La Route du Vin

Marc Sorrel's Crozes-Hermitage 2006: The Hermitage Master's very limited

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Marc Sorrel in the Vineyards

"The 2006s are clearly on track to becoming outstanding wines Rated A-" Wine Spectator

Growers are telling us that the wines from the Northern Rhone have beautiful color and fabulous length. I can't wait to get at them.

"If you look at the numbers, this is what they taught me in school to be a perfect vintage." Pierre-Jean Villa - Vins de Vienne

Okay, I feel a little foolish because I went a little crazy over Marc Sorrel's 2005 Crozes when I tasted it in his cellar and now I feel just as strongly and maybe even more so about his 2006 Crozes Hermitage . I think Marc is just really hitting his peak with this wine. In fact, I think Marc is exceeding all expectations with all of his wines.

Read what La Revue du Vin de France had to say:

"Since 1984, Marc Sorrel has created with great regularity Hermitage of classic style which age to perfection. It is necessary to add that Sorrel possess a superb collection of vineyards. His vinifications are precise and his careful elevage of his wines offers a high quality of fruit which symbolizes the maximum potential for each vintage."

Chateau Biston Brillette 2004: On my top ten for greatest Petit Chateau Bordeaux out there

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The Moulis vineyards

Decanter magazine says:
**** 4 out of 5 stars - Highly Recommended
"Black Currant fruit. Full, tight, powerful but needs time. Very long, perfumed and elegant finish."

How much do I like this wine? If it is buried under eight 40-pound wooden cases in my cave, I will dig it out on the spot just so I can swirl that shimmering garnet liquid around in my glass and relish that dark berry fruit and zaftig charm. This is real Bordeaux class.

Chateau Biston Brillette and I go way back. Back to the days when I was sniffing around Bordeaux for great, affordable wines to put on my dinner table having rapidly come to the conclusion that pricey Chateau Margaux and I were not destined to become three-kiss bosom buddies, but more like handshake acquaintances that you run into every now and again.

But, WHATEVER. I wasn't about to give up my nightly bottle of wine and that's why I spent much time over the years digging around in the Bordeaux vineyards looking for delicious petit chateaux that bordered the famous chateaux, or passionate growers from lesser-known appellations who were working hard for recognition. 75% of the quality and 30% of the wallet punch. That's what I wanted and that's how Chateau Biston Brillette came to sit on my trivet.

Philippe Leclerc's Gevrey-Chambertin 2003: Genius in One of the World's Greatest

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Looking down from the upper slope (premier cru) vineyards

It is Sunday - what is still in the warehouse time. Time to look again at the older, rare, but overlooked stock that needs a home. Today it is a truly world class Burgundy from Gevrey Chambertin and the unique 2003 vintage.

"The 2003s from the Cote de Nuits offer more exceptional wines than any vintage since 1990 - the aromatic richness of the finest 2003s is awe-inspiring, as are their textures, fruit density and lengthy finishes." -Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate

"The 2003 red Burgundies are exceptional young Pinot Noirs. Marked by the extreme heat and dryness of the vintage, they exude ripeness, concentration and power. The best bottles will be legendary and will deserve a place in collectors' cellars." -Wine Spectator

I got hooked on Burgundies back in the eighties. It didn't happen over night. I played the Burgundy field for years before I found "my" Burgundy. Maybe it was the "Bordeaux Factor" that kept me at a distance. You see, I was coming off a decade of drinking those big, muscular Bordeaux and kept running into the "girly" side of Burgundy - often described as elegant, but for me, "elegant" seemed suspiciously delicate and lean and on the sheer side.

I like powerful, nuanced wines. Fortunately, before giving up on this mysterious thing called great red Burgundy, I found Philippe Leclerc. Philippe makes Gevrey-Chambertin, which is the northernmost major winemaking appellation of the Cote d'Or. As you probably know, the Cote d'Or is that blessed strip of sloping, pebbly, chalky, limestone vineyards that produces miniscule quantities of some of the finest wine in the world.

Chateau Fabas Le Mourral Minervois 2005: Modern Wine from Ancient Vineyards

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The Minervois vineyards in the wild areas of the Languedoc Roussillon region

Chateau Fabas is owned by one of the Directors of Moet Chandon, Roland Augustin. Roland bought Chateau Fabas in 1995. He owned some vineyards in Champagne, but wanted to be able to have some fun and do some experimenting in an area that was not so outrageously expensive. He is a man with big ideas like a harvesting machine that can tell a ripe grape from an unripe grape across several different grape types. He also likes a little wood with his Minervois which is a "little out there" for the region.

