Special Arrival
Comm. G.B. Burlotto
“(Fabio Alessandria) has taken his family’s wines into the stratosphere…” -Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media
When you think of the great Italian Masterpieces, I’m sure a few famous images pop into your mind… certainly Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Ceiling, probably Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, and definitely the wines of GB Burlotto. Each of them is a treasure worthy of admiration.
The estate was originally founded in in the 1800s by Giovanni Battista Burlotto, current winemaker Fabio Alessandria’s great-great-grandfather. Giovanni was as transformative a figure in Barolo as they come; instead of selling wine by the cask or demijohn, he followed in the footsteps of the French and sold by the bottle. The wines became world famous during Giovanni’s seventy-seven years as winemaker even becoming the official Barolo of the Royal House of Savoy and competing with Bordeaux as the European luxury bottle of choice. After Giovanni’s passing, so too faded the quality, fame, and reach of his winery. To have such a legendary Barolo house fall into obscurity was a tragedy– it would be like allowing the Mona Lisa to collect dust in one of the Louvre’s broom closets.
Today, however, under the leadership of Fabio Alessandria Burlotto, the winery is again at the top of the heap, crafting wines in a traditional style that showcases the complexity and femininity of the estate’s unique terroir. These wines have retaken their place as Piedmont’s premiere cult producer… what little we have to offer will not last long!
…arriving Friday
G. B. Burlotto Barbera d’Alba, Piedmont, Italy 2023 750ml $33 special, 6 bottles available
Winery Note “It is “the” young red for Piedmontese cuisine, a region to which it seems to belong by nature. Its fervor, in fact, has no frills or tinsel: it referees the game of the meal with the purest spirit of service, staying aside as much as possible. In the end, however, it is remembered with gratitude, because it is a supporter of honest well-being.”
G.B. Burlotto Dolcetto d’Alba, Piedmont, Italy 2023 750ml $26 special, 6 bottles available
Winery Note “It is a conciliation of opposites: the dreamy and the concrete, the popular and the refined, an old-fashioned grace and an unthinkable strength, the effort and the sweetness that intertwine in the name. It is good in the glass of those who just want to drink it, and in that of those who want to listen to its calm and never arrogant story. It is the wine of those who are in a hurry and of those who have time.”
G.B. Burlotto Langhe Nebbiolo, Piedmont, Italy 2023 750ml $36 special, 6 bottles available
Winery Note “It is the hidden face of the great Langa grape, overshadowed by the force of impact of the classics, born already armed as if for a renunciation of youth in the name of a conquered authority. Here it is, instead, the youth of Nebbiolo, unexpected, brilliant and memorable: it does not have the weight of the greats, but brings as a gift a precious, intimate clarity.”
…available now
G. B. Burlotto Viridis Sauvignon Blanc, Piedmont, Italy 2023 750ml $39 special, 33 bottles available
Winery Note “In ancient Rome, viridis was the color of the dress of the Naiads, nymphs of fresh waters. Here, however, the noble vine of the Loire distills the salt and soul of the sea from the land of Langa, the fragrant trace of herbs and wildflowers, the fresh juice of sour fruits. It is a white that, evoking all that is green, fascinates and surprises, affects and quenches one’s thirst.”
G. B. Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero, Piedmont, Italy 2014 750ml $319 special, 2 bottles available
Monica Larner-Wine Advocate 95 Points “Fabio Alessandria of Comm. G.B. Burlotto tells me that he always believed in the controversial 2014 vintage. He never had any doubts regarding the inherent quality buried deep within this difficult vintage with its temperature extremes and humidity-based diseases. The 2014 Barolo Monvigliero ultimately proves to be a fragile and delicate wine with pure essence of wild rose and violet. Monvigliero is known as “the perfumed vineyard,” thanks to those beautiful floral nuances. While contemplating the bouquet, you feel like you are standing in the middle of a rose garden. The wine offers loose-knit structure with fine tannins that are polished, etched and very linear. Some 7,500 bottles were made in 2014, down from an average annual production of 8,000.”
