Domaine Michel Magnien ~ The Gateway to Burgundy

  My first encounter with Frederic – Freddy – Magnien (5th generation winemaker for both the Domaine as well as Negoce side of the family business) was over breakfast back in 2007. It was the morning preceding one of his annual wine-maker tours – this one held in Los Angelas – and he, my wife, [...]

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Domaine Taupenot Merme ~ Haunting, impossibly elegant

Having heard that we would be visiting the Cote for the annual Grand Jours de Bourgogne, Romain Taupenot-Merme emailed me mid-week to extend a personal invitation to join him at his home to visit the Domaine and taste his 2010s. Considering the reputation that precedes this venerable estate, I made certain our afternoon calendar that [...]

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Domaine Jean Marc Pavelot ~ Indisputably the Finest!

  Of the nearly 180 producers who produce and bottle wines from Savigny les Beaune, the estate of Jean-Marc Pavelot has earned the illustrious title of the finest wine maker in the village. After evaluating several consecutive vintages, spanning literally hundreds of samples and finished bottlings, Allen Meadows (author and publisher of Burghound) was quoted [...]

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Domaine Nicolas Rossignol ~ “Absolutely not to be missed” ~ Burghound

  At the ripe old age of 33, standing on stage before hundreds of this country’s most passionate fans of Burgundian wines, Nicolas Rossignol was honored for his work in Volnay when Bruce Sanderson of the Wine Spectator dubbed this unassuming vigneron “Burgundy’s latest vanguard”. The crowd attending that year’s New York Wine Experience – [...]

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Domaine Albert Morot – Doing for Beaune as Ghislaine does for Chambolle

  While visiting with David Croix (winemaker for both Domaine des Croix as well as the famous Maison Camille Giroud) while in Burgundy for the Grand Jours de Bourgogne, I found it enlightening to discover how greatly he reveres the wines of Geoffroy Choppin de Janvry – current vigneron of the Domaine Albert Morot. Needless [...]

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Domaine Jerome Chezeaux – Where lutte raisonnee results in Super-Star status

  Another fine producer who was conspicuously absent at this year’s Grand Jours De Bourgogne; could it be that importers State-side are hoarding the fruits of their favorite producer’s labor away for their own pleasure? The absence of this perennial over-achiever certainly suggests such a possibility.   The original estate that would eventually become known [...]

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Domaine Virgile Lignier-Michelot – Among the “Must-Haves” for 2010 ~ and beyond

  Having heard much recently of the rise in popularity of this estate with multiple international wine critics as well as professional sommeliers, I made a point to elbow my way through the crowd surrounding Virgile’s booth at this year’s Grand Jours De Bourgogne. Tasting his wines revealed not only some of the highlights of [...]

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Domaine Christian Serafin – A Father’s Perseverance Leads to a Domaine’s Greatest Achievements

  Tales of perseverance, strife and hardship often lend insight to the character of a wine-maker as well as the wines produced as a result of their steadfastness. One tale of immense perseverance is that of a Polish immigrant named Stanislaus Serafin, who in the late 1930s settled in the village of Gevrey Chambertin with [...]

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Domaine Rossignol-Trapet – A Gevrey-Chambertin Superstar

  I first encountered these 100% biodynamically farmed (certified as of 2005), increasingly transparent and terroir driven wines in 2002, while traveling Burgundy to sample the newly bottled vintage. Tasting Nicolas Rossignol-Trapet’s wines again this year at the GJDB reveals a Domaine truly on their game.   Rossignol-Trapet is a Domaine that was formed by [...]

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Super Value Minervois from Languedoc Roussillon

Hello to all my FB and blogger friends (especially those who like wine!) Perhaps you know, but I was in the vinous world for 25 years before O’s platform ushered the shuttering of my wine company. This week, my long-time colleague Cynthia Hurley ~ one of the most famous American-based European wine importers I’ve ever worked [...]

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