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We'd like to thank all our wonderful customers for their support during 2008, both our great Tribeca neighbors and our wine-loving friends around the country. We promise to offer real value and the lowest possible prices in the year to come on America's finest selection of natural, organic and Biodynamic wines. Here are some of our best values and great new arrivals to get 2009 off to an affordable and delicious beginning...

For more than 25 years, Neal Rosenthal has been importing artisanal, small-production wines into the US. The outstanding quality and authenticity of his selections has enriched the American wine trade and has helped to make stores like Chambers Street possible. Mr. Rosenthal will be here to sign his wonderful new book and to give two mini-seminars as we taste some of his wines. This is a great opportunity to meet one of the real heroes of the wine business!

Matthieu Baudry, Pierre Breton, Jean-Paul Brun, Alain Coudert, Gregoire Hubau, Evelyne de Jessy, Claude and Catherine Marechal, Eric and Christine Nicolas, Marc Ollivier and Suzanne Pinon are all coming to 160 Chambers Street on Saturday, March 21st! No, it's not a mistake, Part One of the Louis/Dressner Selections Real Wine Assault 2009 will take place at our former location, currently empty, 160 Chambers Street! Taste dozens of fabulous natural wines unhindered by wine displays, bothersome salespeople and checkout counters! Thrill to the great Beaujolais from Domaine Terres Dorees and Clos de la Roilette, be refreshed by the marvelous Muscadets from Domaine de la Pépiere and the voluptuous Vouvrays of Francois Pinon, be enchanted by the Chenin's of Domaine Belliviere and Domaine Closel, marvel at the elegant Burgundies of Claude Marechal and the delicious Bordeaux of Moulin Pey-Labrie, and, if you like Cabernet Franc, we have the very best - The Bourgueils of Pierre and Catherine Breton and the Chinons of Bernard and Matthieu Baudry! This will be a great tasting and you will then be able to PURCHASE VAST QUANTITIES OF THESE LOVELY WINES in the quiet of our new location at 148 Chambers Street!

Offers like this do not come around very often so run, call, e-mail, send your significant other or do anything else remotely possible to get a bottle of this wine. Giacomo Conterno is arguably the top producer of traditional Barolo in Piedmont and 1982 is sometimes referred to as the last of the great old-school vintages in Piedmont. The next great vintage, 1985, saw much more modern technique used in the region and thus was the beginning of a new age in the Langhe for many producers (if not for Conterno). Conterno is known to age the Cascina Francia cuvee for six years in cask and his Monfortino cuvee for up to 10 years in cask! Obviously commercialism is not on his mind when it comes to making Barolo; the driving force behind the wine is to make the most authentic interpretation of Nebbiolo grown in the Cascina Francia vineyard. The Cascina Francia vineyard located in Serralunga d'Alba (2nd largest Barolo producing village next to La Morra) which typically makes Barolo that is long-lived, intensely structured and incredibly rich. The flavors are typically licorice, tar, camphor and mint. The name Serralunga is a bastardization of the name sera longa which literally means "a long strip of land stretching across a hilltop" which is an apt visual description of this commune.

As you may remember from previous offers, we are convinced that the Produttori del Barbaresco make great wine - and great wine at great prices, relative to many of their neighbors. It was nice to see Eric Asimov mention the Produttori in Wednesday's Times - we agree that their Nebbiolo is a fantastic bargain. Meanwhile, we've just bought this very nice and very nicely priced batch of 1985's - in our not-so-humble opinion a great vintage for Barbaresco and Barolo. We have all of the different crus, so you could easily have a fascinating horizontal tasting. The wines come from a fine cellar in Italy which has supplied us with much great old Nebbiolo; they are now being packed for shipping and will be here in April.

I've been trying to buy Giacosa 1996 for years now, and have finally found some where the prices are fair (I know, I know: they were less expensive a few years ago, but maybe you don't have enough or weren't lucky enough to get them on release).
It's probably not necessary to mention that 1996 is a great, classic vintage in Piemonte... or that Giacosa was a genius... so without further ado... There are a few other Piemontese gems noted below as well; like the Giacosa they all come from professional, temperature and humidity controlled storage.

