Rogers & Company was founded in 1984 by Joseph and Miriam Rogers, born out of their passion for fine French wine which initially led them to wineries of the Loire Valley.  Today our catalogue encompasses 90 wineries, more than half of which are from California.  So, I am revisiting our roots and writing about some of our small producers from the Loire Valley as well as a few wines from Bordeaux, Champagne and the Rhône Valley. 

As always, our prices are per-bottle, tax inclusive, but exclusive of the $0.20 bottle deposits.  We sell only by the unmixed case lot.  Please visit us on the web and on facebook .

All my best,

 

Some of the greatest values in French wine can be found in Muscadet.  Not to be mistaken with the Muscat grape, Muscadet is a region in north-west France where the Loire River meets the Atlantic Ocean.  The finest vineyards are located in the Sevre et Maine appellation and are planted on well-drained soils of schist (metamorphic, minerally soils that flake and split like shale) and limestone.  The delicate, crisp wines of Muscadet are made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape, which is a grape not known for overt fruitiness and so the wines are left sur lie (on their spent yeast cells which we call "lees") for weeks or months to develop an autolytic (subtle toasty or biscuity) character, enhancing their flavour profile. 

The ageability of the best wines of the region is unbelievable.  If you ever have the chance to try a 20 year old Muscadet de Sevre et Maine sur lie, you'll stagger.  It's like opening a 20 year old white Burgundy at a fraction of the price.

If you have some time, click here to read a great profile of Domaine Luneau-Papin at one of my favourite websites, thewinedoctor.com.

 

"Superracy, floral and pure, with enticing ginger, quince and mineral flavours that ripple through the filigreed finish. Lovely orange blossom and honeysuckle notes fill in the background. Dry, but still generous, with impressive length. Best from 2013 through 2018. 1,000 cases imported."
92 points, Wine Spectator, Dec 2011

This is one of my favourite Sauvignon Blancs.  Grown on Kimmeridgian marl (a type of clay that has a high proportion of calcium from fossilized marine shells), a soil not found widely in Pouilly-Fumé but rather in Chablis, the wine is not powerful, but detailed and flinty with quinine, distant smoke, lemon, ginger and mineral flavours. 

Michelle (née Blondelet) and Jean-Michel Masson created Domaine Masson-Blondelet when they got married in 1975, being the sixth generation of vine-growers and producers in the family.  The estate is 21 hectares in size, which are planted on the best sites in the heart of the Pouilly-Fumé appellation.  The entire operation employs only nine people and produces only estate grown wines, a true "family-artisan" winery.

 

Although this winery is located 10 miles west of Sancerre in Menetou-Salon where they produce almost 1/4 of the tiny appellation's wines, their Sancerre is outstanding.

The estate is run by Anne Pellé, widow of Henri's son Eric, her son Paul-Henri makes the wines.  Their wines are all organically grown and the wines are gently pressed with the stems included.  They believe that this provides a network of drainage channels for the juice and therefore allows for more gentle pressing.  Ingenious!

One of the great values in the world of fine wine are the Champagnes from Vilmart & Cie., run by the brilliant Laurent Champs.

Phillipe Gimel's wines are unreal.  Unencumbered by oak, they are the perfect expression of his fractured southern French terroir. 

Often times wineries will release small batches of wines from vineyards where they crop at 2-4 tons per acre.  These wines are usually very intense, expensive and limited in production.  This is because limiting your tonnage to this extent is almost unprofitable.  The amount of labour, time and capital necessary to make wine demands that you produce more than this.  Even the finest cult  Napa Cabernets are often harvested at 4 or more tons per acre.  Phillipe's L'Argile comes in at around 1.2 tons per acre and the wine below, La Pierre Noire, at less than 1.  These are wines of love.  Wines of character and as Wine Spectator's Matt Kramer would say, wines of "somewhereness". 

"A stunning reference point for what can be achieved in the Cotes du Ventoux, the 2009 L'Argile is a blend of 75% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 5% Carignan and 5% Cinsault aged 30 months in concrete tanks prior to being bottled unfiltered. The 2009 L'Argile exhibits a flowery yet quintessentially Provencal set of aromatics that smells like an open-air marketplace. Abundant red and black fruits, roasted herb, garrigue, licorice, lavender and spring flower aromas are followed by an opulent, rich wine with full-bodied power as well as incredible complexity and density. This is one of the most intriguing, individualistic wines I have tasted this year. Drink it over the next 5-7 years."