New Arrivals
100% Pinot Noir.
Jacques Robin Ma Bonne Etoile Brut, Champagne, France NV 750ml $39 special, 9 bottles available
James Suckling 93 Points “A layered and delicious Champagne with dried peach and apple with some crushed stone and chalk character. Medium-bodied with lovely fruit and a subtle finish. Nuanced complexity.”
Re-Arrivals
Domaine Huet Vouvray ‘Le Mont’ Sec, Loire, France 2023 750ml $45 special, 12 bottles available
Rebecca Gibb MW-Vinous 95 Points “The 2023 Vouvray Sec Le Mont is precise, upright and flinty. It’s less immediately charming than the styles we’ve seen in recent warmer vintages, but it was only tasted three weeks after bottling—this is one to revisit. There’s just the right amount of juicy, peachy flesh within this light-bodied yet concentrated wine. It has the potential to charm but does so without showing off. Flinty and tightly sewn together, it has curves in the right places, but you’re just going to have to wait for it to take shape. (Drink between 2026-2038).”
Terre Nere Calderara Sottana Rosso Etna, Sicily, Italy 2022 750ml $69 special, 15 bottles available
James Suckling 99 Points “The purity and clarity to this really talks to you, with red cherry, orange peel, citrus blossom and basalt. Hints of smoke and tar, too. The transparency is really something here. From eight vineyards with vines of 60 or more years old, the best vines being more than 100 years old. 12,000 bottles. Drink now.”
Brovia Vignavillej Dolcetto d’Alba, Piedmont, Italy 2021 750ml $21.90 special, 24 bottles available
Antonio Galloni-Vinous 93 Points “The 2021 Dolcetto d’Alba Vignavillej is deep, potent and explosive. A super Dolcetto, the 2021 packs a serious punch. Blackberry, cloves, new leather and mocha all saturate the palate in this sumptuous, full-bodied Dolcetto. Superb.”
Wineries We Love
Domaine Garon
“Lovers of pure, classical Côte Rôtie need to get on this estate’s bandwagon ASAP!” -Jeb Dunnuck
With 550 years in Côte Rotie already under their belts, the Garon family is somehow just getting better. Located on their ancestral lands in Ampuis, right smack in the middle of the region, home to some of the oldest vineyards in Côte Rotie.
We’ve been known to wax rhapsodic about Rhône producers like Delas and Rostaing, but Garon is not to be overlooked. Garon is a phenomenal producer with excellent offerings for prices both high and low showcasing polish as well as power. This is exactly what Côte Rotie should be.
With 550 years in Côte Rotie already under their belts, the Garon family is somehow just getting better. Located on their ancestral lands in Ampuis, right smack in the middle of the region, home to some of the oldest vineyards in Côte Rotie.
We’ve been known to wax rhapsodic about Rhône producers like Delas and Rostaing, but Garon is not to be overlooked. Garon is a phenomenal producer with excellent offerings for prices both high and low showcasing polish as well as power. This is exactly what Côte Rotie should be.
Enough talk, here’s the wines:
Not only is this Syrah, Grenache, and Carignan blend a lovely and versatile weekday bottle of wine, it offers a fantastic introduction to Garon’s house style as well: elegant, but giving. Expect a good balance of earth and fruit.
Garon Cotes du Rhone La Part des Vivants 2022 750ml $19 special, 36 bottles available
Winery Note “Selection of Cotes Du Rhone mainly based on Syrah. Partly aged in oak barrels. Sunshine and generosity in the glass.”
A very special offering from Garon… once you know it’s a baby “Cote Rotie,” this crowd-pleasing wine evolves from just a satisfying Rhône Syrah to one of the most stunning deals in the shop. This is an employee favorite for how much it overdelivers.
Garon Les Grandes Parcelles Syrah IGP 2022 750ml $26 special, 24 bottles available
Winery Notes “100% Syrah, affectionately referred to as a baby Côte Rôtie, sometimes including an amount of declassified fruit. Hand harvested, followed by traditional vinification. Elegant, intense with dark cherry, small berries, fine tannins, long balanced finish.”
