidbit that great wine becomes more elegant with a
little rest, and age, like people. A fabulous aspect of living in Paris
is that with practically every apartment comes a share in a dank
basement - luxury I've never known in my three thousand New York
apartments.
A friend offered to let me leave some wine in his cool Park
Slope cellar, a simple and effective solution, as I can't imagine
drinking my better bottles before they are ready. If you don't have a
cellar, there are easy solutions (there are basements across America) - it's
a crucial investment in your future. So here's one for the
cellar:
Lucien MUZARD et Fils, Santenay 1er Cru, Clos Faubard, 2006
Santenay is an ancient commune on the south end of the Cote d'Or Burgundy (in 'Southie'). Henry V hung out here drinking wine in 1599, where reds have always been the more regarded. There remains here some risk of buying plonk - important to be careful in finding the great Santenays (this is where I come in). Never having been quite understood by the American market, Santenay is too often referred to as simply 'earthy' by yellow-tail drinkers who cannot understand fragrance, delicacy and complexity. In this bottling, such wonderful qualities will multiply with age - making for gorgeous cherry-rose petal, creamy, exotic-spice Burgundy magic. Already, I am dazzled by its minerally pure fruit, gorgeous vibrations, concentration and balance. Here's why:
The Muzard's have been doing this for 350 years. This tiny premier cru, Clos Faubard, rests just below the larger 1er Cru 'Beauregard' which is known for its microclimate - heat coming from the stones above, owing to it's nickname 'Le Micro-ondes.' On chalk, clay, and some Argovian limestone, the vines average 35 years (a good age for complexity and vibrancy). The grapes are manually harvested and sorted, 100% de-stemmed, and the fermented wine is aged for 12 months in 30% new oak before bottling - oak which is unobtrusive now, and with time will age into delicate sandalwood, complimenting flavors of crushed raspberries, cherries, a hint of cool forest, coffee beans…
Given their fantastic holdings
(trans - access to famous premier-cru vineyards) and due admiration from contemporaries, I'm quite surprised that the wines of Lucien Muzard are not
more ubiquitous in the US fine wine scene - not that there's much of it to go
around. Good for us, I've certainly never seen it come up at Sotheby's. Two
kindly
brothers, the 9th generation, are at the helm, and since 1990
have brought Muzard into a new stratosphere. (We tasted at the domaine
with Claude and his wife Michelle just yesterday). Sir Clive puts a
star next to Muzard in his fantastic new book, noting their masterful
style and achievements toward biodynamic winemaking.
During a heavenly eternity today in Beaune, otherwise known as 'lunch,' my wine-snobbish companion was quite pleased: he found 'pure pinot fruit' and said it was very 'digestif,' aka dangerously drinkable. Better to age for 4 years, yet if you can't wait, it does drink beautifully now - just take your time, and decant!
$46.50 per bouteille - best price in the US
1 bottle minimum, but you would be better off with 6
HOW TO ORDER
It's
quite simple. Just reply with desired amounts and indicate
where you are so
we can figure out delivery or shipping.
