Producers

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    The names Sauzet, Carillon and Leflaive have become synonymous with Puligny, but one local clan has remained under the radar. The Chavy family has had roots in Puligny for almost 200 years. In 1976, after years of selling grapes to négociants, they began to bottle wine under their own label, and Domaine Gerard Chavy et Fils soon established itself as one of the finest domaines in the village; however, in 2003, after a family dispute, the estate was dissolved. The brothers Jean-Louis and Alain Chavy, who had jointly run the domaine, went their separate ways, each determined to build his own legacy.

    Alain Chavy is the owner of Chavy-Martin and has some pretty incredible holdings. In addition to the prestigious plots Les Folatières, Le Champs Gain, and Les Pucelles, the domaine owns a precious parcel in Le Clavoillon. Les Pucelles and Les Clavoillons sit adjoined on the slope, but Chavy-Martin is one of only two cellars in Burgundy where you can taste them side by side. Domaine Leflaive owns the vast majority of the 5.59 hectare Le Clavoillon, but the Chavy brothers each claim a small portion, preventing it from being a monopole. Alain farms just under half a hectare of 50 year old vines in Les Clavoillons, and from it he produces a wine of great depth and minerality (and limited availability.)

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    Maranges is located at the southern-most part of the Côte de Beaune, producing red wines that Clive Coates describes as “honest, sturdy and rustic in the best sense… (and) with good acidity”. This was the reputation of Maranges, but it's changing, in no small part due to the work of the Chevrot family. The Chevrots have been making wine in Maranges since 1830, and today the winery is run by two brothers, Pablo and Vincent Chevrot. Their parents started bottling wines under the Domaine Chevrot name in the nineteen seventies and the family played a key role in Maranges becoming an appellation, which was finally granted in 1988. Before 1988, wines here were classified simply as Côte de Beaune - Villages. It's worth noting that the appellation of Maranges covers three small villages: Dezize, Sampagny, and Cheilly. Pablo Chevrot was President of the appellation of Maranges for a few years, so if you have any questions about Maranges, he is a good person to start with. Now, aside from managing the winery, he keeps himself busy as a founding member and the Vice President of "Les Aligoteurs", an association of wine growers with old-vine aligoté who aim to promote high quality aligoté, made by talented winemakers. 

    Today, Domaine Chevrot owns 18.5 hectare of vines; 50% pinot noir, 40% chardonnay, and ten percent aligoté in appellations of Maranges, Santenay, and the Hautes Côtes de Beaune. Their oldest plots were planted by the current winemakers’ grandfather and are up to 75 years old. The brothers, Pablo and Vincent have maintained the traditions of their parents but have built upon their success: starting with conversion of the vineyards to organic viticulture in 2008. Working the soil is important and they own two horses and are now ploughing five hectares by horse. Seeded cover crops are another important element that brings fertility to the soil, aerates and restructures the soil, and limits erosion. Different plant types bring different elements: grains for structure, beans and clover trap nitrogen from the air and it gathers in the roots, getting released back to the soil. And cruciferous plants, like mustard, bring minerals and aerate the soil. They use organic compost in the vineyards and a minimum of copper and sulfur treatments as needed to treat oidium and mildew. They are practicing biodynamics as well but are not certified. 

    Chevrot's goal is to make wines that reflect their terroir and the vintage, which means as little tinkering in the cellar as possible. The brothers never add enzymes, acidify or chaptalize and the red wines do not see any sulfur until bottling. The entry-level cuvées are destemmed and some whole clusters are kept on the village and 1er cru cuvées. Fermentations are completed only with the indigenous yeasts. The total sulfur is ten milligrams per liter on the reds and 30 - 50 milligrams per liter on the whites. The amount of new oak used depends on the cuvée and it's always used judiciously; Pablo explained that oak is necessary in Maranges because the region produces very powerful wines like Pommard or Nuits-Saint-Georges. The wines show exceptionally well young, something that Pablo attributes to not using much sulfur.

