The Wines

1. Guillaume Sergent Blanc de Noirs Chemins de Chappes NV

Guillaume Sergent’s wines are intense, focused and pure—laser beams of searing pleasure. This micro-producer recently started making his wine in 2008 from his family’s four acre estate. Aside from wine school, he also carries a degree in geology and time with him in the vineyards is a rare treat filled with in-depth details of the natural history of his vineyards and the surrounding region.

Guillaume handcrafts his wine from a tiny 1.5 hectare estate in the far north of Champagne. His "Le Chemin des Chappes" Blanc de Noirs is a blend of 50% Pinot Meunier and 50% Pinot Noir, from two plots of selection massale vines in Vrigny: Les Grands Chemins (planted in 1972, eastern exposure and sandy soil) and Les Chappes (planted in 1982, a western facing plot composed primarily of silt and directly contiguous to Egly Ouriet's parcels).. Despite spending just 18 months on the lees, it is packed with deep red fruit flavors from the Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier blend. There is a loamy grit along with an earth and mushroom undertone that wonderfully accents the cassis, red cherry and muted red floral flavors. Long, complex and calming, this is a very exciting bottle of Champagne. 

2. Maison Chantereve Bourgogne Blanc 2018

Maison Chanterêves is the micro-négociant project of winemakers Tomoko Kuriyama and Guillaume Bott. Japanese by birth, Tomoko studied at the respected wine university in Geisenheim, Germany, becoming estate manager at the renowned Friedrich Altenkirch (once vintner to the Kaiser) in the Rheingau. In France, Tomoko and her husband Guillaume, winemaker at Simon Bize, have teamed up since 2010 to craft remarkable wines from a cellar tucked under a modern house in Savigny-lès-Beaune. The couple buys small quantities of organic grapes from various vineyards in Burgundy (and other appellations). They employ a high percentage of whole cluster fermentation and a very low dose of SO₂. These are wines full of energy but very much in the “natural wine” aesthetic: straightforward expressions, reflecting a fresh-faced purity without artifice, embellishment or pretension – sans maquillage. 100% Chardonnay, vines planted in the 1990s; two different parcels near the village of Maranges; clay limestone soil. Racked into used barrels for malo. No batonnage.

3. Lieu Dit Rosé 2019

Lieu Dit is a partnership of longtime friends Eric Railsback and Justin Willett. The two met in Santa Barbara while Eric was finishing college and Justin was just beginning his career in winemaking. The two were among a small group of young winemakers and restaurateurs in Santa Barbara unified by a common interest in wine and all its mysteries.
After countless bottles shared together and many trips to France, Railsback and Willett decided to found Lieu Dit in 2011 and focus it solely in the varieties indigenous to the Loire Valley, now grown in Santa Barbara County. The varied micro-climates and marine based soils of Santa Barbara County are ideally suited to this set of grapes. Lieu Dit centers on Sauvignon Blanc and more limited bottlings of Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc and Rose and produces around 2500 cases annually. Each vintage, the quest for purity, elegance, and balance in every wine is paramount. !00% Pinot Noir grown in the Santa Ynez Valley; Watermelon, orange peel and floral notes are given an extra kick of brightness by the wine’s lively acidity

4. Clusel Roch VDF Syrah ‘Serine’ 2018 

The cliff-like granite hillsides of Côte Rôtie seem to have burst from the Earth with vigor and violence. Only the truly dedicated would decide to make their living there. No tractor on Earth can plow these vineyards – everything has to be painstakingly done by hand. This is the place that Domaine Clusel-Roch calls home.

Based in Verenay, the northernmost village in Côte Rôtie, this tiny 3.5 hectare domaine is run by Gilbert Clusel, his wife Brigit, and their son Guillaume. Gilbert’s grandfather planted the foundation of the winery in 1935, the vineyard now known as ‘Les Grandes-Places’, using a low yielding clone of Syrah called Serine. All subsequent plantings have been selection massale from that vineyard, a rarity in the region as higher yielding material became more prevalent. The Clusel family was also early believers in the advantages of organic farming, and would become pioneers of the movement within the region as they converted fully in 1990.