Hoffmann-Jayer Hautes-Côtes de Nuits 2017
Origin: Burgundy, France
Retail: $48.95 | Sale: $44.06
When the Jayer-Gilles estate, founded in the 1950s, was purchased in 2017, its new owner André Hoffmann—a well-known environmentalist whose father Luc co-founded the World Wildlife Fund—set out to improve farming practices and to refine cellar practices in the service of purity and balance. Located in the village of Magny-lès-Villers at the junction of the Hautes Côtes de Beaune and the Hautes Côtes de Nuits, Domaine Hoffmann-Jayer encompasses ten hectares spread across a wide range of appellations. Winemaker Alexandre and his team treat each parcel with equal diligence both in the vineyard and in the cellar, by hand-harvesting, removing the use of chemicals, and working towards the process of organic certification. These are wines which deftly balance well-articulated structure with ringing, energetic fruit, allowing these old plantings to voice their underlying minerality in ways heretofore unseen. Structured, saline, and stony, the finished wine clearly reflects the stone-riddled, steeply inclined site in which the vines are planted. 100% Chardonnay
Les Parcellaires de Saulx Pinot Noir 2018
Origin: Burgundy, France
Retail: $49.95 | Sale: $44.96
Les Parcellaires de Saulx is a small, vénérable maison de vins firm occupying a handsome manor house at the upper end of Meursault. Its cellar stretches on for some 5,000 square feet, and in its depths the house has been élevaging wine since 1908. Isabelle Laurand has been the cellarmaster since the turn of the century. She’s a native Burgundian who, back in the day, went to school at Beaune’s well known Lycée Viticole (where Jean-Pierre Charlot from Domaine Voillot taught), and she has deep-seated relationships among a who’s who list of growers along the Côte. One could easily be forgiven for thinking that this startlingly delicious Bourgogne was a declassified wine from some hallowed terroir in the Côte de Beaune. Raised for 8-10 months in barrel, rather than the 12-15 months that is routine for the rest of the Parcellaires range. On the nose, this wine displays notes of strawberry and raspberry, with a spicy and peppery touch. On the palate, it is fleshy, fruity, and delicate, balanced by silky tannins. 100% Pinot Noir
Fontanafredda Barbaresco 2019
Origin: Piemonte, Italy
Retail: $56.95 | Sale: $51.26
Fontanafredda began in 1858 after the unification of Italy, when the country’s first king, Vittorio Emanuele II, purchased this beautiful estate in Piedmont’s Langhe region. Here he started producing wine from native varietals – Dolcetto, Barbera and Nebbiolo – which later developed into a commercial business under the direction of the King’s son, Count Mirafiori. Fontanafredda released their first Nebbiolo labeled as Barolo with the 1878 vintage. The estate enjoyed incredible prosperity until just after the turn of the century, but the proceeding Phylloxera plague, the Great Depression, and the World Wars took their toll on the business and the property was sold to Italy’s oldest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena. The 250-acre Fontanafredda property in Serralunga d’Alba, a cru site of Barolo, is the single largest contiguous wine estate in the Langhe and includes 247 acres of vineyards, 30 acres of woodland and 10 acres on which the cellars and village buildings lie. The wine is aged for at least 2 years in large Slavonian and French oak casks, then bottled and aged for an additional year. On the nose, light vanilla, intense underbrush, and violets. A robust, well-bodied wine packed with structure and capable of withstanding the test of time. 100% Nebbiolo
Blandy’s 10 Year old Bual
Origin: Madeira, Portugal
Retail: $39.95 | Sale: $35.95
The Blandy family is unique in being the only family of all the original founders of the Madeira wine trade that still own and manage their own original wine company. Throughout its long history on the island the family has played a leading role in the development of Madeira wine and members of the family continue to live in Madeira maintaining a tradition that goes back to 1811: Two centuries of fine wine production. “A fruity, spicy Madeira, this 10-year-old Blandy's Madeira is made with 100% Bual grapes. Matured for 10 years in seasoned American oak casks, using the Canteiro system of gradually moving the casks from the higher, warmer floors down to the lower floors where the temperature is much cooler. This creates a fruity character with plenty of spice, soft aromas of Seville orange marmalade, quince, honeycomb and walnuts lead the nose. The palate offers well-balanced notes of marmalade, cinnamon, cardamom and candied orange peel, with a hint of ginger in the finish. 100% Bual