    Bowler has been working with Domaine Chevrot since 2010 and its been incredible to follow their journey. Maybe ten years ago, the wines had elements that could have been described as "sturdy and rustic". They were very powerful wines then and they still are today, but now, when I look through my tasting notes, amongst all of the detailed terroir info (Pablo is a fount of knowledge; great terroir map here), I see certain words repeated, "chrystalline, great tension, structured and pretty, yummy," and the highest praise, "excellent!!!" Over the years, they have fine-tuned their work and one word that I agree with Coates on is "honest". The Chevrot wines are a true expression of their terroir and show great purity with nothing added. -Michele Peters, Bowler Portfolio Manager.

    www.chevrot.fr 

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    Ron de El Salvador Cihuatán is El Salvador’s only rum distillery. Ron Cihuatán’s story dates all the way back to the ancient Mayan city of Cihuatán. According to legend, a goddess bestowed Cihuatán with riches and fertility, with her spirit watching over the sugarcane fields remaining in the shape of the Guazapa Mountain. This El Salvadorian rum is named after this legend, which in Nahuat “Cihuatán” translates “the land beside the sleeping woman.”
    Produced by Licorera Cihuatán, a subsidiary of Ingenio La Cabaña of El Salvador. This rum is made using a 100-year-old sugar cane mill. Licorera Cihuatán distillery was established in 2004 and began distilling and aging their rums. After fermentation the rum is aged in new and used American oak bourbon barrels using the Solera method. The age statement is minimum age.
    El Salvador’s first rum, this spirit is handcrafted 100% by Salvadoran hands. “Our rum’s mystical surroundings, our sugarcane and aging methods, mixed with our hard work and patience, give Ron Cihuatán an unmistakable quality,” says Gabriela Ayala, Cihuatán’s Master Blender.

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    Skye is home to storm-battered mountains, impossible rockfaces and an ancient clan that bares their name. Clan Macleod is a small-batch blended Scotch that brings together hand selected malt and grain whiskies.
    Blended Scotch Whisky is a blend of one or more whiskies, which may themselves be made from any combination of malted and unmalted grains. These stunning blended whiskies are the only Blended Scotch whiskies bottled at 46% ABV. No cold filtration. For a rich depth of flavor at a fantastic value.
    These whiskies were brought to us by Keepers Quest , Ed Kohl and Ian Macleod. Ian was an Icon of Whisky winner in 2018.

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    We are honored and excited to be working with Clemens and Rita Busch, biodynamic practitioners in the Marienburg vineyards of Pünderich. Clemens is the fifth generation winemaker at this estate (all the previous ones were also named Clemens; ever the iconoclast, he named his son Florian). Clemens started working in his father’s 2-hectare estate in 1975 and has spent his career expanding the acreage and breadth of his holdings to 18 hectares, almost all on the slopes of the Marienburg. He stopped using herbicides in 1976, then in 1984 he and wife Rita converted to organics. They were among the first in Germany to commit to organic viticulture and led the movement establishing an association of organic growers in 1986. The estate converted to biodynamics entirely in 2005, earning certifications from the EU and Respekt-Biodyn. Clemens holds a permanent place in history as a role model and beacon of change among German winemakers.

    Location is crucial to mention here. Pünderich lies essentially at the dividing line between the Middle and Lower Mosel, the wilder and more remote northern section of the Mosel river system. The geology here is unique, based on a volcanic formation hundreds of millions of years old, manifested in a long, undulating cliff face that is nothing short of epic. The three main colors of slate (blue, red and grey) are all found here, dominating different parcels along the slopes across the river from the village. In spite of multiple slate profiles and expositions varying throughout the area, the German government in 1971, in a bureaucratic decision of breathtaking short-sightedness, lumped all these parcels together under one vineyard name, the Marienburg. Furthermore, they expanded what was a 23-hectare geographically coherent site into a 90-hectare politically drawn one, which even includes a series of flat sites on the opposite side of the river! Clemens has devoted his career to rectifying this mistake, identifying the different terroirs of the original hillside on his labels by their historical names: Fahrlay, Falkenlay, Rothenpfad, Felsterrasse, and Raffes. He further delineates his wines by their soil type, using an ingenious method: the color of the capsule on the bottles indicates the type of slate (blue, gray or red) that dominates the source from which each wine comes.

    Most of the wines at the Busch estate are vinified dry, and they are rich, complex and often powerful. They age very beautifully, gaining in complexity and texture. However, the sweet and noble sweet wines from the estate are also impressive, ranking among the finest wines made anywhere on the Mosel.

    It is important to note there are not a lot of committed "natural" winemakers in Germany in the sense that we know it from France and elsewhere; Busch is considered by many to be THE master interpreter of that philosophy in Germany. In numerous ways, these are some of the most iconoclastic wines we have ever tasted. More information is available on the Clemens Busch website.