Francois makes very little of this wine and has never exported it, but this year he agreed to give us a small quantity. It's a blend of Cot (Malbec) and Grolleau and has lovely high-toned red currant fruit, but is earthy and bone-dry. There is not enough of this for a general email, and we urge our Loire Valley customers to grab some before it's gone. Francois is really a putain de vigneron who is doing some of the finest work in the Loire Valey! (Sorry, but 6 bottle maximum per person)

So if you did not get any of Chandon de Briailles fantastic 2005’s, this is your last chance as we have just gotten a small allocation of two more of their wines. Seems like these wines were just here and I was phoning and emailing customers about them. These are biodynamic to the max-wines that express terroir so faithfully it is astonishing. There is such a purity to these wines that as soon as you stick your nose in the glass it is apparent greatness awaits you. We have a small shipment of the Savigny Les Beaune 1er Cru “Les Lavieres”, and the Pernand Vergelesses 1er Cru “Ile des Vergelesses” which is awesome wine. I had a bottle this summer and was floored by the combination of density allied with ethereal lightness. As the wine aerates it becomes phenomenally complex and picks up weight and richness on the palate. Of course the Pernand is a baby now but it is not crime to open up as there is enough baby fat supporting the structure.

Simon Bize bought his portion of CC in 1999, the vines date to 1957. His Corton Charlemagne is one of the best produced, period. It is the equal or better of any Corton Charlemagne. He produces only 100 cases of this exquisite White Burgundy and we have arranged to purchase 15 cases, a whopping 15% of the entire production! $160 per bottle or $1728 per case with 10% off ($144 per bottle).

With the resounding success of our Paul Pernot offer (people are still calling and most of the wines have been sold out for weeks!) here comes another great offer from one of our favorite and most reliable estates in the Cote de Beaune. Burgundy '05's in general have been very expensive so when there is an offer like the '05 Lafouge wines, which are still relatively unknown in the States, it is something to jump on. In Burgundy, like every other region, there is a definite hierarchy and below the consensus top producers everybody has their favorites. Out of 4,300 Domaines everybody cannot agree on everything so it is nice to have some personal favorites. Lafouge we like to believe is our secret. Well the secret is out.

Some exciting new purchases; all scheduled to arrive this Fall. Most, but not all, will discount 10% with a purchase of any 12 bottles from our inventory.

No question that the 2005 big name wines from Burgundy are both fantastic and very hard to find. And not cheap. Following is a list of some of our recent purchases (mostly offered as pre-arrivals); by no means are all of these expensive - there are some great values for the cellar.
At any rate, here are some more elusive 2005s - Fourrier, Lafarge, etc. As soon as we have more to offer we will let you know.

One of the highlights of our yearly Loire Valley trip is the tasting with Bernard and Matthieu Baudry, at the Salon in Angers or at their beautiful home in Cravant. Each year the Baudry's wines are among the very finest Loire reds, the purity and elegance of the wines reflected by the friendly and thoughtful personalities of Bernard and his son. Since beginning with only 2 hectares in 1982, the estate now has 30 hectares including the new Clos Guillot, a beautiful hillside parcel of sandy clay and limestone. The Baudry's make 5 cuvées of red Chinon from different parcels with different soils, beginning with the "Les Granges," from young vines near the Vienne, giving a wine that drinks well young. The best vallue in the portfolio is perhaps the Cuvée Domaine. The wine is from 35 year-old vines on gravel (80%) and clay/limestone soils (20%) giving a wine with lovely fruit and earthy complexity which takes a couple of years to soften and will keep nicely for another 3 -5 years. This wine is particularly successful in 2005. While the terroir is evident, as always, the fruit is lush and very pretty, and the overall impression was very similar to the wonderful Les Grézeaux. (By the way, those who bought the 1989 Les Grezeaux from me at ******, are now very, very happy...) There is a small (12 cases) shipment of this wine arriving soon, and there wil be an additional shipment later in the fall. Given the reasonble price, despite the plumetting dollar, this wine is Highly Recommended.

We are in love with the 2005s from Piedmont - finely focused wine with classic balance and finesse, at least if you choose from the best producers. As you may know we are HUGE Produttori fans, and even in these trying times their wines represent great value for quality. Each wine is distinctive - to taste across the range is a vivid lesson in Barbaresco terroirs. The following are offered on a pre-arrival basis; we expect them late in the spring. Prices are net.

