Category Archives: Classified Wine imports

Comte Armand

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clos des epeneaux

Image via Scott Paul Wines.

From the winery’s website:

The “Domaine des Epeneaux” owes its name to The “Clos des Epeneaux”, sumptuous piece of land of five hectares acquired by Nicolas Marey, in the late of the XVIII century and early of the XIX.

In 1828, The “Clos des Epeneaux” and its building, located in the center of Pommard and known under Fief Rancy’s name, where there and then included in the estate of Count Armand’s family.
Domaine des Epeneaux in the XIXth century

The Domaine remained as it was until to 1994, when it was expanded to vines in Volnay, then with plots of Auxey-Duresses.

Actually, Le Domaine des Epeneaux stretches out over a total surface of 7,5 hectares and developes wines which will be, for every one, the expression of its “terroir”.

Click here to read more…

Domaine Drouhin-Laroze

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drouhin larozeWinery website.

Text via one of our favorite Burgundy resources, Bergman’s Bourgogne.

Philippe Drouhin’s grandparents were wise. Despite hard times in the wine business they made sure to invest in prime land on the Côte de Nuits. Thanks to them, 42 per cent of today’s Domaine Drouhin-Laroze is grand cru vineyards, from Chambertin Clos de Bèze down to Clos de Vougeot.

“They would only buy the best parcels,” says Philippe Drouhin. “It was expensive already back then and they didn’t know if they would make any money off it. Now we are very happy they bought it.”

Domaine Drouhin-Laroze owns a total of six different grand crus – Chambertin Clos de Bèze, Chapelle-Chambertin, Latricières-Chambertin, Bonnes Mares, Musigny and Clos de Vougeot. Putting together a domaine like that today would be impossible. Financially it would be impossible because of the strong increase in land prices in recent years. It would also be impossible because very little grand cru land come up for sale nowadays.

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Image via Cépage et Cuisine.

Parker Reviews for Roy Estate

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Click here for winery website.

Proprietor Shirley Roy and her consulting winemaker Philippe Melka have a done a great job with these current and upcoming releases. One of the key attributes of Roy’s wines is their early accessibility. The 2009s have turned out just as well as I had hoped, while the 2010s – the product of tiny yields – are a touch more complex.

—Antonio Galloni
Wine Advocate
December 2012

91-93 POINTS (NOT YET RELEASED) 2011 Roy Estate

The 2011 Proprietary Red is nicely balanced in this vintage. The cool, late growing season complements some of the wine’s more overt, jammy leanings. Grilled herbs, smoke, tobacco and licorice all add complexity on a finish laced with expressive floral and spiced notes. I am curious to see how the 2011 develops over the coming years. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2025.

91-93 POINTS (NOT YET RELEASED) 2011 Roy Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon is another vivid, complex and multi-dimensional wine. Savory herbs, new leather, tobacco and mint all take shape in the glass, but today the 2011 is mostly defined by its dark, enveloping personality. Shirley Roy’s Cabernet Sauvignon shows plenty of promise in 2011. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2026.

92-94 POINTS (NOT YET RELEASED) 2010 Roy Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon presents an intriguing array of smoke, scorched earth, incense, new leather and savory herbs. Tense, full–bodied and opulent, the 2010 brings together the best qualities of this site and the vintage. The 2010 is unusually vivid, nuanced and complex for such a big wine. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2025.

91 POINTS 2010 Roy Estate

Roy’s 2010 Proprietary Red has a little more delineation and nuance than the 2009. Freshly cut flowers, violets, super ripe dark fruit, mocha, espresso, chocolate, plums, cassis and black currants all jump from the glass in this opulent full-bodied huge wine. Layers of fruit continue to build to the creamy, expressive finish. In 2010, the blend is 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot.Anticipated maturity: 2015-2025.

92 POINTS 2009 Roy Estate

The 2009 Proprietary Red bursts from the glass with juicy dark cherries, flowers, mint violets and tar. A super-ripe wine, the 2009 caresses the palate with gorgeous depth. This voluptuous, opulent wine has plenty of energy, not to mention considerable appeal. The 2009 is 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and 10% Petit Verdot. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2024.

shirley roy olivier houston

 

Above: Shirley Roy (far right) with the owners of L’Olivier in Houston (foreground) and Classified owner David Smith (background).