Bisoux,
mary
Dearest Friends,
I got off a plane yesterday in Geneva where the sun was shining and the Alps were crystal-green verdant, as I've never seen. The familiar white Charolais cows greeted me ('I'm going to eat you,' I greeted back) as we drove through the Haut-Savoie into the Bresse and finally to Bourgogne. A far and happy cry from that bit youth spent in the inner-city of Boston as well described in 'All Souls' (the story of Southie) which I'm finally getting around to reading. Luckily all things change, and it reminds me that when I started this project, I gathered as many email addresses - of friends and family, my biker friends, hop-scotch buddies, etc - as I could find, making for an interesting audience (I just got a response from the priest with whom I spent some weeks in Haiti years ago). And now I've created a business that you've all helped me build. So thanks friends, for getting the word out. I raise my glass with you -
Jacques Picard 'L'Art de Vigne,' Vintage 2000, Brut, from Berru in the Montagne de Reims
Let's celebrate our fleeting existence with some vintage Champagne, eh? At Bistro Jules, we friends tasted ten extraordinary boutique Champagnes and with this I fell in love (unfortunately I wasn't the only one - those darn sommeliers with no budget!); the Jacques Picard could certainly hold it's own against the best vintages of Cuvee Winston, and for a fraction. The other Champagnes, most of which were very good to excellent, didn't quite convey the completeness of this wine. Some had sexy brioche, ripe lovely fruit, but they were too easy; this one kept coyly changing with each nasal visit. Maybe at one point I found orange blossom, another eucalyptus. It will take some moments to open up, and maybe it will never really open fully within the time you would want to drink it - because of its great nuances, a pure sequence of bubbly percussions: a shining example of that je ne sais quoi that only champagne can engender.
The house of Jacques Picard is a third generation independent grower situated on the gentle slopes of Reims where the soils are mostly nutrient-rich hard clay and silicate (great for that sexy little sense of 'flintyness'). The 'L'Art d'Vigne' is their best selection of old vines made with a soft touch, aged in relatively innocuous big oak
casks. The focus here is on elegance, varietal aromatics, and freshness. The family winemaking unit have been a pioneer of sustainable agriculture, using black peat and seaweed to feed the soil, and no chemicals are used for cleaning in the winery. The French Guide Hachette among others have awarded this wine, but very little is sent to the states.
So come home and relax with this great bottle that you can feel good about slowly getting into, (as it slowly gets into you)..
I was just told that there is a lot of interest in this wine and that stock is extremely limited. First come, first served.
$98.50 - 1 bottle minimum
Comes in the prettiest tear-drop bottle
This was shipped before the Euro went crazy so compare at upwards of $160 -
Offer must close by Tuesday. May 27
Email me with desired amounts, we will set you up with an account if we haven't already.
Love,
Mary
Dear Friends,
The rain is persistent in New York, best for watching movies and tending to the soul, justifying my morning having spent watching Kieslowski's "Red," the finale of his Trois Couleurs trilogy.. depicts the French pace.reminds me of an Andrew Marvell quote "Had we but world enough and time..."
Quite possibly our best tasters were out together this week tearing through oceans of juice on a hunt for aroma and soul, and we three landed together.eh voila, on quite a surprise, a producer with whom we haven't been previously familiar, nonetheless an approachable wine of classe, ensemble, music:
Hermitage, Jean-Michel Sorrell, 2004
I lingered over this supple-swirl for some time, and again, as Peter's eyes lit up 'yes'..Our comments were 'divine, pure,
mineral, not so extracted, elegant, beautiful.' The wine is graced with subtle, delicate perfume, though plump and juicy, with structure as an after thought - the aromas jump out of the glass and draw you in. (Even Kris had no criticisms). Oh for the opportunity to spend an hour or so over this bottle, it's whispering endearments, syntactical connection between part and part.. Though Hermitage, is so highly regarded for wines which can cellar forever - this one is quite
drinkable now, compared to this same producer's 2005 which is more muscular and needs time.
Most of the connoisseurs who read this email would expect that I should offer a wine from the more famous domaine of Marc Sorrel - but we are not brand people and this little known wine is on par. Hermitage is a relatively small community of growers - the entirety of the deathly-steep vineyard covers about as much as one single Bordeaux
or Napa estate, 311 acres. Famous since the days of Josquin des Prez; when Rhone wines were fiercely competitive with Burgundy, although certainly drunk since Roman times. Growers like Gerard Chave have fueled the fire with mastery and his contemporaries have followed suite, piloting Syrah of power and grace. This one leans towards
grace. Let's all be Hermitage specialists together, oui?
$62.68 - 1 bottle minimum
best price in the states
If you are interested in this wine, please email me desired amounts.
First come, first served.