Our second large shipment of direct-import Burgundies has arrived, and although the dollar has reached new lows against the Euro, these wines are still terrific values from this great vintage in Burgundy. Producers include Vincent Rapet, Gilles Lafouge, Martin Bart, Domaine Billard and Domaine Nudant. A few wines will need some cellaring but most will drink beautifully now and for the next 3 to 5 years. Read on for the full list... (Wines arrive October 5th) (Photo of Auxey-Duresses courtesy of Alice Feiring)

Our first shipment of direct import Red Burgundies is finally arriving at the store, after weeks of shipping strikes and customs delays. We tasted these wines last February with importer Jeanne-Marie de Champs and were extremely impressed with the high quality at these estates. They all exhibit the lush but well-balanced fruit of this great Burgundy vintage and despite the falling dollar we are still able to offer these delicious wines at reasonable prices!

A few of our 2005 red Burgundy purchases arrived a little too late and were caught in "la Crise"! We're offering the top-flight wines of Simon Bize et Fils and Hughes and Jean-Marc Pavelot at fantastically low prices - take advantage of our need to reduce our inventory, and put some of these lovely 2005's in your cellar... The Savigny "Aux Grand Liards" and "Les Bourgeots" of Bize are superbly elegant wines that will drink at their best with five to ten years of cellaring. True wines of terroir in a "fruit-driven" vintage, these are sensational values for real Burgundy lovers. The Pavelot wines may be a bit fatter but these too are built to last in an elegant, restrained style. These are classic Burgundies from a great vintage - yes, they will need some time but at these prices we think they will reward a little patience...! (The wines are in stock at our store and warehouse and can be delivered within a few days)

A customer of our bought a case of this to cellar but sheepishly called two weeks later for another case. The reason? He had finished the first case already! Domaine des Croix is a new Burgundy producer created from the old Domaine Duchet, centered in Beaune. They have a number of Beaune 1er Crus and a little Corton Charlemagne. They grow their vines on the "lutte raisonee" program of very limited use of pesticides, sulphur, fertilizer, etc. The Beaune 1er Cru Pertuisots is located between the premier crus Aigrots, Vignes Franches, Clos Landry & Les Sizies, just a stones throw from Clos des Mouches. The Domaine des Croix Pertuisots consists of two plots of vines, one is 35 years old, the other is 50. This wine is very open right now with lots of those little red fruits (les petits fruits rouges) very supple, very ripe tannins, good acidity and all of these elements are in perfect balance. Very elegant, very light on its feet, but still powerful and flavory. This is a magnificent and affordable Red Burgundy to buy and cellar. (Or drink!) Don't forget: 10% off any 12 bottles of wine from our inventory...

Scattered across Europe one finds a few truly magical vineyards and the talented winemakers there who create artisanal wines with no connection to the commerciality and mediocrity of international-style winemaking. One such place is the Clos Roche Blanche, perched on a beautiful hillside above the Cher River in Touraine and the winemakers are Catherine Roussel, who took over the estate from her grandfather in 1975, and Didier Barrouillet, who arrived in 1981.

Germany has been blessed with many excellent vintages in a row starting from 2001. But with a superfluous amount of great vintages some get lost in the shuffle. That is the case with 2006 and with 2007 nipping at its heels we need to move through some of our excess 2006’s. 2006 was marked by an incredible amount of material plus very high acidities. These wines will last a long time, are delicious and very big. I love them and bought at least 5 cases for my cellar and I am not done purchasing. The character of the Auslesen is remarkable as the botrytis is clean and pure and the fruit in these wines has to be tasted to be believed. This sale will only go one for one week. It starts as soon as this e-mail goes into your e-mail box and ends next Tuesday at closing of business. These prices are going to be extremely competitive so I would act fast as they will not be here for long.

Finally we are able to offer the 2006 JJ Prum wines, and I am extremely excited. The one wine I was able to taste was out of this world. It was the 2006 Graacher Himmelreich Auslese, and it easily was the best young Graacher Auslese I have had. Incredibly dense and stuffed with fruit but with an ethereal quality that has to be tasted to be believed. How can something so big and rich be so elegant? 2006 was undeniably an Auslese-and-up vintage, and at Prum they do not de-classify that much wine to meet demand for things like QBA, Kabinett or Spatlese so the quantity of Spatlese at Prum this year is incredibly low. I mean really low - and the prices will reflect how small the production of these wines will be. In some cases prices for Spat and Kab will be comparable to the Auslesen, or even slightly above the Auslesen - pure supply and demand pricing. When I visited Prum in August they had just decided to make small amounts of Spatlese to satisfy their long-standing customers, but in general there was much more Auslese because this is an amazing Auslese + vintage in the Middle Mosel.

