1. Champagne André Clouet, Brut Grand Réserve Grand Cru, Champagne, France NV

This impeccable “grower-producer” is our go-to whenever we want to serve “real” Champagne of profound depth at a reasonable price. As many of you are now well-aware—we offer this wine at least twice per year, and are always clamoring for more—Clouet is one of the greatest small houses in Champagne. Based in the village of Bouzy, widely regarded as Champagne’s greatest Pinot Noir vineyard land, Clouet is a Pinot Noir specialist, crafting bold, soil-expressive, sumptuous Champagnes that demand to be enjoyed with food. Their vineyard holdings, all Grand Cru, spread across eight hectares in Bouzy and its similarly Pinot-focused neighbor, Ambonnay. Current proprietor Jean-François Clouet puts all of his cuvées through long lees aging, infusing them with creamy complexity—even this ‘entry level’ non-vintage brut spends a whopping six years aging on its lees before final bottling. Aromas of dried yellow apple, dried pineapple, preserved lemon, freshly-baked croissant, white mushrooms, honeysuckle, and gardenia jump from the glass. The concentrated palate evolves to deliver red fruits with hints of red currant alongside lemon curd, hazelnut, and brioche. It’s a wine that masterfully walks a high wire between the full-bodied, rich mouthfeel and the crisp acidity and stony minerality we all crave from the best Champagnes.

Dry yet textured Riesling from a single vineyard site: this is the lighter of the two whites. Since 1871, the Dirler family has been burrowed deep in the soils of Alsace, with fifth-generation Jean Dirler currently at the helm. In 1998, along with the advent of their biodynamic conversion, he married Ludivine Cadé, daughter to winemaking family Hell-Cadé. After merging their land holdings in 2000, a new covenant between two Alsatian wine lovers was established: Domaine Dirler-Cadé. Today, their land holdings are enough to make most envious, as nearly half of their acreage is of Grand Cru status—a relatively new concept in Alsace, having been rolled out in 1983. Dirler-Cadé is stationed in the far south of Haut-Rhin and has extensive holdings in four major Grand Crus: “Kitterlé,” “Saering,” “Spiegel” and “Kessler.” The final three of these esteemed crus form an ‘amphitheater’ surrounding the lieu-dit “Belzbrunnen” vineyard. In the glass, the 2012 Belzbrunnen displays a concentrated yellow-gold core with vivid reflections at the rim. At five years old, it’s showing an expressive, mineral-flecked aromatic profile with rich and ripe fruits bursting through. White peach, golden apple, Anjou pear, lime meringue, honeysuckle, crushed rock, gunflint, and the charming petrol quality that I love are all confirmed on the medium-bodied, lush-yet-refreshing palate.

The generous 2015 vintage lent this old-vine Chardonnay enough amplitude and weight to take on heartier flavors. Set behind the illustrious hill of Corton—made famous by Emperor Charlemagne over 1,200 years ago—the village of Pernand-Vergelesses is home to wines that define what value is all about in Burgundy. Domaine Marius Delarche was originally established in the mid-1900s and, since then, the torch has been passed three times, from father to son, in classic Burgundian fashion. For the past decade, Etienne Delarche has been at the helm and his winemaking has turned many heads, as he has been able to retain the original charm and artisanal style that his forefathers laid down. The “Les Combottes” vineyard, which is a lieu-dit (a named vineyard without any official ranking), is situated at a high altitude and faces east. Altitude, in fact, plays a key role in this wine’s style—it is typically very perfumed, high-toned, and textured while also mineral-driven. It leads with crushed-stone aromas layered with notes of green and yellow apple, lime blossom, citrus, hazelnuts, white mushroom, white flowers and damp mushroom. 

“Autumnal” is the first word that leapt to mind as we assessed the personality of this traditional Burgundian blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay. “Passetoutgrain” translates roughly to “throw it all together,” and its existence as an officially codified appellation wine (AOC) speaks to the fact that vineyards in Burgundy were often “co-planted” to many different grapes. It is a structured and sophisticated example of this Burgundy classic from a tradition-minded producer, Confuron-Cotetidot—a property based in Vosne-Romanée, arguably the most hallowed Pinot Noir ground in Burgundy. Comprised of two-thirds Pinot Noir and one-third Gamay, this 2014 is both a nod to Burgundy’s past and a bright, accessible red to be savored in the present. Confuron-Cotetidot is a family-run operation, specializing in vine propagation; they have holdings in sites from village level to Grand Cru, and they even have a clone of Pinot Noir in their name: “Pinot Confuron.” Vines are an average of 65 years or older, hand-harvested and cared for tirelessly to produce low yields. Farming has always been done organically, without the use of synthetic pesticides or herbicides, and wines are unfiltered and unfined. Each time you return to the glass you get different hints of its component parts: black cherry, strawberry, baking spices, and forest floor (Pinot) one moment, followed by purple plums, and violet (Gamay) the next—it’s a walk through the woods while munching on dried cherries and cranberries. A perfect wine for the Thanksgiving table.

Silky, fragrant, balanced Pinot Noir from one of the stalwart producers in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Even casual observers of the Oregon wine scene know that the more concentrated wines of 2014 received greater hype, but many of my favorites during our recent visit were 2013s: As gorgeously illustrated by this 2013 “Freedom Hill Vineyard” Pinot Noir from St. Innocent, the vintage delivered wines with a very bright, perfumed, Old World sensibility to them. Owner/Winemaker Mark Vlossak got his start in the Willamette Valley in the late-1980s, as an apprentice to Fred Arterberry, who was the original cellar master at David Lett’s pioneering Eyrie Vineyards. He makes several different single-vineyard wines, but his “Freedom Hill” is always one of the best; this vineyard qualifies in most experts’ minds as a ‘Grand Cru’ site in Oregon. The 2013 has a highly perfumed nose of black cherry, raspberry, rhubarb, black tea, underbrush, and warm baking spices. There’s a delicate core of fruit but also firm structure lending the wine great focus and lift. It is singing right now, and is just now starting to enter its peak drinking window. 

A deeper, darker “baby Barolo” that displays the resolutely woodsy, smoky, leathery personality of Piedmont’s Nebbiolo grape. This wine is a kindred spirit to Vietti’s “Perbacco” Nebbiolo, which is effectively de-classified fruit from their Barolo vineyards in Castiglione Falletto—and a go-to value pick. However, it isn’t perfectly accurate to call this Nebbiolo from Colla a “baby Barolo” or even a “baby Barbaresco,” even though the property from which the fruit hails falls just outside the Barbaresco DOCG boundary in the village of San Rocco Seno d’Elvio. Ultimately, this 2014 from Poderi Colla is structured exactly like a Barolo, is grown quite close to Barbaresco, but belongs to Alba. This 2014 has the kind of brooding, mineral savor and high-toned perfume of the best Nebbiolo wines. It was aged 12 months in large, Slavonian oak casks, and its aromas, flavors and textures are all resolutely “traditional.” In the glass it’s a deep, reflective garnet-red with slight hints of bricking at the rim, with a highly perfumed nose of dried cherry, black raspberry, orange peel, rose petals, leather, tobacco, and lots of crushed-stone minerality. The tannins and fresh acid provide the foundation for a powerful, earthy mid-palate This, too, evokes the time of year beautiful, with its scents of dried fruits, autumn leaves, and dried flowers. Enjoy!