Chateau Fabas le Mourral is aged in oak which increases its ability to age. It is made from 60% Syrah (that's the northern Rhone grape going into Hermitage etc.), 30% Grenache (that's the Chateauneuf du Pape grape), and 10% Mourvedre (the Cotes du Rhone grape). The vines at Chateau Fabas are old - 35-45 years old. Le Mourral has won a vat-ful of awards and that doesn't surprise me.

The wine is balanced, substantial, darkly colored and loaded with dark fruit flavors. It's a great food wine that will make its presence known against the darkest and most pungent of sauces.

For those of you not familiar with Minervois, it is part of the Languedoc Roussillon which is the largest vineyard in the world. It stretches along the rim of the Mediterranean Sea from Nimes which is quite a bit inland, almost to the border of Spain. There is a wine movement going on in the Languedoc Roussillon which has been simmering for fifty years but now exploding.

The Paris Bistro Darling: Chiroubles - Cru Beaujolais

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Domaine Cheysson in the Chiroubles hills

"Great Beaujolais comes in many shapes and sizes. Domaine Cheysson in Chiroubles makes pretty, seductive wines, enticing for their lithe, floral grace." -Eric Asimov The New York Times

Do you want to have a really good time? Drive around in Beaujolais for a day, nipping thimblefuls of wine from each of the eight or so village cooperatives throughout the morning, pull in for lunch at Le Cep in the village of Fleurie, and then head back out, fortified, for some more rollercoastering on those windy, beautiful roads. I've never been there when the sun wasn't shining. I remember finishing up the day a while back in a parking lot singing old-Steely-Dan songs along with the car's CD player at the top of my lungs. Ah, yes, those were my more reckless days...

Anyway, Beaujolais is somewhere you can cut loose a bit. I don't do my old-goldies medley in Bordeaux or even just north of Beaujolais in Burgundy, but Beaujolais is just different - in a very great way.

My spirits pick up on a chilly, wintry Saturday when Bob surfaces from the cellar with his hand around the neck of some Chiroubles, but not just any Chiroubles. Clos les Farges from Domaine Cheysson is not just any Chiroubles.

Talented New Alsatian producer: Phillippe Kubler makes the The Pinot Blanc (and Riesling) of My Dreams

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The Alsatian vineyards and villages

Wine Spectator rates the Alsace harvest in 2007 a straight A!

"After earning his oenology degree from Bordeaux, and a stage at Cloudy Bay, young Philippe Kubler - whom I did not have occasion to visit - took over at his family's domaine beginning with the 2004 vintage. Based on the several samples that reached me while in Alsace from his second harvest, this is a vigneron to watch." -Robert Parker

Bob and I drove all over Alsace looking for a Pinot Blanc and a Riesling which were not too high in residual sugar. I don't know what's going on, but lots of growers are sweetening up their wines and I don't like it.

We finally sat down with Philippe Blanck of Domaine Blanck who makes legendary wines of the highest caliber in Alsace (unfortunately these are already spoken for in this country) and asked him to give us a recommendation for a great Alsatian winemaker who is not heavy with the sugar.

"Philippe Kubler is your man", Philippe Blanck says, and gets on the phone and says Bob and I will be there to taste the following morning. Of course, we fell absolutely head over heels with Kubler's wines. They were the best stuff we'd ever tasted in this part of France and we were rabid for an allocation.

Cotes du Rhone Villages-Visan: Domaine Guintrandy Le Deves 2007

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The lush hillsides of Visan in summer

"2007: Throughout the southern Rhône, 2007 is the greatest vintage I have tasted in my thirty years working in that region."

Parker's description below of his tasting of Chateauneuf du Papes lets us in on just how good all the wines in the southern Rhone are going to be. Savor every word. This is exciting. And, we can actually afford to uncork these wines every night.