Recent tastings, with Marc Ollivier at Domain de la Pepiere and Pierre Luneau-Papin, show a vintage of crisp, balanced wines with bright acidity, lovely subtle fruit and great finishing minerality. Older wines once again demonstated the great ageability of these outstanding wines, with the 1996 Clos des Briords (from Pepiere) and the 1995 Luneau-Papin being particularly outstanding! (Photo: Marc Ollivier pouring the 2007 Clos des Briords for CSW manager, Nick Bumstead)

Over the last thirty years, the work of Marcel Lapierre has been an inspiration to those seeking more natural methods of winemaking. It was in 1981, under the influence of Jules Chauvet, that Marcel took the family estate back, or forward, to organic methods in the vineyard and vinifications with wild yeasts and without sulfur-dioxide. Lapierre's wines are remarkably elegant, with great aromatic complexity and a silky balance on the palate. In most vintages they age beautifully, becoming more Burgundian with time. "At the opposite of the technical wines, our philosophy is to offer to our customers wines which express their year and their origin" say the Lapierres on their web-site. 2007 was a somewhat difficult year for the vigneron in the Beaujolais, but a sunny, cool September enabled the best growers (such as Lapierre, Jean Foillard, Georges Descombes, Alain Coudert and others) to make great wines. The current offering is a special cuvee by the Lapierres which has rarely been available in the US and has been made only in the best vintages. From one-hundred year-old vines, mostly on the Cote de Py, the Cuvee Marcel Lapierre Morgon Vieilles Vignes is an extraordinary Beaujolais that belongs in the cellar of every serious wine-lover. We are offering it at a very low net price to encourage as many people as possible to try this unique wine - in fact, the best wines of the Beaujolais, made in this natural style, are among the most delicious and reasonably priced wines in the world!

Charming, transparent, refined, pure and elegant. These words keep cropping up in the reports on the 2007 Red Burgundy vintage. Allen Meadows of burghound.com says, "They convey an underlying sense of terroir better than any vintage since 2001 and if one had to try to encapsulate the character of 2007 by comparing it to another vintage, a blend of 2000 & 2001 would accurately sum them up..." These wines have the soft fruit and ripe tannins of the 2000 vintage combined with the spine of acidity of 2001 - these factors combine to create a tension in the wines that gives them a certain lift and liveliness. From the Bourgogne Rouge up to the Grand Crus these wines are forward and pretty and show well in their youth and will age gracefully for years. We think that this is a classic vintage for mid-term drinking - not a "big" vintage, it is a refined vintage. It will not go into hibernation for years like the 2005s have. Burgundy in particular is a wine of delicacy and finesse, not of over extraction and density. In the 2007s there is a real sense of place, the Volnays smell and taste and act like Volnays, the Chambolles fairly scream Chambolle and Gevrey Chambertin has the oyster shell and limestone minerality that we associate with Chambertin. Domaine Bachelet in Gevrey Chambertin - 3.83 hectares owned by the domaine. Clive Coates in his new book "The Wines of Burgundy" awards the Domaine Denis Bachelet three stars, the highest rating he awards any domaine, even though there is only one small parcel of Grand Cru. Bachelet is a tiny domaine and every year I am excited when we get our allocation of Denis Bachelet's wines - "...harmonious, pure and understated" says Coates - these are among our most favorite Burgundies.

The chatter has started and 2007 is turning out to be a spectacular vintage for Germany. I barrel tasted at a few estates in February (Knebel, Heger, Schnaittman & Van Volxem) and I was very excited as to what I tasted, even if the wines were in an infantile form. They are clear as a summer day with an azure blue sky with scinitillating acidities, lots of extract and fruit and they have stupendous length. This is the first of many offers on the 2007's. The wines will be a touch more expensive than the 2006's but that is the trend these days as the dollar is not worth much versus the Euro these days.

One of my most profound and enjoyable wine visits was our recent trip to the cave of Jean and Pierre Gonon in Mauves, Saint Joseph. Although we have been importing the Gonons wines since 2004, and communicating frequently, we had not had the chance to visit their cellar and taste with them. Jean Gonon greeted us warmly and generously opened vintages going back to 1990 illustrating the great quality and aging potential of both reds and whites from this great domaine.