     

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    Clos de la Perrière is an exceptional place and Bénigne Joliet has made it his life's mission to make wines from this site reflect the historied and special terroir. The Cistercian monks valued the Clos de la Perrière as a top site in all of Burgundy and Joliet continues to make wines in the same cellar built by the monks in 1142. The historic, vaulted cellar contains an enormous vertical press, also from 1142, which Joliet’s grandfather used until 1959.


    Bénigne Joliet’s family purchased the Clos de la Perrière in 1853, making Bénigne the sixth generation to own the five-hectare monopole domaine in Fixin. Because of the inheritance laws in France, the vineyard was fragmented among his ancestors over the years. His great grandfather and grandfather used to sell off the grapes and juice. In recent history, his father was the first to bottle under the domaine name in the 1970’s. His father made wine in the same way every year and did not account for vintage variances, so the quality fluctuated. Bénigne worked with his father for ten years and in 2004 came to the conclusion that he wanted to purchase back the entire Clos from his family (aunts, uncles, and cousins) with the goal of making the Clos de la Perrière a reverential wine once again.


    The Clos de la Perrière has a truly magical feel to it and a special microclimate. It’s at the same elevation as Echézeaux and the top of the Clos de Vougeot. It sits at the top of the slope, above the village, just next to the forest. The five hectares are a true clos, surrounded entirely by a wall, with the chateau/winery at the northern border. The Clos de la Perrière has different soils and Joliet vinifies each separately. One area is very stony and rich in limestone, another has more clay, the third area has a mix of clay and limestone and then the area near the woods at the top of the slope is cooler than the rest of the vineyard. The oldest vines are nearly a hundred years old and overall the average is about fifty.


    Joliet farms organically, although he has not sought certification. Flowers and grass grow between the vines and the prunings are left on the ground to add to the humus. In the cellar, Joliet uses partial whole clusters for fermentation depending on the vintage and the primary fermentation happens spontaneously in stainless steel. The wines are then moved to age in the same vaulted cellar that was built by the monks. The amount of new oak varies depending on the vintage and the amount has been reduced steadily since 2005. The wines are not forced and undergo malolactic fermentation at their own pace. As mentioned earlier, Joliet vinifies by parcel and each terroir gives it’s own distinct impressions. Each is interesting on it’s own, but the blend is like hearing a symphony instead of a solo. Joliet treats his vineyards as his own private garden and feels that “it is really a privilege to live and make wine here at Clos de la Perrière.”

    NY Times 2022 Article here.

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    Thank you to importer Louis/Dressner for this profile: 

    (Click here for more Roilette insight on LDM's website)

    The Clos de la Roilette, a lieu-dit in the village of Fleurie, covers nine hectares of one of the best slopes in the Beaujolais Crus. The clos has an eastern exposure, borders the Moulin-à-Vent  appellation, and produces wines that are beautiful when young and have the capacity to age 5-10 years, depending on the vintage.

    In the 1920’s, when the Fleurie appellation was first created, the former landowner was infuriated with losing the Moulin-à-Vent appellation under which the clos had previously been classified. He created a label, using a photograph of his racehorse Roilette, and used the name Clos de la Roilette without mentioning Fleurie. The owner vowed not to sell a drop of his wine on the French market and the production went to Switzerland, Germany and England.

    By the mid-1960s, the owner’s heirs had lost interest in the clos and a large portion of the land had gone wild and untended. In 1967, Fernand Coudert bought this poorly maintained estate and replanted the vineyards. His son Alain joined him in 1984, and has been the winemaker since.

    The Couderts say their particular terroir (mainly clay and manganese), and the age of their vines account for the richness of their wine. It has a deep blackcurrant color with a hint of purple, a restrained nose of crème de cassis, a rich, full mouth with aromas of cassis, black cherries, and a nutty character, and finishes with zesty acidity. This is a wine that ages gracefully and takes on the aromatic character of a Pinot Noir.

    With the 1998 vintage, the Couderts introduced a new wine, "Cuvée Christal" (recently renamed "Cuvée Christie") which is lighter and meant to drink younger. A few years later, they started a selection of old vines cuvée. They call this "Cuvée Tardive", meaning that it needs more aging time and has even greater longevity than the regular Fleurie cuvée. Finally, the most recent addition is a wine called "La Griffe du Marquis", made from the same old vines that produce "Cuvée Tardive" but vinified and aged exclusively in Burgundian barrels.