Still need to set up an account? Send me an email and we will hook
you up.
We thank everyone who has told their friends about our new business.
Please see our recent offers at ThoreauWineSociety.Vox.Com
Slainte,
Mary Taylor
mary@thoreauwinesociety.com
While on a little waiting–tables-in-New-York sabbatical, (an attempt to pay for my Harlan allocation), I’ve let the missives and musings go for the time being - however, the Thoreau Wine Society is a lasting force, having built a hallowed suite (see F&W Magazine, June 08, page 27), and thus if, for some reason, you have never heard of me or the Society, congratulations – someone has added you to join this vaguely pedagogic wine colloquium.
These weeks I’ve been numbly witnessing fine-diners match Cosmo’s with Steaks; the same people who guffaw at the idea of having a glass with lunch - cultural behemoths – yet I'm sure who would benefit from some adherence to the delicate handling necessary to preserve the finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits,” – Henry D. Any interest in banding together to change what Asimov wrote about this week: the ‘insecure and uncomfortable attitudes Americans hold toward wine.”
Cruising over to Quercy; a region known for little goat cheeses and tannic Malbec wines, within which the growers of Cahors, an ancient ville upstream from Bordeaux, have recorded wine production since the turn of the 1st century with relentless spirit of the underdog; Cahors and others like Gaillac and Bergerac were beat down by Bordeaux
merchants who, for centuries, barred their wines from the shipping ports. Cahors has demonstrated success in efforts to achieve better quality wines via finer equipment and techniques. We now know that the grapes grown on the ‘coteaux’ (the gravel terraces) is less ageworthy and structured than those from the ‘Causses’ – the limestone plateaux. So thus I bring you something from the Causses.
Chateau de Caminade ‘Commandery’ Cahors, 2005
Intensely concentrated (intensely concentrated is a wine-writer cliché, but in this case it’s shockingly so) black liquid that leaves a trace of ruby in its wake – like the meeting point of dark chocolate and red velvet. This is Malbec, aka Auxerrois in Cahors, aka Cot. But who cares – the tannins are atypically velvety – this is
a great entrée into French wine for your California friends. While it holds a Napa-esque concentration, with dark chocolate, coffee, 50% new oak, but enough intensity to hold it, and most importantly beautifully FRENCH aromatics of lavender and freshly crushed black cherries – delicious and accessible now.
I can’t take credit for finding this wine, since the wine-director of the restaurant where I'm temporarily installed, kindly who takes me back when I am in town, discovered it – but I will say that upon tasting it, a patron nervously asked to see the wine list again to be sure he hadn’t spent too much.
Ah Voila, in some weeks, I will return to a humble life in the French countryside to continue discovering and understanding wines of grace and substance and share them with you.
$23.25 per bouteille
No Minimum.
Compare to 2005 ‘immoral’ Bordeaux pricing
HOW TO ORDER:
Reply with desired amounts
peace,
mary
mary@thoreauwinesociety.com
Dear Friends,
S'il vous plait, pardon my prolonged absence; farm duties, technical problems and such. But now it is spring and I have returned to New York for a few weeks to make sure my friends are properly satiated and stocked, and ultimately to help foster the realization that within wine the surrender to nature's irrational, strangely confused formations produces in us a feeling of inner harmony with the force responsible for these phenomena…. (I'm slightly plagiarizing from Hesse, but isn’t that beautiful). Anyhow I can't think of a more springing example than Anjou.
I met Richard Leroy, at a wine event some months ago in the Loire Valley. Enjoying what we tasted, we brought home some 6 or so bottles, of which we’ve opened 2 or 3. The wine is both taught and broad - there is body, put the puissance is only just flirting with you from behind a facade of elegant restraint - purely a wicked taunt, sumptuously invigorating. Mind you, this is when tasted in France. And thus upon my return to New York, I discovered both to my pleasure and annoyance that this very tiny producer has been discovered by 'hipster’ sommeliers and other such contemporaries of mine. One who pronounces "Richard Leroy makes the best chenin blanc in Anjou." Uggh, which only means the price could eventually shoot up to Joly levels.