Exciting news for Natural Wine lovers - we've received our allocation for the year of Christian Ducroux's 2008 Regnie Sans Souffre! (And a little of the regular cuvee as well) Ducroux is a master of natural wine-making - his vineyards have been organic (now certified Biodynamic by Demeter) since 1985 giving the grapes the nutrients and natural defenses necessary for no-sulfur vinifications. Also important is a high level of acidity which inhibits the lactic bacteria from attacking the sugars in the wine. Ducroux's vines, which are 60 to 80 years-old, are at high elevation in poor granit soils, in the hamlet of Thulon, producing high acidity and low alcohol, normally around 12 degrees. Ducroux makes all compost on the estate and uses horses in the vineyard to minimise soil compaction. The fermentations are in wood, with wild yeasts, and the wines are bottled without filtration. In 2008, he picked in early October - yields were very low due to poor weather during the flowering. The wines are rounder and more deeply fruited than the elegant 2007's. From barrel last winter the 2008 showed lovely floral and red fruit aromas with deep blackberry fruit and earthy notes on the palate. PLEASE NOTE that this wine will need aeration! The 2007 Sans Souffre (from bottle) had aromas of reduction which needed about 30 minutes to dissipate, after which the nose was subtle and gorgeous with black and red fruits and hints of pepper and mint. Peak drinking for the 2008 should begin in the spring of 2010 and last for three to five years.

Once again we are taking your requests for Rieslings from some of the most outstanding producers in the world. We know these laundry list emails can be a little intimidating, but you can trust that we have pared the options down to the wines that most caught our attention... if there's something not listed here (or in our previous 08 German email) that's on your radar, we would be more than happy to do what we can to get the wine in your hands. Just call or email us with your requests! This is a Kabinett and Spatlese vintage, and while you may be weary because we've become accustomed to some very ripe wines of late, remember that relative to what German wine-law requires these beauties are still coming in at over-qualified levels of ripeness. There is plenty of potential here for aging and huge potential for a transparent view of terroir. We are as happy as ever to be enjoying yet another bright moment for German Riesling. As per the previous offer, take advantage of the special pricing (items are non-discountable). The orders are pre-arrival. Please give us your quantity request - all orders are subject to confirmation.

It's that time of year again: officially summer and officially time to drink Riesling and pluck up your share of this year's collector items. It's fair to repeat here the mantra of the vintage: 2008 is the right kind of vintage at the right time. Very little Auslese was made, and the Kabinetts and Spatleses are on the restrained side, especially considering what our palates are acclimated to after the last couple of vintages. But we needed a drink-me vintage, and there will be a great place for these wines - it IS an acid-freak-rock-head vintage, and consequently I am happier with the balance of the wines that have some sort of perceptible RS - as unhip as that may make me. I think these wines will surprise us yet. First up (yes, more to come), some gems from Prum, Donnhoff, Willi Schaefer and AJ Adam! Take advantage of the special pricing (items are non-discountable). The orders are pre-arrival, and the wines will show up in the fall. Please give us your quantity request - all orders are subject to confirmation.

Our annual pilgrimage to Nantes for Marc Ollivier's Muscadet-athon was particularly fabulous this year as the 2009 wines, tasted from the vats, showed great promise, and the parade of older vintages, going back to 1977, showed the amazing aging potential of these oustanding wines. One cuvée of 2009 Muscadet Sevre et Maine has already been bottled and shipped - it's at the store now and shows the round, lovely fruit typical of the vintage along with the citrus, herbal and mineral notes always present in this wine. 2009 is similar to 2005, says Marc, but with a bit more acidity to balance the ripe fruit. Later bottlings of Pepiere, by the way, will carry the "in conversion to organic agriculture" label, and Marc's entire estate will be organically tended within two years. New for 2009 is a parcel of old vines near the Clos des Briords which will be bottled as Granite de Chateau Thebaud after two years on the lees. Here the granite is veined with quartz and is slightly more porous than at Clisson. He feels it may give a more balanced wine, but it's hard to imagine a better Muscadet than the Granite de Clisson. Once again in 2009, Marc's Clisson is a big wine (at 13.3% alcohol) with creamy lemon, stone, herbal and white fruit notes on the palate - a worthy successor to the magnificent 2007. Marc's parcel of Gras Moutons also did well in 2009, with the gneiss subsoil giving a lighter, extremely elegant and aromatic wine. "I prefer the granitic soils" says Marc, "they give a more original wine, but one must like acidity..." Marc has been fortunate to obtain a variety of parcels on different soils and he's making great wine with all of them. He's a winemaker of great intelligence and integrity - if you haven't tried his wines this would be a good time to start....

