December 2022: Chasing the dream and bucking traditions
- Posted on
- By Kevin Nguyen
- Posted in Wine Share
Hey Stranger!
For the end of the year, we featured winemakers who left their corporate jobs to chase the winemaker calling for our deluxe wine share and innovators in iconic wine growing regions for our standard wine share.
The December 2022 Deluxe “Not a Stranger” Share:
The end of the year is often the time where we take stock of our lives and reflect back on the last twelve months, wondering if we achieved all of our New Year resolutions that we scribbled on the notes app of our phones. If you’re like us, you wondered at some point this year “should I just move to the French countryside and become a winemaker?” Well the producers we are spotlighting this month did exactly that. All three were business professionals before becoming winemakers, trading in their gray suits for grape shears.
We hope this month’s wine share inspires you to follow your dreams or at least set a fun New Years resolution. Here is your December 2022 Deluxe “Not A Stranger” Share:
202 1 Clos Thierriere "Prémices" Vouvray
Guillaume and Baptiste Frey are twin brothers with business degrees who found themselves, in the pandemic, tired of the office life and longing for nature. In 2021, they moved from Paris back to their childhood home to convert a sustainable farming operation into an estate where they “let nature do its work while accompanying it.”
The 2021 “Prémices” is the very first wine from the Clos Thierrière estate! Their goal was to transcribe the authenticity of the Vouvray appellation through their Chenin Blanc. The result is a beautiful white wine with notes of golden apples, peaches, and bright lemon rinds. Expressive yet focused, drink this with your pre-dinner cheese plate.
2021 Yo Yo “La Negra”
Laurence Mania-Krief, better known as Yo Yo, is another Parisien who fled the city to the countryside. Formerly a sales director in ready-to-wear fashion, Yo Yo dropped her career at 35 years old to move to the Banyuls, near her hometown, in the early 2000’s. She began by purchasing small plots of abandoned vines overlooking the ocean and converting them to organic viticulture.
“La Negra” is a blend of Carignan and all three colors of Grenache. A fan of soft infusion versus intense maceration, this wine contradicts its label as its more soft and silky rather than spicy. Notes of tart cranberries and hibiscus, enjoy this wine while overeating on the holiday appetizers.
2019 Simon Bize“Aux Grand Liards” Savigny-Les-Beaunes
Chisa Bize was a banker in Tokyo before she remade her life as the wife and partner of Burgundy vigneron, Patrick Bize. Although she didn’t come from a winemaking lineage, it was Chisa who pushed Patrick toward organic and biodynamic viticulture. Since Patrick’s passing in 2013, Chisa and Patrick's sister Marielle manage the estate together and have established the reputation of the finest growers in Savigny-Les-Beaune.
The 2019 “Aux Grand Liards” is a textbook expression of Pinot Noir from Savigny-Les-Beaune. Ripe opulent red fruits enveloped in soft baking spices. There is minimal and deliberate use of new oak. Take the time to make a beautiful holiday goose and drink this wine with it.
The December 2022 Standard “Stranger” Share:
At the end of the year, we often find ourselves yearning for comfort and reaching for the familiar. So for this month’s wine share, we’ve selected two French producers who are situated in arguably the most iconic wine growing regions of the world - Chablis and the Rhone Valley.
No one really talks about the double-edged sword of producing wines in famous wine growing regions. On one hand, winemakers in these regions are blessed with prized plots and terrific terroir. On the other hand, these winemakers must navigate the burden of reputation when trying to innovate and create a distinctive style for themselves. The two producers we are spotlighting this month have managed to gracefully pay respects to their home terroir while creatively making their mark.
So to round out 2022, here is your December Standard “Stranger” Share:
2017 Roland Lavantureux, Chablis
Nothing gets more classic than Chablis, especially one from Roland Lavantureux. The Lavantureux winery has made a name for themselves for their no-nonsense winemaking philosophy. Founded in 1973, Roland was a pioneer of organic farming within the conservative Chablis community. Roland believes in using his wines to showcase his perfect terroir and the iconic Kimmeridgian soils - limestone and clay infused with tiny, fossilized oysters - of the region. Now run by his sons, the estate takes its reverence for the land into the cellar by vinifying every plot separately, to better understand the idiosyncrasies of their land.
The Lavantureux family makes everything from Petit Chablis to Grand Cru Chablis. Their 2017 regional Chablis is classic yet powerful. The 2017 vintage started cold but ended warm creating wines with intensity and purity. It has notes of ripe golden pears, white flowers, and cured lemon. Enjoy with oysters on New Years Eve or with a French omelet at brunch.
2020 Hervé Souhaut “La Souteronne”
Hervé Souhaut is a biologist turned winemaker situated in the Northern Rhone. He got into grape growing after tasting the wines of Marcel Lapierre. Captivated by the creative canvas of natural wine, he apprenticed with the renegade Rhone producers Rene-Jean Dard and Francois Ribo before embarking on his own in 1993. Souhaut owns two vineyards just opposite of the storied hills of Hermitage whereas his winery is located further into the hills of Northern Ardeche.
His wines are unequivocally Northern Rhone in nature but distinctively unique in flavor. Souhaut aims to create wines with subtlety and finesse, preferring delicate touches versus aggressive forces in the cellar. “La Souteronne” is 100% Gamay (yes, Gamay does exist in the Rhone Valley) and drinks like a Beaujolais got adopted by a Rhone winemaker. Dark purple in hue with notes of plump raspberries, sharp red violets, and white pepper. Drink with a holiday ham or while playing board games with your family.
We hope you enjoy. Don’t be a Stranger and join our wine share here!