The “quiet” wines of Gérard Mugneret

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From the Becky Wasserman Selection site.

The Mugneret family were the owners of the first domaine we got to know back in 1968.

Their wines were generous, and so were they, inviting us to be their guests at the annual banquet dedicated to St. Vincent, the patron saint of winemakers.

We visited back and forth, and when I began to put a list together in 1976, René Mugneret permitted me to list his wines. This is not a media-seeking domaine. The wines are quiet, sure of themselves, and René’s son, Gérard, and grandson, Pascal, have no need to produce what I call “noisy” wines.

The wines have dignity, age beautifully and are welcoming from cask onwards. Our allocation is not vast as the family has a long list of private customers.

Their Passetoutgrain and Bourgogne Rouge have achieved cult status in certain American cities. Clive Coates described the wines as “pure, focused, rich and stylish. Sadly, the wine is rarely found on the export market.”

—Becky Wasserman

gerard mugneret

Above: Gérard Mugneret (image via Polaner Selections).

Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair

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Winery website.

A great piece from one of our favorite Burgundy resources, Bergman’s Bourgogne…

liger belairLouis-Michel Liger-Belair (left) already had La Romanée, the minuscule Vosne-Romanée grand cru just above Romanée-Conti.

Then there is the Vosne-Romanée, Clos du Château, an equally tiny monopole on village level.

More recently he went shopping in Nuits-Saint-Georges, where he picked up Clos des Grandes Vignes, the only premier cru east of the Beaune-Dijon road.

“I love the monopoles,” he says. “This is the third one. It’s good from a commercial point of view and it’s good because people will not compare it with other wines from the same climat. And if you have a clos that is a monopole it also means you have no pollution from the neighbours.”

Today’s Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair in Vosne-Romanée is a fairly young thing. The history goes way back, but it was not until 2000 that Louis-Michel Liger-Belair took on the family estate and brought back the vineyards. At the start there was only 3.2 hectares and five wines. In 2006 the portfolio increased to 14 wines and 8.3 hectares.

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Image via Degustateurs.com.

Salade des vignerons: Alice Feiring lunches with Becky Wasserman

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We were thrilled to come across this lovely post by one of our all-time favorite wine writers, Alice Feiring.

Alice has been a friend to and has followed the career of legendary Burgundy exporter Becky Wasserman since she began writing about wine in the late 1990s.

If you ever wondered what it’s like to have lunch in Becky’s home, here’s your chance to find out! :)

JF Mugnier: Clos de la Maréchale

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From the JF Mugnier website.

Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er cru

Clos de la Maréchale

Introduction

On the first of November 2003, Domaine J-F Mugnier increased from 4 to 14 hectares. The Clos de la Maréchale, under the sole ownership of the Mugnier family since 1902, reverted to the Domaine when the farming contract ended after 53 years.

History

The origin of the name of this Clos is unknown. In 1855 the vineyard was known as ‘Clos des Fourches’, then ‘Clos Maréchal’ in 1892, before changing to ‘Clos de la Maréchale’ in the 20th century. Research by the historian Jean-François Bazin shows no evidence of a Marshal, or the widow of a Marshal, during the Second Empire being connected to this village. Further research is necessary. Therefore, to follow…

The vineyard

The Clos de la Maréchale has a surface of 9 hectares, 76 ares. It is the largest monopole (an appellation belonging to a single owner) in the Côte d’Or. The average age of the vines in 2009 is about 45 years old.

The vines

The Clos de la Maréchale has a surface of 9 hectares, 76 ares. It is the largest monopole (an appellation belonging to a single owner) in the Côte d’Or. The average age of the vines in 2009 is about 45 years old.

The soil

The geological stratum on which the Clos de la Maréchale is situated plunges wellbelow the surface of the soil further south, marking the end of the Côte de Nuits, only to reappear in Le Montrachet between Puligny and Chassagne. Therefore one is not surprised to find the same qualities of power and longevity in these wines.

The Wine

They are wines that always need 5 to 10 years of ageing before expressing their typically floral character: “The bouquet of the 1er crus of Premeaux is remarkable and persistent: one finds the aroma of iris mingled with raspberries. Even more so, that of white lilac”.