There is a growing stir around the 2009 German vintage! Avoiding the pitfalls of overhype, as we taste more and more of these wines it becomes evident that 2009 has a lot going for it – marked by an abundance of fruit, heady aromatics, very little botrytis, and notable structural acidity. German wine vintages seem to be experiencing a golden age at the moment – there have been a string of brilliant vintages but each with their own signature, making for delicious wines of infinite variety and terroir expression. Below we are offering the 2009 pre-arrivals from two of Germany’s greatest estates: Schafer-Frohlich of the Nahe and Fritz Haag of the Mosel. Additionally, there are a couple lingering 2008s which we placed on sale, in order to encourage you to do your own vintage comparisons… try them now and try again in a few years and again in a few more down the road. Cheers!

There are still lots of great wines and amazing bargains in stock - don't stop shopping now! All inventory is live on the website.

Join us on Saturday, March 24th for one of New York's greatest wine events of the year, featuring 19 of the most talented winemakers in France. All these growers work in the most "natural" way possible, avoiding chemical treatments in the vineyards or the use of "selected" yeasts or additives of any kind in the cellar. Hand harvesting, low yields, old vines and minimal intervention in the winemaking process produce wines that brilliantly express their terroir and the hard work of these dedicated producers. The tasting will begin at 1:00pm and continue until 7:00pm. Those wishing to taste with all the growers and in less crowded conditions are urged to arrive early! (Jean-Paul Brun and Marc Ollivier leave for the airport at 4:00) There will be a short break (3:45 to 4:00) to regroup.
The Winemakers:
Marc Ollivier and Genevieve Cormerais from the Domaine de la Pepiere
Marc's Muscadet Sevre et Maine is our biggest selling wine almost every year, and is one of the world's greatest values. His Clos des Briords 2005 is an awesome Muscadet that will age beautifully for 10 to 20 years.
Evelyn de Jessy and Isaure de Pontbriand from Domaine du Closel
The Savennieres from Closel are among the very finest Chenin Blancs in the world with subtle, complex fruit and beautiful minerality. Their Clos du Papillon wins awards and praise from critics around the globe.
Francois Pinon, Vouvray
We first visited the Pinon estate back in 1980. Francois took over in 1988 and has become one of the finest growers in Vouvray. Only 15 cases remain of his gorgeous 2005 Vouvray Tradition. His Vouvray Petillant Brut is a dry and complex sparkling wine and his late-harvest Vouvrays are always balanced and lovely.

It finally feels like Fall in New York – hurrah! A chill in the air and our thoughts turn back to fine red wine in earnest. Luckily our friend and esteemed colleague David Weitzenhoffer, expert Sommelier (ex Felidia) and die-hard Piedmont aficionado (keep an eye out for his upcoming book on Barolo, which should be a much-welcome addition to a subject that is sorely neglected in English) has turned his attention to importing a few fine wines. We’ve been very happy selling David’s Friuli Pinot Grigio and Schiopettino from Duline; now we have the pleasure of discovering the Barolos of Giovanni Brezza.

We were excited to begin working last year with the Biodynamic Regnié producer Christian Ducroux. His 2007 is a lovely, quite earthy and light bodied wine, but we were unable to get the no-sulfur cuvee. We have just received our twenty case allocation of his 2008 Regnié Sans Souffre - despite the difficulties with mildew and hail Ducroux has made a brilliant and compulsively drinkable one-hundred percent grape natural wine! Damp conditions forced many plowings, with his two horses, as well as many applications of biodynamic preparations. (Ducroux prefers not to use copper-sulfate against mildew) Harvest started October 3rd after three weeks of drying north winds which brought good ripeness and concentration - yields were only 16 hl/ha, but the grapes were clean and healthy giving a round and beautifully complex Cru Beaujolais, a lovely, pure and mercurial wine that keeps one raising the glass to try it again and again....This is highly recommended for lovers of natural wines, particularly given the ridiculously low price. (We've added a couple of our best values in Beaujolais and lowered the prices to help you mix a case, or cases...!)