For fans of Viognier, this wine is second only to Condrieu in quality. Supple and elegant, this wine is a treat. Excellent to pair with seafood, chicken, and creamy cheese.
Garon Les Grandes Parcelles Viognier 2022 750ml $26 special, 24 bottles available
(Not yet reviewed, 2020 review provided for reference)
Jeb Dunnick “Lots of grilled peach and tangerine fruits as well as touch of spice and earthy minerality, emerge from the 2020 Viognier Les Grandes Parcelles, a medium-bodied, fresh, focused, nicely balanced Condrieu to enjoy over the coming 3-5 years.”
Winery Notes “High altitude plots on sandy granite terroirs. Supple and elegant with lots of freshness.”
Syrah from the Lancement lieu-dit in the Cote Blonde: incredible focus and complexity shaped by the region’s schist soils rich in iron and manganese.
Garon Cote-Rotie Lancement 2016 750ml $138 special, only 1 bottle left!
Josh Raynolds-Vinous 94 Points “(50% new oak and 50% whole clusters) Vivid purple. Candied cherry, blueberry, Moroccan spices and olive paste on the exotically perfumed nose. Silky, seamless and sweet on the palate, offering juicy, spice-laced black and blue fruit, floral pastille and spicecake flavors that tighten up slowly on the back half. A smoky mineral note comes up on the strikingly long finish, which is framed by smooth, well-integrated tannins.”
2020 was a hot year, but it produced some. This stupendous wine could take a while to mellow.
Garon Cote-Rotie Lancement 2020 750ml $189 special, 3 bottles available
Jeb Dunnuck 95-97 Points “The 2020 Côte Rôtie Lancement has more black fruits as well as some classic Côte Rôtie floral and mineral notes. This vineyard normally yields a more ethereal, feminine wine, but this is a powerful, dense, stacked barrel sample with plenty of fine grained tannins and a great finish.”
Made from a single parcel lieu-dit in the Côte Blonde, this wine is a luxurious, savory expression of Côte Rotie. A bottle to sink into over a calm and restorative evening.
Garon Cote-Rotie Le Combard 2020 750ml $99 special, 6 bottles available
Jeb Dunnuck 94-96 Points “The 2020 Côte Rôtie Le Combard is also terrific, revealing a powerful yet also pure and precise character. Both red and black fruits, spice, and flowery incense define the nose, and it’s medium to full-bodied, with terrific tannins and a great finish.”
3 Gems
Off The Beaten Path
From Slovenia with Love
When a well-established winemaking family starts making a totally different style of wine in a totally different country, they must have a good reason. That’s how you know that the Tement family of Austria is doing something special with this Slovenian wine. The vineyards of Ciringa are located on a band of Kimmeridgian Clay– the secret sauce behind the bristling acid and minerality of Chablis, the Côte des Bar, and sections of the Loire like Chavrol. Extensive skin contact during maceration, up to 36 hours of it, provides excellent balance, rewarding the palette with a truly unique take on Sauvignon Blanc.
Domaine Ciringa Fosilni Breg Sauvignon Blanc Reserve, Stajerska Slovenia 2018 750ml $34.50 special, 6 bottles available
Stephan Reinhardt-Wine Advocate 93 Points “From a very warm (and humid) year, macerated for 18 hours and aged on the lees for 42 months in a 4,000-liter-oak cask, the 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Fosilni Breg Reserve opens with an intense and concentrated, pretty phenolic bouquet with notes of crushed stones and fresh white and citrus fruits. Full-bodied and creamy yet with positive grip on the palate, this is a mouth-filling, elegant, fresh and linear Sauvignon from the Slovenian side of the Zieregg. It has very good, savory length. Still young, this wine will benefit from further bottle aging. 13% stated alcohol. Screw cap closure. Tasted at the Zieregg in May 2023.”
