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There are wineries which have been driven by craft, tradition, and just deliciousness for years, decades, and in some instances centuries. These wineries are the pinnacles of fine wine. This is our list of the producers we feel are worthy of collecting, worthy of drinking, and worthy of a bit more reading. Our cellar book is here for you to learn, drool, and of course shop. Cheers.
One of the original grower champagne houses. Rodolphe, the current proprietor, continues the legacy of making some of the greatest blanc de blancs champagne created in the area. Central to the Domaine is the outstanding Chétillons vineyard in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. The Péters estate has become synonymous with this vineyard, or perhaps it’s the other way around. In youth, the wines here are piercing with finesse. After a few years of maturity, they blossom out, showing layers of minerality and subtle spice.
It's easy to forget that Domaine Dujac was founded by the now-iconic Jacques Seysses in the late 1960s. It feels like a benchmark that has always been there. The number of winemakers in the region and around the world who model their philosophy on Dujac is impressive. The quality here speaks for itself. Dujac sits at the top of the hierarchy of producers in Burgundy. The Domaine is most commonly associated with the grand crus of Clos de la Roche and Clos Saint-Denis but their plethora of premiers cru and village wines are all worth collecting and drinking as often as humanly possible.
Dominique Lafon took over this already storied family Domaine in 1985 and has realized the potential of an extraordinary portfolio of vineyards. The white wines here truly number among the greatest in Burgundy, while the reds are fantastic values, comparatively, and still somehow flying under the radar. The vineyards, centered around Meursault (Comtes Lafon is the only property to own vineyards in all premiers crus of the village) are cultivated along with biodynamic principles since 1989. The wines here have taken a turn for a leaner, more elegant style lately, and the results are magnificent.
The wines of Domaine Georges Roumier are among the absolute best in the world. Not just the best Burgundy, but the best wine. Period. From Bourgogne Rouge to the estate’s grand cru vineyards throughout the hills of Morey-Saint-Denis and Chambolle-Musigny, Roumier is known for a style of purity and finesse. ‘Finesse’ is a word that gets thrown around a lot when talking about Burgundy, but it means the wine is silky in texture rather than rustic, gliding across your palate with subtlety and ease. Roumier is the north star of elegant and age-worthy light red wine for all winemakers throughout the world. Anyone questioning that is no more than an annoying contrarian.
A decade ago, Cornas was still somewhat of an insider’s wine. These wines had a reputation for being burly and rustic in comparison with their northern cousins from Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage, but they provided an excellent opportunity to drink pure and hauntingly beautiful Syrah. Auguste Clape (who passed away in 2018, succeeded by son Pierre-Marie and grandson Olivier) was the standard-bearer of traditional winemaking in the appellation. As the pendulum has swung from polish and make-up back to old-school wines, they have gained more of a blue-chip status, but the wines are still frequently good value in comparison, and a must have in any syrah-lover’s cellar.
The Chave family is nothing short of royalty in the world of wine. The current Jean-Louis is the 16th generation in father-son succession who have tended vines in St. Joseph and the fabled hill of Hermitage, possibly the birthplace and arguably the pinnacle of the Syrah grape. While several producers now separate out their various plots in Hermitage (perhaps a nod to the more marketing-savvy neighbors in Côte-Rôtie), Chave is all about the art of blending together these components into a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. The results is a wine that captures the soul of the Hermitage, structured and full, with hauntingly wild and floral aromas. In a handful of vintages, there is another label, Cuvée Cathelin. It’s not intended to be a prestige-cuvée, but rather a way for Jean-Louis to express a specific nature of a vintage that may not work in the Hermitage. Worthy of special mention is the wines from St. Joseph, not to be looked down upon as secondary. Remember that this is the ancestral home of the family, and Jean-Louis has been dedicating all his resources to re-establishing the terraced vineyards here. We will wish we had held on to more of these wines soon.