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    Clos des Fous was founded in 2008 by Pedro Parra, Francois Massoc, Paco Leyton and Albert Cussen. The four friends were tired of hearing that Chilean wine was all boring, industrial, green and overripe so they set out in search of the Dark Side of the Moon. Francois and Pedro are longtime friends, akin to brothers, and both have spent much time abroad making wine and working vineyards in Europe. Pedro has a Masters degree in precision agriculture and a Ph.D. for his work with terroir, and currently consults as a terroir specialist around the globe in Argentina, Oregon, Italy, France, Spain, Georgia, Croatia and beyond working with world renowned vignerons like Jean Marc Roulot.

    The Clos des Fous philosophy is to produce exciting wines from grapes grown in extreme terroir with minimal intervention in the winery. They own and manage vineyards in Malleco, Guarilihue, Alto Cahapoal and Western Aconcagua, which allows them to produce a variety of wines and work with multiple iterations of Pinot Noir, Cinsault, País, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Riesling at their winery in Cauquenes, Maule. This is one of Chile’s most innovative, inspiring and authentic wineries, producing some of the most exciting wines in South America.

    This profile and tasting notes were edited from the Brazos Wine website, along with the pictures used. For more information please visit: Brazos

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    Thank you to importer Louis/Dressner for this producer profile:

    Joe Dressner's original profile from the 90's:
    Just our luck. We have a cult estate. Every three-star restaurant in France hustles to get a small allocation. No one in America, outside of the lucky few, has heard of it.

    This estate has been in the family for several generations. Basically, the Foucault brothers (Nadi and Charlie) tend exceptional vineyards, harvest at small yields, vinify in barrel, let the wines bubble for a couple of years in a glacially cold cellar and bottle without filtration.

    And what you get is the some of the top red wines of the Loire Valley and in the very top of France as a whole. Charles Joguet, the great winemaker of Chinon, once said: “there are two suns. One shines outside for everybody. The second shines in the Foucaults’ cellar.”

    The rare Chenin Blanc from their vineyards -sometimes sec, demi-sec or even moëlleux- has been described by Michel Bettane as “the quintessence of Chenin”. Bettane has tasted the 1921 and listed it as one of the most memorable wines of his life.

    So have we.

    Would you like to buy some? It is exceptionally expensive.

    And it is sold out.

    2020 Update:
    After the death of Charlie Foucault in 2015, the estate was briefly ran by Nady Foucault and his nephew Antoine (who also produces the excellent Domaine du Collier wines).
    In 2017, Nady chose to sell the estate to Martin Bouyges, owner of many French wineries, most notably Château Montrose in Bordeaux. Under the direction of Jacques-Antoine Toublanc, the new ownership has vowed to keep things exactly the same in the vines and the cellar.

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    Way up in the northern reaches of the Sierra Foothills, Gideon Beinstock and his wife, Saron Rice, produce small batches of wines that are unlike anything else coming out of California. Using traditional techniques and strict organic methods both in the vineyard and the cellar, they make tiny amounts of Pinot Noir from their two and one-fifth acre home vineyard as well as a variety of unique blends from five and a half acres of nearby leased vineyards that they farm as well.

    The vineyards are densely planted, about 2,500 vines per acre, and are dry farmed wherever possible; yields range from as low as one ton per acre and maxing out around two. Because their area is free of phylloxera, their vines are all “own-rooted” and some are over thirty-five years old.

    Their vineyards are harvested in repeated passes through the vines (typically from three to eight times), picking only clusters as they begin to soften, to determine perfect ripeness. The grapes are foot-stomped in open-top bins allowing the vineyards' indigenous yeasts to conduct the fermentation. For the blends, the grape varieties are all co-fermented as Gideon believes the results are better integrated. The wines are then aged on lees in five- to twenty-five-year-old French oak barrels for as long as he feels is needed before being bottled, unfined and unfiltered, with minimal use of sulfites. Production is often around one hundred cases or less per wine.

    Over the past thirty-five years, Gideon has been involved in almost every aspect of the wine industry: sales, writing, purchasing, educating, and a sixteen-year-long stint as winemaker for Renaissance. It is at Clos Saron, though, where he has tapped into something rare: wines that are challenging, surprising, and yet instantly gratifying. They happily defy description and convention without forgetting that, at its core, a wine should be a pleasure to drink.

    www.clossaron.com

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