ANJOU said with a French accent is so lovely. The whites are made from Chenin Blanc. Unlike Vouvray and Montlouis, Anjou’s are known for being tight and acidic – minerally, apple-y and refreshing, that is. (Why does the word ‘acidic’ frighten people?). This Clos Rouliers is produced in micro quantities, and is very popular among
the wine elite in France (no, it is not a 19th arr. bistro wine).
While having a magnificent meal at Wd50, we had this very bottle. But it was slightly different on these soils. My dinner companion who has no issue spending lavishly on big reds, actually mmm’d and awed at this wine's broad enveloping tension, juicy vibrant core, the slight honeysuckle and tiniest touch of caramel. With prodigious regality,
summoning the Da Vinci effect on the Loire Valley. I’ve also just seen it on the winelist at 'Allen and Delancey,' so we all need to act with some rapidity here.
Certified Organic, made biodynamically – no sugar, no filtering, very slow fermentation, aged in old oak – just classic French minerally terroir, freshness and complexity.
"Offers a really open and enticing nose of ginger powder and warm brioche. Very racy on the palate, with quince, green almond, dried chamomile flower and crystallized ginger notes. There's great cut on the finish. Drink now through 2011." - Wine Spectator 91 points
Richard Leroy Anjou Blanc 'Clos Rouliers' 2005
$34.97 per bottle compare at $40 and higher
Pair with Schubert’s 10th Symphony in C major
Please reply with desired amounts. There are very few bottles in the
US, first come first served.
TO SET UP YOUR NEW ACCOUNT:
1) Email your shipping address and telephone number to
mary@thoreauwinesociety.com <mailto:mary@thoreauwinesociety.com>
(or hit reply) and I will contact you for billing details.
2) Or Call us at 347-410-6512 and we will set you up straight away.
PS: I have been helping people create 'starter cellars.' If you give
me a budget, I will give you a proposal of how to fill your wine
fridge, cave, or whatever storage unit you might have.
PPS: Do you like this service? – tell a friend and help a brother
out (or a sister).
For recent offers see thoreauwinesociety.vox.com
Peace,
mary
Mary Taylor
Dear Friends
It's so fun cracking the mystery of Chablis. Some weeks ago the Chablis Consortium held a tasting and 130 or so growers brought their wines. I have known the bigger names for a long time, but until this event, I didn't feel like I had my head quite wrapped around the region. As you know, the image of Chablis has been badly coca-colized by the Gallo's, and I remember as a child thinking that Chablis was something in jugs from California. It's high time for us wine-lovers to take the region back - although armed with the riches and glory of Burgundy, small Chablis producers, much like small Champagne producers, have a challenging time capturing an American audience, and yet the wines can be incredible.
Down at the L'Ami de la Cugnette tasting in January, we discovered the Chablis of Jean-Claude Bessin. Of course it is impossible to speak truly knowledgeably about a wine from just having had a swirl of it at a tasting on a particular day when you are in a particular mood. So we bought 6 bottles. Although there are all kinds of fascinating gems down in the cellar, we keep going back to Bessin's Fourchaume, turning-on our fellow wine loving friends, one who called the wine 'mind-blowing.' We were compelled last weekend to stop in and see Jean-Claude who offered us a tasting in his cellar. He is a lanky guy with just the most stark look of precision. For twenty years, Jean-Claude has been operating this 2 hectare estate in the northeast hamlet of La Chapelle Vaupelteigne. Everything is done by hand, he believes in diversity in the vineyard, and his skills are rooted in exactitude and meticulousness. The Burghound has given all of Bessin's wines scores of above 91 points.