An underappreciated style of wine in the American market. The Passetoutgrains (or “Throw it all in”) wines of Red Burgundy are a traditional co-fermenting of Pinot Noir and Gamay. While it’s not necessarily one to forget in the cellar for decades, it’s a pleasing and affordable treat from a region and a winery that is that not always budget friendly.
Michel Lafarge L’Exception Bourgogne Passe-tout-grains, Burgundy, France 2022 750ml $33 special, 6 bottles available
William Kelley-Wine Advocate “The 2022 Bourgogne Passetoutgrain l’Exception exhibits notes of sweet berries, plums and cherries, followed by a medium-bodied, fleshy and succulent palate.”
Sparkling Gruner Veltliner? Now I’ve heard of everything. Gruner is well-esteemed by sommeliers for its versatility in food pairing, as is sparkling wine. With this traditional method sparkler you have what could be considered the skeleton key of fine dining. It goes with everything.
Madl Brut Nature, Weinviertel, Austria 2018 750ml $44.50 special, 3 bottles available
Falstaff Magazine 92 Points “Light greenish yellow with silver reflections and a delicate, fine bubbly mousse. A hint of tobacco underpins aromas of yellow apple and pear fruit, meadow herbs and lime zest. Medium complexity on the palate, with green apple and some pineapple fruit, fresh acidity, a fine minerality and a lemony touch on the finish. Typical Grüner Veltliner nuances and a pleasant aperitif.”
Winery Note “Unsulfured! For lovers of a puristic style, smells like a fluffy brioche, rustic, markedly dry, bready on the palate. 100 % Grüner Veltliner on lees since 2019.”
Domaine Ciringa Fosilni Breg Sauvignon Blanc Reserve, Stajerska Slovenia 2018 750ml $34.50 special, 6 bottles available
Stephan Reinhardt-Wine Advocate 93 Points “From a very warm (and humid) year, macerated for 18 hours and aged on the lees for 42 months in a 4,000-liter-oak cask, the 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Fosilni Breg Reserve opens with an intense and concentrated, pretty phenolic bouquet with notes of crushed stones and fresh white and citrus fruits. Full-bodied and creamy yet with positive grip on the palate, this is a mouth-filling, elegant, fresh and linear Sauvignon from the Slovenian side of the Zieregg. It has very good, savory length. Still young, this wine will benefit from further bottle aging. 13% stated alcohol. Screw cap closure. Tasted at the Zieregg in May 2023.”
An underappreciated style of wine in the American market. The Passetoutgrains (or “Throw it all in”) wines of Red Burgundy are a traditional co-fermenting of Pinot Noir and Gamay. While it’s not necessarily one to forget in the cellar for decades, it’s a pleasing and affordable treat from a region and a winery that is that not always budget friendly.
Michel Lafarge L’Exception Bourgogne Passe-tout-grains, Burgundy, France 2022 750ml $33 special, 6 bottles available
William Kelley-Wine Advocate “The 2022 Bourgogne Passetoutgrain l’Exception exhibits notes of sweet berries, plums and cherries, followed by a medium-bodied, fleshy and succulent palate.”
Sparkling Gruner Veltliner? Now I’ve heard of everything. Gruner is well-esteemed by sommeliers for its versatility in food pairing, as is sparkling wine. With this traditional method sparkler you have what could be considered the skeleton key of fine dining. It goes with everything.
Madl Brut Nature, Weinviertel, Austria 2018 750ml $44.50 special, 3 bottles available
Falstaff Magazine 92 Points “Light greenish yellow with silver reflections and a delicate, fine bubbly mousse. A hint of tobacco underpins aromas of yellow apple and pear fruit, meadow herbs and lime zest. Medium complexity on the palate, with green apple and some pineapple fruit, fresh acidity, a fine minerality and a lemony touch on the finish. Typical Grüner Veltliner nuances and a pleasant aperitif.”
Winery Note “Unsulfured! For lovers of a puristic style, smells like a fluffy brioche, rustic, markedly dry, bready on the palate. 100 % Grüner Veltliner on lees since 2019.”