View of Sancerre

We almost crashed before we got the crash course. About 25 years ago, we were treated to a whirlwind tour of Sancerre in a Renault 205. Our blood pressure may have hit new highs on the twisting wine routes of the Loire, but in retrospect, it was all worth it. Our last stop of the day was in the tiny hamlet of Chaudenay (outside of Verdigny) with the Daulny brothers. It was Bertrand Daulny, one of Sancerre’s most respected enologists, who gave us the lay of the land. “There are two great villages for Sancerre, and one that is sometimes as good. Chavignol typically provides for the richest Sauvignon. If it lacks for something, it’s minerality. Bue has richness, but excellent stony length. Verdigny is the last one. Here, it’s all about minerality, but in a couple of instances there’s something more.” He shrugged his shoulders, then pointed to the hillside in the distance. “Ok, I may be biased, but that’s what we have at the Clos de Chaudenay. Old, exceedingly healthy hillside vines — something more.”
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Domaine Grand Veneur

When we first heard rumors of the over-the-top quality of the wines resting in barrel at Grand Veneur in the late spring of 2008, our first instinct was to question the early noise. Producers and importers are always saying that the wine they have to sell is better than anything already sold. For many of them, ‘the next great vintage’ seems to always be just around the corner.

So when we visited the Jaume family in the Spring of 2008, we came armed for bear, ready to challenge the hype. The 2006 Grand Veneur “Les Origines” had been one of our favorite wines of that warm, classically structured vintage. If the Jaumes and their importer were going to convince us of the greatness of 2007, the 2007 “Les Origines” would have to outdo the 2006 — and that was no short order.
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Goulart’s Vineyards

While Argentine Malbec is somewhat of a commercial hit, too many importers are trying to cash in on the fast money. In a recent tasting of over 50 Malbecs and Malbec/Cabernet blends, we found a bevy of simple, often simply clumsy wines, and at least a dozen wines that had been cooked in transit. We had to work pretty hard to find a handful of counter-examples, all drawn from rare old-vine holdings. This wine — the 2007 Goulart “The Marshall,” is what the best of Mendoza is all about — wonderfully sweet old-vine purity and excellent persistence. The story behind the wine is no less captivating.

In 1998, Erika Goulart was feeling nostalgiac. Brazilian by birth, she was sifting through boxes of old family documents. She was particularly intrigued by the papers that described the life of her grandfather, a Brazilian commander who led a battalion during the civil war. But while reading through the letters of Marshall Goulart, letters that included references to her grandfather’s exile to Argentina from Brazil, she discovered something that would not only change her life, but change the landscape of Mendozan Malbec.
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The Clos de Sixte vineyard in Lirac

There were a lot of success stories in 2007 in the southern Rhone. In a vintage that many (Parker included) have called the best in 30 years, average producers made good wine. But, at the very top echelon, the wines weren’t just good, they were monumental. We began tasting 2007s in barrel in the spring of 2008.

In May of 2008, the market was still strong, and almost everyone knew that the 2007s would receive raves from the international wine press. The growing season had been drawn out perfectly; the wines were black in color, with amazing density. Particularly when there was sufficient Mourvedre in the mix, the wines had excellent length.
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