"Think of 2007 as a hypothetical blend of an opulent, powerful, sumptuous year such as 1990, and a cooler drought vintage such as 2001. The cool weather and the remarkable three weeks of Mistral in September that concentrated the grapes without any spikes of high heat appears to have given the 2007s an aromatic dimension and freshness that I have rarely witnessed. Combine that with wines that are substantial, powerful, and relatively high in alcohol, with super depth of fruit! These are very aromatic wines of great concentration, freshness, laser-like focus, and amazing purity as well as depth. It is the vintage of my lifetime for this region, and I don't say that lightly. These 2007s will also be very long-lived given their extraordinary balance." - Robert Parker

Oh, and Wine Spectator gives the vintage a straight A!

Chateau Lagrave-Aubert

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Bottle of Lagrave Aubert Cotes de Castillon 2005

For as long as I can turn up these fabulous 2005 petit chateau Bordeaux, I'm going to be snatching them up. When Bordeaux says they have produced their finest vintage ever, I get on board; sadly, these wines are not going to be available forever!

It's important to know that when the harvest is perfect, as it was in 2005, there are many more great wines spread across all the appellations, not just the super expensive estates who have the resources to carve out great wines year after year. This means you'll be getting classified growth quality at a Cru Bourgeois price.

This wine comes from one of my favorite little appellations: Cotes de Castillon. When I go hunting, it's my first stop.

"Now the most fashionable of all the Bordeaux satellite appellations, the Cotes de Castillon has been a hot bed of exceptional activity over the last decade with a bevy of overachievers moving in from the adjacent appellations of St. Emilion and Pomerol.

"Today the Cotes de Castillon is going through a revolution in wine quality, and it is a fabulous source of tremendous values with some of Bordeaux's most talented wine producers setting up shop in the area. These include Hubert de Bouard (Angelus) Gerard Perse (Pavie and Pavie Decesse), well-known wine guru Stephane Derenoncourt and Stephan von Neipperg (Canon La Gaffeliere and La Mondotte).

2005 Red Burgundy

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The Monthelie vineyards in the fall looking south towards Auxey Duresses

2005 Red Burgundies - Peerless Perfection! Nothing touches the quality of this vintage in the last 20 years.

"At the risk of throwing another log on an already raging fire, I'd have to say that 2005 is potentially the greatest red Burgundy vintage I've yet tasted from barrel" - Steve Tanzer International Wine Cellar

"Red Burgundy 2005: to be treasured" Decanter Magazine

Burgundy always fills me with wonder. An engulfing feeling of tranquility settles over me when ogling the old slopes with their gnarly root stock, and snuffling in the perfume of wood fires coming from those venerable vintners' stone cottages. There is this urge to flop down with a glass of wine somewhere between the vines and guzzle it all hungrily, but that is seldom possible when I am traveling the wiggly little roads from one tasting to the next from ten in the morning until that last glass of wine with dinner at eleven.

The 2005s remain the benchmark vintage for the Burgundians. I tasted the 2005 vintage from Rully in the Cote de Chalonnais to St Romain, Monthelie, Volnay, Pommard, and Beaune in the Cote de Beaune to Chambolle Musigny, Gevrey-Chambertin, Fixin, and Marsannay in the Cote de Nuits. I've probably forgotten a dozen.

What sticks in my mind is that nearly every grower I spoke with said almost the same thing, "2005 is the vintage of my lifetime."

Chateau Puy Arnaud Maureze

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Jean Luc Thunevin and his wife Murielle in their St Emilion garden

Grab this! It's a 2005 Bordeaux and it less than $20 per bottle. Now, that's a sweet combination.

If you loved the 2002 and 2003 of this wine, can you imagine what you're going to think about the 2005?

I'm just coming off a re-tasting of a broad representation of 2005s and let me tell you, these wines are impressive. I'm not just talking about the Classified Growths; I'm talking about the unsung heroes from smaller estates as well. As a group, they are the best Bordeaux I've ever tasted. No contest.

2005 is a year when EVERYTHING WENT RIGHT. The grapes ripened flawlessly with no bloating or rot. They are tight, little balls of blue-ish black pungent juice. "The grapes were perfect!" proclaimed grower after grower! "I didn't have to do a thing!" These wines will be lusted after for decades just like the 1961s and 1982s. Everyone agrees. These wines are spectacular and if you love Bordeaux, you can't sit this one out.

"Bordeaux's beautiful baby - a tasting of more than 600 wines makes it clear - the 2005 vintage is a classic [Classic is Wine Spectator's highest category - 95-100]. The reds are some of the best I have tasted in my career." -Wine Spectator