by Richard Harvey
Dear Burgundy. It’s not you…it’s me.
I love Burgundy, there’s no question about it. But the current market presents those of us who love Burgundy with a most troubling question—just what can I afford, or (more essentially), even given my boundless adoration, what am I willing to pay for these wines? Should I not explore some new horizons? The answer to the latter question (in wine) is always “Eff-yes!”.
As a (very) regular wine consumer with a very average personal budget, I cling to the Burgundies I cannot live without, but the twin limitations of availability and economics are extra spurs that motivate my efforts to develop or revisit our selection from other regions of France. Skyrocketing global demand and some very small harvests have devastated our Burgundy allocations (where we are told by the producer what quantity we can buy, which is invariably far less than what we could sell). The core reasons for this are noted above, with global demand spiking and harvest quantity falling, many Burgundies, white and red alike, have become close to inaccessible.
There are alternatives within Burgundy (people, wake up and smell the Mâcon!) but Meursault and Gevrey-Chambertin have generally left my personal consumption sphere. Some of the alternatives we can offer you from the Côte d’Or such as Maranges, Savigny-lès-Beaune and discoveries from the Hautes-Côtes have yet to garner much attention (please stay tuned). At the same time, our dizzyingly expensive, extremely-limited allocations of the most prestigious Burgundies have never been more highly sought after… No cause for concern; we’ll continue our intimate relationship with Burgundy, but now is a very good time to explore.
Mais voilà! La Loire!
Metrovino has always made great efforts to showcase the incredible diversity and richness of French wine, never limiting ourselves to the famous areas. We’ve always had a set of excellent Loire estates to offer you, but now is the time for this region to shine. Not only are there superb examples of the Chenin Blanc grape (with a diverse range through dry, sec-tendre and sweeter whites as well as fizz!), but also red wines that can show the elegance of a lovely Burgundian Pinot Noir (even if most of them are the Cabernet Franc grape). Sparkling Crémant de Loire and rosés for all tastes round out the delights of this diverse region.
In addition to the previously mentioned estates of Bruno Sourdais, Régis Minet and Thomas-Labaille (if you missed our previous Loire article, read it here), we also celebrate the return of the wines of Domaine Frédéric Mabileau to our shelves. Based in St. Nicolas de Bourgueil, the winemaking is now in the hands of Frédéric’s son, Rémy.
Although we can only occasionally get our mitts on some of this estate’s white wines, Mabileau’s focus on the Cabernet Franc grape is the big draw. Their lively reds are typically juicy and delightful, but there are also cuvées of drawing-room dignity and complexity. An early adopter of biodynamic farming, Mabileau’s wines are honest and pure. The energetic “Les Petits Grains” cuvée is perhaps the best example of accessible hedonism, but 2nd and 3rd-day sips of this puppy (kept chilled in your fridge, please!) show all of its unbridled charm.
The Rouillères and Eclipse cuvées walk the carpet with majesty and dignity that even a fancy Bordeaux would envy. We have all of 24 bottles of the 2015 Eclipse and it’s another one in the style that the fancy-pants Bordeaux chateaux might remember making before they started to listen to the wine writers and merchants who demanded power and concentration to the detriment of charm.
(N.B. Read our thoughts on Bordeaux here)
I wish that I could say that the Loire river itself was in full spate right now (it is depressingly deprived of water in our current drought-stricken Summer). There is however a vinous flood of amazing Loire wines that currently inundates Metrovino to our mutual benefit! The Loire Valley does not really deserve to be spoken of in comparison to other wine regions, but rather stands proudly as an example of diversity of wine styles with an abundance of elegance, complexity and character on offer. Let us all bathe in the pleasures of this region, and content (or drunk) as lords and ladies, lounge in this beautiful Jardin de la France!