Littered with fossils and shells, Fourchaume is in the north part of Chablis and has a soil mixture of kimmeridgean and portlandian. The most mineral driven of his wines, this does not try to be Meursault, but is true to the flinted intellectual style of Chablis. Intensely focused, exuberant fruit without being 'fruity,' refreshing acidity - silky, with aromas of white flowers, honey, and green-apple. Some oak is used but is undetectable. Round and fresh. Glorious.
Decanter: "Lovely ripe melon and pear, limestone, complex, layered nose. Vibrant, lively acidity, delicate style, mineral, leesy-creamy palate. Long, succulent finish. Excellent! Up to 5 Years". - Decanter award, 5 stars (Sept. 2007)
Jean-Claude Bessin Chablis 1er Cru 'Fourchaume' 2005
$37.80 per bottle
This wine comes to the US in tiny quantites. Will arrive early April. First-come, first served.
P.S. After the tasting we went to eat Andouillette Sausages and ordered a bottle of 1er Cru Chablis from a famous producer, which was comparatively blowsy.
PPS: This wine pairs well with the Grateful Dead album 'Reckoning.'
Dear Ones,
Happy Easter Weekend. Here they say 'Bonnes Paques' - it just doesn’t have the same ring. This morning as I write to you, I have a collier d'agneau (lamb’s neck) braising in the oven, a stock simmering from last-night's poulet de Bresse, am thumbing through Simca and Elizabeth David recipes, putting together things for an Easter picnic in Chablis. My pop warned me that I would go to France and become a thick-ankled woman hovering over a stove… well,
So here we have an abominable euro/dollar exchange, making it very hard for everyone in wine, notably European growers who fear losing their export markets. However, we will still continue to have great deals coming out the woodwork, so go ahead and embrace them.
On a brighter note, a recent US importer told me he was having dinner with one of his producers in Marsannay, and he turned to their 12 year-old son and asked 'what is your favorite wine?' The son responded, "'45 La Grande Rue." That’s worth a smile.
Domaine Jean-Marc Bouley Volnay
Ah, Volnay - often the greatest pinot in the lot - and always in very short supply; there are a handful of producers and 34 tiny premier cru vineyards, actually more premier cru than village wine, exclusively red, many vineyards which have been constant for 700 years, as first planted by the Knights of Malta; wines which give to the connoisseurs their incomparable bouquet thanks to a succession of ferruginous limestone covered in reddish brown silt, 200-300 meters above sea level, not to forget passionate and traditional vignerons.
This particular 7.5 hectare domain has vineyard holdings from Meursault up to Beaune - tracing back to 1527 - the name has changed from Verdereau to Bouley in the 70's (a guaranteed but unclear relation to the folks at Domaine Thiebault Huber-Verdereau).
Delightfully authentic Burgundian characters - this father and son team recently welcomed us at their ancient stone house, within the collection of 40 or 50 old stone houses that comprise the somewhat third-world-esque village of Volnay, which, in this case, leads into a subterranean cuverie. One of my best sources called this domain 'the best-kept secret in Volnay.' Jean-Marc took over the domain in 1984, and with his son Thomas, are working toward organic, using natural compost and plowing methods. Grapes are picked by hand and sulphur is used to a minimum. Open-vat fermentation is employed, and ageing in 30-50% new oak for 12 to 18 months, depending on the appellation. My co-taster and I both agreed that the wines were lovely across the board, but the one that stood out, especially for price / value ratio, was this lieu-dit just above the cuverie. Luckily, the wine-makers of Volnay held a tasting with 25 growers last week and I was able to re-taste. Again, I found the Clos de la Cave to have vibrant aromatics from aroma to palate, combined with richness and length, and round integrated tannins. French oak is subtly present, but works to complement the ripe fruit. Unlike a classically light Volnay, this drinks lushly, with an intensity of high tone dark fruit and earthy perfumed flavor.
Jean-Marc Bouley Volnay ‘Clos de La Cave’ 2005
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