DIGWineSF

Always a stellar day when the vintage arrives!

Rocking lunch wines for a friend’s birthday.

Birds and Burgundy: guinea fowl with Lamy Santenay Gravieres.

Monday lunch in much needed sunshine: mussels, clams, razor clams, Louis Michel Chablis Butteaux.

Bunny legs and dee-list Chassagne rouge.

This Week on the Tasting Bar 2016 Louis Michel Chablis At this point telling you that Sher and I love Chablis is the pinnacle of redundancy. You know, kinda like Tweeting THERE IS NO COLLUSION! ... Yet for pure drinking pleasure it’s hard to top either the deliciousness or value of these mineral-driven chardonnays from Burgundy’s northernmost region. Plus, we love to eat sea creatures. Be it a platter of briny oysters, a sweet meaty crab or lobster, rich, buttery scallops, or a simple filet of sole, there’s a style and weight of Chablis to match. Moreover, for terroir-geeks, Chablis is practically the poster-child argument for those who deny the existence of terroir. (Phooey on them!) And this week’s flight of seven wines five of them premier crus from the outstanding Domaine Louis Michel provides ample illustration of the terroir found across Chablis’ finest vineyards. Founded in 1850 in the village of Chablis, Domaine Louis Michel has a remarkable string of first-rate vineyard holdings across the region, including parcels in seven premier cru and three grand cru vineyards. In 2006 young Guillaume Michel, then working in the communications field in Paris, followed what he describes as a childhood dream, returning to Chablis to continue his family’s long history in the vineyards. He represents the 6th generation to run this historic domaine. As it is with all of today's top producers, Domaine Michel is focused on the health of its vineyards as the key to excellence in the bottle. As such the estate practices organic farming methods across it vinyeard holdings, as well as hand-harvesting still a relative rarity in Chablis for all but its Chablis AC and Petit Chablis vineyards. But most unusually, unlike most other producers, who tend to use a mix of stainless tanks and (generally) neutral wood barrels, Louis Michel, for the past 40 years, has used only stainless tanks to raise its wines even the grand crus believing that these completely neutral vessels bring out the purest expression of their wines’ terroirs. As many of you know 2016 was a disastrous vintage in much of France, largely due to spring frosts that clung to the fruiting vines at night, followed by morning sunshine that caused the ice to act like a magnifying glass, as the sun's rays burned the young berries within. Eager to experience the results of this challenging vintage, I recently tasted through the currently available range of Louis Michel’s 2016 Chablis (grand crus arrived later in the year) and found them to be tauter than their 2015 counterparts, which themselves were notably energetic given that warm year. Although quantities may be small these are delicious wines. We invite you to taste them with us. Friday, 5 - 7 35.00 for the 7-wine flight

This Week on the Tasting Bar From Saumur with Love The Remarkable Wines of Thierry Germain This week’s flight focuses on just four wines but what four they are!... Produced by Thierry Germain at his Domaine Roches Neuves in Saumur, Loire, Germain makes Chablis-like chenin blancs mineral, cut, pure, and saline and unusually elegant cabernet francs that avoid the vegetal rusticity found in so many examples of that variety. As it is with the best wines these days, farming is the key here. Yes, Germain is blessed with many old vines parcels that range from 40-years to 112-years of age, which remain vibrant and productive from the strong commitment to biodynamic viticulture practiced by Germain and his longtime vineyard manager, Michel Chevré, whose name is now seen on some of the domaine’s many different bottlings. At least 16 by my count, a reflection of their commitment to site-driven chenins and cab francs. Roches Neuves’ white wine vineyards are planted in Saumur, while the reds are from appellation Saumur-Champigny. As freshness, purity, and energy are his goals, Germain generally harvests on the early side. White wines are aged in large oval foudres, while reds are raised in round foudres and demi-muids in the cool cellars below Germain’s winery in the town of Varrains. I'm excited to share Thierry Germain's with you, please join us. Friday, 5 - 7 25.00 for the 4-wine flight

This Week on the Tasting Bar Post Paulée Let's Drink Burgundy! I suppose it's possible that those who attended last week's SF edition of the traveling Burgundy fest known as La Paulée might be experiencing a wee touch of Burgundy fatigue. But you know what? I seriously doubt that....Continue reading

This Week on the Tasting Bar Burgundy Schmurgundy Let's Drink Italian! With that traveling Burgundian circus known as La Paulée setting up tents all across town this week, to me it seems logical to think, Burgundy schmurgundy! Let’s drink Italian!...Continue reading

This Week on the Tasting Bar Introducing Domaine La Barroche's Exceptional Châteauneuf-du-Papes Plus a Quartet of Northern Rhône Whites...Continue reading

This Week on the Tasting Bar (Mostly) New Arrivals from France This week’s flight offers a mash-up of (mostly) new arrivals from France....Continue reading

This Week on the Tasting Bar A pair of 2014 Chablis A trio of 2015 Red Burgundies And one Rare and Tasty Bordeaux...Continue reading

This Week on the Tasting Bar A Flock of Tasty Italians In my ongoing efforts to introduce weeknight wines that are interesting, delicious, and relatively affordable, this week’s flight presents a flock of favorite Italian whites and reds that span the country from the Alps to Sicily....Continue reading