Domaine Tempier is found in Bandol, a region in the south of France. The owner, Lulu, passed away recently and is remembered as a legend of Provence much like Sinatra is to New Jersey. It’s said that her lifestyle influenced some of the great restaurants here like Chez Panisse. It's smart, timeless, and incredibly elegant. These days it’s the rosé we drink most. It’s the archetype of the dry, French style and you’ll see Bandol on the label. They make a small amount of white wine or Bandol blanc in a style that is similar to the Rhone valley– they are rich and oily. Their singly vineyard reds have come to be collected and are worthy of aging well over thirty years. The main grape being the big and earthy grape mourvèdre.
Gaja was originally founded in the 17th century and is now run by Gaia Gaja, the fifth generation of the family. Gaia’s father, Angelo, is credited with transforming the estate and bringing the region of Barbaresco into the modern age. He’s clearly proud of this, hence naming his daughter Gaja twice. The pride is justified. Starting in the 60s, Angelo was on a crusade to show the world that Italian wine was serious wine. The winery is based in the hills of Barbaresco neighboring Barolo. They also make a small amount of Barolo called ‘Sperss’ This isn’t a vineyard but a romantic name denoting nostalgia. It’s true we have nostalgia for the Gaja style of the 80s. It’s some of Italy’s greatest wine ever.
The late Giuseppe Rinaldi is one of the great traditional producers of Barolo. Like Conterno and Mascarello, Rinaldi makes wines with depth and complexity that require time to show their true colors. They demand commitment, and they reward it. Now run by his daughters, Marta and Carlotta, the 6th-generation estate continues to produce focused, nuanced wines from some of the greatest vineyards in Barolo.
At a time when winemaking styles change as quickly as trends in fashion, it’s important to celebrate the fierce guardians of tradition. Bartolo Mascarello was, by all accounts, the fiercest. His wines were celebrated for their nuance and elegance. Maria Teresa Mascarello, Bartolo’s daughter, has only turned up the quality since the early 2000s. The Bartolo Mascarello winery is worthy of being crowned a landmark of Italian wine. They make one Barolo every year that is a blend of small plots of vineyards. Their dolcetto is considered the greatest. The barbera is the easy drinking wine we wish we saw more.
If there were an Italian wine hall of fame, Vietti would be an obvious inductee. In Barolo, they were one of the first producers to do single vineyard bottlings. At the time, Barolo wasn’t considered one of the great wine regions so this seemed like a romantic endeavor. Today, these wines are some of the most collectible and cellar worthy wines in Italy. There are eras of experimentation creating wines of different styles. From the early 60s until the 80s they produced certain wines which are no longer made today. You’ll find obscure wines from grapes such as pelaverga and freisa. In the 80s, there was a heroic run of years with ’82, ’85, ’88, and ’89 being the best. Post 1990, they made wines which were better suited for earlier consumption. Beginning around 2010 and under the direction of the founder’s son, Luca Currado, the wines are some of the most elegant and nuanced wines both the winery and Barolo has produced. Pronounced (Vee-Et-Tee).
Denis Bachelet makes singular wines in Gevrey-Chambertin, a village in Burgundy famous for its powerful pinot. His wines are both ripe and intensely smokey and savory; Red Burgundy is often one or the other, but to be both is a mark of greatness. Bachelet is most closely associated with the great vineyards of Gevrey-Chambertin, capped off by the stellar Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru. Like most top-Burgundy growers, Bachelet is quietly Biodynamic - he’s not doing it for politics, he just wants to be as close to his vines as possible. His wine, for example, is always bottled during a full moon—we don’t know exactly what that does to the wine, but it seems to work.
Teobaldo Cappellano is one of the most influential figures in the history of Italian wine. Although by no means outside of Barolo is his name a household one, he carved the path for what’s today’s traditional and also natural wine movement in Italy. In the 1980s and 90s as Barolo was gaining international success, many producers began to change their style in an effort to receive high scores and high prices. Reluctant to bend to fads, Cappellano championed traditional winemaking, was an early adopter of organic farming, only used native yeasts, and made decisions based on curiosity and craft rather than economics. Today, under the leadership of Augusto Cappellano, the winery makes two Barolos. “Rupestris” which is from the historic vineyards and the ultra-rare “Piè Franco” which is from vines planted on original rootstock. Both are long-lived, funky, and prove that Teobaldo was ahead of his time.