We went looking for a taste of Syrah d’antan—flavors pulled from the earth with no makeup or modern frills—and found it at Domaine de Gouye. Peppery spice, blackcurrant leaf, fresh and tangy black fruit as taut as a bow string: this is the essence of high-altitude, northern Rhône Syrah.
The Portaz family since the early 1980s have cared for Jacquère vines in their native Chapareillan in Savoie, a mountainous region not far from the Italian border. Their top wine is ‘Apremont,’ a tribute to the raw power of nature that dominates this breathtakingly beautiful corner of France. The combination of cheese fondue and white Jacquère wine is a Savoyard specialty.
Winemakers Olivier and Bruno Bererd know that the secret to the finest Beaujolais is all about location. The village of Le Perréon shares much of the same rugged, mineral-rich soils, high-altitude vineyards, and older, low-yielding vines as its cru neighbors.
Marie-Ange represents the fourth generation of vine growers in the family. It was her father Guy who slowly, parcel by parcel, purchased vineyards in the 1960s; yet it is Marie-Ange who has brought the winery to a level of greatness for which it was always destined. Simply put, there are few other Chablis estates with such a rich collection of older vines and as a result, few other estates that deliver Chablis wines of such character and complexity.
The appellation of Graves de Vayres is historically renowned for its silky, full-flavored wines. The region’s unique, sandy terroir is what gives wines their fine-grained texture, a characteristic that is expressed fully in Pontête Bellgrave’s elegant, silky blend.
Domaine de la Pousse d’Or has for decades been the collector’s choice for expressive and memorable wines from Burgundy’s most hallowed terroirs. This historic estate is one of the Burgundian elite, in a similar realm of such exclusive wineries like Romanée-Conti and Comte de Vogüé, with its strict selection and seamless winemaking.
Terres Secrètes is one of France’s more celebrated cooperative wineries, founded in the 1950s and supported by dozens of talented growers in the greater Mâconnais.
Eve and Michel Rey produce natural, honest white Burgundy in miniscule quantities from the finest terroir in the Mâconnais. Their ‘La Roche’ vineyard in Mâcon-Vergisson is not only the highest vineyard in the appellation but also delivers the purest expressions of Chardonnay in the region, bar none.
From the commune of La Roche Vineuse, one of the Mâconnais’ more qualitatively excellent sites, winemaker Thomas Perraud of Domaine Perraud de la Grande Burette selects only older-vine fruit for our special selection, a value in white Burgundy that can’t be beat.
Domaine Daniel et Julien Barraud is not only the source of Vergisson’s finest organic wines but also the standard for world-class white Burgundy from the Mâconnais. Here in Vergisson, families like the Barrauds have for generations preserved their craft in its most honest form, making wine by hand from well-tended organic vineyards and aging their wines in small, old-fashioned cellars.