Our ship has come in, loaded with great values from our direct-import estates in Burgundy - Jean and Gilles Lafouge, Martin Bart, Vincent Rapet, Gabriel Billard, Rene Bouvier and Jean Fery. These are wonderful estates that receive great critical acclaim in France but remain relatively unknown in the US. That enables us to import them directly and offer them to you at fabulous prices given the lovely quality of these wines. While they will all drink nicely this summer, showing their youthful fruit, be sure to put away some of the Premier Crus to enjoy at maturity. This is a great opportunity to purchase good Burgundy at very reasonable prices - don't delay, as many quantities are limited... (And coming soon, the beautiful wines of Fanny Sabre, in Beaune!)

The wines of Jean-Francois Ganevat are rapidly becoming some of our favorites from the Jura. Jean-Francois is known to his friends as “Fan-fan.” Though he is Jurassian by origin, Ganevat learned wine-making in Burgundy, where he spent ten years at Domaine Morey in Chassagne-Montrachet (which Domaine Morey it’s difficult to established because so little information is available about the mysterious “Fan-fan.”) There’s a sophisticated, Burgundian streak that runs through these rich, earthy whites, a prettiness that distinguishes his wines from those of Puffeney and Montbourgeau.

From its first vintage in 1979, Dunn has been renowned for making massive wines that are deeply colored, very rich and very concentrated, pure and very tannic, with long aging potential. The exceptional quality of Dunn’s wine has made Howell Mountain famous, and a sought-after spot for the vineyards of the new Napa zillionaire trophy wineries. Meanwhile Randy Dunn has stuck with his goal of making great wine that will age as long as the best old-style Bordeaux: not for him the soft, anonymous, point-seeking methods that now dominate in Napa. We have a rare vertical offering of the Dunn Howell Mountain, purchased from a distinguished New York collector, and removed from temperature and humidity-controlled storage. The bottles were obtained on release, and are in pristine condition. Don’t ignore the lesser vintages, as these allow a look at wines from Dunn that are more approachable in their youth.

On occasion saying that we’ve made a ‘discovery’ is really kind of silly. In this case these wines have been around for quite a while (1889, in fact – a mere newcomer by some standards) but they’re new to us – thus a discovery. I’d been hearing about Laherte, and I ended up tasting them in Italy – at the fabulous natural wine fair called VinNatur; there were a few Champagne producers there, but none of those wines came close to the distinctiveness – and just plain excellence of Laherte. As you might now assume, this is natural wine: organic and biodynamic farming on an unusually diverse and large number of terroirs (over 75 vineyard parcels in 10 different villages). Each wine is vinified separately and subject to a range of technique – fermentation in tank, barrique, and foudre (large wood barrels); malolactic on some wines and not on others – all depending on what each wine requires as it evolves. The dosage is very low (dosage = “The final addition to a sparkling wine… which determines the sweetness, or residual sugar, of the finished wine. In French this is called the liqueur d’expedition and usually comprises a mixture of wine and sugar syrup” – Jancis Robinson, the Oxford Companion to Wine) – the wines are very fresh and vivid, but also quite rich and ripe – evidently very good quality fruit is used. All of the range of wines are excepetionally good: excellent NV Brut and Rose, and the fantastic Les Clos – a unique blend of all seven types of grapes that are permitted for use in Champagne – one our best wine discoveries, sparkling or still, that we’ve made this year. JW

It's time to stock up on the world's greatest white wine values - Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie from the regions best producers! These growers all work well in the vineyard, pick by hand and ferment with only wild yeasts. Comparisons between them are based mainly on the fascinating variety of terroirs, as each one of these winemakers is worthy of superlatives and our highest praise. Each one produces gloriously food-friendly, refreshing wines to drink this summer as well as great wines of terroir that age for 10 to 30 years. To begin, we direct your attention to the three superb 2009's from Marc Ollivier (Domaine de la Pepiere) and Jo Landron (Domaine de la Louvetrie), all showing the intense minerality and elegance typical of these wines but with an added layer of subtle white fruits from this wonderful vintage. The 2007s on offer here are outstanding. For the vignerons it was a difficult year with low yields but they produced long lasting wines with great terroir expression and perfect acidities. Don't miss the three superb 2005s, which show the differences between wines from granite, shiste and orthogneiss soils. And from Luneau-Papin and Bregeon, two glorious 2002's - wines for your cellar that will show the strength of this beautiful vintage. We're proud to offer this unique selection of Muscadet and honored to be working with such a great group of winemakers!